Page 143 of Aviatrix

Someone is lying.

I don’t think it’s Eli.

But I also don’t think it’s Lark.

Which leaves the General.

He sent us to that execution with no plan, no resources, and no support.

Eli might trust him, but should I?

THIRTY-ONE

MY WORST NIGHTMARE

The room is stifling and thick with tension as Lark and Eli lock eyes across the table. Just the three of us. The only people Lark insisted be present for this debriefing.

I should’ve protested harder, but after surviving a near-assassination, I don’t have any fight left in me today.

“Shall we begin?” Lark asks.

Eli smirks and leans back in his chair. “Sure.”

Perfect. My worst nightmare is coming to life.

Years ago, my biggest fear was finding out Dad left by choice. Tired of Mom and me, he needed something else. I used to tell myself he must’ve died because death was easier to accept than abandonment.

Now, my biggest fear is not making it out of this room alive.

“Can you walk us through what happened when you took off approximately forty-eight hours ago?” Lark begins, his tone clinical.

“I got into my aircraft, taxied out of the hangar, headed east before correcting course and going north. I flew for a few minutes—”

“How many exactly?” Lark interrupts.

“Maybe seven,” Eli replies. “I wasn’t clocking it precisely.”

“Proceed,” Lark says, jotting something into his notebook.

“Anyway.” Eli glances at me. I offer him a small, tired smile of encouragement. “Two gray ships appeared behind me. They followed at a distance, but it became clear they were going to fire.”

“How do you know that?”

“My aircraft alerted me. They locked onto my system,” Eli explains. “So, I flipped on them, chased them down, blew one out of the sky. The second peeled off and vanished. After that, I recharted to my destination.”

“And what was that destination?” Lark presses.

Eli exhales slowly. “Classified.”

“Not today,” Lark returns, arching one blond eyebrow.

I swallow hard. This is not going to end well.

Eli shifts forward, folding his hands on the table. “You can ask a million different ways, Colonel, but I’m not authorized to discuss my mission with you.”

“What about her?” Lark gestures toward me.

I roll my eyes. Of course he’d bring me into this.