Page 185 of Aviatrix

He swallows hard. “He said the Legion, right?”

I nod. “He did. He just confirmed what we should’ve known all along.”

Eli lifts his hand, revealing a small metal key. “I think one of the Secret Service agents wants us to survive this.”

“Which one of them wants us alive?” I ask. But he just shakes his head.

The room tilts, spinning slightly as I take in everything at once. Gary’s pale, sweaty face. Amber clinging to Lark like she’s five years old again. Sasha’s fury simmering just beneath the surface. Eli’s unnerving calm.

“Try it,” I say. But he doesn’t go alone. He pulls me with him.

The key slides in easily. Then, click. The door pops open.

“Do we have any weapons?” Sasha asks.

Lark groans. “Nope.”

“Fists it is, then,” she mutters, already moving toward the door.

Fists it is.

THIRTY-NINE

THIS IS HOW I WANT TO GO

We move as a unit. Gary and Sasha take the lead, Lark and Amber between them, Eli and me bringing up the rear.

Our footsteps echo. Emergency lights flash in rhythm with my heartbeat.

There’s no time. Barely any.

I want to ask how much we have, but the answer might unravel me. So, I keep marching.

Down one flight. Then another. Every exit is abandoned, but we all know they’re locked.

No way in. No way out.

Not unless Rourke says so.

If you manage to make it out alive, the Legion would love to have you on our team.

I still can’t believe he said that to Eli. That Rourke admitted—out loud—that he’s tied to the alien-tech-stealing faction we’ve been trying to find. The group the aliens are hunting.

“You’re slowing down,” Eli murmurs, releasing my hand just long enough to wrap his arm around my waist and tug me closer.

I exhale, breath ragged. “Rourke’s part of the Legion.”

We always suspected. Now we know. He has to be the Washington big shot Walker warned us about in that dinky diner. Feels like a lifetime since we sat there ordering pie.

“He is,” Eli confirms. “We’ll talk later. First, we get Sasha and Amber out.”

He’s right. Still, I can’t stop thinking about it. About the timing. About how this is all going to end.

“I don’t know why I’m thinking about this moments before we die.”

“We’re not dying today, Quay,” he says. “I just got you back.”

Something in the way he says it makes me believe him.