Page 5 of Aviatrix

He shrugs, eyes glinting. “Only when I’m right. And I usually am.”

Eli’s insufferable. Overconfident. And yet, my pulse flares like it remembers things my head’s spent years trying to forget.

“Why are you here?” I ask, trying to sound skeptical instead of intrigued.

He flashes his eyebrows at me. “Right place, wrong time? Or maybe the other way around.”

That’s the thing with Eli. He never gives a straight answer when he can hand you a riddle wrapped in a self-righteous smirk. And right now, I don’t have time to solve him.

Gary yells again from across the hangar. “Nova! Now!”

I glance between Eli and the chaos behind me. The base is burning. My team is waiting. And Eli just threw gasoline on the whole damn fire.

I turn back to him. “Try not to get in the way, Major.”

He leans in. “You always loved it when I did.”

Lark steps forward, his jaw flexing. “I don’t care what your history is with my pilots, Major. You’re out of line.”

Eli doesn’t flinch. “Funny. I didn’t realize screwing subordinates was still considered the moral high ground.”

Lark’s face flushes and his hand twitches at his side. Almost as if he’s deciding whether to grab a clipboard or a sidearm.

“I’m still commanding officer here,” Lark says, squaring his shoulders like he’s trying to grow an extra inch.

Eli tilts his head. “Then, command something.”

At the hangar doors, fire eats its way up the supply bay like it’s starving. Smoke curls through the cracks in the roof. We don’t have time for this testosterone contest.

“Can we table the pissing match until after we survive the invasion?” I say, stepping between them.

Lark scowls but backs down a step. “You’re not cleared to fly, Kin.”

For a moment, I see the wreckage in his blue eyes. Not just the base, but everything we meant to each other.

“I wasn’t asking,” I reply, matching his tone. “And last I checked, we’re not in a training session. We’re at war.”

He doesn’t get to blow up my life and command it, too.

Eli raises an eyebrow, clearly impressed. “Well. Look who finally took the stick back.”

“Are we done here, Colonel?” I ask Lark.

“We—”

“Nova!” Gary hollers again as the flames engulf the supply bay.

We’re running out of time.

The sirens wail—shrill and broken—and I don’t wait for Lark’s next order. I bolt toward Titan-7, instincts blazing, Eli hot on my heels.

“What’s the plan?” he calls, dodging falling debris as Lark screams after us.

“Take down whatever’s still flying,” I snap, breath burning in my lungs.

Before he can reply, a blast rips through the far wall. The shockwave throws us backward, but Eli grabs my arm, yanking me down behind a maintenance truck just before a second explosion hits.

“Shit!” he growls, shielding me with his body as Gary barrels into us like a linebacker and shoves us under the wing of a grounded fighter. Another detonation sends the landing gear screeching overhead.