Page 52 of Aviatrix

Amber might be out there. She might be okay. But I know what I have to do.

I have to find answers. Real ones. Why aren’t we striking back? Who’s pulling the strings? And why do I keep hearing the same name whispered like smoke in the dark?

The Legion.

Lark said there’s someone here who might know everything. It’s time I confront him.

I rise and move down the corridor like a storm with purpose. When I reach my room, my shared room, I throw the door open.

Eli’s on the bottom bunk, shirtless.

My eyes trace the dips and ridges of the chest that used to be more recognizable to me than the back of my own hand.

“You okay?” Eli asks.

I lick my lips and shut the door behind me, locking us inside. Alone.

“Why did you give me those photos?” I demand, the words edged in breath and frustration. “Why show up and hand me that thumb drive?”

Eli leans back, his stomach flexing with the motion. “Because Colonel Jones needed to know who he was in bed with.”

My mouth parts. “Lark?”

He didn’t come for me. He didn’t track me down to deliver critical intel. He did it all... for Lark?

“What are you saying?” I swallow hard as fury rises in my throat like acid. “You risked everything just to stick it to my ex-fiancé? During an alien invasion?”

Eli exhales, slow and tired. “No, I did not.”

“Then explain,” I snap.

He rises, and those black boxer briefs cling like a second skin.

For one stupid second, my body forgets why I’m furious.

Almost.

But the anger is stronger than the distraction.

“You both needed to see the truth,” he says, stepping closer.

I back up. My spine hits the door. Nowhere to go.

He’s close. Too close. And I hate that it makes me feel things I thought were long buried and dead.

“Gina Douglas has been Julian Rourke’s mistress for years,” he says, low but certain.

My heart skips a beat. “Why didn’t anyone know that?”

“We did,” he answers quietly, his scent hitting me. Citrus and mint. Like a memory I’d shoved deep.

“Then, why didn’t Lark know?”

Eli shakes his head, regret cutting through his expression. “I don’t know.”

“Why did Rourke send his mistress to Langdon?” I whisper, the words tangled in confusion. “Why did she start sleeping with Lark? Was it because she liked him? Or because she was trying to…”

I trail off, unable to finish the thought.