Page 54 of Aviatrix

I watch him climb the ladder to the top bunk, the muscles in his back tight, coiled.

“It matters,” I murmur. “It matters to me.”

Eli sighs, then rubs a hand through his dark hair. “He was in a meeting once. With the Legion.”

“How do you know?”

“My commanding officer told me. He was there, too.”

“And he’s the one who told you to give me the thumb drive?” I guess.

“No,” Eli says. “That was General Salamander.”

My eyes widen. “What?”

“Quay,” he groans, “there’s a lot we need to talk about, but I haven’t slept in three days. Can we hit pause until 0500 hours?”

General Salamander knew about Gina? He wanted Lark to see those images?

“Is the General your CO?”

“No,” Eli answers too quickly, rolling onto his side. “And I’m not answering anything else tonight.”

I’m tired of men with secrets thinking they know what’s best for me. That ends now.

“It’s always what you want, isn’t it?”

Eli sits up. “What?”

“It’s always on your terms,” I bite out. “What you think is best. What you think I can handle. It’s insulting.”

“Everything I’ve ever done was to help you,” he says, like he’s been carrying that war on his shoulders for years.

“If you believed that, then you never would’ve left me.”

“I had no choice, Quay,” he fires back.

“Bullshit,” I snap. “You know that’s bullshit.”

He effortlessly hops down from the bunk and stalks toward me. I don’t move.

“I left because we had no future,” he says. “Different assignments. Different coasts. We were never going to see each other.”

My heart pounds like it’s trying to escape. “I could’ve transferred,” I whisper. “I could’ve.”

A flash of pain crosses his face. “You had answers to chase. That mattered more than me.”

I waver. Like he’s peeled back my chest and handed me what he found inside.

My throat burns. “If you really think that… then you never knew me.”

“I did,” he insists. “I still do.”

“I think I’m gonna find another room,” I say, grabbing my pillow and blanket. “This is too much.”

“There are no other rooms,” Eli replies like it’s just a weather report. “That’s why we’re bunking together.”

I step around him, clutching the bedding. “Then, I’ll find a couch. Or a chair.”