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“A library?” I can tell the idea has taken her off guard, but she agrees. “Okay, what time?”
“Just after dark. I think that’s about seven-thirty local time.”
She grabs my hands and looks me in the eye. “Okay, tomorrow night. I’ll be there. You better be too,” she says. She smiles and pulls me into her for a brief kiss before letting me go. I can tell she wants more, with each tingling sensation that runs from my lips to hers.
I watch as they walk out of the building. I’m missing her before she’s even out of sight. As she disappears, a sensation hits my gut that I’m making the biggest mistake of my life. But I brush it off as nothing. I have plans to see her tomorrow. And I will.
No matter what.
Suddenly, my mind turns back to the mission. It’s too late for me to recover my status, and I don’t even know what to say about the past 24 hours.
My only option is to go to the base and talk with Officer Klines. He’s a hardass, but maybe he’ll understand. Part of me hates that my brother probably finished the mission already, but perhaps I’ll get a chance to beat his time. If not now, in the future, maybe.
Maybe.
It takesuntil nightfall to reach the base. Without Tania slowing me down, I can move quickly through the trees. My spines always worked efficiently at storing energy, and I’m glad to be in such good shape.
As I emerge from the brush, I can see the metallic building in front of me, with floodlights encircling it on all sides.
I approach the main gate and wave to the guards.
“Holy shit, it’s Garet!” The guard recognizes me. “Was the test too hard for you, princess?” Both guards laugh. I ignore them.
As I make my way to the main building, I can’t stop thinking about Tania and our night together.
I need to tell her about my vision that we’re fated to be together. But, what does that even mean? She has her career, and I have mine. I wouldn’t give up the Special Ops for her, so why would I imagine she’d give up her dreams for me?
But what if she did give up her dreams for me? Would she just follow me around from one base to the next? That doesn’t sound like much of a life. Plus, I’d be away on missions for days or weeks at a time. I don’t want to put her through that.
Maybe she’ll reject me, and it won’t matter, though. It’ll feel bad, but at least I wouldn’t have to worry about how it’ll impact my career.
I go through the main doors and head toward Officer Klines’ office. He should be in right now. He usually doesn’t stop working until late at night.
I knock on the door and go inside. I see him sitting at his desk, typing something on his comm. He looks up and is supremely confused by my presence.
“Garet? Is that you? What the hell are you doing here?” He stops what he’s doing and stands up. “Is this your way of resigning from Special Ops?” He sounds more disappointed than angry.
“No sir. Actually, something happened out in the field, and I need to debrief you about it.”
He motions for me to sit in the chair. He leans against his desk, crossing his arms.
I tell him about Tania and how I helped her through the jungle. I talk about how helpless she was and how she would likely get injured or eaten if I hadn’t intervened. I skip over the part where we made love and try to keep the story as objective as possible.
Once I finish, he sits and thinks for a while. “So, you got her to safety?”
“Yes, sir. Her associate came and picked her up, then I came back here immediately.”
“And that’s it? She’s gone forever?” As he asks the question, my stomach drops as I imagine never seeing her again.
“As far as I know, yes.”
He pauses for another few seconds. “Okay, well, given the extenuating circumstances, I’ll let you take the test again. Most of the other people have already finished their objectives, but I’ll give you a chance to beat their time.”
“If I may ask, sir, who was the first to get the item?”
He smirks. “Your brother, of course. He completed the mission in 48 hours and 22 minutes. The next person did it in 64 hours and 18 minutes. I expect you can do better than that.”
I smile. Of course, he did. I kick myself internally. I was on track to get there within 45 hours. I’m sure I could have infiltrated the base and beaten his time, even if by a few minutes.
