Page 16 of Aviatrix

I exhale and rise slowly. Eli stands with me, our fingers still laced like we might hold on forever.

“Major!”

The General’s voice pierces the room like a blade. Eli groans just loud enough for me to hear. He pulls away with a reluctant sigh, his fingers slipping from mine like a quiet goodbye.

I let out a shaky breath. Just a laugh-shaped ghost of it. He never wanted to let go. Until the day he did.

“Captain!”

My spine locks.

Lark is moving toward me with purpose. Of course.

Across the room, Gary, Scooter, and Thea casually drift toward the far wall, keeping their distance but keeping watch. They’re waiting for me.

“What do you want?” I snap with an exaggerated eye roll.

Lark runs a hand through his mess of ashy-blond hair. He looks like he’s aged ten years in the last hour. I wonder if guilt is what’s aging him or just the weight of lying so well.

“I need you by my side, Kin,” he says, like I didn’t just walk in on him with his secretary.

I blink. Hard. “Excuse me?”

He reaches out and touches my shoulder.

I knock his hand away like it burns.

“Don’t you dare.”

“Dammit, Kin. This is life and death.”

It always is, isn’t it?

Him, the commanding officer. Me, the legacy rookie with a chip on her shoulder and everything to prove. Three years of loyalty. Three years of thinking we had a future.

Three years I’ll never get back.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I say, all steel.

“It was one mistake,” he defends himself, as if that’ll make it better. “Can’t you just let it go?”

“How long?” The words are out before I can stop them. I don’t want the answer, but I need it.

Lark presses his lips together, his shoulders tight. “Let’s not do this here.”

“How long were you screwing your secretary?”

He exhales through his nose. “Three months.”

The floor tilts. I take a step back.

Three months?

And I didn’t notice. Not a clue. Not a shift. What does that say about me?

“Three months is not one mistake, Colonel.”

“This isn’t your fault,” Lark says, like those words are a bandage.