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I make my way over to the break room to find Echo sitting on the couch with a book in hand. She looks up at me with a smile.
“Where’s Killian?” I ask.
“Just went back to our hotel to take a shower,” she replies, moving her feet over. “Come, sit.”
With Atlas busy, it’s been nice having someone to talk to, though, I won’t lie when I say Echo intimidates me a bit. She’s told me enough of her own story that I know she can relate to my experience, and having someone who can understand what it’s like to have your power stripped from you so dramatically is something I desperately needed.
“Did Atlas find anything out about the other girls?” she asks, knowing how much it was weighing on me as well as Riot.
I nod and tell her what we found out.
“I feel awful I didn’t do more for Liz and Terri when I could,” I admit. Echo scoffs.
“Girl, don’t feel guilty for that. There’s shit all you could have done, so don’t beat yourself up over it. Don’t hold yourself responsible for the actions of those psychos. If anyone knows you can’t keep beating yourself up for mistakes, trust me when I say it's me.”
I nod, even when I don’t completely believe it. “At least I know Riot won’t stop until he finds Jaime, and apparently Reyne is okay too.”
Echo nods, patting my arm. “I get it; how close you get to girls in those situations. And you know I’ll help however I can.”
* * *
It’slate before Atlas finally comes out, his face looking worn and tired. I move toward him easily, sliding into his side. I feel a buzz of warmth when he pulls his arm around me and kisses the top of my head.
“Did you eat anything?” I ask him, and he shakes his head, earning a look of disapproval from me. How he manages to survive on nicotine and caffeine alone is beyond me.
“Then why don’t you take me to dinner and then we can go home?” I tell him with a smile.
“Home?”
I nod.
“I’d very much like that.”
An hour later, we’re standing in front of an old Chinese restaurant.
“Sorry, it's really not much,” he apologizes as he takes me through the side door and up a winding set of stairs. We get into the small apartment and I look around, turning to him. I can see the apprehension on his face about bringing me here, despite how many times I’ve told him I don’t need anything fancy. All I want is him and a bed. The rest doesn’t matter.
“You know, I think yours has maybe three less cockroaches than mine did,” I tell him with a smile, and the corner of his lip turns up.
“You trying to say something about my place?” he teases, stepping up to me, and I grin.
“And if I am?”
“Then I suppose I’ll have to punish you,” he jokes, which makes my grin more profound.
“Is that a promise or a threat?”
He takes a step forward and starts to open his mouth when a loud rumble erupts from his stomach, and he turns bright red. I burst out laughing.
“Maybe we should eat first,” I say through my laugh, and he twists his mouth into a smirk and pulls my chin to him.
“Don’t mock me, woman,” he says gruffly, though his eyes twinkle with mirth. He releases me and gives my butt a gentle smack.
“Get some plates from that cupboard.”
I obey his command with a smile.
The teasing and relative normalcy make my heart warm, but the thought of the Iron Elite hanging over us doesn’t stray far from the forefront of my mind.
