He takes a deep breath, then adjusts his tie before saying, “I’ll find out on my own then. I’ll see you before I go.”
I huff when he walks off, and Clay shrugs innocently when I turn back to him with my admonishing scowl.
“You don’t need to leave,” he continues.
“You don’t get to tell me I can’t leave Seminole just because you’re the commander. As soon as my services are no longer needed, I’ll change my base.”
“I don’t want you leaving until you’ve had a few months to recuperate from all of the traumatic incidents you’ve had to deal with,” he says with worry.
“I’m fine. I’ve gone two weeks without a problem. I’m in the clear by now, and Hale is growing annoyed with me,” I growl.
“They’ll have the repairs done soon, and then you can have your own room. Hale isn’t getting annoyed with you either.”
“What’s this about me being annoyed?” Hale’s smoldering voice asks from behind me.
His hands slide around my sides as he turns me to face him, and Clay smirks as he steps to the side.
“Araya is apparently worried you’ve grown agitated with your living arrangement,” Clay interjects, and then he runs off to leave me dangling under the cloud he has just created.
“I told you I enjoyed being friends,” he murmurs softly as we dance to the soft song.
“I know, but friends don’t usually have to live together after having been engaged.”
“I don’t mind it, and your feelings for me have changed. I think this friendship has endless possibilities,” he chuckles out, and I just roll my eyes at how casually he’s taking all of this.
He takes a step back when a man quickly approaches, and Hale’s smile dissolves the moment a whispered conversation erupts. He takes my hand before following the man at a wicked pace.
“What’s going on?” I bark in worry.
“I need your help,” he replies very vaguely with his voice incredibly low.
“With?” I prompt.
“An interrogation.”
Great. He set this up so I would feel needed in Seminole rather than feeling like an imposition on him.
“Hale, this really isn’t necessary. I’m a big girl,” I sigh.
“This is very real,” he scolds, and we disappear behind the glass to view the interrogation room holding a very obnoxious, disruptive, and rebellious human.
“A human?” I muse.
“This human is one we’ve seen before,” he says very coldly.
“Who is we?”
“My men and I saw this man just before the strike at Hensen,” Brazen interjects, and I turn to face him as he stalks toward me.
My heart pounds and then drops to my stomach for a second at the startling presence I wasn’t prepared for. Despite everything going on around us, Brazen’s eyes still find only mine, and his pain finds its way to my soul.
“Oh. You think he had something to do with the unorganized ambush?” I ask while shaking free from my own guilt.
“I think he knows something. He’s probably a scout trying to work his way up the ladder. We would like to know what we’re looking for before we head back out tomorrow,” he asserts.
“She’ll find it,” Clay growls as he walks into the room. “I’m sick of them being so many steps ahead. Let’s see if we can jump in front of the next attack.”
“I need a gun,” I murmur, and one of the uniformed men hands me a gun loaded with uranium dipped bullets.
