“Hop on.” His tone was sharp and commanding.
I swallowed and turned to face him. “Sorry. What?”
He jumped on the bar counter, swung his legs over, and landed on the other side soundlessly. “Come on.” He gestured for me to follow before he stooped to keep a low profile.
The right thing to do here would be to turn myself in and plead for leniency. And if I’d ever heard of the QEC doing such a thing, I would have gone out to meet the uniforms. But I knew better.
With a sigh, I pressed my butt against the counter and hurled myself over to the other side. My boots hit the wet floor and splashed water on my pants and arms. The bartender continued to spray dirty dishes with soapy water, as if two of her customers hadn’t just barged into her space.
She grabbed a couple of clean glasses and bent over to stuff them in a cooler. When she met Tek’s gaze, she shook her head. “Here we go again. You just can’t help yourself. Can you?”
Tek shrugged. “She asked. What am I supposed to do?”
“How about let it go?”
“How ’bout we discuss it later? We’re in a hurry.” He grabbed my hand and led me toward the back.
At the end of the hallway, he ushered me into a small room with tottering boxes on one end and a row of shelves on the other. The single bulb in the middle of the ceiling shone bright and hot on my face.
“This will buy us a few minutes.” He killed the light, and adrenaline shot through me.
I hated the dark. One of those irrational fears I could never explain. “Is that necessary?” Tiny feet crawled up my back and into my hair. I took a deep calming breath. Not real. Not real.
“Just trying not to call attention to us. We can’t stay here. If the QEC decides to come into the bar, they’ll do a thorough search.”
“I’m up for getting out of here.” My voice quavered.
He squeezed my fingers, and the knot in my stomach unraveled. His scent and the warmth radiating from him were like a light at the end of the tunnel.
“I have a boat. If we can make it to the end of the pier, you can hide there.”
“Sure. Let’s do it.” Anything was better than this room, which seemed to be shrinking by the second.
On the other side of the door, a QEC unit stormed in. By the thrashing sounds and yelping, they’d come in full-commando mode with way more force than was necessary.
“This way.” Tek pushed one of the shelf units out of the way and opened a door that led to the outside.
The gentle sea breeze calmed my nerves. And finally, my instincts kicked in. Once outside, I helped Tek pull the shelves back into place and lock the door behind us. We stood in an alley between the bar and some warehouse. Water sloshed against the pier not too far from us. No one ever got away from the QEC. But if Ry found me first, I stood a better chance of getting back to the pod unseen. Or at the very least, I’d get a less severe punishment. I had to stick to Ry’s plan.
Staying flush against the wall of the warehouse, I padded back toward the storefront. When more boots appeared in the circle of light at the end of the alley, Tek caged me to the wall, his hard body pressed against mine.
“They can’t see very well in the dark.”
“I know. It has to do with the virus.”
“Shh… Don’t move,” he whispered.
Even if I had wanted to, I didn’t think my body would have responded. The now-richer scent on his skin and the magnetic pull between us had my full attention. My eyes fluttered closed.
“You feel it too, don’t you?” His breath ghosted the curve of my neck.
4
We’re Out in the Open Here
Tek
“Feel what?” Catita glanced up at me.
Talk about misreading the room. “Nothing. Looks like the uniforms decided not to chance it in the dark alley.”
Her gaze stayed on mine for several beats before she turned her attention to the commotion at the top of the street. Alexa had been right to be annoyed with me for getting involved in QEC affairs, especially after what had happened at the fields tonight. But the way Catita looked at me when she asked for help, as if we were friends, as if she trusted me blindly, I couldn’t say no.
“You can’t save them all, Tek.” Dad’s words echoed in my head. He wasn’t wrong. But it would be a long while before I felt as if I’d made any kind of atonement for what happened to Mom, before this guilt buried in my chest went away.
“They’re going to come back. We should go.” She pressed a hand on my stomach and pushed me away.
“How do you know?”
“They might’ve chosen not to search the dark alley, but their lieutenant won’t let them get away with that. At least that’s what Ry would do.”
“This is your sister who apparently is friends with Alexa?”
“Yeah. Did you ever meet her?
“I don’t think so. If she looks like you, I would definitely remember.”
She opened her mouth, brows furrowed. “Let’s go before their superior shows up.” She took my hand in hers and pulled me toward the docks on the other side.
Familiar.
The word bounced in my head as I followed Catita down the platform. She peered at me over her shoulder. “Which way, Tek?”
My name on her lips stopped me in my tracks. Below us, water sloshed against the swaying catamarans as the moonlight skimmed her features and her utility pants.
“Is this some new tactic?” I shook my head to focus on the situation.
“A tactic for what?” She craned her neck to survey the area.
The papers on my ship weren’t exactly in order.
