Page 125 of Green Ravens

Dammit!

A stab of anger shot through him.

Neptune stirred, her purring growing louder as she lifted her head and rested it on his thigh.

“I’m all right, girl,” he whispered. “I’m all right.”

Zorion gazed at a photo of him at the helm of theChariot.

“You look so strong and commanding, Val.” Zorion moaned. “And we need to get you some of those aviator shades like yesterday. Fuck, you look sexy wearing those.”

Valor pfft’d, but he admitted he did look like a boss.

“There are no images of us together.” Valor frowned.

“Maybe we didn’t know each other back then.”

There wasn’t much on their lives before the military: spouses, children, or living relatives, but it did say Valor came from a long line of men who’d served in the Army. All were killed in combat, except his father.

“Maybe we can find him,” Zorion said. “I’m sure Glitch can.”

Valor sighed, thinking for a moment before he shook his head slowly.

“The son he knew is gone.”

“Val.” Zorion gripped his chin, turned his head, and placed a gentle kiss on his mouth. “Are you sure?”

Valor nodded, then turned to another photo. Each one was a memory neither of them could touch.

And they were okay with that.

Zorion homed in on a grainy picture of them side by side at a bar.

A jukebox was visible in the background, half-empty bottles on the bar. But what made Valor freeze was the expression on Zorion’s face.

He was looking at him—just looking—with something raw and full of heat.

“I have a feeling this might be when we first met.” Valor pointed at the date and time stamp at the top of the photo. “It’s the day before the failed mission.”

Zorion leaned in and murmured against Valor’s earlobe. “I’m looking at you like I want to eat you.”

Valor chuckled. “And I look terrified.”

After a much-needed laugh, they flipped through the rest in silence.

They set the pictures down and Zorion pulled out the tablet. The only digital piece of their lives caught by a drone from their last mission.

He inserted the disk and let it load.

The screen flashed to life with a high-pitched crackle of recorded airspace. Then it dropped into the feed.

Two military vessels slicing through choppy waves—theChariotand theNeptune—maneuvering in unison.

Missiles launched and gunfire erupting from all sides lit up the dank river like fireworks.

TheNeptunewas struck first.

Valor felt Zorion’s heart pounding against his back.

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