Page 107 of Blue Arrow Island
He arches a brow, skeptical.
“I will.” There’s a note of annoyance in my tone. “Let’s go.”
When he opens the door and walks outside, I follow. He offers me his arm and I take it, because I can’t see much through the sleet and ice whipping around in the powerful wind. It grabs ahold of my jacket and I tighten my hold on Marcus’s arm, which is rock solid beneath my hand.
“Let’s check the fence first!” he calls out.
The ice chunks are almost the size of golf balls, a few thudding against my head as we walk. Marcus leads the way to the Sub, and I can feel his relief when he finds the door to the tunnel securely closed and nothing damaged.
We’re moving toward the wall when I stop, putting a hand over my eyes to shield them.
“I see something!”
He follows my gaze, then walks in the direction I’m pointing. When we get there, we find a lone piece of gray, weathered wood on the ground. He heads toward the center of camp, and soon we find another piece of wood that’s smaller, but looks the same as the first.
My hair is blowing in every direction, making it hard to see. I lean in to Marcus, whose broad body shields me.
After a few more steps, he stops, turning his face toward me. “The tower came down.”
Damn. I follow his line of sight to a pile of wood, which was the top of the tower, where a guard kept watch around the clock. Good thing no one was in it when it came down. It’s a big loss, but at least it wasn’t the fence.
Marcus leads me back to the Sub entrance, where we’re more protected from the elements. He keys in a code to open the door and says, “Change of plans.”
We’re both dripping wet when we walk inside. I put my fingertips on my scalp to check a tender spot where an ice chunk hit me as he pushes the buttons to close the door.
I take off the heavy raincoat, Marcus grabbing his radio. He’s about to speak into it when a voice comes out of it instead.
“Atlas to Command One. Code brown. Repeating, we are at code brown.”
“Fuck.” Marcus runs a hand through his hair, water droplets flying. He takes a second, hands on his hips, then says, “Okay.”
He pushes the button on his radio. “Copy, Atlas. This is Ares. I need Command One armed and ready at the interior Sub entrance immediately.”
My pulse races with worry as he meets my gaze. “We’re running on partial power, which means one of our sources was damaged.”
“Oh shit.”
He nods. “Please listen to me, Briar. I like you. I want you here. I ...” He looks out into the storm. “Fuck, I’m bad at this. We have a system here, and even though I’m pretty sure you’ve got the skills to be on the first command team, you’re not on it yet. I need—really, actuallyneed—you to stay in here while we do our checks. We’ve drilled for this. I know?—”
I nod, cutting him off. “Okay.”
He frowns, looking unconvinced. “You sure?”
I put a hand up. “I get it. Emergency protocol, you don’t have time to be explaining everything to me. How can I help?”
He meets my gaze, something I can’t identify swimming in his eyes. “Stella is in charge of command team two. Find her. If shit goes bad for my team, she’ll take charge.”
My heartbeat turns erratic as I look up at him, longing to reach out and touch him. “Don’t say that.”
“We have to plan for the worst. Virginia will do anything to breach this camp and take it over, and I’m dead if she succeeds. Take care of yourself, okay? I mean it. You’re—” He looks away, seeming unable to find the word he’s looking for.
I launch myself at him, wrapping my arms around his shoulders. He tenses for a moment, then returns my embrace, his massive arms encircling me at my back. Every nerve ending in my body fires as I press myself against him. I rest my cheek on his shoulder, which is as hard as a rock.
“It’ll be okay,” I say softly against his neck.
He tightens his hold on me, the security I feel in his arms calming the chaotic rhythm of my heart.
“Shit, sorry,” someone mutters.
