“You don’t need to punish yourself,” Lin said, placing a tiny hand on my arm. “You deserve to be happy, Eve. You can’t save everyone and you can’t always fix every problem.”
I met her gaze again and I felt an immense sense of gratitude toward her. Lin was one of the most understanding people I had ever met. I couldn’t comprehend how she could always take things so calmly and evenly. But she always said the right things when I needed to hear them.
“Thanks,” I said, attempting a bit of a smile.
“Any time,” she said before wrapping me in a hug that was surprisingly strong, considering her size.
“I think I’m going to go find Avian now,” I said when she released me.
“I think that’s a good idea,” she said with a wink before she walked back to the remaining students.
Climbing the stairs, I turned down the hall. I knocked on Avian’s door once. No one answered so I peeked inside, only to find it empty.
I opened the door to my own room to find a small package sitting on my bed. I crossed the room and gingerly picked it up.
It was solid, far heavier than I expected it to be.
Tearing back the brown paper packaging, I found a box. I lifted the lid to find a beautiful, silver handgun.
“I kind of thought it just screamed ‘Eve.’”
I turned to see Avian leaning in the doorframe, his arms crossed over his chest.
“Is this a Desert Eagle .44 magnum?” I asked, my voice disbelieving. I looked back at the firearm. I pulled the clip out and found it fully loaded.
“Yep,” Avian said, crossing the room and stopping by my side. “I found it while I was out with the rehoming crew.”
“These are nearly impossible to find,” I said with a laugh in my voice. “And you just happen across one?”
Avian placed his hands on my shoulders. He leaned in close, brushing his lips across my shoulder. “Uh huh.”
“You want to go test it out after duty tomorrow?” I asked, replacing the clip and eying along the barrel.
“I was hoping you would say that,” he said and I could hear the smile in his voice. “I got myself a new compound bow and a quiver full of broad tipped carbon shaft arrows. I wanted to test them out.”
Setting the gun down on the bed, the safety on, I turned and faced Avian. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in close. There was a hint of a smile playing in the corners of his mouth.
“Are you using firearms to get me alone in my room?” I asked.
“I wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, his smile growing as he pushed the door closed.
Avian’s lips were as familiar as the feeling of clothing against my skin, but he was different fabrics and textures every time they met. His lips consumed my own, trailed to my jaw, explored my neck, sought other places on my body.
I lay back on the bed, my new firearm hard under my spine. Avian lifted me further onto the bed and he shifted on top of me. My hands clutched the fabric of his shirt and as his lips trailed once again to my throat, the fabric suddenly split as I tugged. Neither of us noticed as I let the tattered remains fall to the floor.
Avian was the one sure way to pull me back to the surface on my dark, drowning days.
His hands held the small of my back, his skin meeting mine in a way that threatened to black me out. My breath came out ragged in a way hours of running never managed to bring out of me.
I tugged on his lower lip with my teeth, my hand running over his buzzed hair. I loved it when it got to this length. It was soft and fuzzy. I rolled on top of him, my legs straddling his.
Somehow we'd found heaven on Earth in the middle of hell. Avian and I together, that was what it was. Heaven. Happiness.
There was a knock on the door. “Eve?” Royce’s voice rang though the heavy wood. “You in there?”
I jerked back from Avian, covering my mouth to stifle the scream or laugh I knew was about to come. My face felt warm and I knew I was blushing.
“Yeah, I’m here,” I said, springing off of Avian and straightening my clothes. I half-tripped across the room and cracked the door open.
Royce shook his head, a coy smile playing on his lips that said he knew exactly what I had just been doing.
“You need something?” I squeaked.
“Dr. Beeson and Dr. Stone would like a report on West,” Royce said. His own face was slightly red with embarrassment.
“Okay, I’ll be up in a few minutes,” I said, my voice higher pitched than I would have liked.
“Five minutes,” he said, attempting to be serious once again. “Oh, and Avian,” he said loudly. My face flushed all the more hot. “Nice work on the block five scout. Looks like those units will be perfect.”
“Thank you, Sir,” Avian called from behind me. I faintly heard him suppressing a laugh.
Royce just shook his head as he walked away. I heard him mutter something like “horny hybrid” under his breath.
I turned back to Avian, feeling utterly horrified.
Avian burst into laughter.
“This is not funny, Avian!” I said, throwing a box of tissues in his direction.
He just laughed as he dodged them. “I have to say, I never thought I’d have the experience of being walked in on by the father with you,” he said.
“Royce…” I started to argue.
“He might as well be,” Avian said, the smile still on his face. “Trust me, he’s protective enough of you to be your father.”
My face still felt hot. “Well, I’m fully aware of what the human emotion of embarrassment feels like now.”
Avian chuckled and bent to grab his shirt. He held up the tattered remains with a ridiculous smile.
“Sorry about that,” I said, not feeling sorry in the slightest.
“Don’t worry about it,” he said light-heartedly as he dropped it into my garbage can. “I can always get another in this city.”
I couldn't help but stare at him for a moment. He really was beautiful. His eyes burned bright in the dim light, his brow heavy and dark, giving him a deep and soulful look. His jaw was strong, all his features so serious and deep. I'd heard stories about angels—beautiful, good, and perfect creatures that came from heaven and walked the earth.
Avian was an angel if ever there were one.
“You’d better get going or you’re going to get in trouble with your dad,” Avian teased, pressing a kiss to my forehead. I punched him in the arm, maybe a little too hard considering he winced.
“Thank you for the gun,” I said, truly meaning it.
“You’re welcome,” he said, pressing a kiss to my lips.
THREE
That night, Avian had a nightmare about Sarah. They came frequently and ferociously. It was the guilt of leaving her behind, back in the mountains. It ate at him. He knew there had been nothing he could do about it. But that didn’t prevent the nightmares.
Nights like those he found his way into my bed.
I woke again sometime around four in the morning. Seeing Avian still asleep, I slid out from next to him, pulled my work clothes and boots on, and slipped out the door. I made my way through the dark halls to the kitchen, my stomach growling. Coming to Los Angeles had been good for everyone in Eden. We had all been starving when we arrived, trying to survive off of dwindling food stores after the Bane burned the gardens to ash.
The kitchen was dark, as it should be this time of night. Everyone was adjusting back to a diurnal sleeping schedule quickly.
Flipping a light on, I went for the refrigerator.
“I take it you couldn’t sleep either?”
My fingers flew to the gun at my hip and I poised it in front of me.
“I see all your old habits haven’t died just yet,” West said, his familiar cocky grin cracking on his lips. His face looked more like its old self when he smiled. He sat on the counter, a half-eaten carrot in one hand. “Still the same old gun-happy Eve.”