“No. Block with your arm… your other arm,” Oliver said as he circled around me.

I changed my stance and kept my focus before Airen got another jab in.

“Duck. Lean. Pivot… Pivot. Left. Jab!” Oliver barked.

I hit the mat and rolled.

“Up!”

I shot up.

“Arm up!”

On and on it went until I felt as if my heart would explode in my chest.

“Ready to give up?” he asked when I wavered.

I shook my head, smacking the lightweight boxing gloves together and bouncing on my toes. I wasn’t going to give up until they had to carry me out.

“Good. Again,” Oliver said, beckoning Airen forward.

She was winded, too. Her chest heaved as she nodded and then advanced.

“Yes!” Oliver bellowed when a well-aimed jab caught Airen in the side. “Now you’re getting it! If you can land another blow like that I’ll call it a day.”

Airen danced sideways, turning just as my fist shot out. I missed.

I had no idea how long it took me to get another jab in on her. What I did know was when I finally did land a hit, the mat looked like a great place to curl up and go to sleep until the next day.

“Good job, Nova,” Airen said, tapping her gloves against the top of mine.

“Hit the showers. Tomorrow’s another day,” Oliver said as he unlaced our gloves.

My hands felt five pounds lighter with the gloves off, and my waning energy perked back up with the thoughts of a hot shower.

“You’ve come a long way in the last two weeks,” Airen said as we walked down the hallway that led to our rooms.

“Tell that to my body,” I replied, digging my thumb into a sore spot on my shoulder.

She chuckled. “It gets a little easier every day. At least it did for me. I remember my first few training sessions where I fell on the ground and refused to get up.”

“That tired?” I asked, casting a quick glance at her.

“Oh, aye. Felt like a right numpty more often than not. Still, I kept pushing myself. Ye find it… that spot inside of ye, and realize it’s not as impossible as ye once thought.”

There was something about Airen that seemed so open and honest. And then there was her accent, which made her sound melodic no matter what she said.

“How long did it take you to find it?” I asked as we reached her room.

She twisted the doorknob to her room and gave me a smirk. “After I got tired of being knocked down. See ya later.”

I’d almost made it to my room when Paige called my name.

“Hey, wow… you look exhausted,” she said when she caught up.

“Is there a word that means more than exhausted?” I asked, wondering how rude it would look if I just fell over and went to sleep right there.

She chuckled. “Yeah, we call them agents. But I guess that can’t even be true anymore since you’ve decided to tackle both ends and the middle.”

And then some. “I was just about to get a shower. What’s up?” I asked.

“I just wanted to check on you,” she answered.

“Procedure checkup for new recruits?” I asked.

She shook her head. “Nope, that’s tomorrow. Today, I’m just coming to check on my friend. So, you’re good?”

My heart squeezed hearing her say that. Hard as it was to wrap my head around the enigma that was the Six, it was harder still knowing they’d accepted me as one of their own. “I’m good. Thanks.”

She touched my arm and then backed up. “If you need anything, I’m just down the hall.”

“Okay.”

I was okay until I was alone. Being alone gave me too much time to think. Eli was never far from my thoughts, and neither was Noni. During the day, I was busy enough to repress everything and put a Band-Aid over my heart. But when I was alone, there was nothing keeping the thoughts at bay. They bled through the temporary fix and danced on my heart.

With Noni, I had closure. A sense of knowing it was final. I’d said my goodbyes to her and honored her final wishes. There was no closure for me as far as Eli was concerned. His body was being taken care of, or at least it was what Jared’s mother told him. And while everyone was dealing with his loss in their own way, I could also see the questions in their eyes. Questions no one was available to answer. Nadia hadn’t talked to anyone other than Jared, and when he’d come back from his talk with her, it hadn’t gone well at all.

Oliver walked around hollow-eyed. They’d rallied together and cornered him, demanding answers until he flipped out. I’d backed against the wall, scared to breathe when all hell broke loose. None of the Six were ready to accept that Eli was gone. That he’d suffered a critical injury that robbed him from their lives. Worse was there was no body to mourn over. And what would come back of him amounted to nothing but an echo of what he once was. Yet, they waited for that moment, unable to truly move on until they could come together and say goodbye.

I didn’t push for answers. No matter how much I wanted to demand to be told what happened. The little time I’d spent with him didn’t hold a candle to those around me. I had no right to feel like I was owed something. All I had was what he’d given me in that small amount of time, and I’d carry it with me for the rest of my life.

All I knew was training. If I focused on that, I wouldn’t fall apart. Oliver met me in the training room and put me through treadmill hell and hours of burpees, crunches, lunges, and squats.

When he called for a halt, I bumped the treadmill down to a slow walk and hoped my legs would keep me upright. It wasn’t until I was off the treadmill that I noticed a younger-looking man in a lab coat standing beside Oliver.

“Nova, this is Cole Franklin,” Oliver said.

I had no idea what protocol was when agents met the mastermind behind the curtain. Did I shake his hand? I was sweaty from head to toe, so I tucked that idea away as he said, “It’s nice to officially meet you, Nova.”

“Thank you, sir,” I answered between labored breaths.

He wasn’t anything like I’d expected. For one, he seemed really young. For another, he was a whole lot smaller in stature than I’d envisioned.

“I wanted to come down and introduce myself to you before we started your medic training,” Cole said.

Oliver’s eyebrows rose, but he kept quiet.

“Oliver, a moment please?” Cole said. “It was nice to meet you, Nova. Welcome to the team.”

“Looks like you get an easy day,” Oliver said as he gave me a curt nod and then followed Cole out through the door at the other end of the training room.

I moved over to the mini fridge just as the door opened and Ace walked in.

“Done already?” he asked, eyes scanning the room. “Did Oliver leave?”

Caught mid-swallow, I held my finger up. “Cole came and introduced himself to me, then asked to speak to him.”

Ace’s eyes widened briefly. “Huh.”

“Oliver made that face, too, when Cole came… why?” I asked.

“We don’t see him all that often,” he answered as he crossed the room to where the free weights were.

“The guy who created all of this isn’t around much?” I asked.

Ace selected his weights and held them at his sides. “He delegates. Although, you might see him more often like Eli does—”

His words crashed to a halt as he closed his eyes and swore.

“I’m sorry,” I said, seeing the anguish on his face. It stabbed at my own heart.

His eyes snapped open. “Nova, you have nothing to be sorry for. I do… but you don’t.”

I moved to sit against the wall. I couldn’t go back to my room and be alone. No more than I could leave Ace by himself with the guilt he felt hanging so heavy in the air. It shimmered and danced around him like the northern lights that painted the sky at home.

“Have you ever seen the northern lights?” I asked.

“Once,” he said, putting the weights back before he asked, “Why?”

“Eli had never seen them before, so I took him out one night and we sat for hours watching the sky. I’ll never forget it. Not for the rest of my life, because it’s one of the few memories I have with him. But you guys… you guys have years’ worth. A lifetime really. Like the lifetime of memories I have of Noni. It’s never enough though, is it?”

He shook his head. “It’s not, and I don’t know how to deal with it. I can’t process it. I keep telling myself he’s only been called out to the field for an emergency. Some days, I can trick myself into truly believing it. At least until I close my eyes. That’s when the truth hits me. They cut all the wiring on the snowmobiles and the snowcat, did you know that?” he asked.

“They?” Was he talking about Eli’s kidnappers?

“Ivanov’s Ukrainian thugs. They set off an explosion not far from where our base of operations was. Aiden and I went out right after the explosion, but Eli stayed to set up the medic room… just in case,” Ace said, explaining, but not fully explaining, everything.

“Was anyone injured?” I asked.

“The scientist we were there to keep tabs on and two of his assistants. One of the assistants didn’t make it. If we’d have made it back five minutes earlier, they never would have taken Eli. And what makes it even worse is that I can’t shake this feeling he’s going to walk through the door one day.

“Aiden’s a mess. He can’t sleep. He hasn’t been in the training room. He stalks the halls looking for Nadia, but she hasn’t shown her face since coming back from Mongolia. Nobody’s saying anything. Why hasn’t anyone come to us? Why hasn’t there been something done for Eli?” Ace bowed forward, fingers laced behind his neck.

His questions stacked on top of my own. They were valid, and knowing how he felt, I was sure everyone felt the same.

“Sorry, Nova, I just… It’s hard to talk to anyone about it. The others either cry or rage, so it’s easier to keep my thoughts to myself.”

“Maybe that’s why Cole wanted to talk to Oliver,” I answered.

Ace snorted. “Maybe, but I doubt it. They don’t tell you anything you want to know unless they want you to know it.”

“Well, that sucks,” I said, resting my head against the wall.

Ace’s hand hovered in front of my face. “Come on, we’re not gonna get anything accomplished in here today.”

I let him help me up, and we left the training room together.