Sheltered

Chapter 25

Savanna follows Ian through the Asesinós facility, down hallways, through doors, finally reaching a small room she's never seen before.

A desk strewn with papers, a small, messy bed, a bookshelf in the corner, and a chest identical to the one Savanna is used to storing her few belongings in.

Ian stops, taking a deep breath.
He sits down on the bed, resting his face in his hands.

"Ian..?" Savanna asks tentatively, slowly walking toward him.

"I'm really sorry, Sav. I don't have much time right now." he seemed to be in a sort of daze, his eyes glossed over, and any trace of expression wiped from his face.

"It's fine." Savanna winced. They were the only words she could come up with.

Ian stands up, and walks to the corner of the room where the wooden chest sat.

Savanna watched his every move, trying to figure out what was going on.

Still facing the wall, Ian takes off his shirt to reveal the back of his muscular, tattoo-covered torso.

Instead of turning away, Savanna stares, trying to make out the intricate patterns, symbols, and lettering on his skin.
But before she can so much as read a line of words on his upper back, he slips on a different t-shirt.

Ian turns around and walks toward Savanna without breaking eye contact.

"You need to trust me, ok?" he asks, putting his hands on Sav's shoulders. She nods.
"Something happened, and I don't have much time to fix it..." Ian bites his lip, and turns his eyes to stare at a wall.
"A close friend was killed, along with the other fighters I sent to the border. I need to get my highly trained fighters down there... And I'm going, too."

He finally looked back into Savanna's eyes, his hands remaining on her shoulders.
Sav takes his hands in hers.

"I'm going to trust you, but I expect it to be mutual." she states with surprising authority.
"I'm not going to let you go down there without me. I can help you... And I can't lose someone I love again." Sav looks away, blinking rapidly.

Ian bites his lip again. "I do trust you... But wish it were that easy, Sav." he says, squeezing her hands. "But it's not. I'm taking my best men down there. I'm sorry. It's too dangerous, and there's no way you could help."

"Ian, please..." Sav insists under her breath.

"I can't put you in danger like that. You're staying here."
Before Savanna could argue, Ian enclosed her in his arms.
"I could never even look at myself in the mirror if something happened to you because of me." Ian whispers.

A tear rolls down Savanna's cheek. Fear gripped at her as she let the thought of losing someone else slip into her mind.

After what seemed like hours, or maybe just minutes, or seconds, they broke apart.
"I need to go." Ian sighs.
"Keep an eye on Griffin for me, would you?"
He smiles timidly, kisses Savanna's head, and leaves without another word.

Sav can't move. She can't think. Hopelessness swallows her whole.
Tears silently stream down her face as she finally finds a way to walk to Ian's bed and sit there. Savanna sat there for a while, maybe a short while, maybe a long while, trying to tell herself that "Everything is going to be fine."...

"I know everything will be fine." Sav tells herself.

But she doesn't know.