The Skin Thief

Chapter 99

The next few weeks pass in a blissful blur. Marcus and I spend time together nearly every day. We have lunch together, either in the cafeteria or at one of the cafes local to the MoD building, and in the evenings, we split our time at each other's places. Sometimes, we go out for a nice dinner too. Of course, when we are at work, we are strictly professional. The people in our office have no idea that Marcus and I are dating.

Marcus is also nothing more than professional during our combat training sessions. He still teaches me, and we have classes together almost every morning, working on hand-to-hand combat, blade work, or shooting.

It is still hard pretending to be worse than I am, pretending that I'm learning. I 'improve' slightly every day. I don't push it too far, not wanting to make it suspicious. But I also want Marcus to see potential in my combat ability. He is an excellent teacher, and I find myself learning some new things to add to my arsenal.

Being with him is so wonderfully effortless. I love holding his hand as we walk through the city in the evenings. I love how he kisses me and holds me tight as we wind down from our busy jobs. I love talking to him and the way he makes me laugh.

Every time I look at him, my heart flutters with pure joy.

I tell myself over and over not to get too close, but I can't help it, and soon, I'm forcing myself not to even think about the inevitable. Instead, I focus on holding onto this small, precious moment in time.

I've kept an eye on the Money Rat investigation too, and the other ones being worked on in the office. Cobalt issued me a hidden camera in a pen. It is the latest technology and was able to bypass the security X-rays undetected.

Taking photos of people's screens with sensitive information on portal locations, active investigations into the second realm, and fourth-realm troop movements has never been easier. At the end of every night, I'm sending over hundreds of images back to Cobalt and in turn, Mr Day. What he is doing with all the intel, I don't know, and I don't care.

I walk to Marcus's office, ready for our lunch date. The commander is inside. The pair are exchanging more tense words. They've been doing that a lot lately, and each time their meetings end, Marcus comes out of it a little more stressed than before.

Today is different, though.

Marcus paces across the room whilst the commander sits calmly in the chair. There is a frown on both their faces, and Marcus talks quickly. The commander stands, and they exchange a few more words before walking to the door.

"I'll see you tonight," the commander says. "And you, too, Miss Astor. Are you looking forward to the gala?"

"I'm looking forward to wearing a nice dress, that's about it," I say, keeping my tone light-hearted. The commander chuckles and looks at Marcus. He pats him on the shoulder.

"Tonight is going to be fun," he says, his voice full of sarcasm.

"I just love pretending to be friendly to all of those arseholes," Marcus replies with a chuckle of his own. They say their goodbyes and then share a look I can't quite decipher. Then, the commander is gone, and Marcus and I are going out for lunch.

Marcus is tense throughout lunch and spends a lot of it on his phone. I don't push him or ask what's wrong. He puts his phone away with a sigh, his face grim.

"I'm sorry," he says.

"You don't need to apologise," I reply. He smiles softly and reaches out, taking my hand.

"Everything is a mess at the moment," he says, and I know that is the extent of the information I'm going to get.

***