Species Unknown [Book 2: Pisces)

31. THE ESCAPE (PART 2)

I AVERTED MY EYES, strategically avoiding looking downwards, cursing myself for not thinking of bringing any clothes for him. But it was pointless to dwell on it, we had no time no waste.

I let out a shaky breath, and refocused on the task at hand. We had to get out of here, and quick.

"Here, put your arm around me" I said, gently helping him away from the wall to encourage him to lean his weight on me.

Cassian blinked, giving my small frame a once-over before raising an eyebrow at me. I could see in his face that he was unconvinced that I would be able to hold him, which was a fair assumption considering I didn't know if I could either. But we didn't have much time. So, until Austin came, I had to try.

"We have to do this together, remember?" I reminded him, repeating the words from our conversation earlier today.

Cassian paused, his blue eyes looking down to search my face for resolve. I could see the exact moment he relented. With a sigh, his shoulders dropped and he gave a slight nod.

"Together." Cassian breathed, letting go of the wall and shifting his weight slowly to lean on me.

He was hesitant at first, but my confidence convinced him to comply. As I had feared, Cassian was extremely heavy, and I struggled to stay upright as he leaned on me. I closed my eyes as I felt him lean on me, gritting my teeth as I held his weight. All the while, Cassian was watching me cautiously, so I was determined not to look troubled.

"See, no problem." I ground out, struggling under his weight. "Now let's go." I said, beginning to walk with Cassian.

Just as we began walking towards the exit, the tank door creaked once again, and I looked up to see Austin standing in the door frame. Relieved I would have help soon, I made to call out to him to come help, however, Cassian suddenly stopped, throwing me off guard. When I looked up to see what was wrong, I saw Cassian's face had grown serious, his eyes narrowing to glare at Austin.

Gently, I moved his arm down. "It's okay, he's here to help!" I soothed, placing my hand on Cassian's chest to calm him. He looked down at me with a frown, clearly suspicious of Austin who he most likely recognized from the day before.

I let out a sigh, "You have to trust me, okay?" I said, glancing up at Cassian.

Cassian looked between Austin and me a few times before relenting. I felt his muscles tense beneath my hand when I gestured for Austin to come over.

"I promise he won't hurt you." I whispered to Cassian as Austin walked over. My words helped somewhat, and I felt Cassian's chest expand with a long sigh that removed some of the tension from his body.

Slowly, Austin approached Cassian on the opposite side while Cassian cast him an icy glare that made me shiver.

"Can I help?" Austin asked cautiously, looking at Cassian. Cassian glanced down at me and I gave him a pleading look. Turning back to Austin, Cassian begrudgingly nodded, and put his other arm around Austin's shoulders.

Suddenly, a loud alarm began to ring out throughout the compound. Red lights flashed from the ceilings and the alarm wailed loudly, making my head spin.

"The fire must have spread to the building, we have to go!" Austin said hurriedly, prompting us to hurry as we made our way out with Cassian leaning on our shoulders for support.

Getting out of the elevator, we managed to make it back to the main floor when one of the researchers I had seen earlier suddenly walked out of one of the many offices. We stopped short, staring at him in shock as he stared back equally surprised.