“This isn’t advanced chemistry,” I laugh. “Just brandy, sugar, coffee, and lots of cream.”
“Well, whatever it is, I could get used to it.”
We sit in silence for a few minutes, and I think about what I need to say and how I can possibly say it without her running from the room and cursing my name.
“I was thinking we should check on Leah,” I say.
“Oh, I did speak to Mal on my way up here,” Sara answers. “Apparently, he spoke to her this morning. She’s been ill.”
“I’d still like to check on her.”
“I agree, but they said she needs rest, and Seline has been looking in on her.”
“Okay,” I say, wondering if Leah coming down with something has anything to do with Jackson.
He could have poisoned her. She’s an old woman, and that’s a great way to make it look like natural causes.
I tap my fingers on the edge of my glass, looking absently at the ceiling. When I look back at Sara, she’s gazing straight at me, her eyes so big and dark, they look like the reflection of an abyss.
“Sara,” I choke out, nerves suddenly piling into my gut. “We need to talk.”
“I know,” she says, staring at me with a blank expression. “You’ve got some explaining to do.”
Her words seem to grab me by the throat, paralyzing my ability to speak. I came here specifically to tell her all my secrets, but now that she’s giving me the chance to do just that, it feels like cutting my chest open to bare my soul.
That’s exactly what it is, you fucking fool. This is the biggest test of your courage you’ll ever face. Are you really going to run from it?
Chapter 20 - Sara
When I see fear bloom in Shawn’s eyes, it gives me a moment of satisfaction. I know he’s hiding something huge from me, as well as toying with my feelings, and I couldn’t be more done with him and this entire situation.
Tell me the truth. Come on, give me something to fight for!
Shawn visibly struggles for words, and I can’t hold in a little scoff of disbelief.
“Come on, Shawn. You got me to drop my barriers and let you in—then you sided with my father, only to publicly humiliate him! I’m done with these games, and I need you to be honest with me right fucking now!”
Because if you aren’t true to me, then I’m going. I’m going for good, and I’ll never look back.
“Okay,” he says in an even tone. “I’m hearing you, and I’m ready to tell you everything.”
“Really?” I say cynically.
“I’m a secret agent,” he blurts out. “A black ops operative. Or, I used to be. I worked for an organization called Wolf’s Shadow.”
“Excuse me?” I sputter, trying to process his words. “What the fuck?”
“I’m ex-military, and so are my friends. About a year ago, we were sent here to investigate a threat to both our world and the human world. Wolf’s Shadow exists to keep the peace between the two.”
“What the actual fuck,” I whisper, feeling like Shawn has just started speaking a foreign language. I barely even understand what he’s talking about, because the only things I know about the military, I learned from Talon’s library.
“That’s not all,” he says grimly. “We were sent here to investigate an ancient power—and I’m pretty sure it’s the same power that forced your people up onto this peak and scared them enough to permanently isolate themselves.”
As I stare at Shawn, the air around me seems to come alive, as if the simmering tension in my blood is bleeding out to thicken the atmosphere. I try to stay calm, but my fear rips out of my mouth in a violent shriek.
“WHAT?”
My anger spikes as the word leaves my lips, and a faint electric charge flickers in my fingers. Somewhere nearby, there’s a loud crash as if something fell off a shelf.
