Is she… does she not… maybe she doesn’t – OOF!
Whatever Smiley might have thought of the life-altering realization that was setting off fireworks in Trent’s brain, the look on her face as she glared up at him when they crashed into the side of the building wasnothappy.
“Watch out!” she hissed at him. “You almost crushed me!”
“Sorry,” Trent managed to get out, as, letting go of the hook with one hand, he curved his arm over the side of the building and managed to haul them both up.
They stood, panting, hands on their knees. When Trent looked over his shoulder, he could see the vague shapes of security guards milling about on the roof of the building they’d just come from.
Best make this snappy,he thought. But he couldn’t leave without asking Smiley for her name – withouttelling her –
“Well, that’s my ride,” Smiley said, looking up, and for the first time, Trent realized he could hear the drone of a helicopter as it came down from the sky. Smiley looked at him challengingly. “You’re not going to fight me for the hard drive, then?”
Trent hesitated. He knew heshouldtry to get it off her. It was his mission to recover it, after all.But –
“Are you really who you say you are?” he asked, looking her straight in the eye. “Are you really doing this to protect those agents? You’re not going to expose them or sell the list on?”
Smiley nodded her head, once, quickly. “I promise you. I really am who I say I am.”
She’s our mate,his kangaroo insisted, frantic with the knowledge.Youknowshe’s telling the truth.
But she doesn’t seem to think she’s our mate at all,Trent thought desperately.But… if she’s human… and I can’t even tell if sheis…then of course she wouldn’t know…
Should he just blurt it out now? Surely she’d know about shifters, if she worked in this kind of area. Perhaps she’d even know about mates, and what they meant?
Trent opened his mouth, still not completely sure what he was going to say, but before he could speak, a ladder dropped down from the helicopter that was hovering above their heads, and Smiley grabbed hold of it with one hand, stepping onto it.
“I take it you believe me, then,” she said, staring at him levelly.
Trent nodded. “I believe you.”
A look of confusion and almost wild disbelief crossed Smiley’s face, but then she shook her head. “Then I’m getting out of here.”
Looking up, she signaled to the pilot of the helicopter, and then slowly began to rise as it began to ascend.
“Wait,” Trent called out, as she rose into the air. “What’s your name?”
She stared down at him for a long moment, emotions chasing themselves across her face, before finally, she seemed to come to a decision.
“Zina,” she said, shaking her head, as if she couldn’t quite believe she’d actuallytoldhim. “That’s my name – Zina. Zina Alden.”
Zina,Trent thought, inhaling deeply as if breathing it in.Her name is Zina, and she’s my mate.
He waited, watching until the helicopter had disappeared from view, the sound of its whirring blades fading into silence.
“Americans,” he muttered, as he turned away, heading for the stairs. “Always so dramatic.”
Back in the present –
Lying on his bed, Trent was forcefully pulled out of his memories of the last time he’d seen Zina Alden by the sound of his phone buzzing with a message notification.
He lifted it, grimacing – the only thing it could be this late at night was something to do with work. Swiping up and punching in the code, Trent stopped, his thumb hovering over the screen, completely frozen in place, though his heart was pounding double-time in his chest.
The number on the screen didn’t belong to any of the fake companies he received texts from as part of his cover that he was an independent IT consultant. It didn’t have a name at all – it was just a totally unfamiliar string of digits.
But it was the text in the message itself that had caught his attention and made his blood freeze in his veins.
Hey – what’ve you been up to? Long time no see. I took your advice, by the way.
