“Our bond has tightened.”
She blushed. “Well, I know last night was very nice—”
“This.” He lifted his hand. “It’s shorter now. I couldn’t even get out of the room.”
“Really?”
They tested it: she went to stand by the window, and he could barely reach the door before she got yanked.
“What’s that, ten feet? Fifteen?” she said.
“About fifteen, yes. What the hell is going on?”
“I don’t know!” She lifted her arms in a shrug. “I didn’t do anything!”
“Okay, well …” He turned to the door, then back to her. “I would like to go get changed.”
“Right. Let me throw something on, and I’ll go with you.”
They maneuvered through Shanna getting dressed, going over to his room, then Simon showering and dressing himself, like they were playing some kind of short-distanceTwister. Washed of witchcraft and freshly dressed, they finally made it down for breakfast, where Simon pulled out his phone to prepare for the press conference while Shanna called her grandma.
“So the bond has tightened,” Dolores said. “Curious. Most curious.” She didn’t sound too concerned.
“Once we break it, it’s not going to matter, right?” Shanna said. “It’ll just be more inconvenient until then.”
“I suppose. It might be a side effect of fulfilling the condition. Which you—”
“Yes, yes,” Shanna cut her off, her cheeks coloring as she glanced at Simon. “All conditions fulfilled. I’ll go now. Say hi to Jinx.” And she canceled the call.
“The conference is starting,” he said.
“I’ll go get some food.” Shanna stood but stopped as she perused their options—none within fifteen feet. “Never mind, we’ll eat after.” She sat back down.
Simon folded the phone so it stood on the table, and they could both watch. The conference started casually enough, with Everett taking the role of the spokesperson.
“You’ve known for a couple of weeks now that our beloved CEO, Simon Montague, has passed away,” he said. “I can officially confirm this was due to an ongoing injury from his accident several years ago.”
Simon looked at Shanna. “He can’t have a body, right? There isn’t a duplicate of me going about or, well, being dead?”
She shook her head. “Someone must be lying to him. Or maybe they got an unrecognizable body and they think it’s you. I don’tknow what happened to the other guy—your impostor—once we separated him from your body. Maybe there was a mix-up?”
“However, I can assure you, Aries will go on with the same stability and quality of products you’ve been used to,” Everett continued. “Mr. Montague left us a great legacy, and I’m proud to continue it.”
Some reporters shouted questions—Simon couldn’t hear them well over the stream.
“Indeed,” Everett said. “I will take his place as the CEO of Aries tech—only for now,” he quickly added as more buzz from the reporters followed. “Until the board of directors finds a suitable replacement.”
Shanna looked at him, her eyes wide with fear.
“No, no, that’s good,” Simon said. “Well, as good as it can be in the situation. Everett knows the company best, after me. It’s safe in his hands until I return.” Actually, that dissolved the ball of lead forming in his chest. If he couldn’t be there, Everett was the next best candidate, and once Simon returned, got the mess cleared up, and figured out who wanted him dead, he’d find it much easier to sort out things with his long-time friend and mentor, instead of some random person taking over the company.
A reporter shouted something about a scandal.
“That has also been resolved,” Everett said. “A simple misunderstanding with one of our funding contracts. Dr. Guidry has received an updated contract, which you can ask her about yourself, and the person at fault for the mistake in the original contract has been reprimanded accordingly.” After another question from the reporter, he added, “All our designs are patented, and if so needed, we can provide proof that none of us ever stole anything. I will not allow such rumors, much less now, when they could ruin the good name of our deceased—”
“Morning.” Chris appeared behind them, munching on a scone. “What’s up?”
“We’re listening to a press conference Simon’s company is having.” Shanna pulled out a chair to let Chris sit and watch.
