“She left you.” His tone was accusatory, and even though Shanna knew it wasn’t directed at her but at her mom, it still hurt.
“So my mission is worth less than yours?” she snapped.
“I—uh—”
“You’ll never understand how it feels for everyone to forget you.” She gave a sad shrug. “You can’t, because you’re the great Simon Montague. Not only does everyone know your name; you’re etched into this time, and even afterward, your legacy will remain.”
Frustrated, she walked to the wall and leaned against it. “But I have nothing. I could decide to walk in a random direction, get lost in the mountains, and in a few days, at best weeks, nobodywill remember I ever existed.” She bowed her head. “I need to find Mom. I need to tell her that for me, she still exists, even if I can’t remember her. And I need her …” As her voice broke, Simon came over and wrapped her in a hug. “I need to know a part of her, somewhere, can still remember me.”
He caressed her hair as she cried into his shoulder. She cried until tears blurred her vision and she began hiccupping. She briefly registered Simon scooping her up and sitting down on the bed, where she continued to weep into his shirt.
Damn Caitriona, and damn the curse. It always found its way through.
“I know I’m selfish,” Simon said after a while, when she’d calmed down.
“You have your priorities. I have mine. At the end of the day, it’s fate.” She wriggled out of his embrace. “What will you do? Do you have anyone you can trust back home?”
“I thought that was Everett.” His voice was filled with cynicism.
“Friends?”
“After three years of them knowing someone else they thought was me? I don’t know how it would feel. For either of us.”
“What about that bodyguard of yours? Stan?”
“He’s still around?”
“As far as I know. Over the past few years, he prevented me from getting to you multiple times. Thought I was a stalker.” She let out a short laugh. “Of course, that wasn’t really you, so I guess he had a point. But his protectiveness might be exactly what you need.”
“He didn’t know about the body switching, though?”
“No. Nobody did.”
Simon bit his lip. “I’ll think about it. He was my hire, not Everett’s, so in theory, he was loyal to me. But who knows.”
“And Chris? Will she go with you?”
“I hadn’t talked to her yet, but I’d like her to. That way, I can keep an eye on her and try to protect her. I hope I can find enough evidence about Everett elsewhere so I don’t have to expose her. I’m not sure how recognizable she’ll be to Everett, or if he’ll even try to bring her up, but I’ll do what I can to not land her in more trouble. After all …” He shrugged. “I don’t think she ever would have stabbed me.”
“No. She wouldn’t.” She smoothed his hair back. “That’s very nice of you.”
“Hmm.” He managed a pale smile. “No wonder Everett thinks he can do the job better than I do. I’ve grown soft.”
“You always were soft. It’s just that the others don’t know it.”
He gently held her chin, his blue eyes glittering with earnestness and sincerity. “But you do. You know me.”
She did. She knew him so much that she could almost—almost—believe that the curse wouldn’t get them. Her heart did, but the well-worked pathways of her mind were still cautious. One could only get burned so many times before becoming wary of the flame.
With sudden urgency, Simon grasped her hand. “I won’t leave. Screw Everett. And if everyone already thinks me dead—well, let them have it. We’ll figure something else out. Maybe I’ll be Jason from now on. I’ll start another company. And we’ll go on adventures.”
She laughed. “Don’t be silly. You can’t do that. You have to go get Aries back.”
“I don’t.”
“Yes, you do.” She laid her other hand on top of his. “Just like I have to go get Mom.”
He exhaled and leaned into her, their cheeks brushing, and they stayed like that until time pressed them on.
