“Like what?” she shot back.
“Why are you always so insistent on suffering alone?”
“Because there’s no point in suffering together, not when it’s impractical. You’ve already done the job you’ve been sent here to do—you got us close enough to Connor Doherty and Penelope Morrison, you’ve helped us uncover what could be the secret vault where we’ll find the evidence that we need. I needed you to be here before. There’s no need for you now.”
As always, her words stung him in a way he wasn’t used to. Or maybe he was too used to it. Unneeded, unwanted. Maybe he deserved it, after how he’d sent the others off. How long had it been since he’d felt this affected by a girl? He’d been so confident swearing off love. Now he found himself staring at Sydney’s face and felt the stirring of something very different.
Maybe he didn’t need to stay. But he wanted to. The thought of leaving her here…
“Please tell me you’re not serious,” he tried again. “There are probablydozens of dangerous people in this city involved in Morrison’s killing—you’ll be in the crosshairs of both them and Morrison’s loyals. And if the plane takes off this evening with only Penelope and me, how will you escape?”
“Panacea will send another plane eventually.”
“Eventually,” he said flatly.
“This is no longer your mission, Winter.” Suddenly Sydney sounded angry. She glared at him, then pushed his arm away from her. To his relief and dismay, she could stand easily on her own now, the effects of the poison all but gone. “Get away from here and back to the States.”
“And then what?”
She threw her hands up at him. “What do you want me to say? And then it’s done. We’re done. What’d you think would happen at this point? Go back to your life and leave me alone.”
He opened his mouth, ready to say more, but she had already turned away from him and was heading toward the stairs. It took but a few more seconds for her to disappear up the steps.
His muscles tensed, ready to dash off in her direction and find another way—any way—to stop her. But he didn’t.
Their brief moment of madness, of their hands all over each other, now seemed a million years away.
Why the hell was he arguing with her on this? She was right. He’d done his job, what Panacea had sent him here to do. His part was finished. Now he had become a liability, and Sydney clearly had no interest in letting that hold her back from what she needed to do.
And maybe whatever feelings he thought he had for her were an illusion. That would be a good thing. What kind of future could he have with a girl like Sydney, anyway? This mission was simply a chance collision of their two worlds. He was a performer. His life existed on the stage, under the spotlight. And Sydney? Sydney belonged to a secret world, moving in the spaces where Winter didn’t—shouldn’t—go. Hehad already entangled one of his closest friends in the snare of a trap originally set for himself. Maybe he’d affected the others, too, in ways he didn’t even know about yet.
He couldn’t afford to be in a relationship with Sydney. Not even a friendship. Not if he valued their safety and their lives.
But for now, he was still embroiled in this—and Sydney had taught him to follow his instinct. And something in his instinct told him that, if he left her behind now, if he just walked away from people he had come to care about, he would regret it for the rest of his life.
He was done carrying the weight of regrets on his shoulders.
Winter turned away from the stairs and toward the front door. As he did, he carefully slid his finger against the tiny tracker embedded into the side of his phone and pulled it out. He slid it under a coaster on a side table.
Then he pulled out his phone and dialed a number he’d never dialed before.
It only rang once.
“Hello?” said Penelope. Her voice sounded small and a little startled.
“It’s me.”
Her voice started trembling. He could hear the threat of tears in them. “Winter? Oh my god, I saw the press—are you still trapped in your house?”
“Don’t worry about me. How areyou?”
“Holding up okay. Winter, look, I have to tell you—”
He glanced over his shoulder as he reached the door. “We need to talk. Can I meet you early at the palace pavilion?”
“Early?” She hesitated a moment. “Sure.”
“Thanks. See you soon.”
