Chapter Twenty-Six
“Cheers!” Winters said, clinging his beer glass with everyone else’s drinks.
“Cheers!” we all said, going around the table and tapping our glasses with the rest of the team.
Winters, Claire, Ryan, Matt, Ruby, James and I were hanging out at our usual bar. It was quiet tonight. We seemed to be the only rowdy ones. I think half the issue was it was early. Things didn’t usually pick up until after nine and it was only eight o’clock.
“Not only are we celebrating our completion of the list, we are also celebrating Joan’s twenty first, the legal age to drink! Drink up,” Winters encouraged, nudging my ribs gently with his elbow.
“I just asked for orange juice,” I said, staring suspiciously into my glass. I hadn’t taken a sip yet. “What did you do to my drink?”
“I have one word for you: vodka,” Claire spilled the beans, stirring her cocktail with one of those cute umbrellas.
“See, this is why I have trust issues,” I mumbled, sniffing my drink for confirmation. All I could smell was orange juice with a very subtle whiff of vodka.
“It’s not gonna kill you,” Ruby said, laughing after she spoke.
“Just drink, scaredy-cat,” Matt teased, flicking a peanut from the bowl of nuts at me.
“This is peer pressure–”
“Drink,” they all said, interrupting my spiel.
I glared at all of them and took a relatively large gulp; my head spun a little. “There, happy?” I declared, placing my glass back down on the table. “Bullies.”
Winters’s pager went off. He let out an irritable breath and glanced down at the screen. He ran his hand through his brown curly mop of hair and rolled his eyes. “Dane wants to see us.”
“What did Joan do this time?” James joked.
I picked up the peanut Matt flicked at me earlier and threw it at James. It bounced off his glasses and shot across the room in the opposite direction.
“Jerk. I didn’t do anything,” I said, taking another swig of my drink. “Just because I’m the youngest in the group doesn’t mean you can pick on me, especially when I can kick your ass blindfolded.”
“I’ll take you up on that challenge,” Matt said, sculling back his third glass of beer. He placed the empty glass down on the table with the others and wiped his stubbled chin. He grinned and flexed his fingers. “You’re good, but not blindfold good.”
“Bring it on,” I countered, slamming back my drink and hopping off the bar stool with a slight stumble. I was hoping they thought it was my clumsiness and not my sudden spurt of tipsiness. They all knew I was a klutz. I didn’t have any issues in a fight. Outside of a fight, it seemed I lacked balance and focus. They forever teased me for it.
“I doubt Dane wants to be kept waiting. You can have your egotistical contest later. Let’s go,” Winters ordered, leaving his drink unfinished on the table. He left behind a generous tip, like he usually did, and made his way out of the bar.
We followed after Winters, knowing full well that Dane didn’t like to be kept waiting. It was in all of our best interests to get there as soon as possible. Thankfully, our local bar hangout was close to work. We only had to walk a few blocks.
“Matt, we all know what happened when Winters took Joan on when they first met. You’d be a fool to think a blindfold would save you from the same embarrassment,” Ruby mentioned, zipping up her jacket.
Ruby flicked her ginger hair back. The fairness of her skin made her hair look like fire. She had a scar that crawled up the side of her neck, the remnants of a bullet wound. She pulled up her collar to hide the scar. She got lucky. I had to hold pressure before medical got to us. If it wasn’t for me, she would have bled out.
I had made peace with my team. Lorenzo was right. Forgiving them made the pain and anger go away but it didn’t change my decision. I was still dead set on bringing the agency down. I would try my best to leave my team out of it. They were my friends and were basically my family. I couldn’t tell them my true intentions. I would never be able to. I didn’t treat them any differently after finding out what they had done. Taking time off work and spending my days with Lorenzo helped a lot. My team didn’t suspect a thing when I came back to work. Maybe I was just too good at pretending, so good that I didn’t know who I truly was anymore.
The USB to replicate the algorithm was stashed in a safe place. I wasn’t ready to risk everything. I was free to wander the building on my own. Theo was gone. I no longer had a shadow but I got the feeling I was still being watched. As soon as I used that USB to replicate the algorithm that was the key to hunting down my kind, Cyrus would come back into my life and wipe my memory. After not seeing him for over two and a half years, I wasn’t ready to let him back in. It made me wonder if I already had used the USB and didn’t know. Where was the safe place where I had stashed it? Or was I just overthinking things? Anything was possible where Cyrus was concerned. Just how good was he at altering memories? Was anything we shared real or was it all lies? It didn’t matter. Lorenzo and I were happy. That’s what was most important.
“What do you think Dane wants?” Ryan asked Winters as we made our way through the agency’s parking lot. It was like a ghost town. Everyone had gone home for the night, except Dane.
“Probably to tell Winters to get a haircut. He looks like a shaggy dog,” Claire said, giggling and ruffling Winters’s hair. “Woof!”
Claire’s face was flushed. Her blue eyes were bright. Something told me I wasn’t the only lightweight in the group.
“Just how strong was that cocktail, Claire?” Winters asked.
“Stronger than you,” Ryan said, grinning when Winters glared at him. “I kid, I kid.”
“You better keep your smart ass comments to yourself before I wipe that grin off your face,” Winters threatened, moving away from Claire because she kept touching his hair. “Claire, sit this one out. I’ll debrief you tomorrow.”
“You can debrief me anyti–”
“Claire, Claire, Claire. What are we going to do with you?” Ruby cut across her.
Ruby wrapped her arm around Claire’s shoulders and led her away from the group.
“I’ll take her home. You guys go ahead. Give me the full story tomorrow,” she called out, escorting a staggering Claire to her car.
“Dude, she’s totally gone,” Ryan said to Matt, shaking his head. “I’m surprised Joan isn’t in the same boat.”
“That’s because it was only a single,” Winters said, tapping the elevator button. “As a responsible leader, it’s not my job to get one of my subordinates trashed.”
“It’s after hours. You can take the leader badge off,” Matt said. “We aren’t gonna judge you for being normal. Besides, we all know that you and Claire–”
“Shut up, Matt,” Winters interrupted him, slipping through the elevator doors when they opened.
“You should really stop treading on thin ice,” James murmured to Matt, barely loud enough for anyone else to hear. I didn’t miss anything.
“Dane’s office,” Winters told the elevator. “Nothing is going on between Claire and I.”
The only thing stopping those two were the strict relationship regulations. It was forbidden to date a coworker.
“Sure. Whatever you say boss,” Matt replied, sounding unconvinced. “Any idea why we were all paged?”
“If I knew, don’t you think I would have said something by now?” Winters snapped, hazel eyes narrowed.
“Did you tell Dane we finished the list?” I asked, keeping my tone neutral so Winters didn’t bite my head off.
“Yeah, he knows,” Winters said, still glaring at Matt. “Whatever it is, must be urgent to be calling us back after hours.”
“Probably has a VIP for us to kill, off the books,” Ryan said. “It’s about the only time he calls us in after hours. As long as we don’t need to go on a mission ASAP, I’m cool with that. Night time is awful.”
“Yup,” James agreed, pushing up his gl
asses. “I have enough trouble seeing as it is.”
“We’re down two members. It won’t come to that. Let’s just hear what Dane has to say and worry about things after we know what’s going on,” Winters said. “Have any plans for your twenty first, Joan?”
“Um,” I answered, scratching my head. “Lorenzo probably has a surprise lined up.”
“I bet he does,” Matt hinted. He laughed when I smacked him on the back of the head.
“You’re just jealous that my boyfriend is gorgeous and you’re still single,” I snapped, smacking him again because he was still laughing.
“D’aw, is that redness in your cheeks from embarrassment?” Matt asked me.
“Oh my gosh! Shut up before I make you,” I threatened.
“Hey, hey. This elevator is too crammed to have a confrontation and you’ll end up hitting one of the spectators. Settle petal,” Ryan interjected softly, resting his hand on my shoulder to hold me back. “You’ll have time to kick his ass later.”
“Quit bickering. I don’t want to give Dane an excuse to shoot us when we get into his office,” Winters cautioned. “Act your damn age, Matt.”
Matt waved his hand. “Alright, boss. I’ll behave.”
“You wouldn’t know how to if your life depended on it,” I muttered.
“That’s rich coming from you,” Matt replied, smirking.
“Do you want a black eye?” I asked, flexing my fingers.
Ryan’s grip on my shoulder tightened. “Easy.”
“Guys, come on. We’re almost there,” James said. “We don’t need an elevator brawl.”
“Things were much more peaceful before Joan came along,” Matt commented, his tone joking. He wasn’t accusing me of disrupting the peace in a harsh manner, which was good because I was already quite close to punching his face as it was.
“You must have been a bland bunch,” I retorted. “You should be grateful I livened things up and got you all promoted.”
“That promotion almost killed a few of us,” Winters muttered, stepping out of the elevator when we reached our floor. He didn’t go far. He blocked the door. “Let me do the talking. I don’t want to hear a single word from any of you when we get into Dane’s office. Got it?”
“Yes,” we all said, knowing Winters wouldn’t let us pass until we agreed.
The reception desk was empty. Stephanie had gone home for the night. I was glad because she was on my I-really-don’t-like list. She was obnoxious, rude, snotty and not a very nice person, to me anyway. She was lovely to everyone else but me. I didn’t know what I did to deserve such treatment. Something told me the green eyed monster was involved. For what reason, I doubt I would ever know. It’s not like I could blatantly ask her what her problem was with me. The last time I found myself in a similar situation, I broke my cousin’s nose. That image was still satisfying, to this day.
“What are you grinning at?” Matt asked me, sounding worried.
“Oh, nothing. Nothing at all,” I replied, giving him an innocent smile.
Dane’s door was open. I couldn’t remember the last time I saw him. I had been so busy with missions that I never ran into him. It was a good thing because he still made me uneasy. Despite Theo no longer being my shadow and being granted full access to the agency, there was a feeling in my gut that told me Dane still didn’t trust me. I didn’t blame him, not one bit, considering the person who trained me was the same man Dane had been trying to capture for years. Cyrus was too good at what he did to be caught out and I hadn’t been strong enough to betray him. After everything he did for me, it felt wrong to hand him over, especially now that I knew the truth. Dane wanted to use Cyrus’s power to locate the creator of immortal kind who was protected by magic wards, which a Dream Shuffler could bypass. If that happened, it was game over for all of us. If the rumours were true, if she died, we all died. I think the theory stemmed around the myth of Dracula. Killing Dracula would destroy all vampires. But we weren’t vampires; Tainted Beings were alive.
Dane was sitting at his desk. His jacket was slung over the chair. He looked tired. There were bags under his empty eyes. His blonde hair was unkempt, as if he had been caught in a storm. It looked as if he hadn’t shaved for a few days. Blonde stubble covered his face. He was ragged and worse for wear. His dress shirt was covered in crinkles. His cuffs were misaligned, as well as his tie. Did he just throw his clothes on this morning? That wasn’t like him at all. He was a perfectionist. What the hell happened to him?
I wasn’t the only one who was taken aback by his appearance. I could feel the shock hanging in the room like a thick fog.
“Where’s the rest of your team?” Dane questioned. The dangerous smoothness in his voice was the only thing that remained the same about him. I wouldn’t have recognised him otherwise.
“Indisposed. I’ll be sure to inform them tomorrow of our discussion,” Winters said, sounding apologetic. I wasn’t sure if his tone was directed at Dane’s current state or if he felt bad for sending Ruby and Claire home when Dane asked to see all of us.
“Very well,” Dane uttered, leaning back in his chair with folded arms. “Are you aware of what has been happening in the UK?”
The team looked between each other for answers. None of us knew. We had been too busy taking down criminals from different states to even think about what was going on in another country. We had our own issues to deal with. Everyone else’s problems didn’t worry us, especially with how important it was to take down all the criminals on our list. Our full focus went into those risky missions. One slip up could have ultimately led to failure and death. Nobody outside our group could truly comprehend just how dangerous it had been. I was glad we were done.
“No,” Winters answered. “We’ve been rather occupied.”
“People have been going missing, disappearing without a trace. What concerns me is that they’re all highly trained personnel from different organisations, ours included. It will only be a matter of time until branches closer to home are next,” Dane said.
“You want us to look into it?” Winters asked.
“Naturally.”
“Any leads on who’s behind it?”
Dane’s cold gaze fell on me. “Not Cyrus. He leaves behind dead bodies in his wake. There are no bodies to be found.”
I didn’t look away from that death stare. I pitied Dane. I actually pitied him. The monster everyone was afraid of was broken. This would be the perfect time to take Dane down. He was vulnerable; even a blind person could see that. The only problem was I would have to go through my team first. I had already established that I didn’t have the heart to kill any of them. I could do nothing.
“Ok. We will look into it first thing tomorrow. What do we have to work with?” Winters asked. He had an excellent poker face, we all did, but nothing could mask the never-ending shock that was leaking out from all of us.
“Case files of the ones who are missing, footage of when they were last seen, a handful of suspects, the usual,” Dane replied, unfolding his arms and standing up from his seat. “That is all. I’d like you all to leave, except for Joan. I need to speak to her, alone.”
Winters took a moment to contemplate those ominous words. He subtly glanced between Dane and I to weigh up the tension. It looked as if he was trying to solve a difficult riddle.
“James, Matt, Ryan, please go home. I’ll see you tomorrow,” Winters spoke softly. He never said please, not for anything. He didn’t know what manners were. Out of all the years I had known him, I had never heard him say please.
The others left without a word, knowing that it took a lot for Winters to say please.
“I expect you to leave as well, Winters. Do you remember the last time you disobeyed a direct order?” Dane reminded him. Those empty eyes fell on Winters’s neck, staring at the neat scar from a blade, courtesy of me.
“Joan is one of us. When you speak to a subordinate, a team leader is always present. What happens in this room stays in this room. That
’s how it’s always been,” Winters replied. His tone was careful and cautious. He was trying very hard not to set Dane off.
“Joan has always been an exception. I won’t ask again, Winters. Get out,” Dane ordered, pointing to the door with a sudden swing of his arm. “Now.”
I grabbed Winters’s shoulder when he took a small step towards Dane. “It’s ok. I’ll be fine. Go.”
“No,” Winters said, voice adamant.
“He’ll shoot you,” I spoke softly so only Winters would hear what I said.
“Let him. He’ll have to go through me first before he lays a harmful hand on you,” Winters whispered, shaking off my grip.
“I don’t need your protection. I don’t want you to get hurt because of me. Just leave, Winters. Please.”
Winters glanced back at me. He wasn’t the only one who rarely said please unless they truly meant it. A heavy breath escaped from his lips.
“Fine. Just make sure you come back to us in one piece,” he said, making his way to the door.
“Don’t wait for me. You’ll barge in here otherwise if things get heated. I’ve got this,” I said.
Winters shot a disapproving glare at me before leaving. The door remained open. I heard his heavy footsteps walk further and further away. His boots always did make a loud echo.
I began to regret my decision. In normal circumstances, being around Dane on my own forever made me uneasy, due to the secrets I was hiding. Being around him while he was unstable made the uneasiness take a dramatic dip. The uneasy feeling I had developed into complete and utter fear. I had my gun but I wasn’t sure it would help. Killing him wouldn’t bring my parents back. Would killing him destroy the agency he was in control of?
“Perhaps I made it unclear when I first hired you,” Dane began, gradually making his way towards me in a broken stride. “Did you forget when I said that one day you’d have to choose between Cyrus and the agency you swore to serve? That moment has come now. Bring him to me so we can put an end to this war and suffering. Bring him to me or incur my wrath.”
“I’m not in a position where I can do that. It’s been years since I last saw him. I don’t even know where he is or how to find him,” I said, keeping the fear locked away so my voice wouldn’t tremble.
“My resources have been bled dry trying to locate him. He’s a ghost and you’re the only one who knows how he thinks and operates.”
“Once upon a time, maybe. He wore a mask when I was with him. He never did reveal his true self. He told me his darkness would suffocate me. He left me on my own years ago.”
“I’m sure he’s always kept a watchful eye over you.”
“My connection to him has been severed for a long time. I can’t help you.”
“That’s not what I wanted to hear.” Dane’s hand came for my throat like a striking viper. His fingers smacked an invisible wall with a loud thud.
“Joan has been nothing but a loyal agent since she started working for you. You should be ashamed of yourself for resorting to threats and violence,” Lorenzo said from the door, hand raised, the golden rings on his fingers glowing with power. “I can build more than invisible walls if you’re planning on hurting my girl once I lower my hand. Your choice. I wouldn’t open that can of worms if I were you.”
Dane’s hand fell to his side, clenched in a tight fist. That cold gaze fell on Lorenzo. “Your kind are not welcome in this building.”
“Oh, so not only do you discriminate against Tainted Beings–”
“Lorenzo, don’t,” I cut across him, glancing over my shoulder. “Don’t make it worse.”
Lorenzo kept the barrier in place, not trusting Dane. He still had his hand up in the air and didn’t look like he was going to budge any time soon. He created the only thing standing between Dane and I, to prevent a brawl I wasn’t sure I would come out of unscathed. The room was swimming with magic. It was an odd sensation to feel rays of sunshine on my skin in the dead of night.
I returned my attention back to Dane. “I don’t know what it is you’re going through right now, but taking it out on me isn’t going to fix anything. I’m sure you were hoping that hiring me would be beneficial to taking Cyrus down. I only joined this agency to take out criminal threats,” I began, resting my hand on the invisible wall that divided us; the sparks from the magic tickled my skin. “Say what you want, but at the end of the day, despite the horrible things that man has done, Cyrus is not a criminal, nor our enemy. Make peace with that. I’m going to walk out that door and pretend that you didn’t step over the line. If you have a problem with that, say something now.” My hand slipped from the wall and fell to my side.
The man staring back at me was nothing but a stranger. The Dane I knew and feared was hiding underneath that dishevelled demeanour. The coldness in his grey eyes was the only indication that he was still in there. Eyes were a mirror to the soul. He had darkness inside of him. It looked as if he was contemplating over a thousand ways to make me suffer for speaking to him with such bluntness.
“Joan,” Lorenzo hinted. I wasn’t sure if that was him telling me it was time to go or if the wall wasn’t going to last much longer.
“It was foolish of me to ignore my instincts when I first crossed paths with you. Perhaps I should have killed you when I had the chance,” Dane declared; the sinister smoothness of his voice gave me chills.
“Joan,” Lorenzo warned when I parted my lips to speak. He knew me far too well.
I wasn’t going to reveal my true intentions. I had been very close to blowing a fuse. It paid not to lose your temper around Dane.
Screw it.
“I apologise for my bluntness and my rudeness but I don’t know how else to get through to you. I’m here to eliminate all of the criminals who threaten the safety of civilians. I’m here to make a difference. Let me make this very clear. If you can’t make peace with Cyrus, continue hunting him, but I am not going to take part. Threaten me all you want. I have the respect of my team, a team you think highly of because they’re the best. If you break me, you break them. Nobody else will be fully equipped to handle the situation we currently find ourselves in with the disappearances of highly trained personnel. We’re the A team for a reason. We get the job done without losses,” I paused to take a breath. “There are no bodies to be found, which leads me to believe the missing people are being held captive against their will. If you expect the teams below us to be successful in locating these people without sustaining heavy loses, then by all means, cut me down where I stand and be done with it.”
I held up my hand behind me to interrupt Lorenzo before he had the chance to say my name in a scolding manner. I kept my full focus on Dane. I didn’t dare glance back in case the barrier vanished.
“You came to us knowing that we were the only team capable of pulling off a miracle. We can and we will. Stop singling me out. I have done nothing but proven myself time and time again that I’m loyal. If you had your doubts about me, you would have killed me years ago, but I’m still standing for a reason. The enemy is outside these walls, not inside.”
Lorenzo dragged me out of Dane’s office before the inevitable nuclear bomb went off. He knocked the door shut on our way out and brushed his hand by the handle, making it glow. I heard a soft click. He had temporarily locked Dane inside to stop him from coming after us.
“You really need to work on keeping your mouth shut,” Lorenzo said with a shake of his head. His hand fell on my lower back as he led me inside the elevator.
I told the elevator where we wanted to go.
Lorenzo’s hand moved up my back. He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I leaned into him, resting the side of my face against his chest. The fabric of his shirt was soft and felt silky smooth against my cheek. The warmth of his skin and magic made him toasty. Just being close to him relaxed me. Holding him chased away the fear of being in the proximity of Dane’s wrath.
“I’m surprised you let me finish,” I replied. “How did you get in here?”
“I’m magical, remember,” Lorenzo teased. “If I told you all of my secrets, I wouldn’t have anything left to surprise you with.”
“Yeah-uh,” I mumbled, poking his stomach with a sharp prod. “You know I hate surprises.”
He laughed and ruffled my hair. “Then you’re going to love what’s next.”
“No, no. I’ve had enough excitement for one day,” I protested, slipping out of his hold. My heart was still racing after my rant.
Lorenzo pulled me back and wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. He rested his chin on the top of my head. “Joan, it’s your birthday. I’m allowed to spoil you.”
“You spoil me every day. The day is irrelevant.”
“Am I detecting dissatisfaction?”
“Not at all. Your radar is broken.”
Lorenzo laughed and hugged me a little tighter. “Since you hate surprises so much, would you like me to tell you about the two gifts? One’s from me. The other is from your loving uncle. I’ll give you a hint. They both involve keys.”
“Keys?”
“The things you use to unlock other things. Duh. Does that dumb it down a bit?”
I gently elbowed him in the gut. “You’re an idiot.”
“You’re the idiot dating another idiot.”
“Good to know we have something in common,” I mumbled, wiggling out of his hold when the elevator doors started to slide open. “Keys, you say?”
Lorenzo’s hands fell over my eyes. “No peeking.”
“What? One of them is here?”
“Well done, Captain Obvious,” he teased, leading us out of the elevator in a penguin waddle. The suspense was killing me. “This one is Damian’s gift. A little bit reckless in my opinion but I can’t deny that he’s got style.”
Lorenzo uncovered my eyes. A baby blue motorcycle sat before me, gleaming like a precious gem. It was a Harley Davidson. The handle bars were gift wrapped with a red ribbon tied in a giant bow. I fell in love all over again.
Lorenzo zipped up my jacket and handed me a helmet. “Safety first,” he said, giving me a goofy grin.
“I don’t even know how to use one of these,” I said, gesturing to the bike with the helmet.
Lorenzo bowed. “Allow me, madam. I’ll be driving tonight. You just hold on tight. I’ll teach you how to operate it later.”
“What’s the other gift?”
“Promise not to get mad at me?”
“Why would I get mad at you?”
Lorenzo pulled the spare helmet down over his head to hide his face. He flipped up the visor, gazing at me cautiously with those beautiful golden eyes. “You’re not going back to your apartment.”
I placed my helmet on the Harley’s seat so I could cross my arms. “Why not?”
Lorenzo unfolded my arms and grabbed my wrist. He opened up my fingers. He placed a key into my palm and curled up my hand. He didn’t let go. He held on with both hands. “My gift to you is a new home. Our home.”
“What?” my voice came out in a squeak.
“Happy birthday, love.”
“You’re kidding!”
One of his hands slipped from mine so he could point to his face. “Do I look like I’m kidding?”
“I can’t tell with that helmet on your head.”
Lorenzo took off his helmet, letting it hang loosely by his side. “Better?”
I cupped the side of his face, getting the tips of my fingers tangled in his hair. His face was smooth to touch. I was so lucky to be with a man who was gorgeous and had a kind, compassionate nature. They were hard to find.
“Better. Do I get a birthday kiss, too?” I hinted, giving him the best smile I had to offer.
“Sweetheart, you don’t have to ask,” Lorenzo replied, leaning forward to kiss me.
“Get a room,” Matt called out, interrupting the moment.
I didn’t realise the parking lot wasn’t empty. Matthew and Winters had stayed behind, to make sure I came out alive, I suppose.
I rolled my eyes and let out an irritated groan. “Do I have permission to kick his ass?”
“Why get a room when we have a whole house?” Lorenzo called back. “Jealous, Mattykins?”
Winters roared with laughter. I had never heard him laugh like that before at anything. He slapped Matthew hard on the back, still laughing.
“Oh, that nickname is gonna stick,” Winters said.
“I will shoot you if you call me that,” Matt replied, voice bitter.
“If you can’t handle the bite, then don’t bark,” Winters countered, unlocking his car. “Glad you got out in one piece, Joan. See you tomorrow.”
“Thanks for having my back,” I said. “I know I sent you away but I appreciated it, regardless.”
Winters gave me a salute in response. “Matt, get in. You’re not driving with how much you’ve had to drink.”
“You’re not the boss of–”
“Yes, I am. Get in before I tell the entire team your new nickname.”
Matthew immediately got into Winters’s car after that statement, without a peep.
Winters shook his head and disappeared into his car as well.
Lorenzo wrapped his arm around my back, giving my shoulder a gentle squeeze. “They’re a really nice bunch.”
“Yeah, they are,” I agreed.
Winters reversed the car to swing out of the parking space. He tooted his horn when he drove past. I gave him a small wave and smiled.
“They really are,” I said.
Everlasting Flame Page 26
