* * *

Sarah stared at the door. It should have opened by now.

The knob should be turning…

Maybe now…

Or now…

Now?

She blinked. The world remained still. And the doorknob never turned.

Sarah was sure she heard them announce that Robyn’s team had returned a while back. Without a watch, she could only guess, but it had been at least half an hour. Robyn should be walking in any moment now.

Robyn had promised she’d come talk to her as soon as she got back, and Sarah wanted to trust her on that.

Fear had been growing inside her for a while now. It had started as nothing more than a nagging feeling, but it settled easily in the back of her mind. And it was still there, latched on tight as if it had found itself a home. It enjoyed occupying her thoughts, and Sarah couldn’t make it go away.

If Robyn were fine, her fears insisted, she would have seen her already. She would be standing right there. And the door would be opening.

Sarah clenched and unclenched her fists nervously.

Maybe now…

Her eyes started stinging. But silence itself wasn’t an indication that anything was wrong. If something had happened to Robyn, someone would’ve told her by now.

If no one else, she believed Pegasus would have said something. Whether that belief was justified or wishful thinking, she didn’t know.

A knock on the door startled her even though she’d been hoping for someone to come. She was still afraid. She didn’t even want to move.

What was she afraid of?

Another knock, louder this time.

“It’s open,” she said, her voice struggling to be heard.

Only after she’d said the words did she realize how silly they were. They could always open the door from the outside.

She held her breath as the doorknob turned and the door opened slowly, much too slowly. Over ten excruciating seconds had gone by before Pegasus finally stepped into the room.

Sarah’s fears laughed at her, they’d been right all along. Hadn’t she said it herself that if anything happened to Robyn, Pegasus would be the one to come tell her? Well, there he was.

Why did she think it would be Robyn?

She felt the cold rush that drained all the blood from her face. Pegasus seemed to notice and, with a touch of amusement, stepped aside to reveal her sister.

Sarah didn’t say a word. She ran over and threw herself at her sister, hugging her as tightly as she could. Robyn tried to pull away, but Sarah refused to let go. For once, her healing ribs let her do as she pleased without hurting.

Robyn’s laughter reverberated along her chest. “If I knew I’d be getting this type of welcome after a few days, I would’ve stayed away longer.”

Sarah pulled back enough to glare at her. It was easier to breathe now that Robyn was standing right there, safe and sound. The fear ebbed, but she didn’t want to think about what would happen the next time Robyn would go away.

Sarah laughed at herself, releasing her sister.

Everything was fine. Worrying was acceptable, but she really should try to be less paranoid.

“Were you really that worried about me, silly?” Robyn ruffled Sarah’s hair, laughing. “I told you it was a simple routine mission.”

Did she? Well, Pegasus said it was a stakeout, but he’d made it sound a bit more dangerous. Maybe she’d read too much into his expression.

Robyn took a step back towards the door. “Come on, we gotta go or we’ll be late for dinner.”

“Dinner?”

Robyn stopped with hand on the doorknob. “Don’t tell me you forgot.”

This was the first she was hearing of any dinner. This would also be the first time she’d leave the room for a meal—cold pizza with Pegasus notwithstanding.

Robyn took her by the hand and Sarah stepped forward out of inertia. “Mom and Dad are waiting.”

Sarah stopped in her tracks. Her hand went limp in Robyn’s grip, but her sister didn’t let go.

Sarah refused to move further and pulled her hand away.

What sort of new madness was this?

Sarah whirled to face Pegasus. He was settled in the armchair, leisurely reading a book as if a cozy background for that scene.

Her mind protested, and she backed away further from Robyn and towards him.

Both couldn’t be real. If he was there, her parents couldn’t possibly be.

“Sarah, what’s wrong? They’re waiting for us,” Robyn insisted impatiently. As her sister would.

But Sarah couldn’t go with her, not while Pegasus was sitting there as if he belonged in her room. Sarah stopped right in front of him, but she couldn’t find her voice to utter a single word.

He closed his book and looked up at her with his usual smile. “Aren’t you going to dinner?”

If the fear that settled in her mind had a will, it would surely have laughed.

Sarah shook her head, holding back her tears. This was wrong. It was all wrong.

Adding to the travesty, Pegasus took her hand in his and tugged her gently forward until their knees touched. “Are you staying here then? With me?”

“You had her to yourself all week,” Robyn grumbled.

Sarah closed her eyes, but she made no attempt to pry her hand away from his.

“You haven’t seen your parents since last month, so you should go even if you’re not feeling well,” he said.

The tears streamed down her face freely. Could she really go see them? Was this…

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

“Sarah?” Robyn asked.

“Is something wrong?” Pegasus slid to the edge of his seat to get a better look at her face. “Why are you crying?”

“The good things are dreams,” she repeated to herself, squeezing his hand harder. “The bad things are real.”

Sarah woke up, choking on a sob. She coughed and wheezed until the crying stopped.

The only light came from the open bathroom door, and there was no sign of anyone else being in there.

She wiped at her eyes.

The book that Pegasus had been reading in her dream was also conspicuously absent. But she vividly remembered hearing that Robyn’s team had returned. Was that real?

It could be she’d fallen asleep while waiting for Robyn to come see her. She was reluctant to let go of that.

There was no way to tell though. It might also be part of the dream along with the dinner with Mom and Dad. Wishful thinking conjured up by her mind.

But if it was all wishful thinking, then what of Pegasus?

What the hell was her mind even doing with that?

Was that the role her subconscious had attributed to him because he was spending time with her? Because he was being nice?

Sarah tried not to dwell on it. He was nice. She was lonely. And it wasn’t like she was blind.

It wasn’t that much of a stretch for her mind to create such a scenario.

Wondering what time it was, she went to the com. She hesitated, out of spite towards her dream if nothing else. But who else could she ask?

Defeated, she called up Pegasus’ room over the com like he’d taught her.

“Did I wake you?” she asked once she heard him respond.

“No.” His tone suggested there was no reason for him to be asleep at this time.

Her internal clock had never been worth much.

“Is something wrong?” he asked when she was silent for too long.

His words summoned her dream again, inadvertently poking her wound.

Eyes closed, Sarah leaned her forehead against the cool wall. “Is Robyn back?”

“Not yet. Last I heard, they were still in the same place.”

“The stakeout?” she asked.

“Of sorts, yes.”

Sarah shifted uncomfortably. “Shouldn’t they be back by now?”

“These things are like this. We never know how long it’ll take or even if it’ll produce any results. I’m sure they’re alright. If something had gone wrong, we’d know about it.”

Not only the happy reunion, but the announcement that Robyn was back in the compound had also been a lie. Her brain really wasn’t being fair.

“I’ll be over in thirty minutes, is that okay?” Pegasus asked, snapping her out of her miserable thoughts.

“Am I allowed to say no?”

* * *

“This is really not what I had in mind when I asked for food.”

Sarah glared at Pegasus with all her might, but he remained undisturbed. He dangled a pastry in front of her as if she were a trained animal.

“What was the nurse’s name? The one who was always checking up on you?”

“Why would I know the nurse’s name?”

“Because I told you her name twelve minutes ago.” His voice didn’t show a hint of impatience.

Sarah reached out for the cinnamon roll, only to have it pulled further away from her grasp. “Twelve? Really? You can’t round up the numbers?”

He shrugged. She swore he was doing it on purpose to annoy her.

“Okay, but why would I know the nurse’s name?”

He set down the cinnamon roll barely out of her reach. “Because she would’ve been the person you had the most contact with, and she’s a chatterbox.”

“I think it starts with a C.”

“What would you have called her?”

She shrunk in her seat self-consciously. “Nurse?”

“And do you remember what she looked like?”

Sarah wasn’t sure she should laugh or cry about both of them pretending she had seen the woman in anything other than photographs.

“Dark hair, round face. And she always checked in on me in the middle of the night. I really didn’t like it when she turned on the lights. Annoyed the hell out of me.”

Pegasus chuckled.

“You said she turned on the lights when she did the late night checks.”

He slid the cinnamon roll closer to her.

She took a bite out it. It was sweet and every bit as delicious as it looked. Had they kidnapped a pastry chef as well?

“I feel like a seal doing tricks for snacks.”

“I was thinking more along the lines of a puppy,” Pegasus said. “Puppies are cute.”

She gave the cinnamon roll a suspicious look. “How come the leftovers you bring me are always better than the actual food I get?”

“These aren’t leftovers.”

“Neither’s the food I normally get, I hope.” Sarah rolled her eyes. “They’re still better.”

“Better, maybe, but not healthier.” He unceremoniously studied one of the cinnamon rolls as he turned it over in his hand. “It’s all part of my evil plan, I think.”

Sarah choked on a laugh. “You still trying to figure out what it is?”

“Pretty much.”

She tore a piece of the cinnamon roll off and stuffed it into her mouth. She took her time chewing, glancing at the chessboard on the other table. The pieces had been moved.

“What was the doctor’s name? The one who operated on you?”

She turned her attention back to him and finished swallowing. “Doctor Brown.”

“Actually, it was Doctor Green, but you know how you’re supposed to answer.”

Yes, she did, but she was tired of this game already. They’d been at it for hours, and she was pretty sure her brain was long saturated with things and people she was supposed to pretend she knew.

“Where was the bathroom inside your hospital room?”

“Near the TV.” She remembered that much, but only because of what he’d told her next. “People kept thinking it was a closet.”

“And what was your doctor’s name?”

She stuffed the last of the cinnamon roll into her mouth, eyes drifting back to the chessboard. She didn’t remember the doctor’s name, and part of her didn’t want to.

The moment she memorized all she was supposed to—or enough to pass, as Pegasus put it—she was sure they’d send her home. Though there was no home to go back to.

“I know you don’t want to think that you’ll have to go through with this, but you’ll have to do this sometime.” He offered her a smile as he picked up a cinnamon roll for himself. “So can you please try?”

“Is that how you get people to do things? A bat of lashes and a smile?”

He chuckled, coughing and sputtering as he almost choked on his food. Sarah held in her laughter as best she could.

“I don’t bat my lashes. Nobody bats their lashes.” He coughed some more, eyes tearing.

“You just use pastries as a bribe?”

“Basically, yes.” Wiping his eyes, Pegasus pushed the box of cinnamon rolls closer to her. “I have to get you to memorize this. Do you want me to get into trouble?”

“Blackmail is so not fair.”

“But it is effective.”

Yes, it was. She didn’t want him getting into trouble because of her. He was the only one actually being nice to her. Whether it was an act didn’t really matter at the moment.

“Can we keep going?” he asked.

Sarah picked at another cinnamon roll. She might have to go on a diet if this sort of bribery continued for too long.

“What was your doctor’s name?”

“You know, you’re pretty pushy about names for a guy who won’t use his.”

“You’re still on about that?” He couldn’t hide his amusement though. “I thought we were going back to work.”

“Sorry, couldn’t help it.”

Pegasus lifted his arms up, stretching. “We can take a break for seventeen minutes.”

Having gotten a temporary reprieve, Sarah sat back to enjoy her snack. She wasn’t even hungry anymore, but the cinnamon rolls were just too good.

When she straightened her legs, she bumped into the duffel bag Pegasus had brought along. She glanced underneath the table. “Please don’t tell me there’s more stuff I have to memorize in there.”

“Considering you almost failed your test, that wouldn’t be a bad idea.”

He pulled the bag onto the table and opened it. Inside were the photo albums Robyn had promised her.

“Sorry it took so long.”

Sarah reached for the one on top and paused. “Did you steal these from her room?”

“Of course,” he answered, unabashed.

“She must love how you go into her room and rifle through her stuff.”

He shrugged. “You want them or not?”

She pulled them towards her. “Was this the backup bribe in case the pastries didn’t work?”

His would-be answer was cut off by the com on a nearby wall. Pegasus had barely moved when an unfamiliar voice came through.

“Pegasus? You said you wanted to know as soon as Griffon’s team made contact.”

The insidious little voice inside her insisted that something was wrong, but Pegasus seemed unaffected by the news.

“Thanks, Michael, I’ll be right up.” He started packing up the folders he’d brought.

“How come he uses his real name?” Sarah asked, trying to distract herself.

Pegasus smiled. “Who said that’s his real name?”

His response relaxed some of the tension in her, and she tried to breathe the rest of it away.

“You have something of a one-track mind,” he said.

His being unaware of the turmoil her paranoia was causing inside her head helped.

Sarah grabbed the albums, hugging them to her chest. She supposed it wouldn’t be anything serious if he was acting completely unfazed. Surely he couldn’t be that good an actor.

She ventured one last glance at the chessboard as she followed him out, taking note of the king’s position. Checkmate.

“What does contact mean, exactly?” she asked when they were halfway to her room. “Does it have anything to do with Robyn?”

“Robyn is on Griffon’s team, yes.”

“Did something happen?”

“It means they found who they were looking for. There’s no reason to worry.”

“Thanks… Victor, Dean, John, Jeremiah, Tristan, Lucas, Chase?”

His smile was pure mischief. “How are you still missing a letter?”

Sarah tried to recall—with no luck—all the names she’d randomly used so far.

Pegasus tossed the files with the hospital information onto her bed. “I’ll leave these for you to study.”

She doubted she’d be able to focus on anything, but she didn’t object. It would be a reasonable alternative to the failed pillow volleyball experiment.

“I’ll be by later when I can,” he promised.

“Hey…” The fear crawling up from the depths of her mind refused to release its grip on her. “If there were something wrong, they would’ve told you, right?”

Pegasus hesitated a second too long to sound comforting when he finally said, “Probably.”

The fear laughed.