Miranda ran a hand over her braids. “No matter how you keep slipping the word “secure” into your explanations, it still doesn’t mean that it’s part of my job as head of security at Sinopolis.”
She’d said this before when I kept insisting she needed to help me “secure” sugar or caffeine. Apparently, she couldn’t stay clocked in for a coffee break just because I kept phrasing it like that.
I rolled my eyes and said, “I think Grim would agree ‘securing’ my friendship is a valuable and necessary part of your duties, one which he is happy to compensate you for.” We finally reached the freight elevator at the far end of the building, so I pulled back the gated door and gestured her in. After we were in, I closed the doors and hit the button for the basement.
“I thought you had plans tonight anyway?” Miranda asked.
“Yeah, Grim and I have another dinner date since the last one ended in a fight and a fiery explosion. But that isn’t for a couple of hours.”
The lift lowered with a cacophony of noisy gears and belts.
The pause between us grew heavy. I recognized the moment before she asked something super personal.
“Have you told him yet?”
There it was.
“No.” My insides clenched with anxiety. Even the thought of trying to say the words and my body pushed them back down into the pit of my stomach.
“Are you guys…okay?”
I’d given her a brief lowdown of the meeting last night and touched on how Grim tried to softball taking a break. The idea he wanted to take me off the search for the Blade of Bane, and also have time apart, evoked an intense fear I still hadn’t shaken off.
My lips were stiff. “I don’t know. I told him I need more time, and he said he could give me that.”
She shrugged a shoulder. “At least you guys have as much of that as you want.”
I didn’t answer. That’s what I kept saying, but it didn’t negate my hurting Grim every time I refused to say it.
“It’s normal, you know,” she said, turning to face me. I met her brown eyes. They drilled into me with meaning. “You grew up in an abusive home. That alone would give anybody trust issues, make them want to shut down and not open up again. On top of that, you died and came back a vampire and now you are dealing with all this…immortal stuff.” She waved a hand. Then her voice softened. “He almost imploded a couple of months ago. Then you saw him go up in flames from a car bomb.”
A reassuring feeling wrapped around my chest as she validated my deep-rooted fears.
“But,” she said, her tone becoming stern, “it doesn’t mean you can wait forever.”
“Technically I can,” I pointed out, with an eyebrow waggle.
She shook her head. “Take it from me. You need to say what matters when it’s needed the most. I know you love him. He knows you love him. But if you don’t give in to that love, you’re making him stand out on that limb alone. Eventually, he may tire of carrying the risk for both of you and back up off that ledge if he thinks you won’t join him.”
The elevator came to a stop, bringing our conversation to an end. Relief swept through me. It was getting too intense. Everything lately had been too intense. She was right. It scared the shit out of me. I knew my rejection hurt him, and I hated it, but I couldn’t do better right now.
I wrenched open the gates and held up a hand, telling Miranda to stay back.
Fluorescent lights flickered through the dimly lit hallway. Then several guns and a camera dropped from the ceiling on a mechanicwhirr. They swiveled until they all pointed right at us.
My hands were up, palms out in surrender. “It’s just me, Echo. Can we come in for a chat?”
The camera jerked aggressively in Miranda’s direction. Miranda tensed next to me. Her face went flat as if she were falling back to military mode. The sharp scent of her fear and adrenaline surrounded me.
“Who’s this?” a crotchety woman’s voice demanded. “More strangers you are bringing into my home?”
“A friend,” I assured. Then I said out of the corner of my mouth to Miranda, “Show her what’s in the bag.”
Miranda opened up the backpack with short, precise movements, and displayed the contents to the camera.
There was a pause. The only sounds were the low hum of the motors running the hydraulics in the ceiling guns and Miranda’s heart, pumping hard and fast.
Then the camera and guns disappeared into the ceiling. I gave Miranda a broad smile and gestured grandly down the hallway. “After you, madame.”
