It was probably the latter. Little by little, she was starting to figure this shit out.
“Think you’re clever now, do you?”
The room went pitch black.
The floor opened up underneath her.
Sasha fell, screaming into the abyss.
“We’ll see about that.”
Sidney woke up,sitting in a chair, staring at the bookshelf. She was sitting at a long library table. The surface was smooth and lacquered in a golden oak color. Sunlight was filtering in through stained glass windows that depicted heroes from every genre she could imagine.
Looking down at herself, she blinked. She was herself. Dressed as herself. And her knee didn’t hurt.
Where had she been a second before? She’d been in a dark flat in London, dressed as a man, playing Doctor Watson, and she’d?—
Oh. Her cheeks went warm.Oh, I hope Virtue’s not mad at me…
“I’m not. I’m—a little embarrassed, but?—”
Sidney flew up to her feet so quickly she tripped on the edge of the chair. In the blink of an eye, Virtue was there. He caught her in his arms, keeping her from crashing to the ground. He chuckled with a faint, shy smile. “Careful.”
“I’m so sorry, about—I just—I know it was wrong, I just—” She straightened up, her hands resting on his chest.
“You’re trying to stay alive. And it means maybe Sherlock might do something unique. Interesting.” Virtue’s smile deepened a little. “I truly understand.”
“Did my sister really…”
“She did.” His expression fell. “In full, on-the-page detail, I’m afraid.”
“Wait.” She furrowed her brow a little bit at him. “Sasha—but—” It took her a second. She shook her head. “No. No, that's not fair! We had a fade-to-black!”
“Well—I mean—it’s rather rude to assume, I didn’t know if you would be all right with—” Virtue’s cheeks went pink. He was blushing. “It seemed forward to think you would want to?—”
Sidney grabbed him by the lapel of his suit coat and dragged him down into a kiss. She held it for a long moment before slowly breaking away. “Do you have your answer now?”
“Mmmh.” He blinked before casting her a goofy, dreamy smile. “I do.”
“Why are we here?” She looked around at the library. “Not thatI’m complaining. I prefer the library andme and youover London andWatson and Sherlock.”
Virtue sighed. “It seems Sasha and my brother are having a bit of a…moment.”
Judging by the way he said it, it didn’t sound like they were going for a sexy second round. More like the violent fallout that would be the aftermath. She hoped Sasha would be all right.
“She will. Vile needs her.” He hugged her close. “And he needs her willing to compete. He’ll scare her, but he won’t do anything permanent.”
“Scare her, huh?” She nestled close to him. “Who knows, maybe he’s finally cracked the code to my sister and theyaregoing for a sexy second round.” She chuckled.
Virtue made a face of confusion and disgust in equal measure. As if the concept of anyone wired like that was both impossible and horrifying. She didn’t get it herself, to be honest. She didn’t think her sister was one of those people—but who knows. Maybe she was wrong.
And she just hoped that if she was, it wound up being an advantage…and not the thing that got them both killed.
“Will it work? Her plot?” She looked up to Virtue. “Will it get us out of here?”
He sighed. “I honestly don’t know. We haven’t gotten to that part of the story yet.”
She supposed that was fair.
