Oh. Yeah.She was in a lot of danger, wasn’t she?
He chuckled, low and dangerous, shutting his eyes for a moment. “Wishing you could change your choices, Sasha?”
Right. Mind reading. Or page reading. Or whatever. “No.”
“Good.” He straightened up, tugging on the bottom edge of his black suit coat with the purple trim. As he did, the parts of him that seemed to be leaking out the edges snapped back into place. “I cannot abide regret.”
Her blood ran cold. She was in a great deal of danger.
“Your turn to pick a story, Sidney. Get on with it.” Vile smiled, cruel and thin. Whatever he was planning, it wasn’t good. It wasn’t good at all.
“Brother. Enough.” Virtue threw up his hands in frustration. “Stop throwing a tantrum. She outplayed you, and the score is tied. So what? It’s just another round, and you seem to like her?—”
“Likeher?” Vile howled in laughter. “You truly are an idiot. She can’t even decide whose side she’s on! If anything, she keeps using me like a cheap whore. Just another erotica short story to get one off before I’m abandoned and forgotten like all the rest.” He grinned. “Not that I mind it in the momenttoomuch.”
“Stop. Stop.” Sasha thought her head was going to explode. She was going to cry, scream, collapse, weep, and get a migraine all at once. “I can’t take this anymore.”
“A shame. We have such a very long way to go. Fine. Very well. You’re forgiven.We have to move onto the next story, and we can’t keep bickering about who stole whose death.” Vile straightened his tie, and smoothed a hand down the front of his suit coat. “Sidney. Choose.”
Sasha stared at Vile. Suspicious.
He only smiled a little bit wider.
“I—I—” Sidney shook her head, and looked to Sasha for guidance. “I don’t know, what should I pick?”
“No looking to her for help, she had her turn.” Vile wagged a finger at Sidney.
“Pick whatever you want, Sid.” Virtue smiled at her gently. “Your favorite story. Something that’ll make you happy.”
Vile made a sound like someone throwing up.
Sasha slapped a hand over her eyes. But she couldn’t help but feel like something was still very wrong.
“Can I pick a genre?” Sidney asked quietly after a long pause. “I don’t know if I have a favorite book in that genre.”
“Oh no.” Vile groaned, clearly seeing what was coming before they did. “Please, spare me.”
“You can.” Virtue walked up to Sidney and placed a hand on her shoulder. She shifted closer to him reflexively. “But it’ll be harder to come up with something unique. You have to play to tropes if you do a full genre.”
They were a beautiful pair. And it was clear from the way he smiled at her that while Sherlock and Watson hadn’t been meant for each other, Sidney and Virtue might have different feelings.
Vile made anotherhurknoise.
“I don’t care.” Sidney shut her eyes and rested her forehead on Virtue’s shoulder. He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. “I just can’t—I can’t die like that again. I justcan’t.”
“I know, Sid. I know.” Virtue was even calling Sidney by her shortened name.
“I need somewhere safe. Somewhere we can—where I can just besafe.” Sidney sniffled. The horror of the train crash was clearly catching up to her. Anger could only get a person so far before it burned out. She glared at Vile. “Somewhere you’ll be ugly and only a minor plot point.”
Vile rolled his eyes. “Regency romance, I take it?”
“Regency romance.” Sidney wrapped her arms around Virtue. “It’smyturn to have a story where I get to feel loved.”
Virtue tilted her head up toward him with a finger underneath her chin. His smile was like every single illustration of a Prince Charming in every book she’d ever seen. “You are loved wherever you go, Sidney.”
“I’m going to be sick,” Vile muttered.
Loneliness stabbed at Sasha suddenly and without warning. Sure. She’dfuckedMoriarty. But she hadn’t hadthat.It was a very different kind of connection. And one she’d honestly never had in her life.
