Page 136 of Glitched Fates & Stolen Mates

“So I was lurking outside your lair, right? Waiting to casually bump into you—very smooth, very natural.” Rory gestured enthusiastically. “But then I heard your phone call with Seb. Wolf hearing.” He tapped his ear. “Sorry, not sorry. Anyway, you suddenly charged out like your ass was on fire, running around the hotel with that bag, and I thought—oh, Felix is doing something stupid. And then you nicked that passport.” He grinned. “So I looked up flights to Zurich, booked the next one, prayed it was the right one. And boom! Picked the seat right next to you! It’s basically fate!”

“In front of me,” I said.

Rory waved a hand dismissively. “Details.”

I stared at him, my mind racing through the implications. On one hand, having backup meant we had a one percent chance of actually succeeding instead of zero. On the other hand, it was now a ninety-nine percent chance of a double suicide mission instead of just my own spectacular failure.

But despite everything, relief flooded through me. I wasn’t completely alone anymore.

Even if my accomplice was likely to get us arrested before we even landed.

“You absolute maniac,” I whispered.

“Takes one to know one.” Rory settled back in his seat. “So then. What’s the actual plan once we hit Switzerland? Please tell me you’ve got more than just coordinates and a houseplant. I had to spend my entire savings for my new car on this ticket.”

Rory glanced at me, all jokes and bright smiles because it was Rory—but underneath the bravado, the same terror that was eating me alive flickered in his eyes.

“Yes, of course I have a plan,” I lied.

“Brilliant. Pre-warning, though. If we die, Theo will never forgive me.”

There. A crack in Rory’s façade. His half smile fell away for just a moment, revealing something raw and wounded underneath.

“I’m not sure Theo will ever forgive you for this, even if you don’t die,” I said quietly.

Rory’s expression crumpled like paper, the light dimming in his eyes. “I know,” he whispered, rubbing at his chest with the heel of his hand. “He’s going to be so bloody mad at me.”

I could see it all playing out—Seb and Theo in the basement tomorrow morning, trying to piece together why the pair of us hadn’t shown up for work. It wouldn’t be rocket science. Theo’s face would flash with cold fury before settling into heartbreak. And then, they’d surely follow us. And… murder us.

“Will Theo be able to… feel that you’ve gone?”

“Not out of the country. He thinks I decided to sleep at the hotel. But it hurts to be apart for too long. Like a constant ache you can’t shake. Gets worse the longer we’re separated.”

The vulnerability in his admission caught me off guard. For a moment, neither of us spoke. The plane hummed around us, carrying us further away from everything we knew.

Then Rory cleared his throat and deflected, as I’d known he would.

“So, you and my brother, huh? You sneaky little shits.”

Fire rushed to my cheeks, and I quickly turned to stare out the dark window, seeing nothing but my own horrified reflection.

“Priya said that you two were worried I’d torment you for it.”

I forced my gaze past the glass to the clouds drifting past like ghosts.

“Aaaand you’re probably right.” Rory sighed heavily. “Listen, it was… a shock. But a good shock. I’d figured out ages ago that Kit had this secret mate thing going on. It all makes sense now, why he refused to tell me. For what it’s worth… I’m glad it’s you.”

My head snapped back round. “You are?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?!”

My eyes fell back to Princess on my lap. I mumbled something incoherent about never being sure if Rory actually liked me, the words probably barely audible above the engine noise.

Rory sucked in a sharp breath. The silence deepened until I couldn’t take it anymore, and I glanced over to him. His shoulders had curled inward, his face slack. It was as if I’d just slapped him.

“Felix,” he said softly, “I’m… sorry if I ever gave you that impression. Genuinely.” He reached out very tentatively to touch my arm. “I’ll try and do better. It’s just… I struggle when people are quite different from me, you know? Not an excuse, just… I know I can be a bit much sometimes.”

I managed a weak smile. “To be fair, I often think about how everyone at Killigrew Street is socially inept in some way.”