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The little green flecks in his eyes were almost brighter today. If was as if everything looked clearer since we saved Kit.
“Listen… I know we didn’t part on good terms yesterday in that elevator.” He shuffled his feet and grimaced. “I shouldn’t have talked to you like that. You can definitely hold your own. I’ve seen that.”
“It’s okay. Really.”
Watching Gideon apologize was one of the most uncomfortable things I’d ever seen.
“I needed to tell you I’m sorry. I just didn’t want you to get hurt again.”
I turned my head away. “And yet, the first thing I did was run after you to the hotel and get myself hurt… again. I think you’re right to worry about me. I’m a recipe for disaster.”
He chuckled, drawing my gaze back to his face. I liked the way he laughed. It felt carefree – like the way I assumed he used to laugh when he was a boy.
He caught my eyes and gave me a cocky grin. “Don’t worry. I’ll save you every time you feel the urge to run after a madman.”
“Now, wait a minute. I seem to remember saving you at least once.” I crossed my arms and raised an eyebrow at him.
“Okay, true.” He raised his arms in self-defense. “We’ll save each other. How about that?”
Satisfied, I nodded and lowered my arms. As much as we liked to joke about it, I hoped I’d never have a repeat of the previous week. Chasing after criminals was hard work. I didn’t know how Gideon kept it up day after day.
“How’s your partner?” I asked.
The last I’d seen of Agent Silva, she’d been lying unconscious in the hotel bathroom.
“She’s fine.” He waved his hand through the air. “It took her less than an hour to get back on her feet. But, she was pretty angry when she found out you helped take down Theo. I’d stay clear of her for at least a year. Or two.”
I grimaced. I’d already gotten a small taste of the wrath of Agent Silva. It’d be best to avoid a rematch.
“That reminds me, I’ve got something I have to show you.”
Gideon unfolded the newspaper in his hands and flattened it out. On the front page was a giant picture of me lying on an ambulance stretcher, my face ghostly white.
“Ian Welch, in all his glory, snapped this picture of you when they were wheeling you into the ambulance. Your face is splashed across every major newscast and paper across the country – supernatural or not. They’re saying a terrorist set off a bomb in the hotel. It was big news.”
I groaned and smacked my forehead with the palm of my head. If the HQ didn’t know where I was before, they certainly did now. One of the harpies in Chicago was bound to recognize me from the papers in their local grocery store. It was only a matter of time before they tracked me down.
“I’m going to help you,” Gideon said, stepping closer. He cupped my face with the palm of his hand and stroked his thumb along my bottom lip. “We’ll get through this – together.”
I closed my eyes and let the warmth of his hand sink into my skin. Compared to Theo and Nicky, the HQ was a whole different ballgame. They had networks of resources and centuries of training to back them up. It was like two little ants trying to take on the elephant threatening to squash them.
“Okay,” I said, against my better judgment. “Together.”
Someone bumped into me from behind, sending me sailing into Gideon’s shoulder. I righted myself and turned around to help whoever had failed to see me standing there.
“I’m sorry miss, I didn’t see you…”
Trevor and I made eye contact and instantly we both turned bright red. A pair of dark blue scrubs hugged his shapely torso, while a stethoscope hung from his neck. He looked almost as good in scrubs as he had in a suit on our blind date. I hadn’t thought of contacting him since Gideon so rudely yanked me out of the restaurant. Trevor probably thought I’d cut out and ran from our date.
“Trevor!” My nervous energy made my voice tremble. “It’s so good to see you again.”
He mumbled something and shook his head, looking wildly around the hall at anything but me. The poor guy deserved an explanation, if nothing else. Nobody deserved to be ghosted like that. It was the least I could do.
“Hey listen, about our date the other night…” I searched for the words that might make him feel better. “I didn’t mean to leave you hanging. I got yanked out on some business.”
Gideon cleared his throat behind me, trying to hide a laugh.
I smiled at Trevor and stepped nonchalantly backwards, pressing my heel on Gideon’s toe. “I just wanted to say I’m sorry. No hard feelings?”
