Convergence

Chapter 7

"What kind of trouble?" Allafair asked slowly. Her tone had caused worry to creep up on him. He tried to force it back, tell it to return to wherever it had come from, but it stuck. He couldn't shake the dread that he felt. Despite all the pain she had caused him in the past, he didn't want anything to happen to her. Even if he didn't want to see her, she still had a place in his heart he couldn't ignore.

"Edmund Crockett. He knows about my attempt to get rid of the Council's mole," she said hurriedly, glancing around as if he could be listening to her confession to Allafair. "He confronted me during the last theft and threatened to tell the EOS Head."

Allafair stared at the woman across from him, his eyes bright with shock. "You've been killing people you think are moles on your own? Do you know what unauthorized missions could mean if you get caught?"

"I know, that's why I couldn't go to someone else in EOS for help," Melline replied, sounding rather ashamed of herself.

"What makes you think I won't turn you in? You've already murdered a BRIT agent. Bad or not, she was a human being and you had no right to take her life," Allafair told her. Melline nodded, keeping her mouth shut. He knew she didn't agree with him. Melline always had a different mindset, often disagreeing with him. She made choices without him, choices that he should have been a part of. They had been married after all. "Melline...I don't know what to say to you. You know it's wrong. Why do you continue to do this? You have to start thinking," Allafair said.

She muttered something in answer, but he hadn't caught it.

"What?" Allafair asked sharply.

"I tried to stop," she whispered.

"What do you mean? You tried to stop what?"

"I tried to stop doing this. All of it! Being a part of EOS!" she answered. "When they asked me to leave you and the BRIT for a mission overseas...I went, but it wasn't the same. I missed the things we did together, and being thrown with someone else didn't feel right. I came back after a year and tried to get back in contact with you, but I found you had moved, changed your cell number, and gone completely off the radar. According to society, Allafair Holt didn't exist anymore.

"So I went back to EOS, tried to lose myself in work, but they wouldn't let me work in the field anymore. I was stuck in a dark office, doing all of the most boring tasks they could possibly give me. I gave it a shot for three years, but I couldn't take it any longer. So, one day I didn't come into the office. I did what you had done, and let myself disappear.

"But even that wouldn't last forever. I started to go mad. Being alone with nothing but my memories to haunt me was terrifying. I felt like an addict who was trying to quit something. And Allafair...I couldn't quit. I missed the adrenaline, I missed the people...I missed everything. I went back to EOS and demanded that they put me back in the field."

"Obviously they agreed," Allafair stated.

"Yes," Melline replied. "I wish I could change, Allafair. But it's in my blood! I've been doing this for too long to stop."

Allafair stared at her, trying to think of the words to say. He almost wanted to trust her. He wished he could believe that she was telling the truth, that she needed him again. It would be simple to let her back into his life. He could save her, maybe win her back. But he wasn't sure he really wanted that, and he was even less certain that she really wanted him. She had lied to him so much before. The secrets she kept were nearly unbearable.