Convergence

Chapter 12

Allafair pulled Melline to the far side of the warehouse, gripping her arm so tightly he could hear every time she winced. He whipped her around in front of him, tossed a quick glance over his shoulder, then turned to focus on Melline. Her eyes were large, welling with tears. She looked so ashamed of herself, but Allafair ignored her expression completely. "Where in bloody Britain am I?" he asked in a harsh whisper.

Melline rubbed the area on her arm where Allafair's grasp had been moments before. She bit her lip and looked away from him, trying to force back the tears. "I can't tell you," she whimpered.

Allafair's gaze hardened. "I want to know where I am, and if you're the only one who knows, you will tell me, whether you want to or not," he told her angrily. His eyes tore into her, searching for some sort of answer. He could see that she knew. She just wouldn't tell him.

"Allafair, he made me promise—" She clasped her hand over her mouth, eyes wide. She said more than she should have.

"Who made you promise what?" Allafair demanded.

Melline shook her head violently. She squeezed her eyes shut, and Allafair watched as a tear grew in the corner of her eye, then slipped silently down her cheek. "I can't say," she answered. "I'm not allowed to. He wanted to tell you himself." Her voice hardened with the last comment, and she seemed to be pulling herself back together.

"At least tell me why you can't tell me," Allafair said.

Melline's eyes, red and beginning to puff, glared at him. Slowly, they softened, and she nodded. "I couldn't tell you because...if I didn't get you...he said he'd kill you," she told him. "That's the same reason for all of them. I did it for you."

Allafair felt the occasional slice of pain shoot through his shoulder. He grasped it tightly, hoping to stop the pain with the pressure. "What you did for me," he began, breathing heavily, "was cause me more pain than death would have brought."

Melline rolled her eyes and frowned. "You all keep saying things like that," she said, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

"Because it's true, Melline. You stabbed us all in the back. How do you expect any of us to trust you now?" Allafair asked. He couldn't believe how she was acting. As if it weren't her fault. As if she hadn't just lured them into a trap after making them believe she was a friend. For some of them, she had been more than a friend.

Melline's eyes met Allafair and she gave him a questioning look. "You don't think I would have ever hurt you, do you?" she asked.

"You already did. And you don't seem to mind it, either," he said. With that, he ended their conversation and turned to join the others.

As Allafair approached the group of people that huddled in the left corner of the warehouse, he heard a voice echo about him. "Did she tell you anything useful? Perhaps the meaning of life?" Gregory asked, lying on the floor with the heels of his boots propped against the wall. Allafair noticed how oddly he was dressed. He wore leather pants that tucked into his boots, and a red vest embroidered with golden lines that swooped and curled around his upper body. Beneath this vest was a black button-down. It was a strange outfit, nothing like anything Allafair was accustomed to.

"She didn't tell me anything," Allafair replied gruffly. "She is so stubborn...the most maddening of all the women I've ever had dealings with."

Gregory let out a bark of laughter. "Whatever did she do to you, Mr...?"

"Holt. Allafair Holt," Allafair said.