Revelation

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

 

                For the first time in a long time, Darius felt happy. Or at least, as close to happy as he could remember. Of course, to achieve that flicker of happiness, he had just about abandoned his assignment. The way he saw it, though, he knew enough about Erik to make it look like he had actually been doing his job.

                Instead of trying to find Erik, Darius had been spending his time with Wynter, who had flown in for a few days. They had a hotel room, where Darius had been staying since she arrived. While he thought he probably could have gotten away with bringing Wynter to where the Anitreh were staying, he didn’t want to risk her accidentally saying anything that might tip of Arwa.

                Darius had told Wynter what was going on with him, and all about his new identity, but she had already slipped up several times. It had been during very private moments, however, Darius wasn’t taking any unnecessary risks and planned on keeping her as far away from Arwa and any other Anitreh.

                They had spent their first two days together simply catching up, and neither one wanted to do anything besides simply being with the other. Besides leaving for food, they had hardly left their hotel room.

                Eventually, they had satisfied their needs and were simply walking around town. For the first hour, everything went well, but then, Darius saw someone he really didn’t want to see.

                “Remember,” he said quietly to Wynter. “It’s Blake.”

                “What’s wrong?” Wynter said, looking around.

                “Hopefully nothing,” he said. “If we can just manage to disappear, we’ll be good.” Darius took Wynter’s arm and started to walk quickly, heading towards an alley that was just ahead. Just before, he got there, however, he heard a familiar voice.

                “Kuijpers? Blake?” Zach’s voice came from behind him.

                Slowly, Darius turned around and saw Zach walking up to him. He looked behind the other man, hoping that Barton was there as well, but he didn’t see anyone else.

                “Zach? I thought you and the others were out in New York?” Darius knew that he and the others had all gotten on the plane, and he wasn’t sure why Zach was back in Denver, nor did he know how worried he needed to be. Without Barton there to project the illusion, he didn’t think it would take long for Zach to figure out who he really was.

                “We were,” Zach said, showing no sign of having recognized Darius. “But the commander said we were going to come back here for a bit. Didn’t really say why. But I came ahead and Starkey and Barton are still taking care of something in New York. Um, so what are you doing out here?”

                “I, uh…” Darius wasn’t sure what to say, and he found himself glancing at Wynter, almost hoping she would have some excuse.

                “Don’t worry, Kuijpers,” Zach said. “I get it. But damn. You hooked up with someone and you’ve only been here for a week? Must be that accent of yours.”

                “Uh, I guess,” Darius said, really wishing Zach would just leave.

                “Yeah, well, I guess I’ll just see you around then,” Zach said. He remained where he was for a moment, looking at both Darius and Wynter and then he turned around and left.