Convergence

Chapter 22

Sebastian hadn't talked since they had left Anya's home. He offered to drive to Allafair's, and it had been a long, quiet drive until Anya broke the silence.

"So Allafair..." she began. Allafair glanced back, startled by the sudden noise. From the corner of his eye, he saw her head between his and Sebastian's seats, and he smiled. He wondered where Anya's humorous side had gone when she worked for the BRIT.

"Yes?" Allafair replied.

"Do we know each other?" Anya asked. "You seem...familiar."

Allafair turned to her. "Yeah, we do," he said.

"How?" she pressed.

Sebastian shook his head, but Allafair ignored him. "You used to work with us, Anya," he told her softly. Sebastian came to a stop light and let his head fall into the steering wheel. The car's horn went off, startling each of them.

"Is secrecy foreign to you, Allafair?" Sebastian asked, his voice muffled.

Allafair only stared at his companion until he realized that the light had turned green. "The light's green," he said, nudging Sebastian. Sebastian's head rose from the steering wheel, tears in his eyes. He glanced at Allafair, and in that moment of eye contact, Allafair knew something was wrong. As Sebastian turned right at the signal, he also knew they were no longer headed towards his home.

"Hold on, I'm a spy? That can't be right," Anya said. "Sebastian, I am not a spy, am I?"

"No! You're not!" Sebastian replied hurriedly. "Allafair thinks it's funny to confuse you."

"Oh," she said, rather disappointedly at that. "Well...how do I know him, then?"

"You don't," Sebastian said firmly.

Allafair's mouth dropped open in shock. "She does! She does know me! Anya," he turned on her again and looked at her pleadingly. "We're friends. We're good friends."

Anya did not look as though she believed him.

Allafair turned to Sebastian. "Eldon, you tell her the truth, or I will remove you from the vehicle," he told him darkly.

Jamie chose that moment to interrupt. "I don't think it's necessary to remove him from the vehicle...we're all friends here..."

"I thought we were," Allafair said. His hand sat on the seat belt buckle. "I also know we were supposed to make a left at that last stop light."

Sebastian looked at Allafair as they came to another stop. "He told me to bring you to him," he said quietly. "Or he'd hurt Anya. He'd do more than wipe her memory." Allafair's seat belt buckle released with a soft click and Sebastian closed his eyes, putting the car in park.

Anya and Jamie watched from the back seat, both screaming in surprise as Allafair removed Sebastian from the car in seconds. "When did Crockett ask you?!?" Allafair demanded, holding Sebastian against the leather driver's seat.

"When he became Head," Sebastian said through his tears. "Anya wouldn't help him, so he was going to kill her. I couldn't let him kill her, Allafair...I couldn't...you know how I felt." Allafair couldn't see his friend's eyes, couldn't search his soul for the truth, but he could hear it in his voice. He knew that Sebastian was telling the truth. He also knew he couldn't trust him anymore.