Chapter 90
never see him again, to kissing him in a cell with a guard on the other side of the door.
…On the other side of the door.
Reality kicked back in and I pulled away, breathless.
“Bash… what the fuck was that,” I asked incredulously.
“What? James? He’s a good guy. We play poker all the time when he’s on duty. Not a lot to do when stuck in a cell twenty-
four seven.”
“…And so he just broke orders… because you guys are pals?”
“Yeah! Well, I mean, he’s not really breaking orders. Just hanging out on the other side.””
“Bash…,” I said cautiously. “Did you… did you order him?”
“What? No. Of course not. I couldn’t even if I wanted to,” he replied. “Winona, trust me. All I did was ask if we could have a moment to talk in private. He really is just a good guy.”
I paused for a moment, thinking it through, before finally nodding. Bash sounded completely sincere and I knew from personal experience that James was capable of bending rules. slightly. He’d done the same thing for me. Not to mention that Bash really had a way with words. I’d seen him talk his way out of all sorts of situations before. This really shouldn’t have been so surprising.
I sighed. All of this was too much to wrap my head around without the added stresses. After all, if things didn’t fall in my favour, it might be me living here by this time tomorrow.
“What’s going on, Winona?” he asked, bringing my attention.
back. “Every time you’ve come to visit me these last few months you’ve always had this look of determination about you. But today… you look shaken.”
“…l, umm,” I started, unsure what to say.
Was I really going to tell him? It wasn’t that I wanted to hide it from him. It was just that telling him felt like acknowledging that this really was the last time I’d see him. And honestly, I didn’t have any strength to spare in order to say goodbye one last time.
“It’s nothing, just stress,” I lied. “I found some information and might have a lead to get you out of here… but it’s dangerous. I’m just worried I might not be successful.”
“Hey,” he said, lifting my chin up to look him in the eyes. “I believe in you. You’ll pull it off and you’ll be back here telling me the good news in no time.”
“Bash… just in case I don’t-”
He cut me off, silencing me with a kiss.
“Don’t,” he said after we’d broken apart again. “Don’t talk about things you don’t know yet. Focus on protecting yourself first, don’t worry about me. When I see you next, you can tell me the good news.”
…There wasn’t going to be a next time. This was it. This was going to be the last time I saw him. The best-case scenario was that I might see him again one day at a political meeting from afar… if I wasn’t in prison and still a Beta,
I gently brought my hand up to his face, tracing his cheek with my thumb. Being here, next to him, I wanted nothing
more than to lean in and relax against him. I wanted that infectious energy of his to help me forget everything that was going on, help me forget everything I was scared about. But I couldn’t. Now, more than ever, I needed to show restraint. I needed to be strong enough to sacrifice my own freedom for his should it come down to that.
“No matter what happens to me, please look after yourself,” | said. “Knowing you’re safe and alive is enough to make me happy. Please remember that.”
I saw him frown as he was about to open his mouth to speak, but a knocking suddenly came from the door, stopping him
before he could.
“Everything is going to be okay,” was all he ended up saying.
He leaned in, giving me a final quick peck on the forehead, before pulling away completely.
I wanted to reply, to say something, anything, but I couldn’t. I knew that if I tried to speak that my voice would betray me. Tears were already threatening to spill from my eyes at any second.
And so I smiled. One last time. Because this was probably going to be the last image of me he ever had.
Tomorrow, a new fate would be decided.
…A fate where I couldn’t follow him.
