* * *

  Sarah was jostled awake, almost falling from her seat.

  They were still in the van. Pegasus had his arm around her, holding her steady as his other hand kept her head on his shoulder.

  Her heart sped up as she sat up. Were they going to the place or coming back?

  Sarah rubbed the last bit of sleep out of her eyes. Unicorn had the first aid kit out, wiping a small cut on Griffon’s cheek.

  A sigh escaped her as she settled back.

  “Yeah, she’s definitely perfected Hawk’s sleeping art,” Scorpion said. “She sleeps on the ride back too.”

  Hawk and Eagle were nowhere to be seen, but Sarah remembered they’d been left on site, along with Foxtrot and Cypher, to help Falcon’s team. Everyone else was accounted for. Wolf was further down, across the aisle from her. Sarah looked away as soon as their eyes met, considering whether she should pretend to go back to sleep until the inevitable interrogation when they got back to the compound.

  Mermaid edged forward in her seat, poking at Sarah’s knee with her fingertip. “Can we have that talk now?”

  Scorpion smacked Mermaid shoulder. “If you’re gonna ask her if she’s a spy, there’s no need to whisper.”

  Perhaps because she hadn’t been handcuffed—yet, Sarah was surprised that they’d be considering that a possibility. “I’m not a spy.”

  The others were looking at her expectantly, though not as suspiciously as she would have thought. There wasn’t much hostility either, not even coming from Scorpion.

  “What’s going on then?” Scorpion insisted. “You’ve always been weird, but this was…”

  Unicorn calmly put the first aid kit away. “Pegasus doesn’t seem the least bit concerned, so that should tell you something.”

  Scorpion narrowed her gaze on Pegasus. “It tells me he knows something he doesn’t wanna share.”

  “What if we guess?” Eyes sparkling, Mermaid leaned forward to face Pegasus.

  He laughed. “Are you going to test your skills on me?”

  The corner of her lips twitched, forming a grimace. “I’ve played poker with you.” She promptly shifted her gaze onto Sarah instead.

  This was getting out of control in an odd way. Could she still be dreaming?

  “I saw someone outside and followed them into the building. I heard them mention a trap downstairs.” A dash of truth sprinkled on a lie. She turned to Wolf. “Sorry, I know I didn’t handle it very well by pulling my gun on you, but I was sure there was something else there.”

  Wolf shifted in his seat, but didn’t acknowledge her apology. Griffon silently observed her, letting it all play out.

  Sarah took a deep breath. This might be her only shot at getting them to believe her story before they had to give their accounts of what happened during debriefing. “I haven’t been out of sight before any of this. And my tracker’s still active, so they should be able to confirm that I left the van and went into the building without detours.”

  Scorpion stretched her legs, almost kicking Unicorn, who was sitting across from her. “There’s an argument to be made for Phoenix to have been working with the puppeteers for a while now. Like when she bulldozed into our op to go after Pegasus and wound up saving him.”

  Mermaid rolled her eyes. “Then why would she help us?”

  “Could be trying to win Zeus’ trust by feeding us correct information before giving us wrong info later down the road.”

  Sarah hated how that sounded like a real possibility. Was that what Zeus was thinking as well?

  Unicorn extended her legs, pushing Scorpion’s back. “Didn’t Zeus say she saw something we missed on that one?”

  Sarah squirmed under their gazes. That previous episode was much harder to explain than this one.

  “I have another theory.” Mermaid practically got up from her seat, landing back down with a thud when the van hit a speed bump. “She was originally a plant, but now Zeus turned her because she fell for Pegasus.”

  “That’s not a bad guess,” Scorpion agreed. “She’s not faking it.”

  Pegasus chuckled, tightening his grip around her shoulder. “I think you two are vastly overestimating my charm.”

  Mermaid shrugged dismissively. “True, but it’s not as if the poor girl had many options.”

  What in hell was going on with this exchange? As Sarah watched on in disbelief, a discussion on whether Pegasus had enough good qualities to make a spy fall in love with him continued regardless of her. It quickly derailed into the group listing Pegasus’ positives—it was mainly his looks, and negatives—everyone agreed it was his personality.

  Sarah couldn’t tell how serious they were about all of it. Pegasus was no help at all, laughing at everything they suggested. Sarah wanted desperately to bury her head somewhere, but she figured hiding under the seats would be a bit much. Finally, she buried her head in her hands.

  “You made the spy embarrassed,” Scorpion said.

  “I’m not a plant or a spy,” Sarah grumbled, lifting her head.

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Unicorn smiled, almost sympathetic. “Of course you’d say that.”

  “So why is everyone so calm?” she asked.

  “Sarah.” Pegasus smiled at her, brushing her hair behind her ear. “Nobody actually thinks you’re a spy.”

  Scorpion raised her hand. “I still do. Just not a very dangerous one. Do you know how hard it is to blush on command? And that dopey look on your face when you see him, we all know you’re not that great an actress.”

  “Okay, so you think I’m a spy, but it’s fine because I’m in l—” she swallowed the word. “Because I like Pegasus?”

  Laughter roared inside the van, but Sarah was saved by a knock on the door. The van had come to a halt. They were home, and the surreal reprieve was over.

  Sarah followed along as the team was taken to a conference room instead of heading straight for debriefing.

  “Zeus wanted you to wait here,” Michael explained.

  “When are the prisoners supposed to get here?” Griffon asked.

  Michael checked something on his tablet. “They’re being rerouted to Center.”

  “It was our catch,” Scorpion protested. “Why did we have to hand the prisoners over to Center?”

  Michael shook his head. “I wasn’t told.”

  Mermaid was playing with the tip of her braid, waving it around in the air. “Maybe it was because Falcon’s team collected them.”

  Scorpion scoffed. “It’s got nothing to do with them. It was clearly our operation from the start. The Center teams were only supposed to be backup.”

  “There’s nothing we can do about that,” Griffon said.

  Michael turned to Sarah, then pointed at Pegasus. “Zeus wants you both in his office.”

  Pegasus gave her hand a squeeze before leading the way. At least she wasn’t being taken to an interrogation room.

  Zeus had them sit while he continued typing away at his computer. When he was done, he looked up at her, ignoring Pegasus.

  A smile spread along his lips. “I gather our little experiment was a success.”

  In the sense that no one had died, yes.

  “What else did you see?”

  “Not much else. I saw an explosion, and I suspected it was related with Wolf’s attempt to get past a rigged door.”

  “Yes, I heard that you went into the building and even pulled a gun on him.”

  Sarah clenched her fists together.

  “You’ll definitely have attracted unwanted attention. I can’t say that was a good thing while this oversight investigation is still ongoing.”

  She couldn’t agree more. No one thought it would be good for the oversight committee to investigate her directly.

  “Did you confirm with Athena and Doc Blue that she was clear for duty?” Pegasus asked.

  “Yes, that won’t be a problem. And her assignment to a support role was confirmed before you left.”

  Pegasus smirked. “Retroactively, of course.”

  Zeus waved him off. “Both of you are suspended until further notice.”

  Pegasus nodded.

  “Am I restricted to my room?” Sarah asked. There had been no mention of the brig so far.

  “Michael should be done reviewing your tracker data, so you’re clear to wander the compound. I would hope you stay out of further trouble, but tell Pegasus immediately if you see anything else.”

  It seemed Zeus believed her now. Or, as Scorpion suggested, was trying to get the most usefulness out of her as possible. She didn’t feel as if he trusted her.

  “Will I be able to go outside?”

  “Not without an escort.” Zeus gestured she get up. “Stay in your room for now. I’ll send Pegasus down to get your statement when we’re done.”

  Pegasus led her outside, pulling Zeus’ door closed before leaning in closer. “Is there something you need from outside?”

  “It was more of an urge.”

  “I’ll see what I can do.” He smiled.

  “Thanks.” Sarah waited until he went back inside before heading out.

  Before he closed the door, Zeus met her gaze. There was a calculating look on his face, reminiscent of the expression she’d seen when he was playing chess. She wondered if she was still a pawn or if today had been enough for her to be upgraded to a knight.

  Sarah half expected to be grabbed and tossed in a cell before she ever made it to her room. Thankfully, that didn’t happen.

  There was nothing on her neck, and the pain had mostly subsided, but the spot on her back was still hurting. She didn’t want to go to the infirmary and ask them about a maybe imaginary wound.

  She removed her shirt, feeling around under the line of her top. It didn’t hurt as much as if she’d truly gotten shot, but there was undoubtedly pain. It could’ve happened during the fight, maybe a bruise?

  Fine time to not have a mirror. She glared at the wall of chaos which had replaced it. She was about to go check it out in the bathroom mirror when her door opened following a light tap.

  “That was fast. Can you check my back? I thought I got shot, but I don’t think there’s anything there.”

  She lost all momentum when she turned around. It wasn’t Pegasus, but her sister standing there.

  Robyn hurried over to her. “You what?”

  Sarah clenched the bunched-up shirt in her hands, too tired to go through that worst case scenario again. “Are you here to kill me?”

  “Depends. Did you accidentally volunteer me for extra shifts again?”

  Robyn grabbed her shoulders, but Sarah refused to let herself be spun around. “Hey, Robyn, how did we end up here?”

  Her sister laughed. “Were you shot or did someone kick you in the head?”

  “Just answer me.”

  “Twist of fate, I guess. Isn’t it always?” Her sister narrowed her gaze on her, and Sarah had to resist the urge to take a step back. “Now what was this about getting shot?”

  Robyn’s hands were free, and there was no sign of a weapon anywhere. Reluctantly, Sarah turned around to show her back to Robyn. “It feels painful.”

  “I can’t let you out of my sight for a minute!” Robyn fumed. “I told him to take care of you or I’d kill him.”

  Robyn pressed a finger to the spot on her back. Pain flared. Sarah drew away, whirling around.

  “A little lower and that would’ve missed your vest.” Robyn started back towards the door.

  “Where’re you going?”

  Robyn smiled, already at the door. “To kill Pegasus, of course.”

  “Wait!” Sarah chased after her, rushing out of the room, and ran straight into Pegasus.

  He held on to her, managing to keep them both balanced. “Everything alright?”

  She nodded, gaze moving past him to search the hall. Robyn was gone.

  Pegasus held her by the shoulders, walking her backwards into her room. He smiled, looking pointedly down. “It’s not a criticism, but aren’t you gonna be chilly walking around without a shirt on?”

  Sarah removed his hands from her to put her shirt back on, but stopped midway. She turned her back to him. “Do you see a bruise?”

  Pegasus ran his fingers along her upper back, then below the line of her top. “I don’t see any bruise. Were you hit?”

  “I guess not.”

  “What happened?”

  “Nothing important.” She tapped the note on her wall with Wolf’s name. “I guess we know where this one belongs now.”

  “Speaking of which…” Pegasus handed her his tablet.

  Sarah read the statement on the screen. Her statement—as had been written by him. It was a more elaborate version of the story they’d been telling the others about her having followed one of the terrorists into the building. She noted with a smirk the presence of several terms that justified or excused her actions.

  In the end, if everything in the report were accepted, the only major incident would be her disobeying Griffon’s orders to stay at the entrance and pulling a gun on Wolf to stop him from trying to disarm the rigged door. For Pegasus, the major issue would be his enabling her actions.

  Zeus could easily have swept this all under the rug as he had the previous time, when she saved Pegasus. But that would be increasingly difficult under the scrutiny of the oversight committee.

  She signed the statement and handed Pegasus back his tablet. As he finalized the process, Sarah’s attention was distracted by the notes of things she’d classified as dreams before. They all had one thing in common.

  Her gaze drifted towards the door. For a moment, she waited. Waiting for the door to open. For her sister to come back. Illusion or not, she would’ve liked to talk to Robyn some more—as long as it wasn’t the murdery version of her. It had been a while since she’d dreamed of home, too.

  Home.

  Appearing beside her, Pegasus placed an arm around her waist. “What are you thinking?”

  “Up for a drive?” Sarah smiled at him. “There’s a tree I’d like to go see.”