“You really think you’re going to be able to hide it?”
She had a point. I wasn’t sure I’d been very good at hiding how I felt about Sage before last night. Did I really think I’d be better at it now?
“I guess we’ll figure it out,” I said.
Fifteen minutes later there was a knock on the door, and I practically fell on my head trying to get off the bed and answer it as quickly as possible.
“Graceful,” Rayna said. “Deep breath. Be cool.”
I sneered at her, then pulled open the door. It was Ben.
“Ready for the breakfast buffet?” he asked. “I hear there are great cinnamon rolls.”
Rayna tossed the comforter over our crumb-filled tray. “Excellent! I’m dying for cinnamon rolls.”
“Where’s Sage?” I asked. I was trying for nonchalance, but I kept straining to look behind Ben and see if he was somewhere down the hall.
“He already went down.” Ben said.
He did? I felt a pang in my stomach. He didn’t want to come to the room? Wasn’t he dying to see me as much as I was dying to see him?
“Everything okay?” Ben asked.
“Yeah it’s good,” I said. “Let’s go eat.”
Sage wasn’t at the breakfast buffet.
Even Ben thought it was strange—Sage had said he’d be down there. Ben wasn’t concerned, though. In fact, he looked a little giddy. “Maybe he decided not to come to Tokyo,” he chirped. “Oh well, we’ll do better with just the two of us.”
I loved Ben, but he was seriously transparent.
“We need Sage to get the Elixir, though.” Not that I cared about the Elixir at the moment. I was actually starting to worry. Where was Sage? Was he okay?
“He says we need him,” Ben scoffed. “I bet the dark lady will tell us everything we need.”
“Try his cell,” I told Rayna.
She pulled out her phone and dialed. “No answer.”
“Text him.”
“Maybe he just bailed,” Ben said.
Ben was just way too happy about this. I got it, but it was irritating.
“He says he’ll meet us out front when it’s time to go,” Rayna said, reading his text.
“So he didn’t go home,” Ben mused. “Guess he’s just unsociable.”
I was about to snap at him when I realized I was being an idiot. Sage wanted to see me alone. His text to Rayna was a message to me.
“Excuse me,” I said as I got up. “I’ll be right back.”
“About time,” Rayna muttered. Apparently she understood the message way before I did.
I walked toward the bathrooms, then darted off to the lobby and slipped out the front door, fully expecting Sage to sweep me into his arms and kiss me.
I walked toward the bathrooms, then darted off to the lobby and slipped out the front door, fully expecting Sage to sweep me into his arms and kiss me.
It didn’t happen. He wasn’t there.
“Sage?” I called.
No answer. I walked around the outside of the hotel, but I didn’t see him. I tried everywhere. I looked behind every tree, every pillar, every row of cars. I knew it was all pointless—if he’d wanted to meet me, he wouldn’t be playing Super Spy, he’d be where I could see him—but I didn’t want to think about the alternative.
If he wasn’t waiting for me … he was avoiding me.
The air felt thicker and heavier.
I walked back inside to the breakfast area. Rayna caught my eye as I entered and shot me a wicked smile, but it quickly faded. I saw all my fears reflected in her face, and I couldn’t take it. I veered off and shot to the bathroom.
Thank God it was empty. I grabbed the sink with both hands and steadied myself as a sob broke from inside me.
I shut my eyes and forced myself to take a deep breath. Another. I trembled, trying to hold back a fit of tears, but I couldn’t let them out and go back to Ben with a red, puffy face. I looked in the mirror and stared myself down, willing myself to get a grip.
Three more deep breaths.
I ran the tap and doused my hands in freezing cold water, then held them to my face.
I was okay.
I wasn’t okay at all … but I could keep it together.
I rejoined Ben and Rayna at the table.
“You okay, Clea?” Ben asked. “You look kind of pale.”
I forced a smile. “Yeah. Too many cinnamon rolls.”
“There are never too many cinnamon rolls,” Rayna enthused, but it was only for Ben’s benefit. She launched into some kind of conversation to keep him occupied so I could sit and think.
Why was Sage avoiding me? Did he regret what happened?
But he’d wanted it. He’d prepared for it.
Of course he wanted it, I imagined Rayna saying. He’s a guy.