“I needed to be alone with my thoughts. You can turn on a light.”
I stared at her before walking into the living room and turning on the side table lamp. Sydney was sitting with her legs tucked up under her.
“What’s going on, baby?”
She chewed on the side of her bottom lip and then looked directly at me. “We have to give up the search for Quinn. The Alchemists. The Truth-seekers. All of it.”
“What do you mean give up the search? Why on earth would we do that? We went to all that trouble to get the clues. I’m not giving up.”
Her eyes widened, filled with fear.
Moving to sit next to her, I took her hand. “Would you please tell me what’s going on?”
Earlier this morning when I left, Sydney had been hell-bent on finding out what had happened to Quinn. She was hungry for information, truth be told, and so was I.
She drew in a deep breath and exhaled it slowly. “I don’t even know where to begin.”
My heart started to race, and I instantly panicked. She’s changed her mind about us.
“Syd, I’m not going to lie. You’re starting to scare me. Have you… have you changed your mind about us?”
Her eyes widened in shock. “What? Oh my gosh, no! Mike, no!”
I sagged with a huge sigh of relief. “Then can you please tell me what’s going on.”
It was her turn to breathe in deeply then release it. “Wesley is an Alchemist.”
“What?”
Closing her eyes, she shook her head. “I blurted that right out, didn’t I? Earlier this evening, Wesley stopped by. He told me I needed to go with him to his house.”
I didn’t want to be jealous, but I couldn’t help it. “Why did he want you going to his house?”
“Well, when he stopped by, he saw the journal. I decided to tell him what we’d found. That was when he started to act weird and asked me to go with him.”
My brow rose. “You thought he was acting weird, but you left with him and went to his house?”
“He’s one of my oldest and dearest friends, Mike. He would never hurt me.”
I let out a frustrated sigh. “Keep going.”
She nodded and took in a breath before speaking. “He told me he was an Alchemist. We had them all wrong, Mike. They’re not bad people.”
“Because Wesley said so?”
I hated the sarcasm in my voice. Sydney frowned.
“Yes. Wesley’s father was one, and his grandfather, and his great-grandfather before him. He told me they help to keep the world from imploding.”