“Okay, I think that’s it for the plans,” said Alex, tossing down the pencil he’d been holding. “But there’s something else I have to say.” He let out a breath, and glanced around the table. “A lot of you overheard Willow and me fighting about Seb last night.”

It was the last thing I’d expected. I stiffened, my throat going dry. Around me, the team went utterly still. I could sense Seb’s aura stretching out towards mine, wanting to comfort me.

“It was personal; something just between the two of us,” went on Alex. “What we fought about has nothing to do with the workings of this team. Willow and Seb are getting the security information for us – that means our lives are in their hands. I wouldn’t do that if I didn’t trust them completely. So forget whatever you heard; it’s irrelevant.”

Silence from around the table. Kara had a look on her face that said it was kind of hard to forget it, but she nodded. “We understand.” Looking at her starkly beautiful features, for a second all I could think of was Alex’s first kiss. It hadn’t really been her – had it? He’d never even told me that he’d had a crush on her. Meanwhile, I could feel from the slight shifting of mood in the room that Alex had defused the situation a little. But only a little. It was going to be a very long time before anyone actually forgot our argument.

“That’s all,” said Alex. “Target practice now, if that’s what you’re doing. Otherwise, just take the rest of the day off and relax. Anyone who wants to go out for a while, go for it – but go in pairs, and watch each other’s backs.”

As everyone began dispersing, I started around the table to him, but he was already striding away across the range. “Alex!” I called, putting on a burst of speed to catch up with him. “Alex, wait.”

He stopped and looked at me. I touched his arm. “Listen, we really need to talk.”

“Not now,” he said.

“No, we do have to talk now. Look, can we go to your room, and have this out? We can’t just—”

“Not. Now,” he gritted out, kneading his temple with his eyes closed. I stared at him, taken aback by the low vehemence in his voice. He left the range without waiting for a reply. I heard him go upstairs.