Page 120 of Brushed By Moonlight

The rest of their exchange was too quiet to hear, which was the point, I figured. Still, it stung to be excluded.

“I don’t like this,” Roux grumbled.

“What’s to like?” Bene checked his watch, then whispered to Mina. “People will notice if Henrik and I aren’t back soon.”

Mina stuck up a hand in a stop sign and went on whispering.

“Bossy, isn’t she?” Bene chuckled. “Like my sixth-grade teacher.”

Fifth-grade,I nearly whispered.

Finally, she and Henrik finished, and he stepped toward the cellar with a grim look.

“Keep an eye on Celeste,” Roux told him. “Make sure she doesn’t give us away.”

Henrik grimaced, then nodded. “Understood.”

Mina called one more time before he disappeared inside. “Ten minutes. Be ready.”

“Ten minutes.” Henrik nodded, not entirely pleased.

That made two of us, dammit.

“What’s happening in ten minutes?” Bene asked once Henrik left.

We all huddled around Mina, waiting for instructions — even Roux. He might be our leader, but Mina could be a goddamn general when she put her mind to it.

“In ten minutes, we’ll be out of here — with the painting,” she said, then outlined a plan involving a diversion, a dumbwaiter, and some bodily contortions.

“Sounds a little like the original plan,” Bene observed when she was done. “You know, the one you got caught in the middle of?”

“This plan is better. Simpler,” she insisted.

“Riskier,” Roux cut in.

She shrugged. “When was risk not a part of this?”

I rubbed my chin. She had me there.

The next thing I knew, she was sending Bene and Roux away with final, hushed instructions. They took off, leaving just her and me.

She took my hands in hers. Now more than ever, they felt frail and tiny.

But size and power weren’t the only weapons a soldier could wield, and Mina more than made up for that in brains and bravery.

“What’s my job?” I asked.

She smiled, then touched my cheek. “You’re the best. You know that?”

I snorted, but I couldn’t help but puff my chest out a little. No one had ever called methe bestanything. If anything, I’d heard a lot of the opposite over the years. But coming from Mina…

“Maybe just reckless,” I whispered, echoing what she’d once said.

She shook her head. “The best.” Then she took a deep breath and went back to general mode. “Your job is creating a diversion.”

Fool that I was, I nodded. Mina wanted a diversion? She’d get one. The best goddamn diversion ever.

She leaned in to kiss me — not very general-like, and thank goodness for that. When our lips meshed, peace filled my soul.Which made no sense at a time like this, but whatever. Maybe trusting…hoping…even loving didn’t have to make sense.