"Thanks for coming with me, Ted," Sinead Starling said. She stretched, allowing a yawn to escape her lips, which she promptly covered with her hand.
Ted Starling smiled, staring absentmindedly at the back of the seat in front of him, although he could do little else. He had been blinded by an explosion that seemed a million miles away from their little airplane's cabin, which was technically true; it had been almost a year since the fateful day it happened. "You're welcome, Sinead. Thanks for inviting me."
"Well, I wasn't about to go alone." She stared out the window. She knew there was no point in finishing her thought, Ned very well couldn't come, because Ted was probably thinking the same thing.
She was right. "A shame Ned couldn't come. He loved Seattle when we went a few years ago."
"I wish he could come, too," Sinead replied quietly. "But I guess that means it's a good thing we're not going to Seattle."
In reality, they were headed to a place Ted himself had picked: the Olympic Mountains. "They're beautiful this time of year," he had assured her. "The perfect place to relax and unwind."
He was right. As soon as they came into view out the starboard window, Sinead felt a smile spread across her face. Snowcapped peaks on the tallest mountains, valleys surrounding the bases of many, and, if she squinted, she could barely see the tip of the Seattle Needle rising into the sky. A gorgeous place. Sinead was immediately happy that she came.
The plane touched down with barely a bump, and soon the duo were on their way over to the rental car building to get the red convertible Sinead had called in on the flight over. She took her brother's bags, threw them into the trunk, helped him in, and then got in herself, perching some bejeweled sunglasses on the bridge of her nose.
"You ready, Ted?" she asked him with a grin, slipping the key into the ignition.
He laughed, something he didn't do so often anymore. "Light 'em up, convertible girl. Start this bad boy."
She laughed, too, at Ted's farcical nickname. He'd never called her that before, but she rather liked the way it sounded. She grinned. "As you have wished it, so it shall be!" she quipped. With a twist of the key, the engine roared to life, and, with wind-whipped hair, they drove to their rented cabin high in the mountains.
Life was perfect.
"Nice cabin," Ted commented; "smells like pine."
"It's made of pine."
"Then I guess it's a good thing it doesn't smell like oak." He glanced around; a useless yet habitual movement. "Where's the bed?"
"There are two rooms. Which do you want?"
"You can have the one with the view."
"Ted, they both have a view."
"Then I'll stand here, you go look at the windows, and whichever you like more, I'll take that one."
Sinead was just about to agree before realizing what her brother had said. "What do you mean you'll take the view I like more?"
He laughed. "Just kidding. I'll take the other one."
She rolled her eyes and walked into one of the rooms, glancing out the window. A picturesque view of mountain ranges and lush green valleys dotted with trees, and... was that a river? It was perfect. The eldest triplet threw her luggage on the bed and went to go help Ted.
"I found my room. Let me take you to yours."
When she stepped into her brother's room, her smile grew. It had very much a cabin feel, like something one might find in the woods, complete with a patchwork quilt spread across the bed. A fresh bouquet of flowers sat on the dresser, and through the window was a beautiful scene of a dirt path winding through the trees. She almost envied Ted, but she still preferred her room. Besides, he was always the more outdoorsy of the triplets; he would appreciate this room more than she would, sight or not. She quickly showed him where everything was before asking about lunch.
Ted shrugged. "I am not lunch's keeper. What sounds good?"
She considered this. "Something... woodsy. What do you typically eat on a hike?"
"Granola bars," Ted said with a grin. "Beef jerky, if you really want to get fancy."
Sinead sighed and pulled out her phone. "Let's see if we get fast enough Internet up here to find a decent café."
The next three days were filled with walks, picture taking, laughing, and many other things the siblings didn't frequently get to enjoy back home. The scenic views, the joyous days, the lively nights, even the company wasn't as irritating as usual. Neither of them wanted to leave at the end of the week, unless it was just temporary to get away from the rain, which had spent the better half of the time coming down in torrential downpours better suited for a week in London.
Ted and Sinead were on a walk in one of the rare moments when it wasn't pouring. Ted was cracking every joke he could think of, causing Sinead to laugh so hard that at some points she would snort, causing them both to laugh even harder.
It was marvelous. The sunlight streamed through the leaves on the trees, water glistened on the buds of blooming flowers, and there was a surprisingly small amount of puddles and muddy areas. The earth smelled damp and clean, the air was cool and crisp; it was like the perfect autumn day in the middle of summer.
Ted's mood was completely jovial, almost to a fault. After inquiring about the state of the trail ahead, he abruptly cried, "Race you, Sinead!"
The path was straight, and had no obvious danger zones. He couldn't have picked a better spot to race. She laughed. "Right behind you, Ted!"
They zipped along the path, Sinead slowly catching up to her brother, who had gotten a decent head start. Wind blew into her face, brushed her hair back, seemed to breathe life into her soul. It was powerful. Potent. Pure. Perfect. Nothing could ruin it. Absolutely nothing.
Until Ted crashed into somebody.
So busy had she been relishing in the moment, something she rarely got to do, she had forgotten to watch out for passersby. Flush with shame and embarrassment, Sinead made her way over to the two men.
"Are you okay, Ted?" she asked him.
"Ohh..." He shook his head as if to shake off dizziness. "Yeah, I'm fine." He looked up at the man he had run into, his I'm-not-blind act settling in. "Are you okay?"
The man smiled and stood up, running a hand through his dark hair. Mud covered his pants and bottom of his shirt. "Yeah, perfect. I should've been watching where I was going. Sorry."
Sinead reached down and grasped Ted's arm, helping him up. "Well, so long as nobody is hurt I think we'll be okay." She looked up at the man for the first time and her breath hitched.
Hello, handsome!
"So..." she started again. "What's your name?"
"Riley McGrath. And who might you be?"
"I'm Sinead Starling, and this is my brother, Ted."
Ted closed his mouth; he had been about to say the same thing, but decided against saying anything – he could hear the change in his sister's voice. He held out his hand. "A pleasure to meet you," he said.
Riley grasped his hand and shook it firmly, but when he looked into Ted's eyes, as was typical when shaking hands properly, he noticed they were foggy. "By George, you're blind!" He caught himself. "I... I'm sorry. I just hadn't realized. You do quite a good job of hiding it."
"I wasn't always blind," Ted replied, retracting his hand. "My eyes were... damaged."
Riley nodded, deciding not to pry. "What are you guys doing here in the mountains?"
He directed this at Sinead, who replied, "Just hanging out. Escaping reality for awhile."
"Do you have any plans?"
"No, not really. Why?" She dared not to hope too much.
He grinned. "Would you like to go rock climbing? I know a great spot that's not too hard for a beginner."
Trying her best to keep from beaming a goofy grin, Sinead said, "I would lov-" She stopped, glancing at Ted. "I mean, I would love to, but I can't leave Ted alone."
Ted threw up his hands. "Hey, whoa, wait a minute. I don't want to be the reason your vacation is ruined. I'm just tagging along, remember? Just take me back to the cabin; I'll be fine."
"You mean it?" Sinead asked, hardly daring to believe it.
"Yup. So long as I get to name your first child." He grinned, his eyes twinkling with a teasing light.
Sinead blushed. She hoped Riley wouldn't notice. "Shut up," she muttered, whacking him lightly on the arm. "In your dreams."
"Oh, contraire, I believe they would be your dreams, dear sister," he quipped. "And don't you know I could have you arrested for assaulting a blind man?"
She rolled her eyes and turned back to Riley. "Let me take Ted back to the cabin, then we can go."
"All right. I'll wait right here for you. You can find me again, right?"
"Yup. See you in ten." And brother and sister walked off.
Riley McGrath watched the Starlings walk out of sight. When they had rounded the far corner, he pulled out his phone; he had a call to make.
"What is it!?" snapped the voice on the other end of the line. "I am extremely busy!"
"Is that any way to talk to Vesper One?" Riley grinned. "I'm a higher ranking than you, you know, and could easily wipe you out of the picture."
"All right, all right. Now what is it?"
"Sinead Starling is head-over-heels for my dashingly good looks, just as I suspected she would be. Turning her will be a piece of cake."
"Just hurry it up. I'd like to get the show on the road, personally."
"Do your part, and everything will go smoothly," Riley replied, shutting his phone. Sometimes, he hated talking to Isabel Kabra.
He went through the plan one more time, step-by-step. Every algorithmic procedure must be executed with perfection, or every last moment of preparation would be blasted to bits by the hand of the Cahills; which would be humiliating, not to mention disastrous. Vespers don't lose; especially not to scrawny, weak-minded Cahills.
All things considered, he did quite well, Riley mused to himself. Thanks to the intelligence that fool Cheyenne Wyoming gave him about all the different Cahill candidates, Riley himself had been able to pinpoint exactly who the perfect person was to suck into their little trap.
Ian Kabra was far too soft after joining the Madrigals.
Jonah Wizard somehow managed to remain stuck up, of all the traits he chose to keep.
Ted Starling, while brilliant, was useless blind.
But his sister? Perfect. Brothers as bait, she would join them, he was sure of it. She cared nothing for the Cahills anymore... Well, maybe she did deep down, but the right persuasive maneuvers could cut deeper than deep.
She was a triplet. Her love for her brothers extended beyond such trivial matters as twenty-second cousins.
"Hey! I'm back," Sinead panted, rushing up to him. Her face was flushed, revealing she must have run most of the way back.
"Cool," Riley replied, pocketing the phone that still sat in his hand. "Are you ready to go?"
"You bet I am."
He smiled, turning and walking back the way he had come. "Oh, we're going to have tons of fun."
"I hope so," Sinead said. "I've never been rock climbing before."
"It's just like climbing a tree."
"I've never climbed a tree, either."
He laughed. "Don't worry; do it long enough and it's more like climbing stairs."
"How long does that take?"
"I dunno. Two, maybe three years? Depends on how often you do it."
"Great," Sinead said sarcastically.
He laughed again, not bothering to reply.
It was evening by the time they made it to the top of the mountain. Sinead was hot and sweaty, while Riley looked like he had only climbed ten flights of stairs and was tired, but in a refreshed, energized sort of way, like one might feel after a good weightlifting session. Not that Sinead knew the feeling, but Ned had described it that way once.
"Wow," Riley murmured. The sun shone off his skin, giving him an orange-y aura, like some sort of fiery-haloed angel. The backpack was merely wings folded across his back, because he didn't need them to fly; he had two feet, a climbing harness and an unquenchable desire to be daring to take him as far off the ground as he wanted. She wanted to melt when the angel turned and, with a dazzling white smile, offered her his hand. "You've got to see this sunset. It's amazing."
She took his hand and allowed herself to be pulled up. He pointed into the distance, toward the setting sun, and Sinead's jaw dropped a bit. Oranges, purples, pinks, mahoganies and peaches all battling for space among the fray and casting gorgeous shadows off the mountain peaks and highlights on the leaves of the trees far below. To the east, stars began to sparkle.
"Beautiful!" she gasped. "I wish I had brought a camera."
"But if you had brought a camera, then anyone could have experienced this. This way, it's ours." He smiled.
She couldn't help but smile back. "Yeah, I guess that's true." She gazed back out at the landscape. "But still, it's too bad my brothers couldn't be here."
"Actually, that's something I wanted to talk to you about," Riley said, sitting down on the plateau and motioning for Sinead to sit beside him, which she promptly did.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean, I have a proposal for you."
"All right, then... Propose away. I mean, don't propose, but- Oh, you know what I mean!" Sinead cried, flustered, embarrassed.
He chuckled. "Yeah. Anyway, I hear you're pretty smart."
Sinead frowned. "You've heard of me? Well... yeah, I'm a genius. But what does that have to do with-"
"Then you'll be able to make a smart decision," he replied, rudely cutting her off. "My proposal is quite simple: join me, and your brothers stay safe."
"Join you in what? Stay safe from what?" Fear gripped her.
"My name is not actually Riley McGrath, as you may have guessed by now, but is, in fact, the greatest name ever to exist."
"George Cloony?"
He glared at her. "No – Damien Vesper."
Sinead jumped up like she had been stung. She was on her feet, trembling slightly, but had nowhere to run; she was trapped on top of a mountain.
"Hey, now, don't worry, I'm not as bad as my namesake." He paused. "Well, actually, I'm worse. But I'm better to my allies than he was, if that makes any difference. Which is why I'm offering you a deal: If you join the Vespers, your brothers will be kept from harm. And we may even be able to heal them from their headaches and blindness. The Vespers have some of the best doctors in the world at their disposal, you know."
"Actually, I don't know. And you're nuts if you think I'm going to join you in your freaky organization of murders!"
"Well, I have been accused of such before," he admitted. "But let's think about this logically for a second. Vespers are evil because they kill people? Cahills kill their own family. Your brothers are disabled because of your so-called 'family.' And now you sit here and side with them as if they did nothing?"
"The Holts are not exactly the brightest of the family," Sinead replied.
"Still," Damien insisted. "You have to understand that your brothers aren't the only victims. Others have been killed, and even you suffer with those scars."
Before she could stop it, her hand went involuntarily to her side. She could feel the scar tissue through her shirt, and not for the first time thought of her research in making the stupid stuff disappear. No more scars... what a thought.
"But what harm could possibly come from some scars? Especially when compared to blindness or chronic migraines." She already knew the answer, but she truly hoped he didn't.
"Do you think someone will honestly fall for someone who's disfigured?" He grinned an evil grin, knowing he had caught her as jaw tightened almost imperceptibly. "Oh, yes, that's right. A young girl, pretty in the face and ugly underneath, and like anyone else she wants love, but knows, deep down, that she won't get it because it's just not possible to love someone like that."
Sinead pressed her lips together. "There's someone for everybody. You can't prove-"
"Look at society, girl! I don't have to prove anything, they prove it for themselves. Have you ever seen a girl with scars in a music video that wasn't being made fun of? Have you ever read a book where someone with a lazy eye finds love? Of course not! Society has set itself up for failure because in its eyes, beauty is only skin deep." He stood up, giving her a charming smile. "But the Vespers aren't like that. We know it's what's inside that truly counts, even if our standards are a little different than the mass's. And I know how much it would crush you to see one of your brothers injured again, or remain impaired much longer. A year is long enough, wouldn't you say? I see no point in beading around the bush: Sinead Starling, join the Vespers. If not for me, then for you; if not for us, then for your brothers." He motioned in the direction of the Starlings' rented cabin. "I would hate to see Teddy boy go so brutally." There was no evil glint in his eye as he said this, but Sinead had a feeling he didn't mean dying blind as "going so brutally."
Tears had started falling from her eyes at some point, but she wasn't sure when. She dashed them away. "Why me? What do I have to do?"
"We need a genius, that's why you," he answered simply. "And all you have to do is play double agent. Get close to Amy Cahill, make her feel safe, maybe feed her some false information about who the mole actually is. Oh, isn't it so simplistic? I'm wasting my time explaining it."
Sinead thought about it for a long time. Long enough for the sun to finish setting, the stars to start sparkling, and for Damien to quit smiling quite so widely. Maybe his cheeks were starting to hurt. But Sinead wasn't really thinking about it.
If the Vespers plan siege, Ted and Ned would be safe. They might even be curable, and she had the lead Vesper's – she assumed – word that if it was in fact possible, that they would do their best to help. Ted could see. Ned could think. She could be beautiful again. Not disfigured; maybe there was a chance for her love life after all. Maybe even with Damien...
She took a shaky breath. "Do I have your word? That Ned and Ted will be fine?"
"And cured," he said. "You have my word."
She nodded slowly. "I take it I shouldn't tell anyone?"
"Duh." He grinned. "Let's make this formal – after all, this is a happy occasion! So..." He cleared his throat. "Sinead Starling, welcome to the Vespers." He held out his hand and she shook it firmly.
"Thanks," she said. "I can't wait to see the look on Ted's face when he can see again, or Ned's first invention after he can actually focus on one." A smile spread across her face. "They're going to be the greatest moments in my life."
Damien smiled back. "You bet they will. You won't regret this, Sinead. I promise." He took a step closer and gave her a quick kiss on the forehead. "Now let's get down off this mountain, Vesper Three."
Astonished and bursting with euphoria, Sinead Starling followed him to the edge.
It wasn't until she walked slowly back to Ted, alone, in the dark, that her fear and guilt crashed upon her shoulders.
What had she done?
What had she DONE!?
Selling herself off to the Vespers? What sister sells herself off as a spy on the very people she wants to protect? What would Ted say? What would Ned say? She could give a rip what Amy thought, but her brothers... They meant more to her than life itself. She would die for them.
And she did die. To herself. For them.
They'll understand, she told herself for the billionth time, just as Damien had promised her before they parted. Once this is over, once I explain this all to them, they'll understand.
When she trundled into the cabin, Ted perked up from his position seated on the couch, which was not where she had left him. "Sinead, that you?"
"Here, Ted. How did you get to the couch? You were on your bed, listening to your iPod, weren't you?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I can find my way around." He clicked the TV off with the remote, although it took him a moment to find the button. "You're home late. Did you have fun?"
"Tons."
"Oh. Well now I'm worried what you were doing up there. You weren't making out were you? No, wait, don't tell me, I don't wanna know."
"No, Ted, we weren't making out," she said with a slightly embarrassed grin. She was happy Ted couldn't see it.
"Oh, good. So. What's for dinner? I waited for you, and now I'm really hungry."
Sinead thought for a moment. "Remember that nice-looking restaurant on 25th?"
Ted jumped up, a large grin on his face. "Oh, yeah! That sounded good when you read me the sign. Let's go there."
"All right, come on." She took his arm and led him outside, helping him into their rented convertible and dropping herself into the driver's seat.
Ted laughed joyously, as he had done more on this trip than he probably had in a year. "Light this candle, convertible girl! They'll burn up as we enter!"
Smiling all the while, she revved the engine and floored it, tires spinning as they groped for traction on the gravel. She eased up as they turned onto the main road.
It took her a moment, but not long.
Ted called her "convertible girl" again.
Convertible means someone or something that can be converted.
I betrayed the Cahills and joined the Vespers, she thought in horror, her smile slowly slipping off her face. Ted was blissfully unaware of her, only paying attention to the wind in his hair. It was at that moment that she had to harden her heart, and repeat to herself more firmly that Ted and Ned would understand – for there was no other way to survive her next thought:
I really am a convertible girl.