The second they walked back through the doorway of the B&B from their snag, bag and tag mission, Myka knew. The atmosphere had changed at a molecular level. The air was loaded with Helena.
There was a faint scent of fresh cherries and liquorice in the air that Myka's guts had no trouble identifying.
"She was here." She whispered, staring at Leena, whose mouth fell open in surprise.
Her guilty reaction spoke for itself, and Myka's heart started pounding furiously, sounding like a galloping horse. A black horse seeking revenge.
"Are you talking about..." Pete hesitated, frowning.
"H.G." Leena finished, nodding slightly.
"She's – Back?"
Myka didn't dare hope for it. The regents had taken Helena away and she had not heard a thing from her since then. She had silently hoped she would be reinstated for good. Surely they deserved to be able to spend some time together that didn't involve guns, lethal chess tables or holograms. They were not heroes out of one of Shakespeare's plays, destined to meet but never collide. It was all so unfair!
Leena's sorry face was enough of an answer.
"Not exactly. Myka, I'm sorry."
The young agent felt like crying. Helena had been there. That much was clear. But she was gone again, without a single word of explanation.
"Mykes..."
She freed herself from Pete's hand and climbed the stairs, her steps heavy with grief. She couldn't believe Helena would disappear like that again.
And sure enough, as soon as she closed her door behind herself, she knew H.G had been in her room. Her perfume was lingering there too, and a few things had been moved, ever so slightly, as if someone had been trying to feel close to the owner of the room rather than just snooping around.
Myka's eyes caught sight of her reading book on the nightstand. Someone, Helena, had turned it, face down on the table, its title hidden away from prying eyes. The Englishwoman knew how such a stupid little thing like a book laying on 'the wrong side' could be infuriating to Myka. She had done it on purpose to get her attention.
The young woman sat down on the bed and took the book in her hands, smiling. Her bookmark had been replaced with a yellow sticky note that was concealed between the yellowed pages.
The ink was not completely dry yet, and Myka jumped and turned to the window, expecting Helena to be hanging from her grappler, waiting for her reaction. Disappointment shot a few of the butterflies that were flying around in her stomach when her eyes met with Helena's absence, and she looked at those two simple words again, tracing the graceful letters with the tip of her fingers.
One Day.