He sighed. “Leslie. She swapped it out for the letter he actually left you. When you got the letter, I knew someone had betrayed us. Leslie had left a trail, trying to frame someone else. However, she wasn’t aware of some additional measures of security we have in place. I had to lead her on for a bit to see what she was doing.”
Wait. What?
“Leslie? Your girlfriend?”
“This is where it gets complicated. Leslie was here to take my place. She’d hoped things between her and me would become more. It was complicated.”
“Your place?”
“The high council has decided that I’m ready to take my role in leadership. I managed to buy some time in the hope that I’d be able to protect you. I thought everything was fine after I was able to get the evidence back from the police department. I accepted the position
, but then I found out Leslie was trying to create problems for you. She planted the letter in your house, hoping to get on the high council’s radar.”
I was so confused. “Wesley, this is so much information. Why would she want to cause problems for me? I’d never met her before.”
“Because she wanted to be the one by my side. She wanted me to choose her.” Wesley took a deep breath. “I wanted to choose you. It felt right for you to be the one to always have my back. I fell in love with you, Sydney. A long time ago. I also knew this life would never be for you, so I made the decision to not pursue you in that fashion.”
I felt like my heart was in a vice grip. My head pounded. “I-I-I—”
“You’ve fallen in love with someone else. I get that, Sydney. I expected it. I want you to be happy. It’s all I ever wanted.”
My eyes shot to his, and I knew it was true. I’d been nervous to tell Mike that I loved him, but I did. I treasured Wesley as a friend—but only a friend. I wasn’t sure what to say.
“It’s okay, Sydney. I don’t expect to change your mind.”
My lip trembled. “Wesley, I—”
He sat next to me and put his finger to my lips. “Please don’t. I don’t think I could bear hearing you actually say you don’t love me. I don’t want us to end this way.”
“End? We don’t have to end.”
“We do, Sydney. For now, we do. Leslie made a mess of things, and they’ll be watching you closely. I need you to give me the journal and destroy any other evidence you may have found. We’ll need to wipe your computer’s search engine history clean. You can never try to find any more clues. The next time, I might not be able to keep them away.”
I grabbed Wesley’s sleeve. “I don’t want to lose you.”
“What did your grandpa always say? Let me think… ‘Time and distance may pull us apart, but—’ ”
I finished it for him. “We’ll always remain friends if we keep each other in our hearts.”
“Yes, that’s it. I want you to know that after Vickie disappeared, I searched far and wide for her with what resources I had. Everything was a dead end. And we weren’t aware of the secret passage in Beatrice’s place. It’s one of the few places that have remained a secret from us.”
“Did you know she was on to the Alchemists?”
He shook his head. “I knew she was on to something, but I wasn’t sure how much she knew. I was going to intercede, the way I am with you, if I had to. When she disappeared, I wondered if someone else had figured it out. However, nothing ever came of it. There was no mention or information in our archives.”
That was a relief. Wesley stood and walked over to a painting on the wall. He slid it to the side to reveal a safe. “What I’m about to show you may give you some closure. If they ever found out… my life would be at risk.”
“If the Alchemists are good, why would our lives be in danger?”