Agent 34

Chapter 8

Everly's POV

I pulled open the front door and stepped outside. There was a small smile on my face that immediately disappeared as soon as I saw him.

He glared up at me from the bottom of the steps as I walked down. "Expecting someone else?" Ian questioned sarcastically.

I rolled my eyes as I stopped beside him before turning to face him. "Actually yes," I said as I looked him up and down. "Someone with manners, for starters."

He pointed over my shoulder to the ambulance still parked in the driveway behind me. "Care to explain that?"

I shrugged. "I would if it was any of your business. How the hell did you get in here?"

"Apparently whoever is manning your gate is letting anyone in, for the party I assume."

"Lily," I muttered with a sigh.

Ian suddenly blew out an angry breath and glared down at me. "What the hell is your problem?"

I looked up at him with raised eyebrows, crossing my arms over my chest. "My problem?" I questioned. "I'm sorry, I'm not the one between the two of us with the problem here."

He waved his hands around, gesturing to the ambulance, and then to the house with the music blaring from inside. "My agent is missing any you're throwing a party!"

I waved my hand dismissively. "Completely unrelated."

He continued to glare. "I thought you were supposed to be helping."

"And I thought you didn't want my help."

He took a step back from me, his hands fisting up and he turned to stare at the ground. He wanted to hit me. I'd seen that look before.

And yet, I realized that none of this was helping.

I let out a sigh and ran a hand through my hair. "Look Ian," I said and he glared at me once more for using his name. "neither one of us want to be working with the other," I told him. "but that really shouldn't matter right now. You're right, you have an agent missing and that's a big deal. So why don't you come inside-"

He made a face and stepped back from the steps leading up to the front door.

I rolled my eyes. "-not for the party," I told him. "Which by the way-not that I have to explain myself to you-I didn't even know was happening. If I had I would have insisted it was canceled but I didn't have a clue. Hence the term surprise."

He just looked at me, but he wasn't glaring at me any longer so I figured that was a start.

"So come inside, grab a drink if you want, and we'll discuss the case and your missing agent in my office, alright?" I held out my arm toward the door.

He eyed me skeptically.

"I don't bite," I told him.

He shot me a deadpan look. "No," He said sarcastically. "You just do every other violent thing on the planet."

I shrugged. "Girl's got to have a hobby."

He let out a sigh and shook his head, suddenly looking very tired, and very worried.

I gestured up the steps to the door. "Walk in, first door on the right is the conference room, there's another door at the end of that, that's my office. Or if you're more comfortable in the conference room, stay there. I'll be in a minute."

I watched him walk up the steps and disappear into the house. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, breathing in the night air. The sun had just barely disappeared, though the sky was darkening quickly. The lights set up outside the house were already starting to turn on, and I opened my eyes once more to look out into the night.

I glanced around briefly. "Are you going to continue to hide in the shadows?" I called out. "Or are you actually going to come in and join the party?"

Soft footsteps approached from behind me. I didn't bother to turn around. If he didn't want me to hear him approaching, I wouldn't have been able to.

A pair of strong arms wrapped around my shoulders from behind, pulling me back into his body, his chin resting on the top of my head.

"Should I even wish you a happy birthday?" Sam asked me.

Samuel Slade. He and I were . . . something. We'd never actually discussed it and never actually put a label on it for that matter. He used to be an agent, but after being betrayed one too many times by Zero, he'd finally walked away. Now, I wasn't really sure what he was up to most days.  He tended to come off as cold and quiet most days and to most people. Also, his trust issues rivaled mine, though I had watched him slowly begin to trust the agents in my life . . . the ones he liked at least. Of course, he'd never admit to liking any of them. He just really wasn't much of a people person.

I shrugged. "It's a little late, honestly," I replied with a smile. "But if you brought presents . . ." I teased.

He laughed lightly and I pulled away from him enough to turn toward him. His arms dropped to my waist instead of my shoulders and he looked down at me with a smile.

"Why do you look worried?" He asked me as he stared down at me.

I shrugged as I placed my hands on his chest. "I was just kind of worried you wouldn't come."

He frowned down at me. "And why would you think that?"

I looked down at his chest, tracing my finger along his shirt absentmindedly. "I did kind of disappear on you for . . . a long time."

He nodded. "That you did," He said. "but you were on a mission, and a quick phone call to Ryder told me where you were."

I shook my head. "Ryder needs to get a life."

"I'll tell him you said that." He pulled me closer. "And I'll let you make it up to me for being gone so long."

I smiled and shook my head. "Yeah?" I said as he leaned his face down to mine. "And how do you expect to pry me away from Lily?"

"I brought her some cake."

I laughed and shook my head. "That's bribery."

He shrugged. "Whatever works."

I wrapped my hands around the back of his neck and he leaned in closer. "You know, as long as we've been, whatever we are-"

"Whatever we are?" Sam interjected. "That's awfully romantic of you."

"We've never actually discussed what we are," I pointed out.

He leaned down, pulling me closer, and kissed me. "Does that answer your question?" He asked me when he pulled away.

"Hmm," I said thoughtfully. "It's still unclear."

He smiled at me. "Is it now?"

"Yeah," I said with a wide smile as he leaned in again. "Very." And he was kissing me again, my arms wrapped tightly around his neck, pulling him impossibly closer.

"As much as I'm enjoying this . . ." He said when he once again pulled away and I groaned.

"Don't you dare ruin this," I told him.

He raised his eyebrows at me. "Shouldn't you be going to speak with Ian about . . . whatever it is he wants?"

I pulled away and frowned up at him. "How do you know his name?"

Sam shrugged.

I stared at him for a moment. "You know him," I stated.

He shrugged again. "I had a team at one point, same as you."

"But you never told me Ian was a part of it."

"I didn't mention it because I didn't know you were working with him."

"Not by choice," I muttered.

"I figured as much," Sam said. "He's a stubborn son of bitch."

I nodded. "What else can you tell me about him?" I asked.

He blew out a sigh. "Nothing much anymore, he's one of the good guys for sure. That much I can say." He shook his head. "But I don't know."

"What's that supposed to mean?" I questioned.

He made a face and shook his head once more. "He's . . . quick to judge and quick to condemn."

I frowned. "How so?"

I watched as Sam ran a hand through his hair and blew out a sigh. "We were a team of six, yeah?" He said and I nodded. "Well when the other three agents turned on us shortly before your team . . . member turned on you and your team, let's just say Ian didn't like how easily I handled it." He looked away, jaw tight. "I guess he thought that because he couldn't take down the other team members that I shouldn't have been able to do it either. In his mind, I turned way too quickly."

"And he didn't stop to think that he would have been dead without you?"

Sam shrugged. "He didn't care. In his mind, I was just as bad as the agents that had turned on us. Never mind that we had all been closer than family and it was the hardest thing I've ever had to do." He blew out a sigh. "I tried sticking with him for a while but he didn't trust me anymore which caused me not to trust him and it just became a whole issue. So I spoke with Zero and . . ."

"Went undercover," I finished for him.

"Yeah." He made another face. "Although we both saw how well that worked out for me. As I said, he's quick to judge and then quick to condemn, in this case, it was me as a monster."

I interlaced my fingers through his and he looked down at me. "You're not a monster," I told him. "And for the record, I'm going to stab him."

He laughed. "Please don't," He said. "I don't need you getting in trouble with Zero."

I rolled my eyes. "Fine," I said with a smile. "I'll get Lily to do it."

"That's worse."

"I know."

He looked down at my leg and pulled at the blood spot on the pants I was wearing. "Nice outfit choice," He said.

"It was either stay in these clothes or-"

He held up his hand. "I know what the other option is, believe me, I'm glad you opted against it."

He knelt down and picked up a bag that had been lying on the ground next to his foot. He held it out to me. "Change of clothes," He said when I looked at him questioningly. "Of your usual variety. Although, I don't really think black pants and a black tank top are much of a variety but . . ."

I took the bag from him. "I knew there was a reason I kept you around," I teased.

"Is that the only reason?" He questioned with a smile as he took a step toward me again.

"It's about damn time you got here!" Lily's voice suddenly shouted from the front door.

Sam stepped back and closed his eyes, tilting his head up into the sky, a breath of exasperation leaving his lips. "Her timing sucks," He muttered.

I smiled and looked over at Lily as she came walking down the front steps.

"Tell me why there's some other random agent in your office waiting to speak with you," Lily said as she stopped on the last step and crossed her arms over her chest, a glare on her face.

"Well . . ." I started to say.

She held up her hand. "Everly Kingston," She said in a stern voice as if she were a parent scolding a child and the irony was not lost on me. "you better not be working during your birthday party."

Sam leaned down next to me so he could whisper in my ear without her hearing. "I'll handle this," He told me before pulling back and winking at me. He picked up a plastic bag from the floor that had been set next to the bag he'd handed me and held it out to her. "Cake?"

She turned her steely gaze onto him. "I know what you're trying to do," She told him. "And it's not going to work Samuel."

I saw annoyance flash across Sam's face at being called Samuel, but he didn't correct her. "Does that mean you don't want it, Lilianna?"

I smiled as I watched her scrunch up her nose in annoyance at being called Lilianna.

"I didn't say that," She said as she reached out and took the bag. "You're lucky I like you," She told him before turning and walking away with her cake.

He shook his head at her before turning back to me. "Why are you working with Ian?"

I started walking up the steps. "Zero assigned me to his team. One of his agents went missing and I'm supposed to be helping to find her."

"An agent went missing? That's kind of a big deal," He said.

I nodded my agreement. "I know. Though apparently, she's not the only agent to go missing lately."

Sam looked at me questioningly.

I shrugged. "I was told not to tell any of the other agents."

Sam smiled. "Good thing I'm not an agent."

I nodded and smiled back at him. "My thoughts exactly. If I need your help on this one?"

"You know my number," He replied. He studied my face. "You think Zero's hiding something," He stated.

"When isn't he?" I muttered. "But yes, I think he's hiding something. He says agents have been disappearing for months and that he's been looking into it. So why all of sudden does he decide that I finally need to be clued in? Something's not adding up."

"You want me to look into it?"

"Maybe," I responded. "but Zero might not take kindly to you meddling in agency affairs."

"He'll have to get over it," Sam said. "When you're done speaking with Ian, there's something I wanted to talk to you about."