Damage Me

Chapter 26

I walk into my bedroom, Eva following closely behind.

I close the door, cross the room to the hidden elevator, and I have my hand on the button when she speaks.

"I see you haven't changed much,"
I turn around to face her.

"Your room, of course." She smirks.

I take a silent breath, then turn and press the button. The elevators ding open and we walk in.

"Meanwhile," I say, the doors closing, "you've changed a lot. You're hair, you're clothes—you used to be so rebellious."

She glances at me, then looks forward again.
"That was a phase I've long since grown out of. I was young."

"You were 19." I say shortly. "I'd hardly call that young in our timeline."

"Things change. Shit happens, and you can't always control it. You should know, anyway."

"And that means?" I say, an edge on my voice.

"Why nothing, I'm simply pointing out the obvious. No need to get riled up."

I clench my jaw to keep myself from speaking.

The glowing red numbers on the wall flash GL and the elevator trembles slightly. The doors open with a painfully loud noise. A cacophony of creaks and clangs before the sliding doors open.

I take a deep breath, step out, and move to the side.

I hear the clicks of guns and notice that everyone in the room, with the exception of Aaron and Alia, has a gun in their hands and it's pointed at the elevator, where Eva remains still, face impassive.

She slowly starts to walk out, her hands in the air. "Stop right there," Kenji barks, and she does, but she's smiling.

Kenji looks at me briefly, but keeps his gun fixed on Eva's heart. "Why did you bring her down here? You yourself said she was dangerous—"

"Calm down Kishimoto." I say, nearly rolling my eyes. "Everyone calm down. You can put your guns away."

Aaron stares at me, his expression blank.

Kenji is looking at me, disbelieving. "The hell do you mean 'put the guns away', she's with The Reestablishment, you can't possibly trust—"

"Can you ever shut your goddamn mouth?" I ask, calmly.

He snorts.

"He's right," Ian says. "she can't be trusted, and now she knows where we're hiding, so she could just leave or send a little message giving away where we are and—"

I pull out my gun, take two steps to my right, and point it at Eva's temple. The gun cocks, and Eva widens her eyes almost imperceptibly.

"There," I say, looking at the whole room. "You happy? She can't exactly do much in her state, so I suggest, one last time," I say the next part slowly, emphasizing my point. "that you put down the damn guns."

They look at Eva and I for a long time before finally relenting, holstering their weapons.

Eva's smile only grows. Kenji notices.

"What the hell are you smiling about?"

"Oh, nothing," she says, sighing.
"I'm only here for one thing." She glances at me out of the corner of her eye so swiftly I wonder if it even happened at all.

"Yeah?" Ian says, "And what's that?"

"To speak with Juliette." She stutters over her name, just barely, and I flinch. That was too close.