The Fifth Agent

Chapter Fourteen

 One moment, I was standing in the doorway, dripping water on the floor, smiling weakly at Liam. 

The next, I was shoved up against the opposite wall, with a gun pressed to my stomach, and a hand pressed against my windpipe.  

My eyes were wide, and all I could do was stare in shock. "What... what are you doing, Liam?" I choked on my words, struggling to get air in through my lungs. 

His amber eyes glared fiercely into mine. My heart was beating so loudly, I was sure that he could hear it. "What are you doing here, Bentley?" 

"Liam, what are you doing? Leave her alone!" Taylor came flying out of the room, and pulled him away from me. I gasped, doubling over, coughing. Well, crap. I wasn't exactly expecting a warm welcome, but this wasn't what I had in mind either. 

The others slowly approached the doorway, but Lydia was the only who actually left the room and came to stand by me. "Are you okay, Ben?" She gently rubbed circles against my wet back, and I nodded, coughing. 

"I'm fine." I stared sadly at the place where Taylor was talking lowly with Liam, who was glaring at me under lowered lids. 

Lydia followed my gaze and sighed. "I'm sorry about that. We've had trouble, and Liam's really on edge, not trusting anyone." 

I nodded again, understanding, even if a pang went through my heart. Then Lydia's words caught up to me, and I frowned. "What else has happened?" 

Lydia hesitated, glancing at Max and Jake. I slowly brought my gaze up to meet their eyes, and wasn't surprised at what I found there. Distrust. "Uh, you know what? Let's get you changed into dry clothes first. Do you want to borrow some of mine?" 

I dragged my eyes away from Jake and shook my head, holding up my backpack that had fallen off when Liam had pushed me. "No, thanks. I have some in here." At her skeptical look, I added, "It's waterproof." 

"Okay, then." Leading me past the boys, I kept my head down until we reached the bathroom. "You might want to take a warm shower first," Lydia said, gazing at me with concern. 

"Okay. Thanks, Lydia," I tried to smile reassuringly, but it probably came out more like a grimace. 

Shutting the door after Lydia left, I put my bag down and undressed. Turning the shower on, I let the hot pellets of water bombard my skin as I stood there, staring blankly at the wall. 

They didn't trust me. Well, Taylor and Lydia did, but the guys didn't. I guess they heard about what had happened to Jeremy, then. I thought back to when I talked to him, the first night after we'd met. We were sitting at the edge of the pool, talking about our agencies. He had jumped up to go rescue Kara from being tackled by Tom. I huffed out a small laugh at the memory. He had always been the leader of those three. And now he was dead. Because of me. 

It seemed like everyone who was knew me, or was close to me, got hurt. Maybe it was a mistake coming to my old teammates for help. But whether I liked it or not, they were the only ones left who I could trust. 

Finishing my shower, I toweled myself off, and grabbed my suit and undergarments from the backpack. Hey, it's good to always be prepared. 

After getting dressed, I was just in the middle of pulling up the zipper on my suit when the door opened. Jake stood there. I quickly pulled the zipper the rest of the way up, heart pounding. I turned around to face him, and immediately began to panic at his narrowed eyes. 

Stepping forward into the bathroom, he pointed at my now zipped up back. "What was that? Between your shoulder blades?"

My heart dropped into my stomach. He saw the brand. He saw the brand. My face blanched, but inside I was slightly relieved that he only saw that, and not the metal slots that my wings came in and out of.