Agent 34 (Book 1)

19. I am so keeping this

Long story short: Something did not die in my Grandma's house (although it sure smells like it so I'm still not completely ruling that out) but there is a pretty big mold and mildew problem. So I've been over there the past few days cleaning up mold, climbing up and down in the attic, moving appliances, and ripping up the floors. Still not done and I'm going back there tomorrow to continue helping out.

Yesterday it was me, my dad, my uncle, and my cousin helping out. Tomorrow it will be me, my dad, and two of my cousins. We still have a lot of work to do and it's likely going to take a long time. I'll be trying to get in updates when I can but no promises since this takes precedence.

I've also been dealing with something for my sister that's been taking too long and I really shouldn't have had to fix if the item had been completed properly, but that's a whole other story.

Everly's POV

There was no way of knowing how long I'd been out. As I tried to move, I discovered three things. One, my entire body ached from hitting the ground. Two, I had fallen a bit further than I had thought. Three, I wasn't alone.

Someone was crouched in the dark next to me. Now, considering this person wasn't checking to see if I was alive or even conscious and was instead searching me for weapons, I was pretty sure they were no friend of mine.

My first instinct was simply to get away from the person. Put some space between me and them. However, there were a couple of problems with that. Namely, I was still trying to push past the aches and get some feeling back in my body, and two, I didn't want to alert them that I was awake. Not yet, at least.

It was difficult to judge how much I could actually move after my fall since I didn't want to alert the person that I was awake. Because of that, I couldn't really move. Besides the fact that my whole body ached, I didn't feel any other injuries. Of course, I'd also come back into consciousness on alert, so part of that could really be my adrenaline. Either way, I wasn't going to know how injured I was or wasn't until I moved.

So when the hands that were searching me moved down to my boots, I kicked out blindly in the direction I thought the person was.

Judging by the swearing, I'd hit her. And judging by the sound my foot had made when it collided with her, she was wearing armor. Specifically, a helmet.

I had a guess what that helmet looked like.

I rolled away from her quickly and shoved to my feet, my back against a wall. It was dark, but there was a faint light coming from further down the tunnel I was currently standing in. It was enough light for me to see the black helmet, the black outfit, the various body armor, and the many weapons on the mercenary standing in front of me.

I let out a breath of frustration, already knowing this wasn't going to be easy. "I don't suppose you want to save me some trouble and just tell me who hired you," I said.

The response I got was her twirling a long blade around in her hand. The blade, I also realized, was one she'd taken off of me.

I let out a sigh. "Is that a no?"

She charged me.

I was expecting it since I'd been watching her shift her feet. So when she came at me, I stepped quickly out of the way, grabbed her wrist with the blade pointed at me, and used her own momentum to throw her into the wall. At the same time, I pulled her hand back and twisted the knife out of her grasp.

I held it firmly in my hand as she turned to face me. I pointed it at her. "It's rude to take someone else's things," I said.

She shoved off the wall and at me. I dodged her first two strikes but didn't see the third one coming until her knee had collided with my stomach. I doubled over but before she could get another hit, I swiped out with my leg, knocking hers out from under her.