EUNOIA ━ diego hargreeves

35

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
──-ˋˏ☂︎ˎˊ-──

FREYA STEPPED out of the way to let Harlan pass through, but she didn't take her eyes off him as he neared the now deceased Sparrows on the floor. She was still trying to recover from the horrible feeling that had just completely overtaken her senses.

Something tugged on the sleeve of Freya's jacket, and she turned to see Stan. Confused, she felt her eyebrows knit together. "Yes?"

"Where is he?" Stan asked, his voice wavering. "Where's Diego?"

"He was just-" Freya spun, looking to the spot where she'd seen him last, and her words fell off mid-sentence. "I don't know, but he's okay. He survived the attack. I just saw him."

Stan actually looked close to tears. Freya inwardly groaned. Of course Stan would choose her of all people to latch onto. She wouldn't mind if he was quite literally anyone other than Diego and Lila's kin. But she recognized that lost look in his gaze. She'd worn it herself many times when her uncle went out on one of his binges for days at a time.

"Stanley," she said, her voice softening. Freya put a comforting hand onto his shoulder. "He's safe, okay? I promise."

Someone whistled. Freya looked upward to see Diego approaching, as if on cue. "You, upstairs. Now!"

Stan broke away from Freya, and bolted directly into Diego's arms. Diego didn't seem to know what to do, so he opted for half-hugging him in return. Freya watched, her chest aching, and Diego caught her eye. She abruptly looked the opposite way as Stan ran off just like his father had instructed him to.

Klaus walked through the front doors not a moment later, pausing in front of the bodies. "Heavens to Betsy," he mused. "What did you do? Did Viktor go full 'Carrie' again?"

"We didn't do this," Allison told him, eyes darting over to Harlan.

Viktor took a step closer, but Harlan twitched away. "Don't. Don't come near me."

"I just want to make sure that you're okay," Viktor said. Klaus hurriedly made his way over to where Freya was standing, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Who the hell is creepy grandpa?" Klaus asked.

"That's the kid Viktor saved in Dallas," Diego answered.

"Oh, shit!"

"Oh my God, you're right."

Diego nodded to himself proudly.

"I really feel like I need to go moisturize my face," Freya muttered.

"Didn't he get rid of all the kid's mojo when he did all... that?"

"Yeah, I guess that didn't stick."

"What's he doing here now?"

"You mean besides saving our asses?" Freya quipped, eying Harlan. "No idea."

Allison nudged them, and they each followed her gaze to see Luther crouched next to Sloane, assuring her that everything was fine. The two of them got to their feet, and she looked horrified by the sight of the other Sparrows. She took one last glance to Luther, and then sprinted away.

"You've got a live one, Luther!" Diego shouted.

At the same time, Harlan ran, too. Diego darted after Luther and Sloane, Viktor instructed Allison to go as well, and Klaus and Freya stood staring at each other in confusion.

Klaus peered at the Sparrows, then backed away. "Man, they are always leaving us out."

Freya slung an arm around his shoulders. "It's because we're too sexy. Come on, let's go grab a smoothie from the bar."