Agent 1 (Book 3)

12. I'm not taking Sam's gun away

See, did you guys seriously have to wait that long?

Thirteen's POV

I keep the hood low over my head and lean back against the tree trunk. I tuck my hands into my sweater pockets and swing my legs back forth in a steady rhythm from the thick branch I'm sitting on up in the tree.

I listen to the kids laughing as they run around the park. I listen to the birds chirping, the dogs barking, and the parents talking. A couple of teens stand near the edge of the park talking to a couple others on bikes. A skateboarder rolls by underneath the tree I'm in but either doesn't see me or just doesn't care.

I keep running that word through my head. Monster. I can't believe that's really what Lily thinks of me. That thought alone hurts worse than any wound that's ever been afflicted on me.

There's the sounds of footsteps walking towards me but I pay them no mind...at least, not until they stop under the tree.

"Are you going to come down or are am I going to have to come up?"

I glare at her. "Get lost Lydia." I growl.

She just shrugs and grabs hold of the lowest branch, beginning to pull herself up. She winces as she continues to climb till she's sitting on a branch on my left, but slightly higher up than the one I'm on. Obviously that brought a lot of pain to her gunshot wound but I don't care. She did ditch the sling though.

"If you're planning on killing me," I make a sweeping gesture to all the people. "You picked the wrong place to do it. Too many witnesses."

"Oh please. If I was planning on killing you you'd be dead already." Lydia says in a smug voice. I roll my eyes.

I ignore her but she doesn't leave. Though she doesn't initiate a conversation either. Curiosity finally gets the best of me. "How'd you find me?"

"Easy. This is where Mom use to take us when we were upset."

"I hate that you remember that." I grumble.

"She was my mother too."

"I'm not entirely convinced you weren't adopted...actually you and Dad are both asses, so I guess I must be the one who 's adopted."

"You're not adopted." Lydia says in irritation.

"No." I agree. "That'd be too much to ask."

I can feel Lydia's glare burning a hole in my head but I continue to ignore her. "Why are you here?" I question.

I see her shrug out of the corner of me eye. "Thought maybe you'd want to talk to someone." She says casually and I begin to think I heard her wrong.

It takes me a minute to process the fact that she's not being a heartless bitch for once. "Well then you should've sent Sam, Devin, or Chase. You're the last person I want to talk to."

Lydia shrugs again. "Not Cody or Zack?"

I give her a glare out of the corner of my eyes. "Zack is freaking clueless right now and Cody's probably too pissed off with me and Sam to actually listen without blowing up in my face about it." I cross my arms over my chest and close my eyes.

"They know your name now." Lydia says simply.

"They know my nickname." I correct her. "It's not the same thing."

"It doesn't bother you?"

I shrug, my eyes still closed. "They'd have learned it eventually."

It's quiet and I just go back to listening to everything, trying to clear my mind, but the only thing I seem to be able to hear is that damn word. Monster.