The Master Of Disguise

Chapter 19

The disguise box formed at my feet, now it was just me, Eloisa. I couldn't bring myself to look at Blaze, I didn't want to see the disappointment in his eyes that I was sure I would find. Never in my life had I felt so exposed, my cover was gone and all that was left was an average teenage girl. Without my cover, I was a nobody. I wanted to curl up in a ball and cry but I couldn't. Cherry was still here. I got rid of any expression that was on my face and tried to appear indifferent.

"Now that we have that out of the way, let's get to the more important things. The GDB. Where is it?" Cherry demanded. I looked around frantically, searching for someone that could help me. Nora, Slash and two of the other spies were all tied up together. Nora was the only one awake but couldn't talk because of a piece of cloth that was tied around her mouth. Her eyes were begging me not to tell Cherry where it was. There was another spy lying limp on the grass. My stomach lurched when I realized he was dead. I didn't even know his name. There were a couple of Cherry's spies lying on the ground as well. A couple more were treating their wounds and two were standing behind Cherry and I.

I couldn't do anything. If I didn't give Cherry what she wanted, she would kill Blaze. Cherry smirked when she saw I realized this. I slowly walked into the house, Cherry and the two spies trailing behind me. My heart was beating loudly in my chest, what I was going to do was risky and I had no idea if it would work.

The duplicate GDB was still on the table, where Nora had left it. I picked it up, my hands shaking.

"It was right here the whole time?" Cherry asked in disbelief. I nodded.

"Yes, we were discussing what to do with it when you came." I explained. It wasn't really a lie, but it was the real one we were discussing. Cherry started to reach for the duplicate, but I pulled it away and shook my head. "Promise if I give it to you, you'll let everyone go. Including my family." I bargained. Cherry hesitated.

"Fine." She finally gave in. I handed over the duplicate while Cherry smiled in triumph.

We walked out of the house, and at Cherry's signal, all her spies started to head inside the helicopter. Even Blaze's captor let him go. He immediately ran over to me but I turned away, I wasn't ready to face him yet. Blaze looked like he wanted to say something but I wouldn't have heard him over the roar of the helicopter. Instead, we started to untie Nora, Slash and the other spies, which had all woken up. I noticed three of Cherry's spies were still on the ground, limp. I turned away from them and focused all my attention on untying everyone.

Right when I thought the helicopter had finally disappeared, I heard a new helicopter approaching. I started to panic, thinking they had already figured out it was a duplicate.

"It's the reinforcements. A lot of good that'll do use now." Nora shouted sarcastically over the roar of the helicopter.

"I gave them a duplicate." I shouted back, my voice sounding more like a whisper though. Nora's eyes lit up and she ran over to hug me, which surprised me, but she almost immediately pulled back with a wince. That's when I noticed that her arm was bleeding.

Determined to help her, I found a first aid kit and got out the supplies.

"I don't need help, it's fine." Nora tried to argue.

"Yes you do, Nora, please just let me help you. I had to have help to get my wound patched up too." I said, showing her my bandage. Nora sighed and turned so I could patch her up. I had to tear off her sleeve and started to gently pull the fabric away, which was difficult since it was sticking to the blood. The wound wasn't too bad, the bullet had went clean through and didn't hit any major blood vessels. I worked on cleaning the wound and putting a bandage on.

Right when I finished, the helicopter landed and all the spies rushed out, ready to fight. While Nora stood up and quickly explained the situation, I grabbed my disguise box where it had formed after I turned into Eloisa. I didn't put my disguise back on, it was no use, everyone knew. Instead, I tucked it away into my pocket.
 "Good job Rose!" One of the spies said with a small smile. She had vibrant brunette hair and forest green eyes. "I'm Pearl by the way." She stuck out her hand and I reached to shake it. I was about to reply when Vanilla Gold appeared out of the blue behind me.

"You guys can all stay out here for the night if you want." Vanilla Gold offered, gesturing to the sky, which was rapidly darkening.

"And why should we trust you?" I snapped, fire burning in my eyes. "My family was taken prisoner because of you." There were some murmurings along the crowd.

"I know, and I'm sorry, I truly am, but I had no choice." I was about to retort when Nora interjected.

"That's enough! I can see both of your points. Rose, I know your family was taken, but Vanilla Gold's family could've been taken as well. Don't tell me you wouldn't have done the same thing." She paused to stare me down, which made me turn away with shame. She then turned back to Vanilla Gold. "Thank you for your offer, Vanilla Gold. We'll camp outside since it's too dark to fly back to Universal Spy Headquarters now." Nora declared.

"Eloisa-" Vanilla Gold started.

"Don't. Call. Me. That." I hissed, then spun on my heel and walked away.

***

I found a quiet spot under a tree, away from everyone. I hugged my legs and laid my head down on my knees. That's when I broke down and started sobbing uncontrollably. I had lost my disguise, Blaze would never love me now. I didn't know if Cherry would let my family free.

Suddenly, I felt strong arms around me, and instantly knew it was Blaze. I slowly lifted my head up and found myself staring straight into his eyes. Blaze didn't say anything, he just gently wiped my tears away. But I knew what was coming.

"Blaze, I don't want to talk about it." I whispered.

"Then don't talk, listen," Blaze said softly, "I don't care if your Rose or Eloisa, spy or not. I only care that it's you, that your safe now. But if out of all the people you could've been beneath your disguise, I'm glad that it was Eloisa." Blaze paused to look at my reaction. I didn't know what to say. "And now, I trust you enough to show you who I am too." Blaze stood up, and before I could protest, he said his name.