Agent 34 (Book 1)

3. The adults are talking

Everly's POV

Nobody paid me any attention as I walked through the hallways of agency headquarters toward Zero's office. Not that I excepted them to. Anywhere else, any other job, people would stare if you were walking through the building covered in blood and bruises, but here? It was completely normal.

I hadn't had a chance to change out of my current clothing because Zero had given direct orders to bring me back to the agency immediately. So, I was currently strolling through the agency in a white tank top smudged in dirt, tan cargo pants that were basically completely covered in mud from the knees down, and a pair of combat boots whose color couldn't even be identified. My hair was pulled up in a high ponytail with several strands falling around my face. Not my outfit of choice. Usually, I preferred all black. Didn't have to worry too much about washing out the bloodstains.

Not that I was a sight a behold. I had a few bruises, some cuts and scrapes, and a smear of blood on the thigh of my pant leg. Not mine of course. I wasn't anything out of the ordinary to look at. Hell, if Lily could walk through here in a white dress and heels soaked in blood after she cut off someone's head and not draw any attention, I figured I never would.

Of course, nearly every agent that had ever walked through here had bruises, cuts, maybe a bullet wound or two, and blood on their clothes at least ten times. Nothing out of the ordinary here.

I pushed open the door to a lounge set up outside Zero's office. Really, it felt like the waiting room outside the principal's office. With a secretary and everything. She looked up from behind her desk. Her face paling slightly when she saw me. Though I knew it had nothing to do with my appearance. She didn't particularly like me. I didn't listen, I often spouted death threats at Zero and more times than I care to count, I'd ended up leaving a knife embedded in the wall.

I didn't have anything against her, but she was always, unfortunately, in my way whenever I was pissed at Zero and wanting to break a few of his bones. So, she'd had to deal with a lot of my anger in the past and since I had just come back from a suicide mission Zero had sent me on, she probably figured I'd be making trouble. I figured she was hoping I'd be gone longer.

I ignored her and walked past to the closed door next to her desk.

"You can't go in there," She said immediately, rising from her desk quickly, trying to intercept me. She'd fail. "He's with another agent."

I turned to her, my face a blank mask. My eyes daring her to stop me. She faltered in her steps and said nothing more.

I didn't bother knocking and just threw open the door. Zero, didn't even look up from whatever was holding his attention on his computer screen. My intrusion didn't even phase him. He knew that no one else in the agency just simply barged in without knocking, except for me. Even Devin knocked first before barging in.

The agent he was meeting with, however, turned to glare at me. "He's busy," He snapped at me from his seat in front of Zero's desk. His ice-blue eyes boring into mine.

I stared down at him blankly and then ignored him. "What do you want?" I asked Zero bluntly.

"Always a pleasure to deal you with you too, Agent Thirteen," Zero said, his gaze never leaving his computer screen.

"This is Agent Thirteen?" The man sitting across from Zero questioned in disbelief. He looked me up and down before scowling and turning back to Zero.

"Stand down, Thirteen," Zero said just seconds before a threat spilled from my mouth. I snapped my mouth shut and glared at Zero.

"What do you want?" I repeated at the same time the other agent said, "I'm not working with her."