Fly: A PORTAL Chronicles Novel (The PORTAL Chronicles) (23 page)

Everett nervously sucked on his swollen lip before blurting, “I’m an undercover agent.” His eyes held mine as he waited for my response.

I laughed from how absurd it sounded, before realizing he was serious. “Sorry.”

“You’re fine. It’s not everyday that you meet a nineteen-year-old with a full-time career at some weird underground agency.”

I gaped. “What?” The wheels in my head began grinding at full speed, a torrent of questions soon overflowing from my mouth. “I was expecting you to tell me you filed papers… or answered phones or… something like that. How can you attend Brightman and work full-time? That’s completely impossible. And did you say you were nineteen? I thought you were seventeen and in the same grade as me. Did you fail some grades or something? But back to your job… what!?! You have a full-time job as an undercover agent? How do you get a job like that? And for how long have you been doing it? What kind of stuff does an undercover agent do?” Fear gripped me then. “You aren’t a hit man or anything, right? I mean, you don’t, like, kill people, do you?”

Everett laughed uncomfortably. “Not exactly?”

“What do you mean ‘not exactly’? And to which part?” I wanted more. I deserved more. I put down my tea and hugged my knees to my chest. I’d wanted to know more about Everett, but now that he was telling me, I was scared of what I would hear.

“Sorry. I’ve never really talked to anyone about this. Everyone close to me already knows about what I do, because they also work for PORTAL.” He took a deep breath. “Well, my brother Benson and I got our GEDs when we were fourteen. After that, we underwent agent training, which is sort of like an express version of college with courses on other realms, demonology, and combat training mixed in. Since graduating at sixteen, we’ve worked full-time for PORTAL.”

I watched him closely. He looked as guarded as I felt. “Then why attend classes at Brightman?” I asked, sounding more defensive than I meant to.

“Attending Brightman is a cover. PORTAL placed Benson and me here two and a half years ago. We were simply told that our mission was to blend in, that it was pertinent for a case we would get later. Then Benson screwed up and… went missing.” He paused, looking down for a moment. “A few months after losing Benson, PORTAL offered me a case protecting a girl over the summer in a city far away. I knew some time away would do me good and, figuring the job would be like a paid vacation, I accepted it.” He gave me a look that I didn’t understand. “Surprisingly, I really enjoyed the mission and soon found myself growing attached to the girl.”

“Why are you telling me this?”

“Sophie, the girl lived in Portland.”

I gaped, realizing what he was saying.

He whispered, “I’ve been assigned to protect you for the past six months.”

Chapter 28

The Prophecy

My breath caught in my throat as my mind struggled to make sense of what Everett had said. Why was it that the moment I was finally getting my bearings, the landscape of my life invariably shifted? A girl’s brain could only take so much. I was on the verge of mental overload, but my need to understand what Everett was talking about prodded me onward.

Everett held my gaze, waiting for my response to the startling news he’d divulged. “I know this is a big shock,” he said, looking concerned. “We don’t have to do this tonight. We can wait.”

“No!” Before I knew what I was doing, I was on my feet with my finger in his face. “You were assigned to protect me for the past six months! Why? What does that mean?”

“You’re special. Because of this, very bad people are out to hurt you.”

On edge, I paced the space between the twin beds. “Six months ago… so… that’s what?” I thought aloud. “That’s June!” I stopped and turned on Everett. “You’ve been following me around since June?”

“Well, I don’t exactly ‘follow you around.’ I’m not a stalker,” he said, offended. “But, yes, I’ve been assigned to protect you since June.” He sighed. “I know you like mint tea and blueberry scones because it’s what you ordered at the bookstore you frequented. I know a lot of your other favorite foods because I trailed you at the grocery store. I also know you like Scrabble, that you prefer reading over watching TV, and that you like to paint, but for some reason, only in secret when you’re alone.”

My eyes bulged. “What?” I couldn’t believe my ears.

“I was assigned to watch you this summer to get to know you and your dad. I wrote reports on your patterns and things you did and liked. The idea was to get to know you better than the enemy.”

I paced again as I thought. I didn’t know how to feel upon hearing this. Then puzzle pieces started falling into place. “So that’s why Dad sent me here, and why you were chosen to escort me around my first day at Brightman.”

“Yes.” Everett looked sad. “Your Dad was very heartbroken to have to send you away. He didn’t want to be separated from you, but he agreed it was best. As for your first day here, I wasn’t supposed to meet you yet. The plan was for Mia to befriend you and introduce us much later.”

“So that’s why you spazzed that day,” I mused. “Mr. Control Freak was thrown a curveball and panicked because he wasn’t prepared.”

“I’ll own that I’m a control freak but I didn’t spazz out.”

“Whatever! You kept frantically looking around, you wouldn’t look at me when I talked to you, and when you talked to me, you were super snarky,” I explained, mimicking him.

He laughed at my exaggerated demonstration. “I was nervous.”

“Nervous?” Hope welled up within me. “Why would a super cool undercover agent like yourself be nervous?”

“It was my first time meeting you.”

“But you already knew me.”

“Yeah, but we hadn’t been personally introduced and there was a lot at stake. I mean, I needed you to like me and trust me so that we could hang out without you suspecting anything.”

“Oh.” My heart fell, exploding like a water balloon.
No wonder I have feelings for him. He’s been playing me this entire time!
“So, you got to know me in Portland to learn how to trick me into liking you once I got here in order to better do your job.”

“No!” Everett looked alarmed. “It’s not like that, Sophie. In Portland, yes, my assignment was to get to know you and your dad, but I had no knowledge at the time that I’d continue to be assigned to you. When fall came along, I came back home and PORTAL’s director, Emmanuel Salvatore, revealed that, all along, Benson and I had been attending classes at Brightman so we could eventually protect you here. Everything had been planned out a long time ago. And sure, what I learned about you helped me once you came to Brightman, but I was given total discretion on how I ran the mission and I chose to meet you.”

“Why?”

“Why what?”

“Why’d you choose to get to know me? Why not do things from a distance like before?” I asked.

Diverting his eyes, he shrugged. “It was the safest thing to do. I could protect you better if I was close to you, in your inner circle. And I knew this moment would finally come when I had to tell you the truth about everything and I figured you’d take it better coming from a friend than from some strange guy who you had possibly seen around school.”

I instantly regretted asking. I didn’t want the truth after all, now feeling more crushed than before. I realized that I’d been holding my breath, but what had I expected? For him to lie? He was stuck protecting me and, for my sake, trying to be polite and make the most of a bad situation.

This whole time, I had only been an assignment to Everett. All the time spent thinking about him and analyzing our conversations was a waste.
And I confessed my feelings for him earlier tonight!
I groaned, feeling sick to my stomach. I couldn’t be more mortified. I wanted to cry, to scream, to crawl under the bed and hide, to disappear, but none of those things would make the situation better. None of those things could save me from the danger I was apparently in. Unfortunately, only good ol’ Everett Sinclair could do that.

“What are you thinking?” Everett asked, watching me with his ridiculously luscious green eyes. “Let me in.”

I wondered if the concerned look he gave me was a persuasive tactic he’d mastered in agency training. Persuade it did, infuriating me enough to want to claw his pretty eyes out. “No thanks. I’ve embarrassed myself enough tonight,” I blurted. Knowing that melting down and spewing passive aggressive comments wasn’t productive, I willed myself to get back on track. “So, who is it that wants to hurt me?”

“Kill you.”

“What?” I asked, startled.

“He doesn’t want to hurt you. He wants you dead. There’s a big difference.”

Something about Everett’s tone sent shivers down my spine. “Fine. Who?”

“Will you stop pacing and sit down? You’re making me nervous.”

“No, because I am nervous,” I shot back. “Answer the question.”

“Lucian Divaldo. He is very powerful and, unfortunately, has been at odds with PORTAL from the beginning. Long story short, it was prophesied that you have special gifts that will help PORTAL conquer him. Because of this, Divaldo has been after you your entire life, explaining why your family has moved so much. He even placed Hagen at Brightman to woo you into working for him. Since that failed, he’s reverted back to trying to kill you, issuing a death warrant for you.”

The news came like an icy shower, chilling me to the bone. Someone very powerful wanted me dead. It was a hard concept to wrap my mind around.

“Is that why Hagen chased after us tonight by the Chinese restaurant? To kill me? If so, then why didn’t he do it earlier at my dorm, or even earlier than that during our date tonight? Or during the countless other times we’ve hung out?”

“There’s no telling what was going through Hagen’s head tonight, but it wasn’t fueled by Divaldo’s orders. Divaldo is a cruel boss. Once you fail a mission for him, you’re as good as dead. Maybe that pressure is what has caused Hagen to unravel lately. Those claw marks you saw on his neck this week weren’t nothing. He raped and killed a young bar waitress earlier this week and now, he’s cut a PORTAL agent’s neck. It’s a strange theory, but he screwed up wooing you, so maybe he’s trying to win back Divaldo’s favor by committing a bunch of ruthless acts.”

Feeling very small, I finally relented and sat on my bed, again folding my legs to my chest. “So PORTAL was trying to catch Hagen tonight?”

“Yeah. The plan was to capture and interrogate him.”

“And I foiled the whole thing and now Hagen is free to harm more people,” I said, burying my face in my knees. “I’m so sorry, Everett. I didn’t know what was going on with PORTAL and all, but that’s no excuse for how I acted. I should have listened to you. Now I’ve put us in even more danger.”

“Don’t say that,” Everett said. “It’s my fault.” I looked up, surprised. “On the drive back to Brightman, all I could think about was how stupid I was for not telling you any of this sooner. You’re not to blame for any of it. Jenny’s blood is on my hands. The whole thing is my fault.” He looked down, running his fingers through his hair. “This entire night was doomed from the start.”

“How so?”

“Well, it’s also my fault we were near Hagen tonight. I didn’t check in to see where he’d ended up. I assumed he was at JB’s, a favorite bar of his. If I’d have known, I would’ve never suggested eating at that Chinese restaurant.” He looked up at me. “I was trying to get your mind off him, yet almost got you killed by him in the process.”

I liked this side of him, vulnerable and open. It melted the icy walls that were starting to form. “Yeah, but look what it led to. I’m finding all the answers I’ve been looking for. Since I came here — or even before that — I’ve suspected there were pieces of the puzzle that I didn’t know. Moving all over kingdom come with Dad. Unexpectedly getting shipped off to Brightman. You have no idea how great it feels to have my suspicions validated.”

“Actually, I know full well how it feels,” he said, lying on Andy’s bed. “Thanks for saying that. I feel a little better knowing what it means for you.”

Pulling my science sheets up around me, I lay on my back and allowed the information pooling around me to soak in as I rested my tired eyes. I was nearly waterlogged and entertaining the notion of sleep when a random thought struck me.

“You mentioned Divaldo wants to hurt me because of some prophecy?”

“Kill you,” Everett mumbled. I shot him a sharp glare and he laughed. “Yes. It’s all because of the prophecy your mom got.”

“My mom?” I sat up, suddenly feeling reenergized.

“Ugh! I keep forgetting they didn’t tell you anything.”

Everett shot me a sympathetic look that was rather brotherly. I didn’t like it. If only there was an off switch for the feelings I had for him. If only feelings worked like that.

Rolling on his side, Everett propped his head on his hand. “PORTAL is governed by Dio. Your mom was very close to him and he told her a great many things. In fact, that was her job. Since she was one of the only ones Dio spoke to, she worked for PORTAL as a Sayer, relaying his messages to the rest of the agency.”

“Why would Dio only talk to Mom?”

“I don’t know and have wondered that myself,” Everett mused, cocking his head to the side. “I guess you can ask him yourself since you supposedly have the same gift.”

“Really?” I immediately pictured myself in an enormous, cold office at PORTAL headquarters frantically jotting down notes as a frightening, shadowy figure dictated at length. The task sounded rather stressful. “What kinds of things do you think Dio would tell me?”

“Well, Divaldo is Dio’s worst enemy. They’re polar opposites. Divaldo is selfish and all about world domination while Dio is about restoration and fulfilling the people who serve him, so, in the past, Dio’s messages have always been about giving PORTAL insight on what Divaldo’s next moves will be and how to prepare and protect ourselves.”

“He sounds kind of nice. Not at all like what I was imagining,” I admitted.

“Yeah, the more I learn about him, the more I surrender trying to wrap my head around him. He’s sort of unfathomable.”

I didn’t quite understand what Everett meant, but didn’t think much of it. “What sort of things did Dio tell my mom?”