3. Forever
FOREVER
Where are you?
I cleared the text and focused my attention on Cannon towers to the right of me with my one-eye binocular.
Text back now or we’ll have a problem.
Blah. Blah.
Another swipe of my phone’s screen did the trick.
Threats never worked, and my father still hadn’t caught on yet.
Demetrius was standing in front of his office’s floor-to-ceiling windows. It’d been a little over a week since his file landed on my desk, but only a few days since his return to Everwood.
I wanted him to know I was watching, that his time was almost up. Nothing had excited me this way in a long time. Things were becoming too black and white in my world.
Everwood was made up of two groups of people, those who were part of the Collective and those who rejected. There weren’t many families that turned the society away as a whole. And none of them had ever made a name for themselves like the Cannons.
Maybe that’s why my skin prickled with goosebumps when thoughts of taking him out filtered through my mind.
As what they called a society kid, born into a family notoriously loyal to the Collective, I heard stories about rejectors. How hard it was for them to make a living within the confines of Everwood. Most left and built lives elsewhere, but somehow this singular family defied the norm.
My phone, attached to the dashboard, dinged again, and I cut my gaze at it.
Ignoring your father again??
I was tempted to text my brother back, but he’d only report it to our father, who would continue to harass me until I gave in and responded.
Forever James, don’t make me come looking for you.
My mother called after sending her threat. The makings of a migraine pulsed on the right side of my face.
“What do you want?”
She had the nerve to laugh, never one to take anything seriously.
“Do you have a migraine?” she asked. “You only get like this when you have one.”
I didn’t respond; instead, I watched Demetrius’s brother enter the building.
“You should see the doctor for more meds,” she went on, used to having one-sided conversations with me these days. “I was at your apartment and saw you ran out. But the refill date passed, so I can’t get them for you.”
There was no reason to respond. I was done taking migraine medicine. Done letting doctors prod my head, stick me in machine after machine, only to tell me nothing was wrong. Even though the constant ache in my head felt otherwise.
Chronic migraines were what they diagnosed me with after I threatened to kill the next doctor who used the words “nothing” and “wrong” in my presence again.
I was supposed to live the rest of my life like this. In pain and pissed off at everyone around me, family and enemies alike.
Everwood doctors were supposed to be the best of the best, yet none of them could alleviate headaches. Part of me was tempted to seek a different opinion outside of the city, but that would cause more problems than not. More migraines, to be exact.
“I’m working,” I finally said, leaning back in my seat. “My head is fine.”
The lie had rolled off my tongue with ease.
“What was the point of flying up the ranks as fast as you did if you were going to take jobs from your subordinates?”
I scoffed and corrected her, “One job. One job that none of them, nor their families, would touch. Goodbye, mother. And stay out of my fucking apartment.”
I hung up and turned my phone off just in time to catch Demetrius and Oliver emerge from the building on my right and move toward the one on my left, where their sister worked out of.
They were eyeing the street with such nonchalance, I couldn’t help but smile and take in the man with a target larger than life on his back.
“Stop pretending like you don’t know I’m here,” I mumbled, tapping the steering as they moved from view again.
He wore it nicely, the air of indifference.
In fact, now that I’d finally gotten a good look at him, still at a distance but closer than before, he wore a lot of things… nicely .
I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen a man as dark as him. Beautiful was my first thought when I saw his photo. Stunning, a close second.
With Carmen in the room that day, I had to keep my thoughts buried deep, but now I was alone, and the image of him flickered in my mind continuously.
He wasn’t dark like the night’s sky, more like no street lights on a road surrounded only by trees for miles dark. Can’t see in front of you dark.
Not the scary kind, although not much scared me. Demetrius was the kind of dark I liked to play in, the kind I would let wrap itself around and then suffocate me.
At least, the me before the migraines.
The me before the constant pounding in my head. I blinked, trying to shake off what was part of me now, but I knew the second I began to follow the trio out of the city, I would have to turn back.
My vision blurred, and it was only a matter of time before I passed out from the blinding pain. I pulled off at the next exit and went home; the second I walked through the door and locked it behind me, I slid down the wall and held my head.
“What is wrong with you, Forever?” I mumbled over and over.
Everything was wrong.
My head.
My body.
My soul.
They were all at war, and I was a soldier, so to speak, but what was I supposed to do, end my life? I couldn’t fathom it, but tried to more than I cared to admit.
I managed to get myself up off the floor and into my bedroom, where I stripped out of my clothes and into the bath after filling it. The warm water didn’t help, but I pretended it did, letting my mind wander to something I could control.
“Where were you headed, Demetrius?” I whispered, closing my eyes. “What’s outside of Everwood?”
I needed to do more research and figure out who and what they were associated with beyond the city. The file given had been thinner than usual, which felt strategic.
Society hits usually came with full background on the target, more than just their name and family history like I’d gotten on Demetrius.
I pulled my legs to my chest, gently resting my forehead against my knees while talking to myself.
He’d been gone for over six months.
That piece of information was noted in his file, which was what prompted me to go to his office after hours.
I bit my lip and flinched at once.
“I’d rather die than feel this kind of pain for the rest of my life,” I whispered, stretching and sliding down into the water.
Before immersing myself completely, I stared at nothing in particular.
Do it.
They won’t miss you.
They don’t care. Don’t love you.
I imagined the words flashed before my eyes as I thought them up, hoping all I’d been feeling lately would give me the courage to end it all… but nothing.
The urge to want to kill myself just wasn’t there. Even though I thought about it all the time.
“Are you trying to die?”
I blinked at the sound of my mother’s voice.
When had she arrived?
“I wish that were the case,” I told her truthfully, lazily bringing my blurred vision to her. “Wouldn’t you feel better if I was gone?”
She got down and braced herself on the side of the tub.
“Why would I ever feel that way?”
I shook my head and looked away.
“What do you know about the Cannon family? Anything I should be privy to?”
She hummed and stood; I watched her turn toward the vanity out of the corner of my eye.
“Besides me being the one who killed Gerald Cannon? Nothing of importance.”
Nothing of importance.
Gerald was Demetrius’s father.
“Do you know why they wanted Gerald dead? Or are we always out of the loop on the important details?”
Every family within the society had a niche. Some were doctors, school teachers, lawyers, or politicians.
My people were nothing but killers, had been for generations.
No matter what you were assigned, the goal was the same. Live and die for the Collective. Their agenda became yours, too.
Make Everwood superior.
Make outsiders fear but also want to be us. We were nothing but pawns, soldiers no matter the job.
“The details don’t matter, honey.”
She got down again and held her hand out, a little white pill sitting dead in the center of her palm.
“For the pain.”
I looked away.
“I’m fine. Don’t bring me anymore pills.”
“Alright,” she conceded. “But all you have to do is ask, and I’ll get whatever you need.”
If it were up to my parents, I’d be a fucking junkie by now.
“Hire someone to take me out of my misery.”
She laughed and turned the dimmed lights off completely.
“Give the Cannon job to someone else, and I’ll do that for you.”
I slid down into the water, this time all the way. For a while, I just held my breath.
Nothing.
When I came up, I avoided my mother’s questioning gaze.
“Never mind,” I said, reaching forward to let the water out. “I’ll do the job.”
I stood, stepped out of the tub, and into the standing shower, flicking the water to the hottest setting.
“You can leave. Put your key on the counter.”
The woman snorted.
“I’ll go, but I’m keeping the key. And don’t think about changing the locks. Remember who owns this building. And your father and I expect to see you at this year’s charity gala.”
She disappeared without waiting for my rebuttal, and I showered in complete silence.
Afterward, I did my skin care, brushed my teeth, and climbed into bed butt ass naked.
But sleep didn’t find me like I’d hoped.
Instead, after an hour of lying there staring at nothing, I got dressed and drove into the part of town where Demetrius and his family lived. Not far from their office buildings, right in what the Collective called a neutral zone.
No killing allowed, unless authorized by the one at the top—whomever that may be, none of us were high enough in the food chain to know.
According to the report, the Cannon compound had ten members of their family living on it. Along with an entire staff, security team and their families as well.
I drove in a circle three times, looking for any weak points of entry, but found none. They were a thorough bunch, I’d give them that .
On my third and last twirl around their massive property, a figure stood in the middle of the street. I smiled and came to a gentle stop directly in front of the man who clearly wanted me to know he was watching.
The lights gave me the perfect view of Demetrius Cannon, and those two distinct words filtered through my mind again.
Beautiful.
Stunning.
I got out and leaned against the hood, tipping my head to the left.
“There’s a price on your head and I came to collect,” I said coolly.
He… smiled.
Nothing but straight white teeth were inside his beautiful mouth, protected by lips that had no right to look so goddamn delectable.
“Not yet,” he finally said, his voice a deep undercurrent that threatened to steal my breath. “You aren’t here to collect yet .”
Luckily for him, today wasn’t the day I ended his life.
This encounter had been the last thing I thought would happen, though, but I was having fun and my head didn’t hurt as bad as before.
“Semantics.”
“What’s your name?”
His question threw me, but I played it cool and pushed off the hood, not responding until I had the open driver’s door in my hand.
“Now why would I tell you that?”
“If I gotta die by your hand, don’t you think I should know your name?”
I laughed.
“Nah. I do think you should be thankful it’s me who took this job. I’ve always liked to play with my food first. You’ve got plenty of time to say your proper goodbyes, Demetrius.”
Before I could dip into the car, he spoke, and it stopped me in my tracks.
“Echo. I’m Echo to you now.”
Something about the way he said it had me walking toward him. We were face to chest now, our shoes touching at the tips .
“What game are we about to play?”I asked, looking up.
He leaned forward, and I caught a whiff of fucking vanilla, just like in his office.
“The one where I convince you to join my side instead of attempting to take my life. I don’t want to have to hurt you.”
I smiled.
“But you would if it came down to it.”
He didn’t reply, but it hadn’t been a question anyway.
“Think about it. We live good over here.”
Mmm.
“Where’s the logic in giving up great for good ?”
There was none, and he’d never be able to convince me otherwise. I backed away and slid into the car, driving it straight to the junk yard.