Page 130 of Eternal

DAMIR

“Demons” by Imagine Dragons

Present

I step inside, rain dripping off my entire body. The moment I see her, my chest twists with something stupid, like a teenager seeing his crush again, it’s so weird in the most intense way possible.

It’s only been a day, but I missed her.

She looks different, paler, and her eyes are a bit red like she’s been holding back tears.

Did she cry?

I tilt my head, about to ask if she’s okay, and I think she understands, because when she meets my eyes, she simply mouths, “ I’m fine, ” forces a small smile, then gets down and hugs Viktor and Kat without saying a word.

Viktor looks at me, silent but saying everything. Take care of her.

I nod.

That’s all I want to do.

Outside, the rain pounds down, I pull another helmet from my bag and hand it to her.

She takes it, letting me help her put it on.

“You sure you’re okay?” I ask again.

“Yeah,” she says softly.

“We’re going back home,” I say, hoping it feels like a promise.

She nods softly.

I reach into my jacket and pull out some food. “Have you eaten anything today?” I ask.

She shakes her head and lets out a small, “Not yet.”

Good thing I brought food then.

We climbed onto the bike together. “Leave your bike here. You’ll take it tomorrow,” I say.

She doesn’t argue, she nods again. She feels… tired . Maybe it was the meeting?

The rain falls heavily on us. So I drive carefully, but all I want to do is hug her and ask her how it went.

I can feel her hands tighten around me, her fingers digging into the leather of my jacket like she’s holding on to something I can’t see.

Her breath is shallow against my back, the rhythm of it barely audible over the sound of the bike and the rain. But it’s strangely reassuring to hear her breathe.

I don’t ask what she’s holding onto.

Maybe she doesn’t know.

When we finally pull up in front of her apartment, the rain eases into a soft drizzle around us. I kill the engine, and exhale, she doesn’t move at first, still holding on like she’s afraid to let go.

I turn in the seat, resting my helmet gently against hers.

“We’re home, partner ,” I say.

She nods, voice barely a whisper. “Yeah. Home .”

We step inside the building and quickly we’re inside, I drop my helmet on the table and peel off my damp jacket, the soaked fabric clinging to my skin.

The place looks different this time, it’s cleaner. Last time I was here, it was a mess. Broken things scattered everywhere, we had our first kiss that night. I was bleeding then, but the real pain came from hearing her story. It was only a few days ago, but it feels much longer.

She must’ve cleaned up yesterday when we came back from Vesper.

Didn’t get much sleep, I guess.

Azra catches the look on my face and, without a word, gets on her tiptoes and leaves a small kiss on my cheek like she knows exactly what I’m thinking, then she slips into her room and comes back a few minutes later, already in her pajamas looking beautiful as ever.

I unzip my sports bag, grab some shorts and the food, and change quickly.

Then, we settle onto the sofa as I place the food on the coffee table between us.

“How was your meeting?” I ask, keeping my voice low.

She picks at the edge of her sleeve, eyes distant. “She gave me an address... and some names. The event’s next week.”

I nod slowly, trying to read her face. “You sure you’re okay?” I ask.

She stops moving, stops breathing like she’s holding back more than simple words.

Then, almost without thinking, she leans in closer.

I open my arms and she rests against me, breathing softly.

“Hey,” I whisper. “Tell me what’s going on.”

She closes her eyes, voice barely above a breath. “They did horrible things to these kids, Damir. Horrible things.”

I tighten my hold. “I’m here, you know. I’m here now.”

She stays close, silent for a long moment.

Finally, I ask gently, “Would you want to… maybe take some of your stuff and stay with me for a few days until you feel a little bit better?”

Her head lifts slowly, eyes searching mine, a flicker of surprise, and maybe relief.

“I mean, no pressure. I just… you don’t have to carry all this alone. Not here.”

She bites her lip, looking down at her hands shaking. “ Okay ,” she says quietly, “I’d love to.”

I brush a damp strand of hair away from her face and smile. “Azra,” I say. “I’m not going anywhere.”

She nods, her breath catching, and for the first time since I came in, there’s a small softness in her eyes.

Then I feel it. A buzz. A faint vibration against my leg.

I glance down. My phone lights up in my pocket. “I’ll be right back, okay? I have a call to take.”

She doesn’t look startled this time. She gives a small nod, and opens the food.

I step out quietly, closing the door behind me pulling my phone out. It keeps buzzing in my hand. No number, only a masked caller ID.

I answer as I get out of the whole building.

The voice on the other end is cold, clinical. “You’ve been avoiding us, Viper .”

I say nothing. My fingers tighten around the phone.

I knew they’d call again. They’ve been trying for days. I’ve been dodging them. Even Lev stopped reaching out.

But I also knew I couldn’t keep running forever.

A sigh escapes me when no words come out.

Then the voice pressed impatiently, “What’s taking so long?”

My jaw tightens. “I’m handling it.”

I’m taking care of her now.

“That’s not what it looks like from where we’re standing.”

A pause. Then the voice hardens.

“It’s been almost a year, Viper . That’s not hesitation, that’s insubordination. You were sent to eliminate her, not…” Another pause, bitter now. “Not fuck her.”

I stare at the wet pavement, fingers clenched around the phone like I could crush it.

They’re wrong. Or maybe they’re right.

Maybe I did forget. Maybe I never cared.

“Say something,” he snaps.

“Lower your fucking voice. You forget who you’re talking to,” I reply, voice calm and low, “You called, I didn’t.”

“Alright,” he says, quieter now. In the background, a woman calls his name. He ignores her. “You’re compromised. And if you won’t do what you were sent to do, others will. But not with a clean exit. No bullets. No mercy. She’ll be taken. And slowly broken.”

My grip tightens until my knuckles go white. “Is that a threat?”

“ No ,” he says simply. “It’s the protocol. She’s too dangerous to leave roaming. You think we don’t know who she really is? What she’s capable of?”

I picture it, her being dragged away, screaming, thinking I let it happen.

My brain flashes through a thousand images, her curled up on the couch, her laugh when she steals my jacket, the way she flinched when I touched her for the first time.

She trusted me, and I brought her nothing but danger.

What the fuck am I doing?

I should vanish, let her believe I’m dead, maybe that would keep her safe.

But what if they find her anyway?

What if leaving only clears the road for them?

“You stay, she dies slowly,” the man says. “You leave, maybe she lives. But either way she’s a liability.”

I let the silence drag long and low before I speak again. “You think I don’t do my own research?” My voice is still calm. “You think I don’t dig into the people who hire me? I know everything about all of you.”

The line goes quiet.

“Officer Charles ,” I say, and I can hear him inhale even through the silence.

“Fourty-eight. Georgetown. Medals you didn’t earn.

Secrets you buried under a lot of payments.

A daughter in private school, and a wife who hasn’t slept next to you in eight months because she’s seeing a man she met at a coffee shop.

You keep her photo in your wallet, how sad. ”

He exhales, shaky.

“You’re not safe,” I say. “None of you are. You think a stupid protocol will protect you from me if anything happens to her?” I laugh almost nervously.

“If she bleeds, I won’t kill you fast. I’ll make you watch the walls close in.

I’ll make you feel everything she ever felt before I end you.

And then I’ll do the same to every name on the payroll that signed that order. ”

“ Viper… ” His voice is brittle. “You’re threatening a federal deputy.”

“I’d threaten anyone,” I whisper. “You so much as breathe near her and I will burn down whatever’s left of your stupid little world.”

Click .

The line goes dead.

I lower the phone, my knuckles white around it.

The rain is back again. Fucking soaking through my jacket, running down my face, but I don’t move. I stand there, watching the entrance to her building, waiting.

I don’t even know what I’m waiting for.

The phone call is still ringing in my head.

Kill her. End this.

If I don’t, they will. But not quickly. Not cleanly. They’ll take her.

They’ll break her. No they won’t.

She’s strong. Stronger than all of them. And I’ll be here. They won’t.

I’m fucking going insane…

A figure emerges from the doorway.

Her.

She steps out, pulling the hood of her hoodie up against the downpour. She hasn’t seen me yet, but I can see her so clearly it hurts.

How am I supposed to consider leaving when she just exists in my world?

The rain darkens her long brown hair, soaks into her sleeves.

I could walk away now. Disappear before she even knew I was here. I should. Because if I do that, they’d have no link to her.

It’s the smartest choice. The only way to keep her a bit safe.

But I don’t move.

Because some sick, selfish part of me needs to see her. To kiss her, look at her, to hear her voice.

She turns her head, eyes scanning the street. Looking for me. And then she sees me. Her shoulders tense before she steps forward.

My beautiful, beautiful partner.

“You’ve been outside for so long, it’s raining again.”

I don’t answer right away. I take her in, every inch of her. Deadly eyes, so pretty it’s stabbing my heart.

She stands before me, drenched, strands of hair plastered to her cheeks, but she isn’t shivering. She doesn’t move. She simply watches me with fear and confusion.

My hands clench into fists.

“I can’t do this.”

I think I love her.

She looks at me, eyes tight, jaw clenched. “What do you mean?”

I don’t say anything. Can’t. The words get stuck. Like I swallowed a brick.

I’ve never said that to anyone. Never felt it. I didn’t grow up with it. I don’t even know what it’s supposed to look like.

All I know is... when she’s near, I can breathe. When she laughs, something in me loosens. And when she touches me, I don’t feel dead. Not completely.

That’s love, right? Or the closest I’ll ever get.

And it scares the hell out of me.

“I can’t kill you.” I’d rather die.

“Why are you saying that? Did they call you? Is it risky?”

I shake my head. “I don’t care.”

She blinks, rain catching on her lashes, and I swear her whole body sways toward me before locking rigid again. “ No . Why does this sound like you’re going to leave,” Her hands press against my chest suddenly, so desperate.

I want to tell her to get inside. To get warm. But she’s here, and I’m here. And I’m not going anywhere.

Not anymore.

Because leaving her meant handing her over to them, to a slow, brutal fate. And I can’t do that. Not after everything.

I step forward and pull her close, my hands sliding around her waist.

Her birthday is in a few weeks, I have to be here, for this one, and the next, and the one after, forever. I’ve been working on something special for her birthday since the moment she told me about it. Something to make her smile again, maybe for the first time in a long time.

She deserves that, deserves more than danger and pain.

“I’m sorry you had to come outside, partner ,” I murmur, lips brushing hers.

She looks up at me, eyebrows raised. “You look angry. Sad .”

“Because I can’t leave. Not now. Not ever.” Her eyes soften a little, but she doesn’t say a word. “Whatever threats come, I’m staying. I promised. I’ll stay with you.”

The rain pounds on us, but for once it feels like we’re the only two people in the world.

“You didn’t reply… Was that them?”

I shake my head. “Don’t worry about that. Not now.”

My eyes drag across her face like I’m memorizing it. The curve of her mouth, the way her lashes tremble. I’m already drowning in her and I haven’t even touched her yet.

I let out a breath, half-laughing, half-breaking. “God, you’re beautiful. It’s killing me.”

Then I kissed her. Slow. Deep. Like I need it to live.

She tastes like rain and heat and something I’ve been chasing my whole life without knowing.

My partner. My woman. My Azra.

The cold rain soaks us, but I barely feel it, not with her body pressed to mine, not with this fire between us, this ache that won’t ease.

She pulls back slightly, breath catching against my lips. “You could’ve taken that call inside,” she says with a smirk.

I laugh, the sound low and rough. “And miss this?”

She smiles again, eyes glinting under the street lights.

“Rain looks beautiful on you…”

She laughs softly, “Thank you, partner. ”

I brush wet strands of hair from her face. “Come on. Let’s get inside so I can kiss you properly.”

She nods still smiling, then slips her hand into mine.

Together, we step back inside, but before we cross the threshold, she stops, turns to me, and kisses me again. “Don’t ever say you’ll leave, Damir.”

I look at her, every part of me aching. “How could I?” I whisper. “We’re eternal. Remember?”