I had had just about enough of this. It wasn’t enough that he kept randomly disappearing, but now it appeared he had been doing who knows what in my name without my permission for months!

I was walking so fast as I turned the corner that I struck my toe into a printer, which I couldn’t have noticed in my rage.

“WHO PUT THAT STUPID PRINTER ON THE FLOOR!?” I screamed as I squeezed my toe in my hands and hopped on my other foot in the direction of the dining room.

I didn’t wait for anyone to answer, and even if I was still in the room when they did, I wouldn’t have heard them.

The resistance had already noticed a while ago that our money was disappearing mysteriously, but we had always assumed it was either calculation errors or Crazy Kipp, who gave random beggars on the streets cash. But when our balance got to the point where it was half of what it was the day before, Veta did what she did best and traced all our mysterious spending to Evander.

_Evander… _I thought, my anger intensified by my stupid aching toe, _stupid Evander. I trusted him and this is what he does. Unbelievable!_

But while my anger still boiled beneath my skin, I knew this was partly my fault. He was acting strange for a while now, and I should have confronted him about it.

When we first saved Evander from poverty and abuse, he was so grateful and vowed to help us in any way possible. He was the most loyal member of the resistance. I was admittedly very proud of him. But for the last few months Evander seemed different. He was more distant. And when we asked why he was away so often, he became very defensive and accused us of not trusting him from the very start.

I knew now it was petty of me, but I was always too wary to talk to him. It seemed he would erupt at the mere mention of him acting strangely. But now that I had proof, I had to confront him. This was unacceptable.

I burst into the dining room and located him emediately. Fuming, I trudged up along the long table and stopped in front of him. He was picking at his rations with a look of mild disgust.

“In my office. NOW!” My voice sounded venomous.

“Hah. I guess you’re going to give me a punishment, then?”

I glared at him and made a gesture to follow me. I turned on the spot and made my way purposefully down the corridor. When I got to my office and Evander walked in a moment later, I slammed the door and reared on him.

“What is the meaning of this? First you fail to do missions effectively, then you start distracting the others, and now you’re spending our reserves!? This is getting out of hand! You can’t just go and do something like that! How do you expect us to trust you?” I was out of breath.

“How can _you_ trust _me_? Wow. You’re more manipulative than I realized.” Evander stuck his hand in his pocket.

“Manipulative?!” I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. “I’M LITERALLY STATING FACTS!”

“Oh please. Stop lying to yourself.”

“I - ARE YOU SUGGESTING IM MAKING ALL OF THAT UP?”

“Oh, no. That’s all true of course. But how could it ever have been my fault? I was talking about you being manipulative.” His face showed not a hint of amusement.

“What on earth are you talking about!?” The heat was rising inside me, I felt like I could strangle him at any moment.

“You know what I’m talking about,” he strolled behind _my _desk like it was his. “When you left me to fend for myself in a mob even though I told you countless times I needed your help, you seemed perfectly aware of what you were doing.”

My mind traveled back to that moment when Evander only just escaped the mob, covered in blood and missing an eye. But at that time I had no choice but to leave him! I had to ensure the mission would succeed! I had been sure he was willing to sacrifice anything for a better world. How was I supposed to know he wasn’t ready? Had he ever thought about the fact that maybe he shouldn’t have asked to come?

Evander was spinning a pencil between his fingers. “When you kept making empty promises to me, you knew what you were doing. When you were never there for me when I needed you, you knew exactly what you were doing.”

Evander’s voice was eerily calm. I felt the heat that was building up in me start to creep away. I didn’t want to accept what he was saying as true, but a part of me felt a cold dread seeping in. A dread that told me that I should’ve treated him better. Not because he deserved it. Not because he needed more attention. But because he was from the outside. He was dangerous.

Evander continued, “I always forgave. I was too ignorant to see the truth.”

He looked at me. I felt a shiver run down my spine.

“I always came back. I remained loyal even though I was hurt. But now, I know better. I’ve found ones who appreciate me.”

He was still looking at me, not showing a hint of emotion. He was good at that. He was good at a lot of things. And I had thought he was always going to be someone I could count on. Someone I could trust. But now, as I looked at him, I knew I could never redeem him. He would never forgive me. There was too much bitterness in his heart.

“I’m sorry.” My words were hard and empty.

“Pff.” Evander rolled his eyes, his face finally readable.

“I think I have to release you from the resistance.” My voice was strong, but that was far from what I felt.

“And _I _think you owe me your power.”

He said it so plainly, as if it were a fact. My body stiffened. I gritted my teeth.

“And why do you think that, hm?” I stepped toward my desk, my agitation rising again.

“I’m just following orders, Lydia.” Evander was smirking at me.

“Orders… from who?” A cold dread was sinking in me, but I stood strong.

“That’s really none of your concern. Now, you can either let me take your title from you, (and that would of course mean your supernatural abilities as well), or run, which would really only delay the inevitable for who knows how long, maybe a couple seconds. Your choice.”

“What?” I sputtered, my act of confidence gone. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing.

“I’ll give you to the count of three,” Evander looked like a completely different person now, as he stood from my desk and began to advance on me. I now noticed what he was pulling out of his pocket: it was a weapon used by the enemy, that could pretty much do anything, including killing, torture, and trapping.

I stepped back. Evander stepped closer.

“One,”

I backed into the door.

“Two,”

I turned the handle.

“Three.” The weapon clicked in Evander’s hand and he stared into my face with cold, unfeeling eyes.

“Times up. Better run.”