PANIC ROOM • KENJI KON

LXXXV. I Kissed Him

"He was smiling!" Eva snapped, pounding her fists against the wood desk. "He was controlling a dinosaur, and he was smiling!"

"Evy—"

Eva picked up a book and chucked it at the wall.

"Evy."

"We've lost him, Brooklynn. We've really lost him," she stated, defeat never sounding so clear.

"I know," Brooklynn's voice cracked as tears welled in her eyes. "I know."

"How could he betray us like this, after everything we had all been through?"

Brooklynn sniffed, her eyes wide as she watched Eva. "I just don't understand..."

Eva wailed in pain, pounding her fists against the desk again. "How could he leave us? Was he not in love with me the way I've always been with him? Has everything been a lie? Has he... Has he..."

Brooklynn swiftly pulled Eva into a hug, the two girls grasping at each other, arms stretched around the other's torso, both girls sobbing into the other's arms. Eva bit her cheek as her lip quivered. "We lost him, B."

"I know... I know."

"Guys?" Sammy called, entering the room with Yasmina and Ben in tow. "We have some... news."

Brooklynn and Eva parted, sitting down on a thick chair together. Brooklynn buried her head in her hands while Eva sat back, gaze focused on the ruined bookcase.

He was controlling a dinosaur, thinking everything was fine. But nothing was fine— none of it. How could Kenji be so comfortable doing something so wrong? How could he do this to them? How could he do this to Toro?

A warm hand rested against her arm, and when she looked up, Ben was giving her a soft, comforting smile. Yaz and Sammy were doing the same for Brooklynn.

"What did you want to tell us?" Brooklynn finally asked.

"Mr. Kon said he's selling the chips to BioSyn. But the good news is, he needs to come back here to produce them."

"Which means," Yaz said next, "We still have a chance to stop him."

"You mean stop them," Brooklynn corrected. "Kenji... has chosen his side."

Eva pinched the bridge of her nose and breathed deeply. She couldn't take this. She couldn't do it. She stood from the chair and paced to the middle of the room, staring out the window before as she took deep breaths.

And then, the ground began to shake again, this one worse than the first one. Eva stumbled forward, landing on her knees as her breathing picked up.

Sammy pulled Yaz away as a light crashed down where she was standing before. Ben pushed Brooklynn to the ground as a support beam clattered to the floor, right where they were standing.

"Under the desk! Hurry!"

As they all piled under the big desk, Ben questioned, "After shock?"

"Nah, this one is bigger than the first one," Yaz replied.

"What's going on around here?!" Sammy cried.

Eva pulled her knees closer to her chest as her breathing became more sporadic. Her vision tunneled onto the spinny chair in front of her, growing fuzzy around the edges. She rocked back and forth, tears springing in her eyes.

The room was shaking, shaking, quavering and trembling. As the room shook, the more Eva felt like this was the end for her— as if nothing good would come of her life from here on out.