Disclaimer: As much as I would love to claim ownership for these characters, I can't. They belong to the incredibly awesome Ally Carter. I wrote this purely because…well, it was interesting and I liked it. Anyway, before I let you go on and read it, I have to say this and it is very important! If you have not read United We Spy, then I very strongly suggested you click on that little back button up there somewhere and look for another story. Siriusly (I'm a HP fan as well, so…), you'll thank me for it later, when you do go to read UWS. Anyway, that's done. Now on with the story!
Chapter one
"I'm bored." Bex said as she rolled onto her stomach. We were in one of the towers, the one Mr Solomon used to help us translate my father's journal. Everything was finally okay in the world. We'd helped avoid World War III; Catherine was in Sublevel Two, waiting to be moved to a secure holding cell in the CIA headquarters at Langley. The Inner Circle was dead; the remaining Circle agents/traitors scattered across the world, leaderless and being rounded up even as we speak. My mum was probably celebrating her engagement somewhere with Mr Solomon and all the other teachers. Our classmates were sneaking into the kitchens to steal some food, preparing for their last ever movie marathon in the common room. But Macey, Liz, Bex, Zach and I were just sitting in the tower, bored out of our minds.
Macey was sitting in a window seat, gazing lazily out on the grounds. Liz was re-reading one of her books. Bex, as aforementioned, was lying on her stomach on the stone ground. While I was sitting on Zach's lap with his arms wrapped tightly around my middle. He was trailing light kisses along my shoulders.
"We could play a game." Liz suggested, not looking up from the book. I glanced at Bex and Macey before turning back to Zach.
"What do you think, Zach? Should we play a game?" I asked, smiling up at him. But Macey was the one to answer.
"Let's play hide-and-seek! Cammie's counting!" Macey called out, climbing up from her sitting position and making her way to the door. I opened my mouth to talk, but was interrupted by Zach moving to stand up, pulling me with him.
"Why do I have to count?" I asked, at last. Bex looked at me as if to say 'isn't it obvious?' "What?"
"Gallagher Girl, if you were the one to hide, we'd still be looking for you at three in the afternoon." Zach said, causing everyone to agree. I chuckled, mainly because it was true and I didn't notice that that was why I was to count. "Of course, we'd all be better off if you didn't play at all. You may not be hiding, but you still know where all the best hideouts are."
He let me go and headed toward the door with all the others. "Count to fifty and then come looking."
They then disappeared out of the corridor altogether. I paced back and forward across the room, not even bothering to count, but knowing how long it's been judging by the internal clock that's etched inside my brain. I knew Bex wouldn't hide in one of the secret passageways as she knows I'd look in them. Liz would probably hide in one of the labs. Macey…I don't know where Macey would hide. And Zach. Well, let's just say I think I already knew where he had gone to hide.
Time was up. I ventured out of the room and out of the fireplace that hid the room, heading to the secret passageway I had taken Zach to the night he came back. I snuck around corners, trying to be as invisible as I could. I passed many secret passageways as I made my way to our secret room and avoided anyone that was still walking the corridors, even at this time of night. I may have even passed Macey somewhere along the way. I would go back for her later.
I made it to the corridor we'd been in so many weeks ago and pulled on the old candelabra, watching the door open a crack. I crawled in and squeezed through the passageway till I got to the room. I was disappointed to see that he wasn't in there after all and was just about to go back when I felt a pair of hands wrap around my waist.
"I knew you would come looking for me first." Zach said as he twisted me around to face him and softly kissed me on the lips. I wrapped my arms around his neck, stepping up on the tips of my toes to be closer to him.
"I knew you would be here." With that, I kissed him full on the mouth, almost forgetting that the others were still waiting for me to look for them.