A/N: Hey humans! I screwed up, yes I am aware. School started and I suddenly have NO TIME to write. I haven't even written more of my novel yet. I FINALLY got a chance to write the next chapter of Perilous. Now that school has started, I'll have less time to write so I can't give a definite schedule for updates, but I'll try to get ahead with writing so that even if I have no time I can give you a filler chapter or something. So sorry! I'll try not to let another month pass by!

P.S. Missed you guys!

xxx

Perilous

Chapter Eleven

Zach POV

Later that evening, Cam and I were sitting in an inconspicuous black Mercedes- a common car to see in an area wealthy as this.

We were parked across from Prince's place, watching every inch of the estate through cameras and binoculars. After parking, we sent holograms of the married (drug dealer) couple that owned that particular mansion into the home, where the real couple was tied up in their bath, waiting to be picked up by CIA agents. All of the guards Cammie had killed without hesitation.

Speak of the devil, Cammie sipped her coffee next to me, watching the cameras on the screen of her laptop. "Shift change." She nudged me.

I picked up the binoculars and watched out of the window as the two guards near the front gate switched places with four other guards. "They increase security at night- smart."

"It also means they've got something to hide." Cam sunk her pearly white teeth into a croissant and bit aggressively.

"Yeah, well, they're clearly not too concerned about it. Look,"

I tapped her and she looked up to see all four guards fiddling with their cellphones, allowing the light to illuminate their faces.

Cammie snorted, taking another sip of her coffee as she turned back to the camera feed. "Dumbasses."

Another few minutes of silence went by. Then suddenly, Cammie's eyes went wide.

"Bookworm, you seeing what I'm seeing?" She said, touching her hand to her ear.

"Already back-hacking, Nightshade."

"Why? What is it?" I asked.

"Bookworm, don't!" Cam shouted.

The crackling sound of a punching keyboard stopped in my ear.

"...Why?"

Liz's shaky voice came through the static.

"They have a specific code. It's very hard to crack. I hacked it once, for fun. Got punished for it, but it was worth it because I know how to get into their system. You can't hack it from the hotel. They'll track your location instantly, no matter how many blockers you create. Forget about it now, I'll explain more when we return."

"Okay, but I expect an explanation."

Liz reluctantly agreed.

"What the hell, Nightshade?" I demanded, confused.

Cammie rolled her eyes and turned her laptop screen toward me. It showed the security footage of Prince's office. "You see that?"

I examined the tape, seeing nothing but the light glowing from the window and the shadow of a man at his laptop in the center. "What exactly should I be seeing?"

She growled in annoyance and rewinded the footage by exactly one minute. "You see that bird?"

"Uh, yeah." There was a little bird that flew across the window every ten seconds or so.

"That is a European Starling."

My eyebrows knitted together. "How could you possibly know that?"

Cam rolled her eyes again and forced me to fight butterflies deep within my stomach. It was a gift that I could make her roll her eyes like that. Still, I had to get a hold of whatever feelings I had for her and squash them under my boot. It was distracting. Plus, I would only get hurt in the end. Dwelling on my feelings would only lead to wishful thinking.

Thinking this didn't stop the flutters tho. In fact, they increased, almost as if taunting me.

"The shape of the wing and order of the feathers. You can see it when she hits the light." Cammie sighed. "Ugh, that's not the point! The point is, what is she doing?"

"Um..." I put my hands up in defeat. "Flying?"

"You are an idiot!" She exclaimed in annoyance, throwing her wild wavy hair into a messy bun. "The Starling is repeatedly flying past the window, and if you look at the pattern of her flight, it appears as if she's circling."

I looked again and shrugged. "Yeah, I suppose so."

"Right, and why do birds circle?"

"Well-"

She cut me off. "Birds circle when they're hunting, landing, or guarding their young for the most part, correct?"

"Yeah, sure."

"Well, she's clearly not landing and there is no nest around. Plus, it doesn't look as if she's hunting either. If she really is, she would have caught her prey ages ago. Now, if she's not circling for any of those reasons, then why is she circling?"

I shrugged.

Cammie pointed to the screen. "As I said before, she is a starling. Starling's typically circle in flocks to confuse predators, and she is alone, yes?"

I nodded.

"So, at first I was confused and then I realized, what if she isn't circling? What if it's a-"

"Loop." I finished for her, finally understanding what she was trying to say.

Cam's head dipped. "Exactly."

I reached for the binoculars and leaned at an awkward angle to see the office window. The light had dimmed significantly and there was no circling bird.

"Shit." I hissed. "Shit, shit, shit. We're screwed," I turned back to Cam, who looked as helpless as me. "Aren't we?"

The sun was rising when we opened the door to Macey and Nick's suite.

The girls were lounging on the bed, talking about something or other. Grant and Nick were playing video games on the giant flat-screen while Jonas had his nose buried in a book.

"Hey, you're back," Grant said, shoving a handful of trail mix into his mouth.

"Yeah, and we're in deep shit." Cammie deadpanned, tearing the bowl of trail mix from his hand and plopping down on the couch, her legs spreading across him and Nick's laps.

A ping of jealousy struck my chest, but I dismissed it as quickly as it was detected.

"Why? What happened?" Nick asked, appropriately concerned.

"One of the cameras was put on a loop. Specifically, the camera facing Prince's office." Jonas said, not lowering his book. I recognized it as Pride and Prejudice.

"That's not good." Macey bit her lip in thought.

I raised my eyebrow. "Doing a bit of light reading, Jo?"

He glanced up for a moment and shrugged. "Lizzie suggested it."

"And Lizzie is also confused as to why she can't hack into the system to see what they didn't want us, or whoever they suspect is watching them, to see." Liz narrowed her eyes at Cammie as she stood from the bed, crossing her arms.

Bex looked up at her with wide eyes. Liz was never bold and was rarely accusatory. "Damn, Anderson."

Liz flushed pink, clearly aware that this was out of her comfort zone.

Jonas glanced at his wife and smirked before his eyes returned to the words of Jane Austen.

I opened my mouth to defend Cam, but she beat me to it. For the thousandth time, I had to remind myself that Cameron Morgan was no longer the helpless little girl I once took care of. She was a grown woman and a kickass spy (ahem assassin) and she didn't need anyone to take care of her.

This was proved when Cammie looked Liz up and down, eventually settling on her eyes.

I gulped, suddenly afraid for my hacker friend.

Liz wasn't helpless either, but in terms of physical ability, she even didn't compare to Cam. And that look Cam was giving her? I knew that look. That look could make someone with the protection of an AK47 stumble over their words. That was the look Cam gave people when she wanted to intimidate them. That was the look she gave when she was contemplating how to kill as fast and clean as possible. That was the look she used to fend off the wolves she had once been oh so frightened of.

But then as quickly as it had come, the look was gone, replaced by the icy smug gaze that I had locked eyes with the day we found each other again.

"Calm down, Bookworm. I'll get you into that system. Just not tonight." Cammie turned back to the bowl of trail mix.

"Why?" Clearly, Liz's moment of confidence wasn't as short-lived as we expected, for she pressed harder. "What are you hiding?"

My heart thumped wildly in my chest. I silently begged Liz to stop. I begged her not to push Cammie's buttons. I wanted to tell her to back off, that she didn't want to turn down that road. But I couldn't get my mouth to open.

"Excuse me?" Cammie looked up and suddenly the look was back.

But Liz didn't know like I did. She didn't know the danger she was in.

"You heard me," Liz said.

All eyes in the room were locked on the pair, yet everyone seemed to be in a trance, for no one moved or spoke.

"Ever since Zach found you, you've done nothing but keep secrets. We don't know your name, we don't know where you're from, we don't know what you really want. For all we know, you meeting Zach was more than a coincidence. Maybe you planned the whole thing. Maybe you worked your way into the Director's office, worked your way onto our team, worked your way into Zach's bed-"

"-whoa okay now that's a stretch-"

Macey interrupted but she kept going.

"All for what? What is it you want?" Liz crept closer to the couch.

I saw Cammie's hands slide down to her sides and imagined- no, knew -that they were clenched, drawing blood.

"Nightshade," I said.

Cammie didn't seem to hear me. Her eyes, that deadly gaze, it stayed locked on Liz's, and surprisingly, Liz didn't back down.

When Cam didn't answer after minutes of silence, I stepped forward and whispered in her ear, pressing a hand to her shoulder.

"Cammiebear," I kept my voice low and quiet so that the others wouldn't hear, using my old nickname for her.

Covertly, with my thumb, I drew a star on her exposed shoulder. Back when we were with the Circle, we'd draw or carve stars to remind each other that we were there for each other. I remember, after we were separated I would carve a star in the wall of every cell I came across, hoping Cam would see it and find me again.

The movement on her skin seemed to catch her attention and she slowly tore her eyes away from Liz to look at me.

"You're tired," I said, never letting my eyes break from hers as I pulled her to her feet. "You've been up all night. Let's get some sleep and then you can explain everything later, alright?"

"Go to sleep? Why?" Liz broke the silence, ruining the moment. As much as I was trying to keep the violence to a minimum by getting Cammie out of there, I wanted to strangle her at that moment.

"So you can wake up the entire floor with your screams again?" She challenged.

"That's it," Cammie growled and pushed away from me, stalking toward Liz.

Everyone reached for her, but before anyone could grab her, she was right in front of the smaller woman, eyes piercing the inch of space left between them.

"You need to shut your damn mouth." Cammie hissed.

"Make me," Liz whispered.

But I saw it and so did everyone else. You had to have the senses of a spy or an assassin to catch it and well, we did. And we saw it. We saw the way Liz's gaze wavered. We saw the regret flash for only a split second in her eyes.

We also saw the increasing rage in Cammie's.

"My past, and my reasons for sticking around, are none of your damn business. I told you that I won't cause trouble, but I only hold up my end of the bargain if you hold up yours. I'm here to kill Catherine and her good for nothing son and that's that. Now, stop trying to be bold and go back to being the nice little girl who always has a spare pencil."

And with those chilling words, Cammie turned away and stormed out of the room.

When the door slammed behind her, Liz visibly relaxed and Jonas wrapped an arm around her.

No one spoke.

That is until I turned around from watching Cam go to look disapprovingly at Liz.

I shook my head at her and she looked up. "What?"

I stepped forward, not close enough for me to hurt her, but close enough for her to know I was serious. "I don't know what the hell has gotten into you today, Liz, but that was way out of line."

"But I was right, wasn't I? She doesn't tell us literally anything and then expects us to trust her every time she tells us to and not to do something? That's a load of crap and you know it!" She exclaimed.

Bex looked at me. "She does have a point, you know."

I shook my head again. "That still doesn't excuse you drilling into her like that. You are putting everything she's been through against her like some sort of criminal."

Liz scoffed. "Are you saying she's not? Zach, she's been at the very top of the CIA's most-wanted list since she was sixteen!"

"Do you think she had a choice? What would you do if you had been locked underground your entire life, tortured over and over and threatened endlessly until you did what they asked?"

"I would have kept fighting until the day I died." She said determinedly.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, okay. You know what the truth is? None of you have empathy! None of you! All you do is look at everything as black and white. You never take the time to consider that the memories of everything my fucked up family put her through tortures her just as much as the thought of innocent people being hurt does to you. She has been through so much and you don't even know-"

"But how do you, Zach?" Bex asked. "I'm not taking sides or anything here but...how do you know what she has been through? For all we know she was treated like a princess in there. How do you know?"

I faltered. "I-I just do."

She nodded. "Right, okay, now you're lying to us too."

"Ugh!" I groaned. "You know what? Screw this. I have to go make sure she's okay."

I began to move toward the door, but as soon as I had it open, I turned back. "If she bolts after this, I swear to fucking god...I'm not going to forgive any of you after this."

And then I ran down the hall, leaving the door open as I shouted, "Cammie!"

Nick Pov

Zach then ran out, yelling Cammie's name as he sprinted down the hall.

"Wait a second," Macey said, finally speaking up.

"Did he just..." Bex trailed off. Bex never trails off.

"Did he just say...Cammie?" Liz finished.

Jonas and I locked eyes, realizing what had happened.

"Fuck."

A/N: Well that was...riveting. But the TEA has been SPILLED. If you guys hate me for sort of making Liz the villain in this chapter, I'm sorry! I just wanted to switch things up a bit. Though Liz is the most adorable and sweetest person ever, I believe everyone has a breaking point, even her. Besides, people were bound to get suspicious of Cammie one way or another. I liked making Liz be the first to target Cammie, just because it gave a different perspective to her character. And as much as we love to stay true to the character, all plot twists are interesting, right? Don't worry I won't make her mean for long. ANYWAY, why do you think our subject looped his cameras? Do you think Cammie is going to run or stick around for a little longer? Do you think Zach went too far in reprimanding his friends? All of your questions will be answered in the next chapter, which I am LITERALLY going to keep writing AS SOON AS I POST THIS. I am blowing off my homework for you guys, that's how you know it's true love *sniff*. Anyway, sorry again for leaving you guys hanging for so long! I never meant for that much time to go by! Thanks for being patient with me!

Hope you enjoyed this chapter, now on to reviews!

Tkd girl: I updated! Sorry for the long wait! I'm glad you like it so much, hope you enjoyed this one too!

Clizzyforever: Hi! Welcome! SO SORRY for forcing you to wait so long but I'm glad you love it! And thanks for saying that it's really sweet. Hope you liked this chapter!

Duchess12: Your reviews? golden, golden, and GOLDEN! AGH I LOVE READING YOUR REVIEWS SO MUCH THEY'RE MY FAVORITEE. I really wanted Zach to be the one who knows about his feelings, similar to the book, just cause Cammie is still a little distant even though he trusts Zach so much. And the hug in front of the bathroom? The note? The watching her sleep? I loved writing those, I'm glad you loved reading them! A quality? Aww that's sweet thank you! Basic bitches are just not the move and I'm glad we agree. Speaking of plot twists, what'd you think of this one? I guess I got a bit crazy oops but hey as long as you like it we're good lol. For real, Jonas doesn't get enough recognition AT ALL and him being one of the main peeps in the mystery that is Nightshade is probably one of my favorite things about this story. Cammie definitely didn't take it out on Zach, but she might after he slipped up and said her name where they could hear, so you'll just have to see. And not reviewing when I update! I'm glad I get to read them either way! As for chapter ten, aww I made you cry! Yeah that moment was real sweet; Zach was not about to let anyone say any bullshit about his Cammiebear. I love writing Zammie flashbacks, they're adorable. Don't worry, they'll be more of those too! omg yes I ALWAYS ALWAYS ALWAYS imagine this traumatic stuff happening to real ppl and it breaks my hearttttt. And yes Zach will always be there to stop the nightmares. And yea I figured you meant a heart lol. Hope you liked this chapter love, can't wait to read what you thought!

Archer5210: Oh no offense taken at all! Thanks for bringing it to my attention! I tend to slip up and do that sometimes in my writing, but I try to stay true to the characters for much of the story but sometimes I screw up, ya know? But really, I'm trying to show how much she's starting to trust Zach and only Zach and how much her past affects her. In the chapters to come, you'll see her start pushing everyone and more specifically Zach away and that will force some of her old assassin tendencies back into her attitude. Hope you liked this update, and thanks again! P.S. Sorry I missed this review when I updated chapter 10!

Fanfix2.0: Glad you like it! Zach helping her through everything is great and just extremely sweet. One of the best? That's so sweet thank you! Hope you liked this update!

And that's all! Thank you guys for reading and sorry again for the long wait!

xxx