Alright everyone, as promised, here is your double dose of my story! It's shorter than what I've been doing lately, but as I was revising, I didn't find the need to make it longer...I think you'll agree with me ;) Again thank you to all of you guys who get excited when I update, and if you just started reading my story, cool! Keep the reviews coming please!

Disclaimer: I'm not Ally Carter...in case you haven't figured that out.

If you haven't read Ch. 16, I'd go back and do that...

Chapter Seventeen

"No," I managed to mumble. I knew I could scream, but Zach had a shot of rescuing Bex and I was willing to be a sacrifice.

"Too bad," the man growled in my face. The odor of hard liquor emanated from his mouth. He then pressed his ruddy lips against my own. I squirmed and tried to move but his body weight and arms kept me down. I was helpless.

The man tore at the collar of my shirt, causing me to choke. He pulled his face away from mine and in the dim light I saw a smile of pure evil. His hand reached down to pull at my belt. I wasn't going to escape. Frustration and pain coursed through me, so that must have been why it surprised me that the two hands grabbing the man's neck were not my own.

Zach pulled the man off of me and in a sickening twist, killed him. He looked at me. I was panting and still lying on the bed. My shirt was torn and I knew I would have several bruises.

"Are you okay, Cam?" There was emotion in Zach's voice.

I nodded, too embarrassed to speak. I rolled off the bed and grabbed my mask.

"We still have to rescue Bex." I whispered.

Zach grabbed my hand and pulled me toward a heating duct.

"Kay Cam, follow my lead." He instructed.

Zach pulled himself up into the vent and with his help, I quickly followed. We only went a short ways until we came upon Bex's holding room.

Zach pulled the vented aside and counted to three silently. On three I jumped down.

I heard Zach land behind me. But manly I saw Bex and the two captors that flanked her sides, pulling her out of the room. Bex's eyes were wide with fear and I heard her yell, or try to yell.

But then the two captors pulled guns. I didn't react fast enough to pull my own weapon so I instinctively dodge. Zach though had his gun and returned fire. The captors didn't stick around. They were running down the hallway, towing Bex with them.

Zach and I recovered and began to chase them. They dragged Bex around to the front of the house and pulled her down the large main staircase. Zach and I juggled between dodging bullets and returning the.. If we could kill the two men, then we could grab Bex.

Glass and wood flew everywhere; the elegant mansion was in complete chaos. Zach and I stood at the top of the stairs as the two men were almost to the door. Finally, one of our shots made contact and one of the men went down. The other, though, didn't pause. He kept moving forward and fired one last shot at us. I saw Zach stumble backwards at the same moment I heard Bex scream.

I looked at the now empty doorway, they were gone. The squeal of tires was immediate. And I knew we had failed, it was over.

But I ran down the stairs to the wide open door anyways. I watched a van take off down the road. I was out of bullets. I fell against the door and sunk to the ground. Tears stung behind my eyelids. I heard footsteps come down the stairs and turned to see Zach, his arm bloody, even in the dim light. He gazed at me.

"I'm so sorry Cammie."

I shook my head and stood up, saying nothing.

"It's okay, I promise we'll get her."

"No!" The anger inside me found its way to the surface. "Zach, you don't get it! Bex is the one person who's been able to understand me! She's been with me through it all!" I shouted before my voice dropped to a whisper. "And now she's gone."

"Zach's eyes had pain in them, but I knew it wasn't because of his arm.

"Cammie, I'm here for you. You aren't alone."

But I wasn't done. "No Zach! It's different. Bex cares for me. She always has. She was there to support me through everything, even when you left!"

I now stood just feet away from him. I knew what I said hurt, but anger was in Zach's eyes when he said, "No Cam."

"It's true Zach. You left. Bex never has. She actually cares for me, unlike you." I spat.

Zach took two large steps so he was close to me. I backed up, but found a wall behind me. I was unsure of what I was supposed to do.

In the blink of an eye Zach's lips were on mine, and his arms found their way around me.

I pulled back, "Zach this isn't going to make anything better." I whispered.

But Zach just replied, "Don't ever say I don't care about you Cam. Ever." And then he kissed me again. Slowly I lost myself in the kiss, his lips felt as if they were meant to be with mine. I reached up and entangled my hands in his hair. A part of me was hesitant, as I knew this was dangerous. But a majority didn't want me to stop. The wall behind me gave me support because as Zach's mouth worked with mine, my knees felt weak.

Zach pulled away this time, we both needed to breathe. He held my gaze before I looked down. He took a step back, but his arms still held me.

"Cammie, I may have left but I didn't lose track of you. I was around; made sure you were safe. And never, never did I forget you for a second."

I looked at him, but then the part of me that had no idea what was happening took over. I bit my lip and looked at his arms.

"C'mon Zach, we need to get out of here and get that taken care of." I nodded toward his bloody wound.

Internally I was screaming at myself and Zach looked disappointed. But I couldn't do this there, right then.

Zach stepped away and I instantly missed the feel of his arms around me.

"Okay," he said, "Let's go."

So, did that make up for me missing Vday? But trust me, don't think things are going to be great between Zammie, because I've got a lot in store for them...

As I've said before, I'm going to update as soon as I can...I promise it won't be as awful as it has been lately, but until then, keep your feedback and ideas coming. I actually get parts of my story from just little comments you guys make. Thanks for reading!