Here's the latest chapter, ready for reading. Enjoy my creation.
Nyla Zaviera twirled her hair impatiently as she listened to the dialing tone of her phone.
Come on, pick up...
"Hello?" she spoke into the phone when the other side was answered. "Yes...They're coming to you. They'll be there in about four hours...I don't know, that wasn't on the flight plan...Very well. Contact me with the results." She checked her watch. "I have other matters to attend to."
...
"Soda, anyone?" Dan offered cans of various sodas to the plane's other passengers that he'd found in the plane's bar. When everyone declined, he shrugged, settling down in his seat and started eating his way through a mountain of snacks.
"Ian," Alistair began, "I hope you're fine with this..." he proceeded to unscrew the diamond tip of his cane and withdrew a small, silver USB drive. "But I did a little...research when we were in the stronghold."
"You managed to appropriate Lucian files?" Matt asked incredulously. Alistair smiled.
"When you have been around as long as I have, agents tend to develop a certain...push with Cahill leaders, regardless of their family branch."
"What is it, Alistair?" Ian asked. Dan, who's mouth was full, leaned closer. Alistair slowly turned the drive around, revealing the label on it's side. Ian gasped.
Kului-Kabalui Agent Files
"Who are the Kului-Kabaluis?" Amy whispered. Nobody said anything for a moment. Ian's worried gaze flicked from Alistair to Matt and back.
"Why is this a big secret? Who were they?" Amy persisted. In faced her, his features drawn and weary.
"Zai and his family." he informed her quietly. Thinking about it was painful for him, especially because he was a cause of their pain and suffering.
"Zai had a family?" Dan asked. Thinking about Zai with a mother and father and perhaps annoying older sister sitting around a fireplace was sort of an odd notion. Zai seemed more like a stone-cold assassin, born with a knife in his hand and raised surrounded in Cahill secrecy.
Ian cut a sharp glare at him. Amy's brother was always impudent and insensitive.
"Yes, Zai had a family. I know it was hard to believe, but he wasn't always like that. He changed after-" Ian stopped.
"After what?" Amy interrupted. Ian and Matt exchanged a glance.
"Tell us!" Dan urged, excited. Ian took a deep breath.
"Zai's family was killed off five years ago. They'd made...powerful enemies whom they'd posed a threat to."
"Who killed them? Vespers?" Dan asked, his curiosity taking over. "We have to search that drive! It's full of information that could come in useful!"
"Zai's dead." Amy snapped. "What does it matter?"
"Amy's right." Matt agreed. "Besides, what you learn about Zai might not be the best thing to learn now. We should reserve that information until absolutely necessary."
...
"You chose a Hummer?" Natalie asked as they slunk through the underground car lot. Why was Zai always making the exact opposite choices she would? Didn't he know how clever she was?
"Yes, I chose a Hummer, Natalie." Zai replied, in that infuriatingly exasperated voice of his. "If my choices do not live up to your astoundingly impractical tastes, they have some lovely 1984 Lada models that I'm sure you would find exquisite."
"Hummers do not exactly exude inconspicuousness." Natalie argued. Did she need to spell everything out for him?
"And you are not exactly exuding intelligence right now." Zai replied, spying the huge orange car, looming over everything around it. Natalie was about to retort indignantly when Zai continued. "The Vespers almost certainly know where we are. What vehicle would you rather be in if we have to run through barriers and drive off bridges, and very likely engage in head-on collisions?"
"And you want me to trust my life to you?" Natalie spat. Zai was probably the most infuriating, irritating, annoying, obnoxious, and nerve-grating person she had ever met. And that was saying something, considering she had spent time with the Cahill peasant pair and their disturbing nanny.
"I don't think we really have a choice. If you haven't noticed, I'm also trusting my life to you; although I'm starting to question the decision."
"Well, you're welcome to walk away right now!" Natalie shouted. "I don't even know why you're going all the way to Nepal. It's not like you have a brother who thinks you're dead and no home to return to!"
Zai's eyes frosted over in a cold fury. He twisted his head to look face-to-face with Natalie, his full lips drawn into a thin line.
"I suppose you're right, Natalie Kabra, if you consider a secret underground Madrigal base where my only company are my captors a 'home'. But I am currently on the most important mission of my life." He lowered his voice. "If I manage to turn up with you alive, not only would the branches regain the strength that one of the branch co-leaders would bring them to fight their real enemies, but I could prove to the Madrigals that I am a capable agent, not just some traumatised child who required constant monitoring and is unable to be trusted in the outside world."
Natalie's eyes softened. Zai took a deep breath.
"I also...should keep you alive. It's...the least I can do...after..." Zai trailed off, the sadness in his face showing.
"It's okay." Natalie said softly. Zai clenched his jaw. Natalie climbed into the car beside him. Maybe they'd just misunderstood each other the whole time. If only she'd seen Zai roll his eyes when he pulled the car out of the parking space. And if only she'd known the thought going through his mind: First step: earn subject's trust: completed. If only manipulating people didn't involve me feeling like an emotional weakling.
...
Elizabeth studied the plasma screen in front of her as she touched up her lipstick. The video reel depicted little Natalie and Zai creeping through the underground parking lot at Orly in Paris. She chuckled. So amusing. They fancy themselves outwitting me.
Elizabeth knew that the situation was a time bomb, and it was only a matter of time before things exploded. That either meant Zai losing his sanity and turning into a rampaging, revenge-obsessed killer, or her losing control over her weapon. The Z-14 Raven was Elizabeth's creation, her baby. But while it was volatile, Elizabeth knew that sometimes, the biggest risks were accompanied by the biggest gains. She checked her reflection one last time before stepping into her stilettos and sashaying out.
Come to me, dear child.
...