How are we all today?
I finally updated! But don't forget to check out my new GG story "Assassin's Anonymous" it has so much more Zammie and the writing style is so much better.
Anyway, on with the story, we are reaching the finale few chapters my Loves.
Disclaimer: Ally Carter owns all… except for Sunniva, she is a real person.
"On the count of three."
"One."
Sunniva cursed in Mandarin as Bex pulled the bullet out of her leg. I was holding the older girl down on the titled floor of a service station bathroom, which probably wasn't the most hygienic of operating rooms but it was all we had.
"What happened to pulling it out on three?" Sunniva demanded, scrunching her face up against the pain as Bex started to stich the wound.
"You would have pulled tensed when I said 'three'." Bex muttered, biting the thread with her teeth.
I stood up and stretched, my fingers scraping against the flickering ceiling light that was coated in dust. "Gross," I muttered, wiping my hands on a piece of paper towel.
"So where are we meeting the others?" Sunniva tested her weight on her wounded leg and grimaced. It was only flesh wound but it was going to hurt like hell for a few days at least, not that that would stop Sunniva from joining the action.
Bex opened the door and squinted against the harsh sunlight, "That's the problem," She sighed, "They could be at any of the three safe houses we set up."
"Or at any random motel." Sunniva retorted, shoving her way past Bex and out the door.
"No," I muttered, "Liz and Macey would make sure they were somewhere we could find."
I walked out after Bex, making sure that all the blood was gone from the tiled floor before shutting the door behind me. It had only been an hour since the attack and we were were on the outskirts of Washington DC, nowhere near far enough away as I would have liked but we had to take care of Sunniva's leg.
"If I were Macey where would I run?" Bex pondered, "Probably to the closest available safe house, which means-"
"No," I cut across her sentence as I shoved my hair up into a ponytail, "If you were Zach where would you go?" I knew that Zach would have taken over command once we were gone, it was his mother after all, and he would know the best way to outrun her.
"He would go to the furthest safe house, he'd probably even pick a random motel, but seeing as your girls will be with him I guess he'd stick with the safe house." Sunniva didn't even bother looking at us as she said this, instead she slid her sunglasses onto her nose – it was a miracle they were still intact- and started inspecting which car in the lot would be an inconspicuous ride.
"Jacksonville it is then." I sighed, mentally preparing myself for an eleven-hour trip with the joyful Sunniva and the peaceful Bex.
"I dibs driving!" Bex called as she hurried over to the car Sunniva had picked.
"NO!" Sunniva and I both cried.
Sunniva turned her attention back to hijacking the Sudan as Bex and I checked the area for any onlookers. "Liz is going to freak when she finds out that we stole a car."
"What Lizzie doesn't know won't hurt her." Bex grinned wickedly at me before hoping into the passenger seat and forcing Sunniva to crawl into the back.
"Jacksonville here we come." I muttered as I turned on the engine and put the car into drive.
After eleven hours and twenty-five minutes we found ourselves in the hallway of the small apartment Macey had chosen as a safe house back in her first year at Gallagher.
"I guess there is no longer any point in wearing this stupid hair dye." Sunniva commented as she walked straight into the bathroom and clicked the door shut behind her.
"Glad to see she's alive," Macey snorted as she turned to inspect Bex and I for any severe injuries.
When Sunniva finally emerged thirty-seven minutes later, her hair was no longer golden blonde, but a rich brown woven with strand's of her mother's auburn colouring. She had cut the ends off so that her hair now hung halfway down her back. I stared at her eyes; they were still the same colour as they had been the day before. My guess was that Catherine's bright green genes had mixed with a hazel gene from Sunniva's father to create an interesting colour that was less intense than Zach's crazy eyes.
"You know Sunniva, for an assassin turned terrorist, your amateur hour disguise surprises me. You didn't even bother to change you name." Zach stood up from his chair at the rickety table and stared at his sister.
"Opposed to you?" Sunniva's voice dripped venom as she glared right back, "At least I tried, you still yourself a Goode for Christ's sake!"
Zach placed his hands on the table and leant forward, he grinned in an unpleasant sort of way. "But I wasn't hiding." His grin turned into an ugly snarl. "What was the point in changing my name when she could always find me anyway? There was no escape for me."
I glanced at Bex who shook her head in confusion, before I turned my attention back to Zach who was shaking slightly in fury.
Sunniva's face hardened as she glowered at her younger brother, "I escaped, so why couldn't you? Don't bother lying to me Zachy, you stayed because you believe she is right, you stayed because you are a coward."
Something in Zach seemed to snap and it was a wonder he didn't launch himself at her over the table. "You ran away Sunniva, you ran away and you left me behind! You left me there with her! How could you do that to me, how? I was twelve and you what, expected me to escape the circle on my own?" He was shouting now, his hands raking through his hair as his shoulders shook.
"I may be a coward, " He spat at her, "but I would never have left you behind. Even Catherine understands the importance of family." With that he turned and stormed outside, not seeing the tears that started to stream down his sister's face.
"I hated myself everyday for not taking him with me," She whispered to herself, "But I was only thinking of my safety that day, and after I left I was too afraid to return for him. I'm a selfish coward and a horrible sister." She fell down into the chair by the table and I decided to run after Zach.
It was a large city and I knew Zach could be anywhere, there was also the factor that Zach was a spy and therefore nearly impossible to track. I decided to head down to the district renowned for it's bars, brothels and poker rooms. I thought that perhaps Zach had gone down there to get his mind off of things, though I hoped he hadn't gone to a brothel, it would make things oh so awkward.
I had turned down a shady looking alley when I knew for certain that I was being tailed. Before I could pull out my gun and scare the rapist off, Zach stalked up beside me.
"What are you doing here Gallagher Girl?" He questioned in a dark voice.
"Well I was getting bored back in the apartment, so I wanted some fun. It was a toss up between here and a brothel." I gestured dramatically to the graffiti covered bricks around us. "The brothel wouldn't let me in for free, so here I am."
Zach just stared at me in that way that basically translated into 'You're an idiot, I don't find you funny, what was even the point of anything you just said.'
"Go back to base, Gallagher Girl." He sighed, running a hand over his face in a defeated sort of way, it's like he already knew that I would insist on staying.
"Look, I came here because I thought you might have come down here to get lost in a world of bad reputations." I told him, placing a hand on his arm in an attempt to comfort him. Now should probably be a good time to mention that I suck at comforting people.
"Well, you were right." His grin was one of self-destruction as he shrugged off my arm and walked away.
"Great to see you too," I called at his retreating figure, "great pep talk, I think we are going to walk away from this feeling very inspired."
His middle finger was the only response I got to my snark as he turned onto the main street, leaving me standing in the middle of alley. My thoughts drifted towards all the bad things that could happen to an innocent girl in alley like that, and then they drifted to wandering if I could lure Zach back by pretending to be in danger of death by drug dealer.
Frowning at how horrible I was when it came to comforting conversations, I stalked off towards the street Zach had turned onto.
When I finally caught up to Zach he was sitting in a small diner, absentmindedly fiddling with the saltshaker. I have to admit that I was surprised to see him in there and not in an opium den of some kind. Do cities still have opium dens? It's something I've always wondered, I can never remember if they still exist or if they were only around back in the nineteenth century. I'm rambling again, aren't I?
"If this is your idea of a brothel you really need to go out more." I slid into the booth opposite him and swiped the saltshaker from his grasp.
Zach looked up at me from lowered eyelids, "Why go to a brothel when I can just hire someone to come to me?" He grabbed the saltshaker back from me and started spinning it across the table.
I ordered chips with black pepper from a passing waitress before turning back to Zach. "Look," I started, "I get it, okay no I don't, not really, but whatever happened with Sunniva was probably just one big misunderstanding." I had never had siblings, so I couldn't exactly connect with what was going on but it needed to be put aside in the face of our mission.
"No Cam you don't get," Zach looked at me, really looked at me, "She left and I had no one. My mother was psychopathic, my father was a mystery, and the Circle members were the darkest sorts of criminals. What about that equals a happy childhood? Look it doesn't matter right now, we need to focus on why the Circle is after you."
The plate of chips arrived and I busied myself with trying to squeeze the lime, wondering the whole time why they hadn't given us a lemon instead. As Zach leant over the table to swipe a chip the collar of his shirt moved down, revealing an inky black shape on his collarbone.
I grabbed onto his collar and tried to tug it to the side.
"Gallagher Girl, what are you doing?" He questioned, batting away my hand, "If you wanted to rip my clothes off you could have at least waited until we weren't in public."
I didn't bother acknowledging his quip as I pointed at his now covered collarbone, "You have a tattoo?"
Zach sighed and pulled aside his shirt to reveal three interlinked circles. "It's the symbol or the Circle of Cavarn, Sunniva has one too."
"But she would have only been fourteen when she left the circle…"
"They did it when she was thirteen, I was the same age when I eventually got mine."
I chewed on my lip, trying to figure it all out, "So it's like in a gang, they tattoo you."
Zach grimaced darkly, "They brand us," he corrected before grabbing another chip to signal the end of that conversation.
We spent the next twenty minutes eating chips and talking as the sky darkened around us.
Zach and I were walking down an empty side street, when a young man who could only be described as a 'Lad' stopped in front of us.
He looked me up and down, his mouth curving into a slightly drunk grin. He let out a slow whistle. "You need a ride, girl?" He asked in a tone of voice that suggested he wasn't implying a ride around town in his car.
Zach stiffened beside me but before he had a chance to react, I was already standing beside the guy with my knife at his throat.
"Just for that," I purred in his ear, "I think you owe me your wallet and that fancy gold watch you're wearing." I smiled demurely at him.
"W-What?" He chocked out, still shocked by the sudden appearance of the knife.
Rolling my eyes, I tightened my grip on the knife. Fear and alcohol was obviously making him extremely thick so I decided to use the one line that tended to translate to any English-speaking citizen.
"Give me your money or else…" I demanded in a low, threatening voice. I could have laughed at the drunken panic that was rolling off him as he handed me all his money. "And the watch," I told him, tapping the watch with my free hand.
Once the guy had run off I grinned and shoved the money into my bag. "Oh don't give me that look," I told Zach as I took in his frown and raised eyebrows.
"What look?" His features didn't change as he watched me put away my knife. He looked surprised by the whole display, I'm not sure why though; he knew what school I attended.
"Oh come on," I smirked at him, "I'm a Gallagher Girl, not one of Charlie's frigging Angels."
He chuckled at that, like I knew he would. But instead of replying, his arm wrapped around me and suddenly his lips were on mine.
This kiss was nothing like the one we shared in the barn, this kiss was made of wildfire, hunger, and the dark thrill that only criminals could understand. His lips tasted like black pepper and lime.
Josh had felt safe, warm, but kissing Zach felt like blowing up buildings, running from authority, and the cold reassurance of holding a gun. The kiss felt dangerous, passionate and I couldn't help but moan as he lowered his mouth to my neck. One of his hands was tangled in my hair; the other was down on my waist. Then all of a sudden, he was pulling away, and the hand that had been entangled in my hair was now pointing my own gun at my temple.
"Sorry Gallagher Girl," He grinned deviously at me as Catherine's men swarmed around us. "Payback's a bitch isn't it?"
"You lying son of a bitch!" Was all I managed to spit out before he hit me with the barrel of the gun and darkness rushed in.
Oh my, what have we got here? I have been having so much fun reading your reviews for my teaser chapter and I'm laughing evilly in the face of everyone who guessed at why Zach would betray Cam. No one has guessed it yet, though it is quite obvious if you ask me.
So my dears, this is the end, the final chapter. I'm kidding, but it is close to the end, after all this time, I'm nearly finished with my tale.
First off I just need to point out one thing: No, I do not support terrorism, just like Ally doesn't support stealing yet she writes about thieves and other authors write about murder in a good light. I'm an author, I wrote this as a story, not a political statement. But in light of everything that has been happening in the world I will say this…
What Cam teaches Zach in this story is that not all criminals are the same, which just because she is labelled a terrorist does not mean she acts like others who are labelled that. My message to you all is that just because some extremists have been labelled a terrorist does NOT mean that every person of that religion is one too.
Anyway…
ButteryHighlights: Oh chou, you couldn't be more wrong with your guesses. Why would I make up such a horrible dream when I could just write the scene as reality?
kccb16: Oh don't worry dear, there is an excellent reason. Also, yes I know the brother thing was way too cliché for me but it had to be done. There was no other way to fully incorporate Sunniva into the story and it helped Zach to have a larger background story seeing as he is a bit of a mystery even by the last GG book. I'm still upset with myself for using a cliché but hopefully I make it up to you guys later on. Plus this is Fanfiction, it was made for clichés xx.
Greeneyedsmirker: Oh God, I'm so glad the teaser scared you! Review's like yours make writing so much more fun.
OhNobody: Here is your update!
awesomegirl3362: Zach will tell you why in the next chapter my dear.
Guest: I love you. Thank you for saying you are obsessed with my work, it truly makes my day brighter.
zammylover314: It's almost finished sob
Kayla: Thankyou Lovely!
RachelLovegood52: Well when my readers are so beautiful and enthusiastic how can I not involve them as much as possible? I love making you guys into characters.
SoGoode: Thank you!
Fangirling007: Just reread your review and I'm on the ground hyperventilating. You are the most beautiful person in the world right now! Thank you so much! I don't think people should take pointers from me but that was such an amazing thing to say. Thank you for complimenting my imagination and yes I would love to make this into my own story but it's too closely ties with Ally. Maybe my assassin story could cut loose it's GG ties seeing as it isn't set at Gallagher Academy. Anyway THANK YOU SO MUCH.
Sunniva Steiner: My lovely new character, I'm so glad you like your fictional self, and I changed your hair for you. I didn't have room for the clothing but I can add that later. So far readers love you "I really like Sunniva! She seems awesome!" Just go read some reviews for chapter 17 and you will see! Also, you got an account!
Zach-Goode' : Thank you! Yes I have decided to keep Sunniva for a while longer, perhaps even until the very end. I loved your review you are so enthusiastic!
ElleJJ: You are too amazing in too many ways! Haha thanks for your review.
Reader103: A new reviewer! I updated like you asked!
Greeneyedsmirker: I think it's a given now that I love you and your reviews! You make me laugh, and don't worry, my dad is worried because I told him the other day I was going to study Forensic Psychology at University so that I could either work as a detective or as a consulting criminal. Love you Bella, your fellow criminal.