A Spy's Home---Book 3: A Friend I've Never Met

Chapter 2

Zylina's point of view

I saw Rory appear out of the corner of my eye, but I didn't dare take my eyes off the boy in front of me. After a moment of silence, Rory suddenly exclaimed, "Get away from her!" He then took a step forward, but I decided, without thinking, to intervene.

"Rory, don't! It's Luke!" I shouted. Rory halted, and I felt my face drained of its color. I'm so stupid, Rory's going to kill him! "Wait, Luke? That hacker dude you used to work with?" Rory questioned.

I nodded, and turned to face Luke who was looking back and forth between us. I gave the boys a nervous smile, and said, "Can we calm down please? I don't want this to turn into a stupid fight over nothing."

I glanced back at Rory, and saw him relax his muscles a little, which relieved me. I looked at Luke and ordered, "Get your hand away from the pistol." He followed my command, and released his grip on the pistol that was still tucked in his belt.

"Zylina, would you like to explain? It's taking all my strength not to tackle this guy." Rory exclaimed. I mentally groaned at the comment, and replied with, "Listen, I will. Luke, I will meet up with you at your current hotel room tomorrow, but I need to catch Rory up."

Luke nodded to my relief, and I nodded back before quietly nudging Rory out of the alleyway and back to the car.

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30 minutes later

"Wait, so Luke, your hacker buddy, is actually the mystery guy who keeps giving us clues about the Academy?" Rory asked, after I had explained everything to him in our hotel room.

"First off, yes he is Mystery Clue guy, second off, Luke is not my buddy. I told you I didn't have any friends after you left." I retaliated. Rory roughly rubbed his face, before slumping down on top of the bed.

"Little Z, we cannot trust him. We can't trust anyone associated with the Academy. It could be a trap." he tried telling me. "What about Josiah? We had to trust him to get into that apartment building." I reminded Rory of the young boy from Findlay. He was about to say something, but he hesitated.

"He....He's an exception." Rory finally answered. I sighed with frustration, and sat down next to him. "You don't trust him, fine, but if we can break from the Academy's rules then so can any other cadet or hacker who might be working for them, including Luke." I explained to him.

He turned to me, but his face remained distrustful of Luke's intentions. Sighing once again, I patted his shoulder, and told him, "But if he does stab us in the back, you have my permission to beat him up." That got his face to light up with a smirk, and I smirked right back at him as we both stood from the bed.

However, Rory's smile only lasted a few seconds, before he frowned, raised his eyebrow, and asked me, "How's you even know that was Luke? Didn't you tell me you've never seen his actual face before?"

I nodded, and answered with, "On my way to Princeton, I met a boy named Luke who was also going to Princeton. When I heard his name, I panicked and ran off. It can't be a coincidence that the Mystery Clue guy was in Princeton, and Luke was also going there as well."

"Oh," Rory responded to my explanation. He then combed his hair with his fingers, and I could see he still didn't want me to go alone. "Just be careful, alright?" he warned me. Giving a soft laugh in return, I told him, "I don't think I'll be in danger, and if you're so worried just come along with me."

"Are you sure?" Rory asked, probably concerned that he would cause trouble. "Yep, I would feel more comfortable with you there anyway." I responded. He smiled, and I thought to myself; besides, I've been away from you long enough already.

TBC....