Ari and Zac

Chapter 5: Premonition

Chapter 5: Premonition

Zac checked over his shoulder one last time and then darted across the alleyway toward the bungalow house. He slipped inside the back door and paused, leaning heavily against the doorframe.

Safe.

He let out a long breath. The adrenaline rush had subsided now, and he balled his right hand into a fist to stop it from shaking. He didn't think he'd been followed back here, but you could never be too sure. He made his way around the shabby beach house living room, locking doors and closing blinds. He didn't want to take any chance of being spotted from outside. He needed to lay low, at least until after tonight.

It was a miracle he'd gotten away unscathed. Just the thought of it made him tremble. After weeks of careful preparation, Zac had almost blown the whole operation. He thought for sure he was dead. Those two Counter-Disruption goons had him completely cornered. It was only because of the girl that he managed to escape.

He winced now as he thought of her. He couldn't shake the disturbing image from his mind: her limp body drifting upward from behind a pile of rocks. He wasn't sure what had happened to her, but he felt responsible in some way.

Which made no sense, of course.

Zac sank down onto the faded cushions of a white wicker sofa, and tried to force his mind down a different train of thought. He didn't even know that girl. What happened to her was an accident. It had nothing to do with him. And it wasn't like he'd left her there for dead. There were plenty of other people around to help her. He needed to help himself.

Still, he couldn't shake the thought that she'd somehow done it on purpose. Like she'd sacrificed herself for him. For a total stranger. That couldn't be true, could it?

That whole incident at the aquarium couldn't have lasted more than 30 seconds, but it had to be one of the most intense half-minutes of his life. He'd been in a mindless panic to get away from the men pursuing him, but then he'd made eye contact with that girl... and the sensation was unlike anything he'd ever experienced.

Mesmerizing.

That was the only word he could think of that came close to explaining how it felt. It wasn't lust. Certainly not love at first sight, or some such nonexistent bullshit. Not even attraction really. He must have flirted with half a dozen girls today who were objectively hotter, and their faces all blurred together in his head. But that girl in the mermaid costume had held him transfixed—staring like an idiot—completely oblivious to the danger closing in on him.

What was it about her? There was something...something about her eyes. Maybe it was the way she stared back at him so intently. Like she recognized him from somewhere. And the thing was, he had the strangest sense that he recognized her too, even though he was sure he'd never seen her before that moment.

Zac squeezed his eyes shut and covered them with the crook of his elbow, trying desperately to drown out the image of her face.

What had happened to her? It wasn't really his fault, was it?

He'd forgotten all about the men as he stood there watching her, but then he saw the look of alarm that registered on her face, and the crushing panic had returned to him all at once. He'd known that he was trapped. He'd mouthed a message—words meant for himself, or possibly for his maker. Not for her. Did she think those words were meant for her?

Help me.

She'd spun away, her fishtail cutting through the water in a flash of silvery-green. He couldn't quite remember the sequence of events after that. It all happened so fast. One of the agents had clapped a hand on his shoulder. He'd stood, frozen with fear. And then the noise had hit him like a bomb going off.