Pummeling My Heart

17

^^Zena

Lara and I flew to Croatia. Our original thought was for Lara to open a portal, but Lexi pointed out that they may have witches on their team and they'd be able to detect the magical spike. The safest alternative was to drive, but there was no way Lara and I wanted to spend that much time in a car. We chose the riskier option of flying instead.

Lara had arranged for a car to be waiting upon our arrival. I hopped into the driver seat while she sat in the passenger. We then made our trip to Zena's school. Lara accessed a tablet and began to skim through a few documents. I made sure that our phones and electronics were hack proof, so there was no way someone could pin our location. Also, Lara and I were completely on our own.

The moment we left, we would cease any and all communication with her family until this mess was over. That way, no one could find us and we'd essentially be ghosts. By being off the grid, we'd be able to focus on clearing Lara's name, finding the missing girls, and figuring out who's behind all of this.

"Found them." Lara announced as she scrolled down. "Your algorithm worked like a charm, babe." I cockily smiled at her. "Seems they sent a dozen agents to the school. They've been undercover in Croatia for a week to just scope out the place, but they just got an emergency signal from Interpol, so their kidnapping plan will be put into motion. We need to hurry." She turned to me before I stepped on the gas.

"What do they have on me?" I glanced at her.

"Damn, I thought you said they destroyed your file." She skeptically spoke while my hands tightened on the steering wheel. "All your successes are still listed, where you went to school, your home life... though, they stated you're an orphan." I nodded since I had hacked into the database before retiring to change that. "Nothing about being married or having a kid, so did Matt tip them off? Because there's nothing in your file that would disclose that?"

"He said no and I don't think he's lying." We were close to the school. "They shouldn't even know she's enrolled in Croatia. There must be a mole in the family compound or at the chateau." Lara nodded at my words. "Whatever. Let's get Zena." I pulled the car to a stop.

"How'd you know who's an agent?" Lara shut the door and followed behind me.

"Umm... lucky guess?"

I led Lara to the side of the school, where I hacked into the security camera. I made it freeze before breaking the lock and opening the door. I then had the camera properly function again as we walked down the hall. I furrowed my brows as we passed a lot of parents with their kids. Lara was more focused on if anyone recognized us while I was trying to figure out why parents littered the halls.

"Larz-"

"Parents weekend." Lara cut me off. "That's gonna be tricky since the agents will be able to blend in. Where are places Z likes to hang out?"

"That's a Hailey question and we can't contact her right now." I pulled Lara to the side since the mere sight of her brings unwanted attention. "Z likes art and music and books. She definitely got her love of reading and artistic abilities from you. Maybe the library? She's also dedicated to spell caster classes, so maybe somewhere that's quiet -" I stopped when Lara was just lovingly smiling at me. "What?"

"I'm just remembering how you used to be hard on yourself that you didn't understand or were able to properly connect with her. And look at you now... you know her likes and dislikes." Lara kissed my cheek. "It makes me fall more in love with you."

"Aww, thanks. I-"

"Do you know where Zena is?" Lara and I stopped to listen to someone ask a student.