Page 28 of Secret Redemption

The focus right now was finding Zin. Her hand was in Zack's, he had grabbed it like it was the most natural thing in the world and she wondered if maybe his feelings for her were more than just sexual or convenient. Maybe just maybe he had some feelings for her.

Could she risk opening herself up to this man with the hope that he could love her or was that emotional suicide? The problem was, she didn’t know if she could resist him. Maybe she could re-negotiate. What if they could just enjoy a sexual relationship while she was here but keep emotion out of it?

Her thoughts turned back to the situation at hand as Zack stopped at the top steps of the crypt and drew his weapon, indicating Ava do the same. Which she did, flicking the safety off. On silent feet, she followed him down the stone steps until they reached the bottom. As they stepped into the empty room, Zin stepped out from behind a statue. She and Zack instantly raised their weapons when they saw that he was not alone.

Ava felt her breath catch as Roz stepped out beside Zin. She kept her weapon trained on Zin but felt her eyes flitting to Roz. She would take her cue from Zack.

"Fuck," he hissed beside her, and she glanced at him in confusion. "How did I not see this before?”

"Zack, what the hell is going on?"

Zin stepped forward, and Zack tensed, "Don’t, Zin. Don’t fucking move."

"Zack, this is not what it seems." Zin had his hands up in a placating gesture. "If I wanted you dead I would have killed you the other night instead of saving your ass.”

Zack bristled, and Ava felt her temper flare to life. "Hey, don’t you fucking speak to him like that, he has done nothing but treat you as a friend, and this is how you repay him?" she spat and saw Roz grin, which in itself was strange.

"You are quite correct. He has, and Zack is a good friend, one of the best, which is why I need to explain to him."

"Will you please stop talking as if I'm not fucking here," Zack bellowed, and she swung a glare at him.

"Zack, please."

"Don’t ‘Zack please’ me, fucking explain now before I start putting bullets in people," he spat angrily. “Why the fuck are you here, Roz? Don’t answer that. I knew I couldn’t fucking trust you."

"She’s my sister!" Zin said, and Ava felt her jaw hit the floor. She looked at Zack who looked similarly shocked.

He recovered faster though. "So, what? You and Zenobi played me, and this whole time you’ve been working with the Watchers?" He looked at Roz, "How could you do that to Lucy?" he hissed.

Roz went still and then she was across the room, followed by Zin. Her arm came out, and she punched Zack in the face hard, knocking him back on his feet. Zin grabbed Roz and held her back as Ava went to Zack placing her body in front of his.

Amusement crossed Zin's eyes, and she felt Zack take her hips and gently slide her to the side and beside him. She tried to ignore the tingle the contact brought and glared at Roz.

"It's okay, Green Eyes, I can protect myself, but I appreciate the sentiment.” He squeezed her hip and let go.

"I would never betray Lucy; you know what I did to get her free from this life," Roz stated her eyes on Zack, as Ava drilled a hole in her with her eyes and wished she had some super-secret eye lasers with which to lacerate the woman.

"Zack, we’re not working with the Watchers. My loyalty is with you and always has and always will be, but when this opportunity came to infiltrate them, I had to make it believable. When the call came, I took the chance, and it paid off." Zin sat on the edge of a crypt and looked at Zack, his pose defenceless, motioning for Roz to do the same.

"I know what they want and Rhea Winslow, the ‘one true leader’ of the watchers, trusts me."

Zack looked from Zin to Roz and back again, "I can't believe I missed it. Seeing you both now, you have the same mannerisms."

The siblings tilted their heads in confusion, and Ava laughed.

"He's right, you do," she said, and Zin gave her a small smile.

"You best tell us everything," Zack said, "and if you leave anything out, I will fucking shoot you myself.

Zin nodded, "When I was two my father had an implant put into my frontal lobe. It was incredibly dangerous, but it was a risk he was willing to take. He had put one into Roz four years earlier. My father was not a good man, and we were purely pawns in his game of power. There were two families in Russia with power; ours and the Denisovich Family.

“They had been at war for generations, so my father had the implants put in, to control us. He had them set to be triggered by a phrase, but he also had the power to detonate them at will. He held it over my mother's head, she tried to protect us, but he was pure evil. Anyway, to cut a long story short, Roz got out by faking her death and finding a surgeon to remove the chip." Zin looked at his sister, and his eyes shone with adoration.

“She found someone who helped get us to England and away from him. In those days, the technology in the chip was so new; it didn’t have GPS tracking so he couldn’t find us. About eight years ago, I found out the Denisovich family had killed my father and had taken over all his business dealings, but what I didn’t know until I met you in captivity was that they had got the phrase out of him first. Luckily, I’d already had the chip removed." He moved his head and pointed to the tiny scar there. “When the call came it seemed too good an opportunity to miss. I'm sorry Zack, I should have trusted you and the team, but I didn’t want to risk Roz being exposed as my sister. The Denisovich family don’t know who she is. They still think my sister is dead."

Zack nodded and glanced at her, "What do you think?"

Ava looked at the siblings and then at Zack, "I believe him. Remember what Celeste said?"