I, Spy [Zayn]

Chapter Four

Mila allowed Zayn to tie her hair back, out of her face. Luckily, she'd had a hair tie around her wrist that he used to secure it in place. He'd told her that 'seeing is just as important as moving'.

Then he'd pushed a gun into her hands.

"Oh my God!" she shrieked before thrusting it back into his clutch. "You can't give me a weapon like that!"

He rolled his eyes at her. "Well, I'd give you one of my trainers, but they're at the cleaners!" he snapped before pulling out one of the knives from his belt. "Would you rather have one of my knives?"

"No!" Mila gasped. "I'd prefer it you were the one to shoot and - possibly - kill people. I can't go to jail! I'm only twenty-two for Christ sake!"

"Really? You only look like eighteen," he said, squinting at her. Mila had been told many times that she looked like a teenager as opposed to an adult of twenty-two. She'd always found it annoying when it came to situations such as going to the pub and trying to buy alcohol, especially when the bartender had to ask for ID. Eddie often called her 'kid' just to tease her and even Joanna liked to make fun of her shortness.

"I'm flattered," mumbled Mila. She glanced down at her shredded skirt and frowned. "Joanna bought me that."

"Who's Joanna?" Zayn asked, peeking around the side of the door once again. It had been quiet in the carriage ever since he had shot the man down the corridor. Mila still couldn't quite believe the situation she had been dragged into.

"One of my roommates," Mila said.

"You have more than one? How the hell do you cope?"

"Quite easily," Mila answered honestly, leaving out the part about walking in on the aftermath of a heated night between the pair. "Eddie and Joanna are a couple, so they share a room. We all work things out between us, so it's all good."

"We spies have to live alone." Zayn's voice was toneless. "We can't put more than one of us in danger at a time outside of work. If more than one of us were living together and someone were to attack, the Association would be at risk of losing not one but maybe two spies. It's hard to find more people that will commit themselves to this lifestyle."

Mila listened to him carefully as she tried to shuffle the skirt down a little further. So much skin, she worried, frowning at her tiny legs.

"Did you choose this life? Is your family OK with it?" she asked.

Zayn turned to her with a sombre look. He suddenly looked thinner, as if the life-force had been unexpectedly drained from him. "I had no choice but to join the Association. My parents were ex spies. Ex spies with a lot of enemies. They were killed while I was being looked after by my grandparents for the weekend. I was handed to the Association to train and track down the bastards that murdered my family."

Mila was speechless. She hated it when she accidentally managed to slide the conversation into the path of privacy, especially if there was some tragedy to be told. She felt her self cringe at her stupidity. "I'm so sorry. I wouldn't have asked if I'd known."