Lorena stealthily opened the window into her and Zachary's room and leaped through it. She was about to inch her way over to the closet to change her clothes when a voice stopped her dead in her tracks.
"You were out and about. Mind telling me what you were doing?"
He said it in a calm and unhurried way, but the hidden rage couldn't be ignored. Lorena immediately felt herself stiffen and turned to face Zachary. She was in trouble.
"I-I uh, I was just. Uh..."
This was the first time in her two lifetimes that she had stuttered so badly. For once, she couldn't find the right words to say. Anybody else, and an intricate lie would have already been created. But with Zachary? She couldn't seem to find anything to say.
So she chose the truth. Because she believed the basis of a relationship was trust. And if she was hiding things from him, how could she ever earn his? Much less give him hers. She took a deep breath.
"I went over to the Garrula mansion. The people we had sent couldn't find the portrait and if they couldn't find it would have destroyed our plans."
And that was true. They would have no way to directly kill Reina. She was too heavily guarded. And nobody could beat Number 2. He was just that good. So, as the saying goes: If you can't beat 'em, join 'em.
Solace was powerful, way too powerful considering how they had only just been established, but that was the thing. They were new. They didn't have deep connections, their forces hadn't been trained to high levels. How could they compete with the Garrula family? Simple: Use other people.
Which was exactly what they were doing. Lorena used the Garrula family themselves to get rid of the useless Cade, she was using Alfred to get the royal family against the Garrula, and she was using Number 2 to get rid of Reina. It was all planned from the beginning, and it manipulated the pawn's emotions and thoughts. It was intricate, it was cunning, it was daring, it was Lorena.
Zachary understood the importance of the portrait, but he still didn't approve of Lorena going by herself. They had agreed they wouldn't do anything to put themselves in danger, but here she had gone and put herself at the root of their problem!
"Don't you ever do that again. We agreed with each other that we wouldn't put ourselves in danger. But you left without me knowing and went to the fucking Garrula house?!"
He was mad that she went on her own. He was hurt she didn't tell him. And he felt betrayed because she claimed to do it all for him. Lorena didn't have to go by herself. There were plenty of other members who were stronger than her that could have gone. If he had learned one thing from being with her all of these years, it was that Lorena loved danger. She thrived on it.
She fell in love with him, a dangerous person. She was picking a fight with the Garrulas, a dangerous family. She manipulated the royal family, which was self-explanatory. And yet, she didn't admit to herself that she did it all for the danger that accompanied it. She loved him more than anybody else, so that's why he's been accompanying her.
But he was terrified of losing her. That one day she would get herself into a situation she couldn't get herself out of. That one day, she would leave him.
On the other hand, Lorena couldn't possibly know what was running through Zachary's mind, so she felt hurt. She had done it to ensure the success of the plan. She had done it for him. Yet all she got in return was him yelling at her. Tears pricked her eyes and she felt herself choking up.
Zachary noticed her tears and felt all of his rage poof. All he wanted to do was run over and comfort her. Tell her how he was sorry. But before he could, she left. She jumped out of the window before he could get a single word in. He stood there in shock.
And then jumped out to chase her.