Chapter 366 The Unseen Pull
When Zara returned home from the police station, all of her younger siblings were already there.
Karen was eating, while Wilson was teaching Soraya how to read and write.
But the moment Zara heard what he was teaching her, she wanted to kick him.
"As the great founder once taught us..."
"Shut up!" Zara snapped.
Wilson looked offended. "You have no respect for the great founder."
Zara fell silent.
Soraya sat nearby with a colored pencil in one hand and a sketchpad in her lap.
Peter was playing a game on his phone, but he glanced up in confusion. "Big sis., you said we were in danger. What kind of danger are we talking about?"
She had pulled all of them out of school and ordered them home. Whatever had happened was clearly serious.
Wilson said, "She probably borrowed money from loan sharks, and now they've come to collect."
Zara stared at him.
Peter scoffed. "Come on, Wilson. You know loan sharks wouldn't dare come after her. It's probably..."
One look from Zara made both of them wisely shut their mouths.
Standing in front of them, Zara said, "I'm not joking this time. Some lunatic really has come after me. She's the kind who kills indiscriminately, so I brought you all home. Otherwise, if something happened to one of you, where the hell would I even start looking?"
Wilson's expression turned serious. "Who did you piss off this time?"
"I don't know."
Karen looked up from her food. "Why isn't Nancy back?"
Zara thought for a moment. "Nancy's situation is different from yours."
She had called Nancy too, but Nancy said she would be fine. If anything serious happened, she would reveal her true form even if it meant exposing herself. At the very least, Zara would sense it immediately.
Nancy was staying at a psychiatric hospital on the outskirts of Magior. If Zara truly needed to reach her, it would only take a few seconds.
Peter asked, "She's different just because she has a boyfriend now?"
Zara fell silent.
So did everyone else.
She rolled her eyes. "Stop being an idiot. Just stay home for the next couple of days and don't go anywhere. Once I drag this woman out of hiding, everything will be fine."
The woman had said she would come for Zara soon.
So Zara would wait.
Wilson frowned. "There's actually someone even you can't handle? Then this must be..."
"I already told you," Zara interrupted. "The problem is that I don't know who she is. Once I find her, of course I can handle her..."
Before she could finish, her expression suddenly changed.
At that exact moment, she sensed something strange.
It felt as though an invisible force had reached inside her and tried to rip something out of her body. Her mind went blank for a split second.
Whatever it was, it failed.
The sensation vanished almost as quickly as it had appeared.
Soraya shot to her feet.
Everyone else only saw Zara's expression change.
Peter nearly jumped up. "Sis., what happened?"
Zara waved him off. "Nothing."
Something had felt wrong for an instant, but there did not seem to be any other problem.
Her head just felt strangely twisted, as if something inside it had been tugged out of place.
Soraya suddenly walked over, took Zara's hand, and slipped the red cord bracelet onto her wrist.
Zara blinked. "What are you doing?"
Soraya's little face was solemn, and even her large, clear eyes held an unusual seriousness. "Nothing. Just keep it on. They say red wards off evil."
Zara fell silent.
Did this child even know where that red cord had come from?
Ward off evil?
It was more likely to attract it.
Still, Zara was touched that Soraya was willing to give it to her.
She had not expected Soraya to learn deadpan humor so quickly.
Zara did not think it was that big of a deal. The aura might have made her uncomfortable, but she had sensed no real danger from it.
That meant whoever it belonged to was still someone she could handle.
What bothered her was how strange the whole thing was. She could not pinpoint where the person was hiding, and the other world seemed to be shielding them somehow.
Tsk.
There was no way the other world had nothing to do with this.
That evening, after dinner, Zara received a message from Lucian saying his meeting was almost over. She could come pick him up.
So she headed out right away.
Before leaving, she naturally reinforced the protective measures around the house to make sure nothing happened while she was gone. If any outside force tried to break in, she would sense it immediately.
When she arrived at Lucian's office building, his driver was waiting for him in the parking garage, so she stood near the elevators and waited.
Lucian stepped out as soon as the doors opened. The sight of Zara standing there startled him so badly that he nearly jumped.
Zara, meanwhile, greeted him with a brilliant smile. "Lucian."
[Dumbass.]
Lucian was speechless.
Every time he thought he could have a normal, peaceful conversation with Zara, the woman found some way to shatter that illusion.
Like right now.
All he could do was preserve what remained of his intimidating composure and answer with a calm, indifferent, "Mm."
Zara glanced around him but did not sense anything unusual. The two of them walked to the car side by side and got in.
Once the driver pulled away, Lucian asked, "What kind of trouble did you get yourself into this time?"
Zara took issue with that phrasing. "Lucian, listen to yourself. What do you mean, what trouble did I get myself into? Those people are the ones who can't stand seeing me enjoy a peaceful life. They're coming after me."
Lucian gave a quiet scoff. Wasn't that exactly how she made her money?
The car traveled down the main road, countless lights flashing beyond the windows. These days, it only took half an hour to get from Lucian's office to Zara's place, assuming traffic was clear.
But tonight, the roads through Magior were unnaturally smooth.
At this hour, traffic should have been backed up. That would have been normal.
Yet nothing outside looked particularly wrong.
Zara stared out the window for a moment, then suddenly turned to Lucian. "Lucian... if something happens, can you protect yourself?"
Lucian frowned. "What?"
Before he could make sense of the question, Zara seemed to freeze. Her entire body went rigid.
At that moment, she felt an overwhelming force tugging at her.
It was not pulling on her body. It felt as though something had seized her soul and was trying to drag it away.
Under Lucian's startled gaze, Zara's eyes suddenly closed, and her body went limp as she collapsed against the seat.
She fell at an awkward angle and nearly slipped into the gap between the seats, but Lucian reacted quickly and caught her.
When she truly slumped into his arms, he called out sharply, "Zara?!"
Was this woman doing it on purpose just to take advantage of him?
The ridiculous thought flashed through Lucian's mind and disappeared just as quickly. Zara was not that kind of person.
But she had truly passed out.
She lay motionless in his arms, completely unresponsive.
This had never happened before.
Without thinking, Lucian held a hand beneath her nose.
She was still breathing.
For some reason, he let out a breath of relief.