Secrets and Sins

Chapter 10

~Beatrice~

Beatrice had a bad feeling. She had started having the bad feeling as soon as they had stepped out of the black van onto a street adjacent to the mall. Dark smoke billowed from the building, the area was crawling with fire fighters trying to get the blaze under control and with media filming the disaster.

"How are we gonna get near it?" Ava asked, stepping up beside her.

The Halo bearer was decked out in her new battle uniform, since her old set had been destroyed by the divinium bomb. The new suit was black and dark grey, the material almost looked as though it was made from scales. It was very form fitting, accentuating Ava's body.

Bloody distracting.

"Bea?" Ava asked again. Glancing over at her face, before raising an eyebrow, amused.

Beatrice cleared her throat quickly looking back towards the building.

"We'll sneak round the back." Beatrice said.
"Move out." She directed at the other sister warriors, who set off towards the building.

Once the nuns were out of earshot, Ava skipped up next to Beatrice.

"Were you just checking me out?" Ava smirked, basically bouncing beside her.

Beatrice said nothing, trying to contain the blush spreading across her cheeks.

"Oh my God, you totally were!"

Checking to make sure the other sister warriors were too far ahead to see them, the taller woman grabbed Ava's arm spinning her around and kissed the smug grin off her face. When she pulled back, Beatrice couldn't help but feel satisfied at Ava's shocked expression.

"Maybe I was." She remarked, walking quickly ahead.

~Ava~

Okay, that was really hot.

Ava's lips were still tingling from Bea's surprise kiss. She was following behind the sister warrior as they approached the rear entrance of the mall. Up ahead two of their team had quietly and efficiently removed the police officers who had been guarding the entrance. The rest of the squad moved in, taking up defensive positions.

Ava stayed close to Bea as they entered the building. The smell of smoke permeated the air, but there was no other sign of the fire.

"3 go left, 3 go right. Sister's Camilla and Dora with me and Ava." Bea ordered.

Ava swallowed, trying to quell the surge of arousal at Bea's tone. She wondered if Bea would be bossy like that in the bedroom when they got comfortable enough with each other. Shaking her head, Ava pushed those thoughts away, now wasn't the time.

They were creeping down the wide deserted hallway of the mall, the shops on either side were eerily empty. Every so often a small kiosk blocked their path, forcing them to deviate left or right. The nearer they got to the source of the smoke; the more tense Ava felt. This was all feeling very much like a trap. She could feel the tight control she had been exerting over the halo since it had recharged begin to slip, her emotions blocking her concentration.

Suddenly, Ava heard the whizz of a projectile through the air and yanked Bea backwards out of the way, the crossbow bolt hitting her instead. Ava let out a hiss of pain quickly ripping it from her shoulder. Several more bolts flew past her.

Fuck.

"Take cover!" Came Bea's shout from behind her, the sister warrior grabbing her and dragging her backwards behind a cell phone kiosk.

~Beatrice~

"What the hell were you thinking Ava?" She said, checking the wound from the bolt to make sure it hadn't hit anything critical.

"I was…I didn't want it to hit you". Ava looked a little put out by Beatrice’s reaction.

Beatrice let out an exasperated sigh before grabbing the other woman’s shoulders, forcing the Halo bearer to look at her.

"Ava, you have to let us protect you, let me protect you, ok? I can't lose you. And with the halo not working properly…" Beatrice's voice cracked slightly.

"Okay Bea." Ava replied, putting her hand over the one that Beatrice had placed on her right shoulder, squeezing it.

Beatrice nodded before turning back to assess the situation they were in.

"Camilla? Dora? Report?" Beatrice called out, keeping one hand on Ava's shoulder as she lifted her head slightly above the kiosk counter.

She swiftly ducked again as several bolts zoomed towards her, embedding themselves in the wall display behind them.

"I'm good!" Dora hollered back, "Seen at least 6 assailants, but there's probably more... 3 in the shoe store, 2 in the bookshop and 1 in the Cafe ahead."

"Camilla?" Beatrice shouted again, her blood starting to run cold the longer her friend didn't report.

"Camilla report!" Desperation leaking into her voice.

Ava shifted under her hand, trying to look around the side of the counter. Beatrice hauled her back.

"I think I saw her get hit before we scattered, she went left." Dora yelled towards them.

Beatrice slid towards the left of the counter, peering around it carefully. She spotted two black boots sticking out from around the corner of the next store along, a clothing store, Beatrice feared the worst.

"Squad A and B, converge on us. At least 6 assailants to the north. Sister Camilla is nonresponsive in a clothing store to the northeast of my position." Beatrice commanded into her microphone.

30 seconds later the other 6 sister warriors appeared distracting the ambushers. Beatrice jumped to her feet as soon as cover was given, unfolding her bo staff and rushing to join the fight. There were a lot more enemies than they had anticipated.  Out of the corner of her eye, Beatrice could see Ava making her way to Camilla.

~Ava~

The sounds of fighting were deafening as Ava rushed to Camilla’s side. The nun had sustained a blow to the head which was trickling blood down the side of the sister warrior’s face. Camilla was unconscious but still breathing. Ava exhaled a sigh of relief, carefully rolling the nun onto her side into the recovery position.

All of a sudden Ava felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand rigid. She shivered and glanced out into the battle in the hallway of the mall. A crimson smoke drifted among the fighters.

Wraiths.

Ava felt her stomach drop, quickly standing and drawing the Cruciform sword from the scabbard on her back. She remembered what Bea had asked of her.

Sorry Bea. Only I can protect you from this.

Ava stepped out into the battle, scanning the immediate area for signs of the possessed. One of the ambushers ran at her swinging an axe. Ava deflected it with her sword, feeling the sting of vibration running through her wrist, before twisting and slashing her sword across her opponent's body. Ava felt the thrill of victory as they fell, but it was short lived as another replaced them.

Ava was beginning to feel fatigue, between trying not to die, keeping the halo under control and protecting her still healing wounds, she was starting to get sloppy. Her newest aggressor managed to break through her guard and hit her hard in the side of the head with a baseball bat. Stars burst across her vision. Ava grunted in pain, falling to her knees.

"Ava!" She could hear Bea scream from across the hall.

Ava sought her out, she was on the other side of the fight, at least 4 enemies between them. No way Bea would reach her in time. Ava prepared herself for another strike, but Sister Dora shot down her attacker before they could hit her again. Looking back towards Bea to reassure her that she was fine, dread gripped her heart.

Not again.

Behind the other women was not one but three wraiths storming closer to attack her. The sister warrior was unaware of the impending danger.

"NO!"

Something primal snapped in Ava as she let loose a guttural scream, the halo finally slipping free of Ava's constraints. The ancient relic flooded her with pure explosive power, feeling like it was boiling her from the inside out.

Ava blacked out.

~Beatrice~

The noise that ripped from Ava’s throat was unlike anything that Beatrice had ever heard before. Golden light flashed through the mall, temporarily blinding everyone in it, OCS operatives and ambushers alike.

Ava. Ava. Ava. Where is she?

Beatrice tried to blink her eyes clear as she searched the area for the face she loved. When she located her, the sister warrior's breath caught in her throat. Ava was standing, no hovering, just off the ground, right in the middle of the fray. Her face was blank and cold, but the most unsettling thing about her appearance was Ava’s eyes. They glowed an animalistic yellow, bloody tears ran down the Halo bearer’s face.

One of the assailants regained their wits enough to try and rush Ava, attempting to stab her with a wicked looking dagger. Beatrice opened her mouth to warn her, but it was not needed. Without even turning her head towards the attack Ava raised her hand, threads of golden light blazed out of her palm disintegrating her would be opponent. There was a deathly silence in which everyone stared in shock at the Halo bearer.

“Retreat!” One of the ambusher’s shouted.

Their enemies scrambled to run, Ava raised her palms again and again.

“Ava stop! They’re retreating!” Beatrice tried to intervene.

Ava looked at her, zero recognition in her glowing golden eyes. She turned away and Beatrice caught a glimpse of the halo, it had burned a perfectly circular hole in Ava’s leather tunic. The relic had almost completely burnt through the skin on Ava’s back, blood trickling down from the now open scar. Golden streams of light poured out of it, fluctuating and pulsating, the pattern the light created almost looked like wings.

The Halo bearer killed the final attackers emotionlessly before turning to the sister warriors. They closed ranks, unsure how to deal with this new threat.

“Stand down!” Beatrice ordered as her fellow sisters raised their weapons.

“Ava please.” Beatrice pleaded, stepping forward as the Halo bearer began to lift her hand again, “Please come back to me.”

Ava’s blank expression flickered as she looked at Beatrice, all of a sudden, she dropped to her knees, crying out, covering her face with her hands. The light from the halo faltered and then completely went out. Ava lifted her head, the familiar honey brown eyes looking up into Beatrice’s, bloody tear tracks standing out in stark contrast to the paleness of Ava’s cheeks.

“Bea?” Ava whispered before collapsing forwards.