Secrets and Sins

Chapter 15

~Ava~

Ava hated this.

She was pacing backwards and forwards inside the small black van that was acting as the control room. Yasmine was monitoring the screens set up against the interior wall with Mother Superior occasionally relaying information to the team of sister warriors on mission.

It had been a week since they had found out about the metal in the fire that could attract wraiths and FBC’s, a week of meditation training for Ava and a week of researching this strange metal for the rest of the OCS.
Ava wanted to help but was on strict orders to learn control of the halo first. Training had been progressing extremely slowly, but at least it was progressing. Ava could achieve a meditative state now, but almost any excitement or stress broke her concentration. Not great for battle situations, amongst other things.

Speaking of other things, Bea had been just as strict with progressing their relationship (not that Ava hadn’t tried), Bea stopped them anytime a kiss began to get more heated or a touch more purposeful. It was extremely frustrating for the horny Halo bearer, but she begrudgingly understood the need for caution.
Ava was struggling with this new role, as much as she struggled hiding and training in Switzerland. She felt useless, like she was back at square one after all the previous training she had done with the halo.

And so here she was, at an aquarium of all places, watching the love of her life lead a dangerous mission to retrieve a weird piece of metal that could attract literal demons to it. Camilla, now on light duties, had designed some software that had allowed them to detect this mysterious metal, that way they could hopefully head off any more disasters like the mall fire.

In the back of Ava’s mind, she couldn't help but think about Reya’s warning ‘Fire, Water, Earth’. Surely it couldn't be a coincidence that the first chunk of metal had been on fire and the second had been detected in an aquarium.

Coincidence my arse.

~Beatrice~

"30m down this hall, turn right and continue for 20m. Be on guard, heat signatures ahead." Yasmine's voice spoke through her headset.

"Understood."

Her team had fanned out around her, checking every room they came across to ensure they wouldn't be flanked by the enemy. It was extra perilous not having Ava with them, they wouldn't be able to see a wraith until it was possessing someone.

Beatrice was taking every precaution she could think of but had a horrible feeling that it wouldn't be enough.
They entered the tunnel aquarium, looking around at the sharks and colorful fish swimming above them. Normally this area would be packed with tourists taking photos and admiring the sea creatures. Thankfully, the aquarium was closed today.

The tactical squad reached the end of the tunnel which opened up into a fairly large auditorium, probably for educating school groups, with several different entrances. Right in the center of the room was a table. Sitting on this table was their target, a cerulean glowing piece of metal.

Okay, well this is definitely a trap.

"Mother Superior, can you see what I'm seeing?" Beatrice murmured into her microphone.

Each sister warrior had a body cam for this mission so that Ava could spot wraiths from the safety of the control room. The Halo bearer had pushed back hard on the plan to enter the aquarium without her, but Beatrice was quietly relieved. Ava had been working hard on keeping the Halo under control, but it was still a challenge for her, and Beatrice didn’t think she could face cold scary Ava again.

"Yes…” Came Mother Superior’s reply, until she was interrupted by Ava.

“There's something fishy about this.”
“Get it! Bea?”