Secrets and Sins Part 2: Finding Mary

Chapter 32

~Lilith~

"Fuck!" Beatrice shouted, slamming the door to the empty lab shut when they hit yet another dead end.

Everyone flinched at her sudden outburst, the sister warriors quickly putting distance between themselves and the furious woman.

"Beatrice! Calm down." Lilith stepped in front of her, grasping her old friend's forearms.

"Take a breath."

The winged woman watched as Beatrice fought to regain control over her emotions, panic and fear and anger all mixing together, "It's taking too long." She whispered, barely holding back tears.

Heart aching for the other woman, Lilith offered her a sympathetic look, "I know, but Ava’s tough, she will hang in there. Don't give up. We WILL find her. I need you to keep it together, okay?"

The sister warrior seemed to curl into herself for a second before she visibly shook off the despair and answered with a determined, "Okay."

"Good, come on. We need to move." Lilith released her grip on Beatrice and led the squad back down the hallway.

Up until this point the mission had gone off without a hitch. The Lithuanian OCS were well trained and had efficiently cleared the Brotherhood’s henchmen without any of the enemy having the opportunity to raise the alarm. But it was taking far too long to locate Ava, they had found a map on entry, unfortunately there were several different laboratory rooms in the facility. So far, they had checked three but there was no Halo bearer in sight.

The former sister warrior did her best to suppress the feeling of uneasiness building in her chest. Beatrice was already on the edge of a full-on breakdown, one of them had to keep it together.

Where the hell are you?

Lilith staggered into the wall on her left gasping as a wave of breathtaking energy abruptly hit her, forcing her knees to buckle under her.

Ava?

She was vaguely aware of someone saying her name, but her hearing was muffled, and vision blurred from the massive influx of power. Lilith had experienced Ava calling her with the Halo a handful times before but nothing like this. It was like both the Warrior Nun and the Halo itself were screaming for someone, anyone to help them. As quickly as the dominating call had started, it began to diminish, freeing her from its grip.

That can't be good.

"Lilith…Lilith! Talk to me, please?" The winged woman's eyes refocused on Beatrice who was kneeling in front of her.

She was surprised to find herself on the cold concrete floor, “I’m good, Bea.” Lilith got to her feet gingerly, still a little dizzy.

The winged woman could still feel the Halo’s influence, but it was fading, they needed to be fast, “I know where Ava is, we have to hurry.”

~Beatrice~

Beatrice fidgeted anxiously while they waited for Lilith to return. The winged woman had scouted ahead to assess the number of guards stationed in the corridor outside the lab that held Ava. The look on the former sister warrior’s face after she had received Ava’s call had been truly terrifying, Beatrice had known at that moment whatever was being inflicted upon her girlfriend was devastating. Adrenaline still pulsed through her veins even now, which she was grateful for, it would keep her sharp in what was surely going to be a fight for their lives.