The Family - Volume 2

Chapter 6

- You must have missed it with the pressure," suggested Jon as he joined his sister.

- No, I assure you," she replied, "I'm sure it's here.

Jon followed Lia's pointing with his eyes.

- What a coincidence," he said nervously, "there's a hole right where we're looking for it.

So had Nekrós already guessed our plan, or had he assumed we'd come here? How could he be so quick? This was the worst possible situation, and now we had to find whoever had stolen the book. A thought struck me. Unless they're still here?

At the same moment, a door opened at the back of the room.

- I told you they'd come here!

The lights suddenly lit up and I could see our enemies very clearly, even though I'd easily suspected it for a while.

In front of us, at the other end of the room, some ten meters away, were Nekrós and Tyna. My heart missed a beat. They were the last people I would have liked to see in this place. What were they doing there? And what had they done to the members of La Famille?

Tyna stared at us with a big smile, behind her Nekrós silently keeping pace. When he was alive, his mind had already taken a beating, but I didn't get the impression that Christopher's resurrection had done anything to improve the state of our greatest enemy. He wasn't human to begin with, but this was even worse.

- Hi Joy," Tyna said with book in hand, "I'm glad to see you're feeling better. How was the afterlife?

I was torn between immense anger and inordinate terror, so much so that I couldn't answer anything but take a step backwards. Everything was at stake here and now: if we got the forbidden book back, we'd win, but if we lost...

- There's no need for her to tell you how it was," replied Ken in a firm voice as he approached, "you'll see soon enough with your own eyes.

Lia approached me.

- Don't lose your cool, this is the home stretch, just one more small step and it's all over.

I swallowed my saliva and brushed away as much fear as I could.

- I think you're being a bit too optimistic Ken, we've got the forbidden book you need to take your plan to its thermals. The game's over, you've lost.

Ken couldn't hold back any longer, even knowing the danger of such an act, he hurled a fireball into the library right at Tyna. Of course, it didn't hit. Nekrós stepped in and stopped the projectile with a single hand as if it were a foam ball. He then sent the fireball back to its recipient, who took it head-on.

My cousin was a little unsettled and wobbled, but he managed to stay on his feet.

- Ken!" exclaimed Jon as he joined his brother. Are you all right?

- I'm fine, it's not fire that's going to hurt me.

He gritted his teeth and resumed his fighting stance, but this time he pulled out his óplo and turned it into a sword, and Jon did the same. Matt and Lia followed respectively, conjuring a bow and a whip, so I drew my blades too.

No way was I going to let my feelings alter my choices. My goal was very clear: kill Nekrós and Tyna, then retrieve the forbidden book. Nothing would stand in my way.

- What do we do?" asked Lia. We try to throw ourselves desperately at them.

- I don't see any other solution," I replied.

- Anyway, if I've understood your plan correctly," said Ken, "we don't all need to be present in the past to carry out your idea.

- Are you going to sacrifice yourself?" said Matt.