Secrets And Sins Part 3: Happy ever after

Chapter 42

~Ava~

It was probably a little silly, especially after spending almost every waking minute with each other for the last few days, but Ava missed Bea.

Earlier, the verging on tearful goodbye between them when Camila had insisted they go their separate ways was probably almost laughable to the outside observer. And at this point, they'd literally only been apart for an hour, maybe two, yet here she was pining.

But who could blame Ava for not wanting to keep her fiancé close? It wasn't like things usually went to plan when they split up.

She sighed. Unfortunately for them, Camila decided that this was the tradition, and when Camila set her mind to something there was very little anyone could do to change it.

So, Ava found herself back at the bar of the smaller library, the very same one that she and Mary had gotten wasted in that fateful night. A dozen or so of her sister warriors milled around, drinks in hand, while the low thud of bass from the speakers vibrated through the room, throbbing through Ava's chest.

She could feel the low ache of being so far from her fiancé. It wasn't enough to be painful but having the link stretched between them wasn't exactly comfortable.

Feeling a little lonely and wanting some reassurance, Ava decided to reach out to somebody who had been strangely quiet about the whole thing. Halo?

A long moment passed before she finally got a reply. "Ava."

Why can't I talk to Bea like this when she's further away?

"How am I supposed to know?" Halo sounded unusually angry, impatient. "It's not like this has ever happened before..."

Ava was taken aback by the sheer unfriendliness. Sure, she had made the relic angry before but never without cause.

I... but... She couldn't find an appropriate response.

"Perhaps," Halo continued in the same cantankerous tone, "I'm sick of being asked questions that I obviously wouldn't know the answer to. Maybe if you practiced with your powers and worked on your control more, you would have mastered them by now."

A blaze of anger ignited in Ava's chest. That was uncalled for, and Halo knew it.

Fuck you, Halo. If you're gonna be such a bitch about it, I'll leave you be.

"That would be appreciated." The relic snapped back seemingly unphased by her fury.

Ava folded her arms and held her tongue on any further reply.

"What's with the murderous look?"

She didn't need to lift her head to know who was standing behind her.

"Halo's being a delight as usual." Ava replied sarcastically, reaching out to grab her glass and taking a large gulp of her drink with a grimace. Who said whisky was a good idea?

Mary dropped into the stool beside Ava's, reaching out to tilt the Halo bearer's chin up with her fingers. "Looks like you had a fun afternoon..." Ava blushed crimson, knowing her neck with a mess of bruises just under her ear. Mary smirked knowingly, "I take it the 'gift' went down a treat."

"I'm not allowed to talk about it." She mumbled, shaking off Mary's hand to quickly brush her hair forward to cover the hickeys.

Mary laughed, appearing more relaxed than she had in a long time. "Well, maybe she shouldn't have marked you up so bad. Why isn't Halo taking care of that, anyway?"