Secrets And Sins Part 3: Happy ever after

Chapter 43

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~Lilith~

"It's Ava..."

Lilith was uncertain what to expect from Beatrice when Mary uttered the two words that they had all come to dread. Perhaps she thought the newest Warrior Nun would falter. That she might collapse to the ground, overcome by tears, or something like. Lilith definitely wasn't prepared for the explosion of breathtaking Halo power that washed over her senses, nor was she ready for the flash of golden light that temporarily blinded everyone in the room.

"Where is she?" Beatrice's voice was low, chilling, as she uttered her demand.

As one of the first ones to recover from the blast, Lilith caught sight of Beatrice and immediately knew they were all in danger.

Blonde-tipped, chocolate-colored wings were stretched wide, Beatrice herself glowing with a golden hue while her clenched hands shook at her sides.

Lilith recognized the way the molten energy shone through her skin, illuminating the veins of her forearms before disappearing underneath her rolled-up sleeves and reemerging to spiderweb up her neck to her livid face. It was so very similar to the one time she'd seen Ava lose control, only they didn't know what Beatrice was capable of. This woman was deadly, a highly trained demon fighter, before being imbued with ridiculous supernatural power. What would happen if her inhibitions were destroyed, pulverized by her grief?

Lilith needed to do something.

"Beatrice..." She whispered, mind racing for a way to calm the fury she could see in Beatrice's softly glowing eyes.

But Beatrice completely ignored her, taking a threatening step forward, her gaze fixed on the bearer of bad news, Mary. "WHERE IS SHE?"

A surge of protectiveness had Lilith putting herself between the two women, her own leathery black wings flaring from her shoulder blades. "Beatrice!" Glowing eyes snapped across to her own. Lilith forced herself to soften her body language. "You need to calm down..."

"No!" Beatrice shouted right into her face, but Lilith held her ground. "I want Ava, now!" Her gaze slid over Lilith's shoulder. "Where is she, Mary?"

"Beatrice..." Lilith warned, preparing herself for a fight, talons growing from her fingertips. She would put her down if she had too.

"Hey!" Mary's voice interrupted sharply, before she softened her tone. "It's okay, Lil." A hand pressed into the small of Lilith's back, comforting and grounding. Mary directed her next words to the Warrior nun, "they took her, Bea. They came for her, and they took her."

A streak of pain shattered Beatrice's otherwise frozen expression. "Who?"

Mary swallowed. Lilith could feel the hand on her back tremble. "The angels."

There was a moment of stillness, like the calm before the storm, following Mary's words. But Lilith could see the instant Beatrice started to lose control. A shivering swept over her body, a fine vibration that increased more and more with each passing second, until she shook violently.

"Bea... you have to pull it back." Lilith said as calmly as she could, but it was too late.

With a finality to it, Beatrice exhaled a trembling breath, and a tsunami of power surged forward, leaving Lilith with only one option. She dived forward, wrapping her arms around her devastated friend and teleported them out of there.