Secrets And Sins Part 3: Happy ever after

Chapter 64

***Next chapter will be a bit delayed; I'm going away without my laptop. Enjoy 64 :)***

~Beatrice~

Beatrice was drifting in and out of consciousness and every time she was awake, the ghost of the knife below her ribcage burned. She hated divinium, she would've rather stayed in the darkness of unconsciousness than feel the blade buried in her side. But it wasn't buried in her side, it was in Halo's. How the hell this could even be happening right now Beatrice didn't know; all she knew was the pain was as intense as if she had been physically stabbed herself.

She came to again, awareness sparking up her nerves and something was different. Something was happening.

There was screaming, the floor was vibrating from the thunderous footfalls of hundreds of panicked angels.

There was an impact nearby, loud and terrifying.

"FUCK!"

Beatrice recognized Mary's voice just above her, it was hoarse and alarmed and did nothing to quell the rising fear prickling under her skin. What the fuck was going on?

Fighting a wave of dizziness from blood loss that tried to pull her under, Beatrice forced her eyes open. She could see a wall of demons, all red scales and black armor, Bael's guards encircling them, protecting them from whatever was happening, and there was Mary, her face pinched with worry as she craned her neck to look between two demon soldiers. Everything was furry in her vision, and it took Beatrice far too long to realize it wasn't her own blurry eyesight but dust, thick, cloying, stone dust.

"Mary?" Beatrice murmured it so quietly but Mary's eyes snapped down to her anyway, somehow hearing her through the clamor all around. "What's..." Beatrice's voice cracked, and she tried to clear it, "what is...?"

"Ava broke the cage." Mary said quickly, her gaze dipping to where her hands were pressed against Beatrice's side. "She's out, they both are."

A smile tugged at her lips and Beatrice let it, closing her eyes as she breathed a sigh of relief. "That's my girl."

Mary let out a breathless and slightly maniacal chuckle. "That's our girls."

Beatrice's grin widened but then she felt a tug, a deep, excruciating tug and that grin turned into a grimace.

"Bea...?" There was terror in Mary's voice again. "Bea!"

Eyes flying open, Beatrice curled in on herself in agony and all she could do was whimper, the pressure in her side building and building.

"Is she okay?" Bael's face appeared beside Mary's, his eyebrows furrowed in concern.

"I don't know..." Mary muttered without looking away from Beatrice's gaze. "Bea? Just hold on okay, hold on... Bael? Can you see what's hap...?"

The pressure snapped and Beatrice felt her body go limp under Mary's hands.

"Oh, fuck, Bea!?"

There was no pain, at all, the knife was gone.

A wave of power warmed her, knitting up the wound and re-energizing her exhausted body.

"It's okay Mary." She took Mary's blood-soaked hands away from her side and gingerly sat up.

"What... How...?" Mary struggled to string a sentence together in her shock.

"Lilith took the knife out." Bael said, crouching back down beside them. "Halo is healed."

~

It took far too long to reach Ava for Beatrice's liking, because even as the crowd of civilians was thinning, there were even more guards packed into the stand. Beatrice felt the hair stand up at the back of her neck as one by one they turned to face their little group, if they decided to attack Beatrice's entourage would be outnumbered ten to one, but they didn't. Instead, the guards moved aside as they approached, the mass of white-gold uniforms parting around them.