Secrets And Sins Part 3: Happy ever after

Chapter 68

***I'm sorry for the radio silence guys, I've had a shit show of a time at work the last couple weeks and it came to a head right before the break.

Anyways, enjoy this offering and hopefully I can get back to some semblance of normality in my writing schedule.

Merry Christmas.***

~Halo~

Something was wrong with Ava. Of course, they knew she was upset about Beatrice, but in the short few hours the Bearer had been locked away in her room, something had changed.

Ava hadn't said a word when she'd emerged to find Halo waiting in the hallway, she still hadn't even now. The way her jaw was locked, and her brows were furrowed spoke volumes, but the strangest thing was how flushed she was. Ava's face was absolutely crimson, and not just in a crying her eyes out kind of way.

Why was she so red?

They had wanted to ask, to check in, but Ava's hard gaze found theirs and shut them down with a harsh but silent shake of her head.

So now Halo stood, back straight and arms crossed, in the corner of the hotel's rather impressive gym and watched Ava working out while the Bearer ignored them completely, killing time with the distraction of pushing her, most likely exhausted, body to its limits.

Sweat dripped from Ava's jaw as she finished her last set of reps on the bench press and sat up, making direct eye contact with Halo when she did. For the briefest of moments, Halo saw a flicker of pain behind her deep brown eyes, but as quick as it was there, it was gone again.

Crestfallen, Halo's gaze followed Ava as she robotically moved toward the collection of black dumbbells in the corner to start her next exercise. They weren't used to her walling off her emotion like that, but then again it had been impossible to hide anything when Halo shared her mind. They missed that so, so much. And now Halo was stuck wondering constantly what the Bearer was thinking, feeling. This was not an experience they thought they'd ever have for so long. It felt like it had been an eternity since they were last joined.

Halo suppressed a sigh, glancing toward the enormous clock that hung above the door. Jillian's lawyer was due to return from the meeting with the Vatican officials any minute.

I hope Beatrice is okay.

A clang of metal against metal drew Halo's attention back to Ava, who was now returning the heavy weights back to the stand, her arms shaking with exertion as she lifted them, and Halo saw the exact moment that her sweat-slicked grip of her left hand failed. Fast, but not fast enough to catch the dumbbell, Halo crossed the room and seized Ava's elbow, yanking her backwards. There was a loud thud as the weight hit the floor right where Ava's foot had been a split second earlier. It cracked the wooden floor.

"Fuck," Halo swore, they couldn't help it. Accelerated healing or not that would've smashed Ava's foot into a mangled mess.

At Halo's voice, Ava jerked her head up from where she too had been staring at the damaged floor. They met each other's gaze for a long moment and again Halo tried to fathom exactly what was going on in Ava's head. But then she slammed into them, hugging Halo so tightly it was hard to breathe. It caught them so off guard, Halo's own hands faltered for a decent minute before rising to hug Ava back.

Halo could probably count of one hand the number of times they had ever hugged or been hugged by somebody, so they did their best to mimic Ava's action, wrapping their arms around her and squeezing her tight. The Bearer all but melted deeper into the embrace, Halo buried their face into Ava's shoulder, breathing out a shuddering breath.