The Protector: Hakan & Nisan

Chapter 5

They avoided each other like the plague the next day, Hakan's self-loathing at an all time high. The victory of dispensing the life-saving vaccine was completely overshadowed by his new inner-struggle. When he was unfortunate enough to lock eyes with Nisan, the fury still burned within the dark center of her pupils and he would hastily look away.

Zeynep asked him at one point what was going on, as they once again rifled through the aged books in the library looking for clues, and he cursed her for watching him as closely as she did. "Nothing," he snapped, "I'm focusing on what comes next. We have to find those other artifacts first, before the Immortals do. And we're still nowhere in our search for them!"  He pushed the useless tomes away in disgust.

He jabbed all of his fingers through his dark brown hair in frustration and cursed the unfair universe which seemed to mock him at every turn. What did it want from him anyway? He'd sacrificed everything, everybody, and still it did not bear him fruit. He wanted to scream and rail at the heavens in supreme frustration and anger at the injustice of it all.

And then, blessedly, as if the universe pitied him, they got a lead. An archaeologist from another city who'd studied the Ottoman era explicitly had emailed back, suggesting the artifacts they were looking for, the pieces of an ancient key from that empire, could potentially be hidden in the swords of those tasked to protect it.  

Hakan and his team were unclear on what this key unlocked but since the Immortals were looking for it they knew it could be nothing good.  They knew it had to be something ancient and evil, most likely unleashing some deadly curse or affliction out into humanity.  They were desperate to find the missing pieces of the key first and this email from the archaeologist was the first blessed tip they'd had in a long while.  

The man had remembered hearing a rumor not too long ago that a sword or two from that era had been circulating through the markets there in Istanbul.  It was a new lead, these swords that may be hiding the pieces of the key, and Hakan felt a surge of hope and relief.  Maybe he could focus on something else besides Nisan's fury for a little while. 

The small team split up into pairs to look throughout the museums, antique shops and universities sprinkled throughout the sprawling city, and he could swear there was a glimmer of sick humor in Zeynep's eyes when she teamed him up with Nisan. "You two go speak to this shopkeeper who deals with high-end antiques such as this." She thrust a piece of paper in his hand with an address and then was out the door with everyone else before he had the chance to protest.

And so here he was driving through the city in a rusted old pickup truck that barely ran, Nisan sitting stiffly in the passenger seat beside him.

The silence was deafening. 

Finally, he blurted out awkwardly, "Nisan, listen, I-"

She held a hand up right in his face, stopping him in mid-sentence.  Again her tone was one of queen speaking to lowly peasant as she all but ordered,"Don't Hakan.  Let's forget about what happened and just be friends. I'm in this with you, for the greater good. That fleeting moment we had isn't important in light of the rest."

He eyed her sideways with relief. "Are you sure? I mean if you want to talk about it-"

Again with the hand. It almost made him smile this time but he knew better. Truth be told, he was more than just a little frightened of her temper after witnessing it in full glory the other night. 

"Absolutely not," she said with an edge of steel.  "We are done talking about it. How much further?" she asked impatiently, looking out the passenger window.

Twenty silent minutes later they were both thankful when they pulled into the parking lot of the antique shop. It would take a bit more time before they got to that friend stage, Hakan guessed wryly.