Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 13-1

Asarys, Lexy, and I were walking in one of the inn's gardens. Though we'd been on Eros for several weeks, we never really had time to discover the surroundings. The colors of it related perfectly to the theme of spring. Despite a cruel absence of light, nature still managed to create magnificent works of floral compositions, making us forget the gloom of the foggy weather. Here, too, the cherry blossoms partially covered the ground, strewn over with cobblestones in very pronounced colors. Wherever we went on the island, we couldn't escape the surge of these flowers, one of the strong symbols of this country.

"Didn't he tell you anything more?" Lexy asked impatiently.

"No, but if you believe his words, the place must be a real wonder."

"You will spend the night there?" asked Asarys, curious.

We stopped in front of a small temple with red bricks. The small building housed an altar where hundreds of sticks of incense burned all day long. This sacred place had the gift of redeeming the sins of the people who went to pray there.

"I don't know," I said with a half-smile, lifting my shoulders. "I hadn't even asked myself this until now."

My two friends looked at each other, their eyes wide with uncontrolled excitement. Asarys put her hands to her mouth to stifle her cries of joy. I told her to stop, uncomfortable.

"It's just a date!" I tried to lecture them. "No need to get into all these moods."

"This is your first date," said Asarys.

"With your terribly sexy boyfriend," added Lexy.

"Okay, okay!" I exclaimed, putting my hands in front of me to stop them as quickly as possible before the two lunatics went further in their words.

"Do you have what you need?" asked Lexy suddenly.

"Yes, I have good walking shoes, and—"

"Idiot! I'm not talking about that."

Understanding what she was referring to, I turned away, embarrassed and short of words. I turned around to let them know that it was time to close this topic and go back to the inn. Despite my silence on the journey back, my two friends continued their momentum.

"Above all, refuse the belt if he likes sadomasochism," said Asarys from behind.

"And avoid shouting his name," added Lexy. "It's vulgar and out of place! Leave that for the girls who—"

"Shut up!" I exclaimed, regretting having confided in my friends, who were certainly not going to let go of me after that. "I shouldn't have told you anything."

Their contagious laughter managed to put my anger aside and my good mood returned as quickly as it had gone. We returned serenely from our walk, our minds lighter, ready to get back to work.

I had no desire to enter the frozen water for the fourth time. The oxygen tank on my shoulders seemed to weigh tons.

"It's not possible! They want our deaths," stammered Lexy, shivering between Asarys and me.

Standing at the edge of the pool, I crossed my arms over my shoulders to try to warm myself. It was in vain, because the dripping hair and the soaked T-shirt and pants that stuck to my body didn't help. Asarys and I looked at each other. Her bluish lips indicated how frozen she was. All three of us were. Although the lake was located inside the glass-walled building, this lake wasn't heated for the occasion. Malika showed us, along with two of her male colleagues, the best way to move underwater, and the defensive actions to adopt in the event of a melee attack. This painful exercise in a real situation woke up the pain of my still visible wounds.

"We...we will...never...ever...be ready for...tomorrow—" I confided to the girls, teeth chattering.

"No choice, Zoe. Everything...everything is in your head," replied Asarys. "Remember what...we went through with Issei."

I raised my head to the stands, looking for Faïz. He was standing, on the fringes of the group, and watching me, helpless, gnawing at his lip. The expression on his face indicated he was in pain with me. Suddenly he looked away from Barthey, who was sitting across the row on the other side. With his two fingers in his mouth, Faïz whistled to draw his attention and then, with a wave of his hand, ordered the inspector to stop everything. Karl shook his head in apology, refusing to obey his request. Lexy growled and I turned my head.

"They spend...spend bi...billions of dollars to get a snapshot of an aerial view of...the Sun Lakes, but we can...we can always dream of being given a thermal diving...com...combination," stammered Lexy, on the verge of hypothermia.

"We need to review the low defense and also the high defense in case you lose your weapons underwater," Malika continued.

She emerged from the water without apparently suffering from the cold, with the two men behind her.

"Mike!" she called in a rough voice. "Go get the knives. We will place them above their ankles. And also take the opportunity to get the crossbows back."