Dark Faïz (Book 2) [Completed]

Chapters 15-2

In the hall, Malika encouraged us one last time and reminded us to follow the plan to the letter.

"You aren't alone," she insisted, clapping her hands three times. "We will cover you. We will succeed in this mission together!"

Her voice broke at the end of her sentence. For the first time, her shell cracked. She tried her best to hide her emotions by distributing our crossbows.

"Tonight we will celebrate our victory here, all together," she added before heading for the entrance to the inn, followed by Barthey and a few members of the forces.

Dewei and the rest of the group were waiting for us outside in the courtyard, where the cars were ready to set off for the Sun Lakes. I looked for Faïz, but in vain. Was he already there? Barthey, with his kind look, thanked us, my friends and me. Instead of shaking hands as usual, he gave us a warm hug that surprised us.

When I got into one of the vehicles, I heard Faïz calling me.

"Wait a minute," I asked the girls before rushing out to meet him.

Faïz froze, destabilized, his gaze shocked at facing the uniform and the accessories that I wore for the situation. However, he was just as equipped as me, or more so. His surprise instantly mutated into fear and I was amazed to notice, for a moment, such great distress contained at the bottom of his eyes. He placed his two hands around my face and looked at me, silent, as if to engrave me in his memory.

"I forbid you to put yourself in danger!" he declared in a threatening tone tinged with a plea.

"That's not my goal. I'm scared...scared of never seeing you again," I confessed, my voice trembling, staring him straight in the eye.

"Faïz?" intervened Barthey, embarrassed, by clearing his throat. "I'm sorry, but you have to go. You and Malika's team will get in the first two vehicles. Zoe and the others will follow. I'm staying here with the rest of the armed forces group."

Faïz nodded before looking into my eyes. Suddenly, his lips crashed violently on mine. His scented breath on my skin was almost painful. The pain pierced me deep inside.

"I love you, Zoe. Whatever may happen, never give up on living. Promise me!"

Asarys and I were helping Lexy attach her oxygen bottle on her back. We then aligned ourselves at the edge of the lake which, by day, didn't resemble the one we had discovered two days earlier. Even if we knew that the commando teams weren't far away, hidden at the edge of the cemetery lurking behind the thick fog, we felt very alone in the middle of this vast space. Asarys held our hands. At that moment, we wanted to say a thousand things to each other, wish each other luck, apologize for hurtful words that seemed to be nothing more than insignificant trifles, but we finally let the silence do it for us, because in the end, it was always the one who won.

"Group one?"

Dewei's voice in the headset reminded us of the harsh reality.

"You'll have to dive. Don't forget to turn on your lights."

The girls and I put our diving masks on our faces and the oxygen tube duct in our mouths, then we walked slowly into the black waters, whose freezing temperature tore a grimace from us.

The calmness and the absence of noise reigned supreme in the depths of the lake. My friends and I went further and further, guided by the lights of our lamps.

"Shit! It's deeper than we thought," Dewei said, worried.

His words hardly reassured me, but I still decided to continue swimming to the bottom. On our way, we encountered pearly freshwater rays, walleye, and many other species that coexisted in this underwater universe. The secret, hidden in these mysterious abysses, didn't seem to disturb them. After long minutes of swimming, Asarys slowed down and caught our attention with great gestures to indicate that we were finally reaching the bottom of the lake. I grabbed the transmitter from my belt to send the first Morse signal to Dewei and Min, who were in charge of operations with Barthey and his team.

"We have successfully reached the first stage! For the rest, you will have to separate and look for the stone. This will be done blindly. Turn on your cameras and be alert."

We activated our boxes, then I indicated to the girls with gestures the directions they should take in order to carry out our research. They nodded and immediately left on their own.