Chapter Text
I’ll drive that stake through the center of my heart
Lonely vampire
Inhaling its fire
I’m chasing the dragon too far
There’s blood on that blade
Fuck me, I’m falling apart
My assassin
Like Casper the ghost
There’s no shade in the shadow of the cross.
Beatrice staggered towards her old room. Though she swayed a little with exhaustion and the candles had burned low by this point of the night, the muscle memory of years led her through the halls of the Cat’s Cradle without issue. As she pushed the door open, she found that nothing had changed. Her bedroom in Cat’s Cradle had always been a bit bare. None of the carnage of her last night there remained; the torn bible and shattered wrist watch all cleaned away. The stark emptiness of the room had overwhelmed her that night--after all that had happened this was all she had left--but it felt different now.
She dropped her bags and sat down on the bed, groaning as she bent her sore knee; it had seized up once the adrenaline of the encounter with Ava and the tarasks had worn off. Her first year at the Cradle, Beatrice had always returned to this room sore and aching. She immersed herself in the her training. Taking every punch. Working her muscles to exhaustion. Anything to keep from thinking and feeling. The room had been so small to her then. A claustrophobic cage she had to force herself into--all the possibilities of her life now gone. Looking between the wardrobe and small window set into the stone wall, Beatrice wished the room felt small. Instead she was the one that felt small--insignificant and pathetic.
Standing again, Beatrice got a change of clothes from her bag and started to dress for bed. She moved slow, but the shifting of bones and muscle jolted her injuries. She sucked in deep breaths, fighting back the pain in her limbs and head. She hadn’t broken anything. Bruised ribs, sprained wrist, locked up leg, and a concussion was far better off than most of the Firstborn were. Ava had killed many of them, burned them to ash, but she hadn’t killed Beatrice. She had barely spared her a glance.
She sunk into the bed again, this time flicking off the light and sliding beneath the blankets. The thick shroud of night’s darkness covered her, and in that dark void the dam of her emotions finally broke. Tears rolled down her checks and onto the pillow beneath her head.
Ignoring the twinge in her wrist, Beatrice gripped the skin of her tattoo, digging her nails in.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered into the dark. “I don’t know what’s going on with you. Do you want to be saved? Do you even remember me? Its been 100s of years in Reya’s realm. I feel like I failed you--I know I failed you. But I’m going to keep trying. I’ll do anything I have to help you be free of this fight that never should have been yours, to be free to live. I promise.”
In the darkness, Beatrice waited for a feeling or an answer, but for a long time nothing came. As exhaustion finally won over, a warm pulse emanated from her tattoo lulling her that last little step into a deep sleep.
Beatrice pushed through the doors, not caring how they slammed back against the walls nor how the sound would interrupt the meeting she’d just left. It would be ending soon anyway, and they didn’t need her anymore.
Still as Beatrice stalked down the halls of the Cat’s Cradle, she heard the patter of feet following her.
“Beatrice wait!”
“Go back to the meeting, Camilla,” Beatrice said over her shoulder. “Mother Superion needs you. The Order is stretched thin.”
She felt Camilla’s hand reach out to gently grab her arm, but Beatrice pulled away. Without warning, she ducked down a different hall and then another, hoping to leave Camilla behind, but the footsteps behind her didn’t fade. She shouldn’t be surprised; she’d done most of Camilla’s training herself.
She eventually stepped out onto a balcony, taking long breaths of the cool night air, hoping that it would help calm her down before Camilla caught up. Just as the footsteps came to a stop behind her, a cracking noise erupted to her right.
Without turning, Beatrice let out a long sigh. “Camilla, you didn’t have to call Lilith.” Beatrice leaned against the railing and pressed her fingers to her temple, trying to massage away an oncoming headache.
Lilith ignored her. “What happened?”
“A Sister was captured by the Firstborns as we fled the conflict with Ava,” Camilla said, panting a little from the chase. “We received a ransom note this morning. They want the Crown.”
“Why is Beatrice so upset?”
Beatrice spoke before Camilla had a chance to answer. “I don’t know why I expected any other result. I’m not a nun anymore, and Ava never was. I tried to make Mother Superion see that this could be our chance. Why would they want the Crown so badly if not to help them fight Ava? She is decimating their forces. They must have information that can help me save her. But Mother Superion wouldn’t even consider it. Said she couldn’t risk trusting them to not betray the Order as soon as they had the chance,” she huffed. “I’ll just have to find a way help Ava without the OCS. I can manage on my own. I just need to find a way to speak with the Firstborns.”
“Wait--” Camilla started but Lilith spoke at the same time.
“Alone? Come on Beatrice, even you know that is a one-way ticket to becoming possessed by a wraith. And you don’t know if Ava even needs to be saved or if that’s even her anymore. She was different. Why didn’t time effect her like it did Michael or me?”
“I don’t know, but I can’t just give up on her. It’s a risk I’ll have to take.”
“You’re being ridiculous—” Lilith started but Camilla cut her off.
“Will you both be quiet for a minute and let me talk.”
Beatrice finally turned around to look at her but kept her mouth shut.
“Mother Superion sent me after you, and I called Lilith for more than just an argument. The OCS and Mother Superion can’t be seen working with the demons and she can’t risk a betrayal—we are beholden to the Church, and the Order is still fragile after everything with Adriel. Mother Superion has to make those hard decisions, but she wants Ava back too. She can’t lend you the full might of the Order; it would be seen as an act of rebellion. But she can turn a blind eye to one nun taking a bit of a sabbatical to help her friends. ”
Beatrice’s jaw dropped a little as she realized what Camilla meant. “You don’t have to do this. You love being a nun and--”
Camilla held up her hand. “I do enjoy the life I have, but I also love you and Ava. And I’m not breaking my vows, just going undercover. I’ll still have access to some of the Order’s resources, and when all is said and done and we have Ava back, she will let me return--though there doesn’t seem to be a very good track record of undercover nuns sticking to their vows.” Camilla waggled her eye brows at Beatrice who shoved her a little.
Lilith spoke up. “I’m here for what? To join your little rogue squad?”
“Don’t act like you don’t want to be part of our team,” Camilla said.
Lilith rolled her eyes, but didn’t argue.
“If you can use your connections to Adriel and the Firstborn to get us a meeting, we can find out what they know about what’s going on with Ava. When we have more information and a plan, Mother Superion will lend any support that she can.” Camilla continued, stepping forward and taking Beatrice’s hand, wrapped in a brace for her sprain. “Just because you aren’t a nun anymore doesn’t mean you have to do everything alone. You still have us.”
Beatrice didn’t pull away this time. Her shoulders slumped, some of the fear ebbing away. If she was going to save Ava, she would need all the help she could get. “You’re right, Camilla.”
A smile spread across Camilla’s face. “I probably would have died of shock if I’d heard you say that to me a couple years ago.”
“Don’t let it get to your head,” Beatrice said with a small smile of her own.
“God, you two are sappy,” Lilith said.
Camilla turned to her, smile shifting into a glare. Beatrice almost laughed at the way Lilith’s smugness quickly faded, and she gave Camilla an apologetic look.
Lilith sighed, “I’ll do all I can. I do still have a few bridges into the Firstborn that I haven’t yet burned.”
“And I’ll find us a safe house,” Camilla said. “Somewhere we can stay as we work on our plans.”
Beatrice nodded, a plan forming in her head. “Alright, there a couple other things we need. I doubt anyone will notice if a few weapons, communication devices, and the Halo suppression vest go missing at a time like this. But there are two things that I think we’ll need that no one would let us just walk out with. ”
“What?” Lilith and Camilla asked.
“The Crown of Thorns and the Cruciform Sword. I hope Mother Superion can forgive me for stealing it a second time.”
With Lilith’s aid, stealing the Sword proved easy. Camilla distracted the guards in the halls where it lay in its display case, and Lilith slipped in, stole it, and slipped out without anyone noticing.
While they did that, Beatrice made her way down the stone belly of the Cradle where the archive resided. There many artifacts and valuables were kept including the Crown. As she entered the room, the smell of old paper filled her nose. Floor to ceiling shelves of books and scrolls limited her vision of the room to narrow aisles. Bookending the shelves were cases and display pedestals for artifacts and items the Order had collected over hundreds of years. Some of the cases and shelves were empty—their items lost during the attacks on the Order—Camilla had told Beatrice all about the process of finding and returning as many items as they could during their many phones calls.
Beatrice circumvented the room, counting bookshelves until she found the alley in which Camilla had told her the Crown was being kept. Muttering under her breath, she repeated Camilla’s directions, identifying each landmark item.
“Divinium rosary”
“Apocrypha scroll”
“11th century Order bracers”
“And the Crown should be…” Beatrice froze.
Before she could do anything though, a tearing sound erupted behind her. She spun around to find Lilith stepping through a tear.
“The Sword and Camilla are at the safe house--” Lilith started, but she stopped herself when she looked at Beatrice’s face. “What’s wrong?”
Instead of speaking, Beatrice stepped to the side so that Lilith could see the Crown’s small and very empty display case.
That both stood there staring at it in silence for a beat.
And then something in Beatrice’s mind clicked, and she let out a sigh.
“Goddamn it Yasmine.”
Beatrice knocked lightly on the door of Yasmine’s quarters. For a couple moments, she heard shuffling in the room before the door opened, and Yasmine peered out.
“Beatrice?” she said, looking a little shocked. “What can I help you with?”
“Can I come in? I have something private that I need to speak to you about.”
The shock twisted on Yasmine’s face into something akin to anxiety, but she nodded and stepped back to let Beatrice into the room.
Her quarters were layed out in the same pattern Beatrice’s had been. A bed. A wardrobe. A chest. And a desk which Yasmine stationed herself directly in front of, blocking some of Beatrice’s view of the mess of books and notes on its surface.
Closing the door behind her, Beatrice sat on the chest and looked at Yasmine for a long moment. Yasmine fidgeted with the seam of her Whipple, avoiding Beatrice’s gaze. The lessons of subtlety and deception had not yet been instilled in her during her short time training with the Order.
She had the Crown. Here. Likely in the desk. That much was clear to Beatrice, but that didn’t mean she knew what was the best path moving forward. Lilith had urged her to just distract Yasmine—get her out of the room so that Lilith could steal it. But there was a reason Yasmine had taken it from its place in the archive. No one in the Order knew more about the Crown. Was Yasmine an asset that Beatrice could really turn down? Was she asset that Beatrice even had a chance of drawing to her cause?
Beatrice sighed and finally spoke. “I know you have the Crown.”
Yasmine squeaked a little, sitting down in her desk chair and still avoiding Beatrice’s eyes. “I promise that I will return it. After so many years of reading about it, I just wanted to study it more. Please don’t tell Mother Superion.”
“Do you want to learn more about it?” Beatrice asked
Yasmine nodded. “Yes.”
“How badly?”
Finally, Yasmine met her gaze. “Very.”
“And do you trust me?”
Again, Yasmine nodded and said “Yes”, but the answer came slower as if she hadn’t been sure of her answer until she spoke it aloud. But she nodded again to affirm that, yes she did.
Beatrice stood and moved to the door. “I have an offer for you, but I need you to come with me somewhere more private than this. And bring the Crown.”
Yasmine turned and opened a drawer in her desk and from it pull the Crown, dormant and dull without Ava there to empower it. Images of it resting on Ava’s head as she lay limp filled her mind, but Beatrice pushed them away.
“Where are we going to go?” Yasmine asked, looking at her expectantly.
Without turning, Beatrice knocked on the door behind her. Not a beat later, the handle twisted, and Lilith opened the door.
Yasmine balked and stepped back, but Beatrice held up her hand to try and calm her.
“Lilith is helping. Trust me.”
Yasmine looked between the two of them for a moment, weighing her trust of Beatrice against her fear or mistrust of Lilith until she sighed and stepped up to them both.
Beatrice gave her a reassuring smile. “Hold on tight. The first time is a little rough.”
She opened her mouth to ask a question, but before she could form any words, Lilith grabbed both Beatrice and Yasmine’s hand.
With a crack and a short cry from Yasmine, Lilith pulled them both through a portal.
As they emerged, Yasmine stumbled forward, bracing herself on her knees and panting a little. “That felt so strange.”
Camilla emerged from an adjacent room at their noise. She seemed on the verge of saying something before jaw dropped.
“Plans changed,” Beatrice said before she could ask. She guided Camilla and Yasmine along to sit at a small table in the mostly empty room they found themselves in. Lilith remained standing, her eyes lingering on the Crown in Yasmine’s hands.
“Where are we?” Yasmine asked.
“This is a safe house,” Camilla said. “I can’t tell you more than that for now.”
“Are you hiding from the Order?” Yasmine’s brow furrowed. “And you want the Crown? Like the Firstborn?”
Beatrice reached across the table to take a hold of Yasmine’s hand. “We want to save Ava. And our only lead is that the Firstborn are so desperate with her attacking them that they were willing to risk bringing the full might of the Order down on them as well to try and get the Crown.”
“Why would they want it? Adriel is gone, and we know that it wasn’t able to stop Ava before,” Yasmine asked.
“I’m not sure, but they are desperate for it, and I’m desperate for information. We thought the Crown was meant to incapacitate, but Ava was able to use it to communicate with Reya. Does it have other uses? Is it the true Crown of Thorns that was used against Christ? And if so what is the connection between Reya and our religious history?” Beatrice let out a tired sigh. “Lilith has got us a meeting with the Firstborn. I intend to bargain with them for information, learn what we can about the Crown, and if possible use it to get Ava back.”
“You aren’t going to give them the Crown, right?” Yasmine asked. “What do you are you going to offer them in return?”
“We are hoping that the promise to stop Ava will be enough,” Camilla answer. “But if not we will have to see what they want.”
“But I’m not letting the Crown out of my sight,” Lilith added.
“Doing this is going to put us at odds with the Order,” Beatrice said. “Lilith and I are already separated from it, and Camilla has made her decision. I’m not expecting you to give up your new home for us, but if you would agree to let us take the Crown and to be our eyes and ears in the Order then I would share with you all that we learned.”
Yasmine looked between them all and the Crown in her hand before finally landing on Beatrice.
“I’m not leaving with the Crown regardless am I?”
Beatrice shook her head. “No, but I didn’t want to just take it from you. You deserved more than that.”
Yasmine looked down at the Crown, tracing her fingers over the thorns for few moments. “I’ll help you,” she finally said. “I’ll help Ava.”
Something settled in Beatrice’s chest. She wasn’t alone. She wasn’t hopeless. They were going to help Ava.
“Thank you,” Beatrice said, her voice cracking a little with emotion. “Thank you.”
“What is with cults and abandoned warehouses?,” Beatrice muttered under her breath.
Following behind a Firstborn member who lead them into the building, Lilith shrugged and whispered back, “It’s hard to find nice places to house your cult when you don’t have a billionaire unintentionally footing your bills.”
Beatrice almost chuckled but forced herself to stay focused. They were in the belly of the beast right now; she couldn’t afford to be distracted.
Camilla’s voice crackled through her ear piece. "I've got eyes on you. There's lots of company up here as well. Keep an eye out."
Beatrice gave a small, letting her know she heard.
At first glance the warehouse looked empty except the stacks of crates scattered along the edges of the room and a man standing alone in the center of the room. But Beatrice didn’t miss the slight shift of movement from others posted in the high windows and at the shadowy corners of the building. It didn’t surprise her. Why would she ever believe the new leader of the Firstborn Children would hold to their agreement to come with only a guard? It's not like they followed the agreement either.
Their guide moved to stand beside the leader—both of them facing her and Lilith. Now that they were only a couple yards away, Beatrice finally got a good look at them both. While the guide looked simply like a normal Italian, the leader stood in stark contrast. Beatrice had seen many possessed individuals before. It wasn’t hard to identify them at this point. The deeper voices, erratic and violent behavior, and the eyes that flashed with an inhuman light. But this man looked like nothing she had seen before.
He took a step closer, and the movement made his body shift unnaturally—like the thing inside had forgotten to pretend to move this body like a human would. Growling as he crossed his arms, the skin on his face sagged, looking pale and skeletal. How long had this man been possessed? Was there anything human even left?
Beside her Lilith stepped forward as well, mimicking his closed off stance. “What is with the cold welcome, Enzo?”
“We thought you abandoned the cause." His dark eyes glared at her, shifting occasionally to the hilt of the Cruciform sword strapped to her back until finally he looked at Beatrice. "Who is this?” He nodded towards Beatrice who did her best to stand and look like a bodyguard behind Lilith.
Lilith shrugged. “You have a guard; I have a guard.”
Enzo eyed Beatrice for another beat before looking back at Lilith. “What do you want?”
“I’ve heard that you have been having trouble with a visitor from the other realm.”
“Is the fallen champion jealous of Reya’s new favorite?” Enzo asked, his eyes flaring.
Lilith tensed at the words but didn’t make any other move. “You seem to not know how to stop her. Your forces are dropping like flies.”
This time Enzo tensed. “We do know how… Why does that matter to you?”
Lilith titled her head, just enough for Beatrice to see, signaling that now was the time to stop her if they weren’t ready to do this. Beatrice said nothing.
“I’ve come to propose a deal. If you can offer me information, then I will defeat Reya’s champion for you.”
Enzo and his guard exchanged a look. “Why should we trust you?” Enzo asked. “How are we to believe that you won’t just try and take her place or join their side against us? You seem to have a habit of switching allegiances.” He seemed smug, like he had seen through their deception, but Lilith and Beatrice had prepared for this.
“If there’s one person that I hate more than Reya’s champion, it’s Reya herself. You’ve heard of my battles with the champion in the past. This one will be no different. Why would I ever decide to side with the person that commands the creatures that turned me into this.” Lilith flared out her wings and claws for a moment, before letting them settle.
The guard took a step back at the display, but Enzo stayed rooted to his spot. “Those are simply words. You are not beyond lying.”
“Neither are you. All I ask for is words. Information. I tell the truth, and you tell the truth. Then the problem of Reya’s champion can be removed for both of us.”
Enzo seemed to weigh that answer for a moment before speaking again. “I will agree to these terms. I expect the champion to be defeated within a month. If I do not receive proof of your victory before that time I will not stop until I have destroyed those you care about, and your broken body lies beneath me.”
“You could try,” Lilith sneered. “But it will not come to that. You have a deal.”
She extended her hand, but Enzo shook his head.
"I'll shake hands with her." He gestured again to Beatrice.
"This is between us," Lilith said
Yet Enzo didn't flinch; he raised his hand towards Beatrice.
Lilith opened her mouth to argue, but Beatrice grabbed her arm, holding her back.
"Its fine," Beatrice said, "I'll do it."
Lilith clenched her jaw but didn't fight it as Beatrice stepped forward and took Enzo's hand.
His fingers wrapped around hers tight enough for her bones ache. She maintained eye contact with him, refusing to show any pain or emotion.
But the crushing ache started to simmer, heat building and building until Beatrice couldn't keep herself from wincing. The burning flared hotter, flowing up her arm, skin blistering under his touch, and Beatrice instinctively tried to pull her hand from his grasp. He held onto it for a moment longer before letting go, sending Beatrice stumbling back into Lilith.
Lilith caught her, but as soon as she stood stable again, Lilith surged forward at Enzo, sword already unsheathed from her back and pointed at him.
"You fucker--"
"What's going on? People are moving." Camilla voice came again in her ear. "Are you okay?"
But Beatrice couldn't answer; she did her best just to suck in deep breaths, fighting back the blinding white pain.
"Calm yourself," Enzo held up his hands in a sign of surrender. But all around them figures shifted in the shadows--the sounds of guns being loaded and aimed right at them. "I did no permanent damage. Just a little assurance for our deal. No need to cause a bigger scene than necessary."
"What did you do?" Lilith asked, the sword tip lowering to the ground only a little as she glanced back at Beatrice worriedly.
Beatrice pulled her hand from where she had held it against her chest. Angry red welts spread out from where his skin had touched hers like an infection. Heat still blazed over her nerves like a fire.
"From what I have been told, the markings will fade to a much less noticeable state after a few days, but as long as our deal stands my mark will remain. It is not enough for me to possess your body, but I will be able to sense your location. To keep track of you in case you go back on our deal."
"That wasn't part of our agreement," Lilith hissed angrily, her hackles raised again.
Beatrice flexed and moved her fingers. It still hurt, but the searing heat had already faded like a sunburn instead of a third degree. Without thinking, she pressed against where the red welt spread up and through her divinium tattoo. She could handle this. She could do it for Ava.
"It's fine, Lilith," Beatrice spoke up, dropping her hand to her side. "I'll sacrifice what I have to to get the information that I need."
Lilith cast another long worried look at her, but Beatrice did not show any lack of conviction so Lilith turned her gazed back on Enzo.
"Alright, you've got what you wanted. Now talk."
He smirked. “The first things that you need to know is that the champion cannot be defeated without the first relic gifted to any of Reya’s champion.”
“Relic?” Beatrice said. "And that's the Crown?"
Enzo nodded. “As Reya and her siblings rose in power they created many relics that could be used to enhance their abilities. Once she became the ruler over all of them, she turned her gaze to other dimensions—picking champions from peoples like humans. These champions were to drawn to Reya’s will either through their own ambition or coercion. Her fruit empower and controls them. But Lucero was the first given a relic to as he fulfilled Reya’s will for her in this dimension where her full power cannot extend.”
“Like the halo?” Beatrice.
Enzo glared at her for a second before Lilith stepped into his line of vision.
“Your guard is awfully involved in all of this isn’t she?” he asked, but didn't wait for an answer. "Yes like the Halo, but his relic was the Crown. It was lined with golden thorns that embedded themselves in the champion’s head, keeping it affixed to him at all times. Reya told him that it would mark him as her chosen ruler of Earth—allowing him an open communication with her at all times—but he soon realized all the Crown did for him was turn him into her puppet. He was made to be her slave for many, many years until we were able to help him remove the Crown.”
His words sparked a little bit of hope in Beatrice. Maybe something similar has happened to Ava. And if so, they reversed it for Lucero, they could reverse it for Ava.
“’We' being the Wraiths?” Lilith interrupted.
“Wraiths,” he scoffed, “We call what we have become the Proiciamus. We were all once beings like Adriel. Angels, I think you call them.”
Beatrice had to bite her tongue to keep from gasping, but Lilith voiced her shock. “You were angels? Reya did this to you?”
"It seems we need a history lesson," Enzo said. "When Reya first rose to power there were three factions in her realm: Reya's royal family and the aristocracy, their loyal followers, and those that rebelled against their control. She enthralled the loyal. The same thing that changed your body, corrupted them. Divinium. It fills an angel’s blood and makes up our bones, like the minerals and iron in human bodies. If hit with a certain frequency, divinium can be used to transmit and transform. With centuries of prayers and worship empowering Reya’s frequency, she has long used the divinium in the loyal's bodies to control them until they eventually changed into what you call Tarasks."
"The rebels however,” he continued, “Were cast from the Reya's realm into a dimension of darkness and chaos. Now we can only interact with this realm through the use of others’ bodies." He paused, taking in Lilith and Beatrice’s shocked looks. “I guess the nuns know even less than I thought.”
Lilith didn’t rise to the jab, instead she asked, “Why did the Proiciamus help Lucero?”
“You believe us to be evil, but we simply wanted to help another being from being controlled and corrupted. We must fight back against her Purpose any way necessary."
“And yet you control human bodies,” Lilith said.
“It is necessary to have a physical form to do the work that we need to. Otherwise, Reya will enslave everyone to her will.” Enzo smiled, looking down at his human hands. “But I cannot deny that it is difficult to resist the primal and base urges of a human body after so many centuries confined to a void of darkness. Who am I to deny myself or my people that?”
He continued without letting them answer. “Using a new material and Lucero’s abilities, we corrupted the Crown from Reya’s will, allowing his will to reign. It remained that way until she took it back. He had been a rallying flag for us, but we lost the battle. Reya destroyed him and weakened us for many, many years.”
“What was the new material?” Lilith asked.
“We have never named it—hoping that Reya may never learn of its existence, let alone how to make it. I will refer to it as tarnished divinium, and you will remember it as the material which made Adriel’s crosses. It can co-op and take over Reya’s frequencies. And no, I will not tell you how it is created.”
“Are you planning on corrupting the Crown again?” Lilith asked.
“Yes,” he said, “If it is corrupted, it can be used to pull the new champion from Reya’s clutches and power long enough to remove her from the picture.”
Beatrice couldn’t stop herself from stepping forward and interjecting. “Could the champion not help you, like Lucero did? Why try to kill her?”
“You cannot be too soft…” he looked at her intently for a beat. The mark on her hand burned a little hotter under his gaze. “Or too attached to the champion. Do not take that risk in a fight against Reya. There will be more consequences then just retribution for your foolhardiness from me and my people.”
Again, Lilith imposed herself between him and Beatrice. “We will handle the champion. How do we corrupt the Crown again?”
“Create your own frequency through the tarnished divinium as the Firstborn’s have done for Adriel,” he said.
“That’s all you are going to give us?”
“You nuns know enough about how to pray, don’t you?” he sneered. “You see now what side of this war is the right side. I expect to see the champion taken care of by the end of the month or else you and your ilk will have more than just a few possessed to deal with.”
”We have the Crown, and we will take care of the Champion for you. We’re all happy except the Order. Unless you want to be fighting a war on two fronts you should return your prisoner, unharmed,” Lilith said.
“Adriel’s little pet is playing both sides isn’t she?.”
“I’m just points out the logical results consequences of you actions,” Lilith hissed through clenched teeth. “I don’t care what you decide to do.”
“Sure,” he chuckled.
Before Lilith could say anything else, Beatrice interrupted her. “Where are you planning a meeting of the Firstborn next,” Beatrice asked. “So we can prepare to intercept her.”
He let out a cold laugh. “I have already told you more than enough. Figure it out yourselves. You have a month to fulfill our agreement. We are done here.”
He and his guards turned and left, the hidden guards coming from the shadows and following them out and away.
Beatrice and Lilith watched them go, waiting a little after until they heard someone walking behind them.
They turned to see Camilla approaching, slinging her long rifle over her shoulder.
"Well that was wild," she said. "Are you okay?" She stepped forward and took Beatrice’s hand.
“It’s fine,” Beatrice said, but didn’t even try to pull out of Camilla’s grasp. “It doesn’t hurt much anymore.”
Camilla gave her a disbelieving look before examining her hand again. Her soft, cold fingers brushed against the angry burns making Beatrice shiver. The new marks fit right in with the scars left over from her attempt to cross through the arc and years of fighting with knives.
“What’s one more scar right?” Beatrice tried to joke.
“It’s more than a scar,” Lilith said. “I can see his aura on you. Not as much as a possessed...” She trailed off, staring at Beatrice.
“What?”
“Its like what Ava looked like when I saw her with you. Different color, but the same. Like a project of him staying with you.”
“Can you see her?” Camilla asked, finally letting go of Beatrice’s hand.
Lilith shook her head. “No I haven’t since she appeared again. Maybe it only worked when she was in a different realm?”
“Maybe…” Beatrice sighed. “We’ve collect all the information that we are going to get for now. I guess its time to get on our knees and pray."