He preferred not to take note of this remark and joined David in the living room. Faïz noticed a certain uneasiness on the young man's face when the latter raised his eyes to stare at him with a belittling look.
"I'm happy to see you too, David,” said Faïz with a certain dark humor.
His interlocutor, in a taciturn mood, greeted him with a simple nod.
"Asarys asked you to come. I want you to know I had no desire to see you."
A sly smile wrinkled Faïz's lips. Ray, frowning, noticed that his words didn't seem to reach him. No, the man standing in front of him seemed far above all.
"I've already got the recap from yesterday's meeting," Ray got annoyed. "The lockdown has already begun and the television keeps reporting the testimonies of the inhabitants of L.A. who don't know what attitude to adopt with these sudden measures. Strangely enough, only the Los Angeles Times supports the government's decision."
"Did you know about Elijah?" Suddenly Faïz changed the subject.
The anger wore off on Ray's face. He glanced disoriented at David, who seemed just as intrigued by the question as he was. He crossed his arms on his chest and questioned Faïz with his eyes so he could continue.
"Elijah isn't a human being like us. He's an Anhel."
While Ray was sinking in an endless well, David reflected, waving his eyes from right to left before declaring:
"A celestial being. You're talking about some kind of fallen angel?"
Faïz nodded, astonished that the young man found the origin of this name so easily.
"Georgia,” stammered David. "She... she always told me, but it was just a little girl's words to me."
"Wait," intervened Ray, lost, raising his hand in front of him. "What's this story again? Are you sure we can trust him? I mean, he talks to himself and he lives mostly on the street."
"He doesn't talk to himself," Faïz said, leaning against the kitchen counter. "He's talking with Condor, and it turns out that Condor exists."
After several minutes of storytelling, Faïz fell silent to let the two protagonists reflect on the story he had just told them. David and Ray, frozen, stunned, had trouble finding their words.
"Did he confide in you the reason why he gave up his wings?" Ray asked, staring into the void.
"No, and I doubt he'll ever tell us."
"And I thought we were done with the legendary, celestial creatures," David sighed disconcerted. "Now the angels invite themselves to Earth."
"Our city isn't called City of Angels for nothing."
He perceived an ironic note in Faïz's voice that irritated Ray.
"Yet everyone is starting to get confined to the stadiums or other public places. I don't see anyone up there coming to our help. I mean, who's there for us?"
"To my surprise, the population is cooperating and remaining disciplined. The government has stepped up security measures inside the sites with military personnel guarding the sites around the clock, but also in the streets and around the White House. The military is everywhere."
"I guess the president's been evacuated!"
"Yes, in addition to the president's security guards, a dozen Leviathans took care of his exfiltration. They're watching over him and his family. We're all being summoned to the emergency operations center in one hour. Barthey and the others are waiting for us."
"Leviathans," Ray repeated slowly in a bad tone. "Heroes of this world."
Faïz looked at the young man's tense face for a long time before declaring:
"You know that if I could change things, I would do it right now!"
David suddenly felt that he had been overly involved in this discussion, which was becoming a little too scary for him as the minutes went by. Suddenly, the atmosphere seemed to run out of air and he wondered how he could leave without being noticed. Ray closed his eyelids and took a long, deep breath without reopening them.
"You can change things! Imagine the opposite. Imagine that I'm the one who would have to take Zoe's life," he says, his features distorted by rage as he opens his eyes again.
At that moment, a horrified expression spread over Faïz's face.
"It's not the same thing!" roared the young man in a voice that the fury made unrecognizable.
Ray approached his rival at a great pace and with one hand, grabbed the collar of his shirt. With all his force, he took him off the counter to stick him against the wall. Faïz, although stronger than him, let him do it. David got up to intervene, but immediately changed his mind, preferring to let the two individuals explain themselves with fury and violence.
"It's not the same thing? It's not the same thing?" Ray shouted angrily. "You're going to kill the woman I love, you scum! And Lexy!"
"You've known all along! The Callis predicted it. This end is inevitable. The Banshee on Eros..."
"I don't care about the Callis! I don't care about the appearance of your Banshee!" Ray shouted, eyes out of their sockets. "You have to change things. I won't let you take her away from me!"
Faïz easily got off the young man's grip, his eyes darker than ever.
"I tried Ray. I got away from here. I wanted to forget everything so you could live your best life with Asarys at the expense of mine. But what do you want me to do? The world or Asarys? Asarys or Georgia? The choice is already made! I'm not backing down this time."
"She'll curse you," Ray whispered, broken. "Zoe will hate you just like I do, for the rest of her life."
"That's the risk, but this time I'll stay, even if I have to face her hatred and resentment for the rest of my life. I'll spend every second of my life trying to make amends for what I've destroyed, and that goes for you too, brother."
"Get out of my house!" Ray roared, backing away.
With his head tilted, his clenched hands held the edges of the counter tightly.
When the door slammed, Ray turned to David who was standing in the middle of the living room, looking out at the entrance.
"Faïz won't tell me where the Maestro's tomb is. He will, however, tell you."
David laid eyes on the young man, visibly distressed by his recent altercation. His blue eyes, usually almost translucent, were now faded by the anxiety and sadness with which he lived.
"Me? Faïz doesn't trust anyone. He never..."
"Believe me," Ray cut him off. "He needs you more than you think. When you get all the right information, let me know. I'll save Asarys and Lexy whatever it takes. Can I count on you?"
David swallowed. In front of the terror that was reflected in Ray's glance, the latter had no other choice than to comfort him with a nod. He owed him these few hours, these few days of appeasement, after all that they had shared together these last years.
"Thank you, David. I'll finish getting ready, and then we'll join everyone at the business center to monitor the situation."
David followed Ray with his eyes until he disappeared from the living room. Bewildered, he leaned against the wall behind him, and closed his eyes with all his strength, short of breath. His chest was burning. At that moment, he would have wanted to scream, but Faïz's invisible hands were still clutching his neck. It was too late. Too late for the girls. His spirit tortured, he remained frozen in this silent room, loaded with his heavy burden.
11
We arrived at the FBI security headquarters. As I sat at the table, I noticed new faces in uniform talking to Barthey. There were also a dozen Leviathans that I could easily recognize with their rugged and athletic looks, adopting a style that was unlike any of the officers or agents present here. Masha, standing in a corner of the room and staring into the void, seemed worried. Then my eyes fell on the screen hung on the wall. Julio was already installed, ready to start the video conference with us. When our eyes met, he forced himself to give me a slight smile. A concentrated fold marked his forehead. I knew right away that the news wasn't good and I wasn't the only one.
"I have a bad feeling,” said Asarys.
She moved her eyes to the top of my head.
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"You still have your daughter's hair tie in your hair," she said, not really surprised.
"I never know where mine go," I replied without looking at her.
My eyes were wandering all over the room, desperately looking for answers on the faces of those agents in black suits.
"I'm afraid of what Barthey is going to tell us," added Lexy, sitting next to me. "Where's Ray?"
"He's coming... normally," replied our friend, insecure. "He was supposed to talk to Faïz this morning."
Hearing his name, my head immediately turned to my friend.
"He didn't say anything to me when he left my house earlier," I told her, worried. "I hope their meeting went well."
"We'll find out soon enough," said Lexy looking towards the entrance.
When I followed her gaze, I saw Faïz enter the room and immediately move towards Barthey. A man came to meet him to address him a few words, but he didn't pay attention to him. He continued to entrust Karl with something obviously important. The inspector shook his head and raised his arms in front of him. The situation seemed to elude him. Suddenly he found my eyes. He looked at me insistently, but without a smile.
"All right, ready to hear the worst?" Lexy asked calmly and confidently.
Ray, followed by David, arrived to the premises. A sigh of relief escaped from my friend. The two companions left directly to sit at the other end of the table without paying attention to Faïz. Ray threw a glance in the direction of Asarys before turning his eyes away on the screen which still showed Julio.
"What's the matter with everybody today?" whispered Asarys.
After a few endless minutes, almost everyone was seated. Others, like Faïz, remained standing because of lack of space. His presence, just behind me, reassured me a little.
"Damn it! Where's Martinez?" Barthey cried out to the agents. "We've been looking for him for two days!"
No one answered. Some raised their shoulders to indicate that they didn't have the answer.
"Always in the field," grumbled the detective. "He doesn't realize how dangerous it is."
He then turned to the screen and began to question Julio:
"We're listening. What's the latest news?"
"The container ships, loaded with bombs, will arrive at their destination in a few hours. The other Sylphs and I tried to slow down their progress by acting on the water currents, but we only gained a day or two."
"That's already something."
Barthey turned to us and, with his hand, introduced us to the rest of the people in the room, "Mickaël Peyton, deputy director of the CIA, and his agents are with us to share the latest information and operations that will be carried out outside American borders in the coming days."
A man with a thin face and a forehead wrinkled by concentration rose from his chair. His head, completely bald, glowed in the room's light. His jacket, decorated with many medals, hinted at the success of his many missions. He wasn't very well built, rather thin with a not engaging physique.
"After much calculation, information officers were able to find the trajectories of the cities targeted by the nuclear attacks: Washington, London, Paris and Hong Kong."
Paris? Oh, my God! My father must know about the coming threat. What if he's led to...? No.
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. This contact instantly reconnected me to the present. Turning my head slightly, I saw Faïz preoccupied by my mood. He had surely guessed the cause of my sudden anxiety. He plunged his eyes into mine, and without him uttering a single word, I heard his silent promise. With a slight nod, I made him understand that I would be all right. My subconscious focused again on the words of the CIA's deputy director.
“If we fail in our mission, Pavel will sink the world economy and take control of the country's atomic weapons, but also those of others countries. Moreover, we can say today that he has developed a fearsome virus that he intends to spread around the world. Los Angeles would therefore be the first outbreak of this terrible pandemic."
"What's the plan?" interrupted one of the braided and red-bearded Leviathans.
The colossus glanced in Faïz's direction, as if to make sure he had his authorization to speak, and continued:
"Have you ever thought about closing every road, every airport and every nook and cranny of this city?"
"We are in the process of doing so," confided the deputy director. "Now that the entire population is contained, we can..."
"You are doing so?" repeated the bearded man, annoyed. "The Maestro is always one step ahead of us, because you're not capable of..."
"Bring in all the protection services to reinforce the security of the premises in containment," Faïz cut him off. "Goareb's right, you're late!"
An icy tension now reigned in the room.
"Police officers are already in the field."
"That won't be enough! We need to set up tactical units. The Maestro's army is much larger than you think."
"Barthey," Ray intervened. "You have to understand that you have to call every security service in the country. We're on high alert. We can't go in blind. Otherwise, it's a hopeless end."
Ray had uttered these last words while looking at Asarys with crying despair. A shiver ran down my spine.
"My father has nothing left to lose."
Masha's voice came to break the heavy silence.
"He sold his soul to the devil. Pavel has nothing left to sell," she repeated.
The inspector passed a hand over his face, looking serious. He, who wasn't of the same rank as all the generals and federal agents present in this room, had the heaviest responsibility. He was the connection between the Leviathans and the government, the connection between two completely different worlds, and without him no agreement would be possible. I understood better now why it was important for him to have Martinez at his side. He was the replacement. Barthey wanted to keep this connection between the two parties. Unfortunately, with Faïz, that could be complicated.
Suddenly, the lights flickered. My brain sent out warning signals and my eyes began to wander between Lexy and Asarys. Panic gripped me as a man rushed into the security center to stop Peyton, but also Barthey. Anxious, I jumped up and intercepted Faïz before he left to join the inspector. Unhappy that I prevent him from doing as he pleases, he gave me a look of the darkest.
"Call your mother!" I said softly.
Faïz glanced at Barthey in the distance without taking into account what I asked him.
"Faïz!" I shouted to force him to look at me. "Georgia, call your mother right now."
That name acted on him immediately. He carried out my order and dialed the villa without further delay. The seconds seemed like hours to me.
"Shit!" Faïz swore as he hung up abruptly. "I'm going to call her directly on her phone."
His face at that moment expressed both fury and apprehension. I scanned the room with my eyes. My ears became blocked and my vision began to blur. All around us, panic was spreading. Barthey was shouting orders to the officers. The CIA's deputy director was quickly consulting the screen of a tablet that had been placed in front of him while tapping his head, dripping with sweat, with a handkerchief, while Ray and David exchanged a stream of words with Julio at an unusually fast pace. Absorbed by this chaotic spectacle, I could hardly hear the echo of Faïz's voice calling me. His hands grabbed my shoulders to turn me towards him and his penetrating eyes twisted in mine, forcing me to come back to myself.
"Zoe," he called me again.
His irises glowed with grief and anger. I knew right away there was something wrong. Georgia wasn't in Elora. She wasn't with her grandparents. My daughter was missing. At that moment, my hearing came back to me, along with all the other sounds in the room. Asarys and Lexy were standing next to me, helpless before this situation that was beyond us. I got out of Faïz's grip, suffocating, without being able to breathe properly. I tried to swallow my tears and ignore the heartbreaking burn in the hollow of my throat.
"No," I whi
spered, walking backwards. "No."
I had the impression that darkness was descending around me, destroying everything in its path, until it took away the one person that had been the center of my universe since the day of her birth.
With a heavy mind, I turned around and started running as fast as I could towards the exit. As I crossed the door, I felt Faïz's body pressing violently against mine, immobilizing my back to the wall. The girls arrived immediately behind him.
"I'll find her, I promise you," assured Faïz, still holding me firmly against him.
I tried to fight him off with all my might, but he was so much stronger than me.
"Let go of me!" I shouted, out of control.
"As soon as you calm down. I'm begging you, Zoe, please don't waste anymore of my time."
I burst into tears as I put my head against his chest. The pain was so unbearable that I wished I had died. This agony was cruel.
"I want my daughter," I repeated between sobs. "Please bring her back to me."
I raised my face to meet his gaze. He was as devastated as I was. His tortured features radiated the greatest suffering.
"I will," he promised me. "You and Georgia mean more to me than my own life. Just let me do my job and don't put yourself in danger. How else am I supposed to be completely focused on finding her?"
My pulse gradually returned to normal. The degree of my feelings towards him affected my reason.
"Ok, I trust you."
Faïz grabbed my face and pressed his lips against mine with such force that it was almost painful.
"Good," he said before he gently released me. "I'm gonna need everybody."
He turned to the girls who were glued together, worried about the situation.
"Lexy, you and Asarys are going to have to find Elijah for me as soon as possible."
"Elijah?" Choked Lexy.
"Why do you need him?" I asked, lost.
"It's too long to explain now. Just trust me on this."
With a quick pace, Faïz walked back into the room we used as our HQ. The three of us followed him.
DARK FAÏZ Book 3: Dawn never keeps its promises Page 15
