Chapter 18
Tina looked over the small, quiet and brightly lit hall of Van Ferit Melen Airport in Turkey. She had expected that after arriving in France, they would board an airplane directly to Russia, but Uriel had informed her they would make a stop in Turkey. Actually she didn’t mind a stop that much, especially not when Anael’s acrobatic performance had left her with an irritated stomach, which the smooth aeroplane ride hadn’t calmed down. Tina blamed the speed with which Anael had flown the small plane, which had pushed her against the back of the seat.
A hand landed on her arm. She looked up into Uriel’s eyes.
“How do you feel?”
“Fine.”
“You don’t have to lie to me.”
“I just have an upset stomach, that’s all. You don’t have to worry.” Tina gave him a smile. Uriel was behaving like a caring parent again. “Really.” She patted his hand, but when the hand squeezed her shoulder and a warm smile shone down on her, she remembered her suspicions. She slipped out from his grasp and darted closer to Haniel. She looped her arm around his. “It’s good that we don’t need to go through customs.”
“Yeah, if we did they would probably make a fuss about the swords.”
“We have swords with us?”
“Of course we do, dummy. We don’t leave home without them.” Haniel flicked her head.
“Where are they?” Tina’s gaze slid over the three Numuns, Uriel and Irene, searching for anything shaped like a blade.
“In the crate, where else?”
“No wonder Michael didn’t let it out of his sight.” And had refused to entrust it to the airport staff when they had climbed out of the plane.
“Yeah, that’s why he is so attached to that trolley,” Haniel said.
Tina giggled. Michael’s grip on the handle of the baggage cart with the steel crate did look quite firm. She leaned against Haniel’s side. “He’s great for taking care of things, isn’t he?” She also wanted to add how caring he was to the children, but then she caught sight of a familiar face at the entrance of the airport. A big smile stretched her lips as she released Haniel’s arm and rushed forward, almost throwing herself at Muriel. She embraced him. “I missed you. So much.”
Muriel patted her back. “I missed you too.”
“Where have you been?” She frowned at the brunet standing beside Muriel. “And what is Tristian doing here? Shouldn’t you be in Russia?”
“I was asked to bring your truck here and pick you up,” Tristian replied before he addressed Uriel. “But we have a problem. Lady Macele set an ambush in the parking lot.”
“You didn’t anticipate that,” Nathanael said to Uriel.
“Yes, I thought she would try to follow us discreetly, not try to attack us.”
“How brazen.” Anael smirked. “I like that in a girl.”
“We could distract her and then use a side exit,” Muriel suggested.
“No, no. We can use this to our advantage.” Uriel stepped over to the trolley. “I assume you two didn’t come with the truck?”
“We rented a van,” Muriel said.
“How large?”
“For twelve.”
“That’s good.” Uriel opened the case.
Tina frowned. What was he planning? But before she could ask anything, Uriel moved and suddenly she had a sword in her hand. She tucked it in behind her cardigan and held it against her chest with one arm like a baby, annoyed by the way the hilt peeked out from under the collar. “Hey,” she protested. “What’s up with this?”
“Don’t complain.” Uriel shut the large box.
Tina turned around to see if somebody might be watching them, but there was no one. She would have said they were lucky to have arrived at a time when -- aside from the few passengers sleeping in the waiting room and the sleepy-looking staff -- the airport was almost empty, but she suspected that this was the result of Uriel and Nathanael’s planning, not luck.
“Irene, Tristian,” Uriel said. “You two wait until we leave, then take the box to the van and wait. Haniel or Muriel will tell you where to pick us up.”
“What about Tina?” Irene asked.
“What about her?”
“She's coming with us?” Irene said.
“No, I'm going to look after her.” Uriel seized Tina’s arm and tugged her closer.
“I don’t agree with that.” Irene stepped toward Tina.
“You do know that I can take better care of her than you.” Uriel furrowed his eyebrows. “I don’t have time to argue with you. Just do what I asked.”
“I'm quite capable of taking care of myself.” Tina couldn't help but glare at Irene. Why did that woman still insist on treating her like a fragile child?
“Don’t worry, we won’t let anything happen to her,” Nathanael said. “And trust us a little.”
“Muriel, could you look for Macele's position?” Uriel asked.
“But I already know where she is,” Muriel said and then explained to Uriel the layout of the airport's surroundings and how to get to Macele and her Beliya.
“What are you two planning?” Tina’s gaze shifted between Uriel and Nathanael.
“You’ll see.” Uriel wrapped his arm around Tina’s shoulders and guided her through the door; the rest of them, except Irene and Tristian, followed them.
They crossed the taxi lane and in the weak light of the moon Tina could see the men incompletely hidden behind the few parked cars. If she hadn’t been told about them, she probably wouldn't have noticed them, but now they were so obvious.
“Disable everyone, but remember, no killing. We need every last one of those men,” Uriel said, then leaned over Tina. “Except you. If you feel threatened don’t hesitate to swing that sword of yours."
They slowly strolled to the blue van that stood in the first row of the parking lot then, at Uriel's murmured order, they scattered around.
Uriel pulled her toward the bushes to the left of the parking lot and forced her to squat down behind them before he joined her. “There’s not a lot of cover.” He scrutinized their surroundings. “But that means that Macele’s men have nowhere to hide either.”
She gazed at the parking lot where Haniel and the Numuns moved silently as shadows across the pavement, taking out Macele's men one by one, soft thuds marking their fall. Even if they could have hidden somewhere they stood no chance. “They are not very good at this.”
“Anybody would look inept against the Numuns. Except us, of course.” Uriel moved alongside the bushes pulling Tina with him. “But the real strength of Macele's men is in their numbers. You see, members of Macele's family can temporarily clone their subjects.”
“Huh?” Did he mean that cloning/copying ability they mentioned before?
“You'll see.” They came to the end of the parking lot and Uriel took them through the strips of black, twice, until they stood behind a house. They peeked around the corner at the front of the structure, where a Mercedes was parked on the driveway. Beside it stood a girl in tight-fitting clothes with binoculars in her hands and bulky men by her side.
“I’m counting on you and your ability to deliver us that girl.”
“What?"
Uriel’s hand slipped over her arm and he wrapped his fingers around her wrist, his thumb on her pulse. “You should slow down time.”
“And then what?”
“And then we are going to grab her.”
“No, I mean after we get her.”
“Then we are going to use her as a hostage and she will probably keep us company for some time.” Uriel gave her a smirk.
“I don’t get it.” Tina frowned. She didn't like that girl and to spend a prolonged length of time in her company... She curled her lips in distaste. “Why do we even need her?”
“Not her, her ability and her manpower. She is just a tool to get that,” Uriel said. "Now, stop whining and slow down time.”
Three more men appeared beside Macele.
“Perfect, because of your dillydallying we have been noticed.” Uriel sighed and pulled his sword from underneath his coat.
When had he gotten that sword out from the box? And how come she hadn’t noticed it? Tina grabbed the hilt of her sword, almost tearing her cardigan as she drew out the blade.
Three of the men rushed toward Tina and Uriel, using space distortion, but Uriel with the same technique moved them to the other side of the house and Tina found herself only a short distance away from Macele.
The man by Macele's side suddenly became two men.
Twins? No, they all looked the same, even the one that had tried to attack them a second ago. She glanced at Uriel. “Clones?”
Uriel nodded before he focused on Macele; still holding Tina's wrist, he pushed Tina before him. “You want her, right? Well, here she is.”
“Get her!” Macele pointed her finger at Tina. “And kill him.”
The two men multiplied into four, eight, sixteen, and they all jumped on them.
“Well...” Uriel looking down on Tina raised his brows.
“Yeah, yeah.” Tina concentrated on her heartbeat and soon the movements of the men advancing on them became sluggish. “What now?”
“Now, we get Macele.” Uriel swung his sword, the blunt side, and knocked down the first attacker before he leaped forward, sending more men to the ground, forcing his way toward Macele.
Tina followed him, swinging her sword like a baseball bat at everybody who managed to come close to her. Uriel had asked them not to kill anybody. Even though it would have been interesting to see what happened to the original if his copies died.
Time sped up and this time when she slowed it down, Uriel wasn’t in the time bubble with her.
Tina zoomed her gaze onto Macele who, with arms akimbo and a disinterested smile on her lips, stood among her bodyguards and calmly watched the events before her. Did the girl think that the increasing numbers of copies of her Beliya would keep her safe from them? Probably.
Tina imagined herself in front of Macele and in the next moment she found herself there, between Macele and her bodyguard. She took two deep breaths -- she really didn't want to do this -- then she shoved her sword into the girl's hip. That wouldn't kill her, not with the Lost's healing power, but it would make her vulnerable and more inclined to cooperate, or so Tina believed.
The girl's hands started to move toward the wound and her body started to curl forward.
Tina pulled the sword out, sidestepped the girl, then wrapped her left arm around the girl’s waist. She stepped backwards so that she faced all of the girl's bodyguards and leaned the sharp edge of her sword against the girl’s throat. This was a first for her -- harming somebody who wasn't a Deadeater and taking a hostage. It felt somehow dishonest, like she was committing some grave crime, but she consoled herself that it was Macele, who refused to leave them alone and who had attacked them first. She calmed her heartbeat. “Uriel!” She tightened her clammy hand around the hilt of her sword when the girl, growling, twisted in her embrace and tried to kick her off, swearing. The blood from the wound on the girl's stomach seeped through Tina's fingers and soaked the edge of Tina's sleeve before she shifted her arm higher.
“I wouldn’t move too much if I were you.” Tina pressed her blade against the girl’s skin, surprised she was able to do it-- she never knew she had it in her -- until a trail of crimson-red liquid stained the steel and the girl's pale skin. She glanced at Uriel, who right at that moment brandished his katana at the man charging at him with his sword. Uriel hit his side, then jumped and kicked two of them, one in the chest, the other in the head. Tina averted her eyes to narrow them at the Beliya, the original probably, who tried to sneak closer. “And I mean you, too. Drop that sword.”
“You won’t get away with this,” Macele threatened, her breath shallow.
The Beliya’s sword fell down to the ground and his copies froze.
“Don't listen to her,” Macele ordered. “Kill her. Kill them both.”
“I don't think so.” Tina tensed her jaw as the sword cut deeper into Macele's skin when she continued to twist and turn in Tina's hold. “If you don't stop moving, I might cut your throat by accident.” She looked at Uriel. Could he be any slower? Hurry up. “Uriel!” Now he was the one who was dillydallying. “What now?”
“You don’t even know what you are doing,” Macele hissed, but at last she stopped squirming in Tina's hold. “Release me!”
Uriel disappeared and appeared behind Tina. He hung his katana on his belt before he pressed his chest against Tina's back and covered the hand holding the sword. “Now, Lady Macele, I would like for you to dismiss the clones.” He eyes zoomed on her bodyguard. “And you, don’t do anything stupid or the girl will suffer the consequences.”
Tina accelerated the pulse of her heart, then slowed it down after she surrendered her position to Uriel.
“...won't do it,” Macele said.
“What do you want?” the Beliya asked.
“Then would you rather have your head cut off?” Uriel asked.
“Please, Lady Verina, do what he asks,” the Beliya said.
Tina's eyes slid over the men who observed the situation. She would have thought that Macele controlled them, but since they didn't jump on her when Macele ordered, it looked like the original was the one in charge. Interesting.
“My father is going to have your head.”
“You are not very bright, are you?” Uriel said. “You attacked the Numuns of the Damned. When your father learns what happened, he will have to apologise for you and gracefully accept whatever punishment the Damned deem fit, even your death, and hope that they don't blame him for your action.”
“You lie.”
“It's true,” the man said. “Even Lord Blackdart never openly went against them.”
“Not since the Black War,” Uriel added.
“You see, darling, the peace between the Damned and the Lost is a fragile thing, and everything that threatens it has to be crushed,” a woman's voice said. “It's the rule that clan leaders have to obey no matter what.”
Tina turned and frowned at the white-haired girl who strolled through the group of clones, twirling a knife between her fingers. Wouldn't that mean that the Dumes should be punished for that time they attacked Damon's house and saved her? But they hadn’t been. The only thing that Damon had demanded that time was a meeting with Uriel. The wrinkle between her brows deepened. But that could have been because of her. Hadn’t Uriel mentioned at that time that if Damon made a complaint to Prva, that might reveal her existence to the Damned and give leverage to Prva? Yeah, something like that. She smoothed her forehead. They were quite manipulative, the whole bunch. She almost felt sorry for Macele.
“My father won't allow --”
“Your father will do what he is told,” Uriel said. “As you will, too.” Still holding the sword against Macele's throat he loosened his hold around the girl's waist. “Tina, there's a box in the inner pocket of my jacket, can you take it out for me, please?”
“Yes, of course.” Tina stepped to Uriel, pulled out the box, and then at Uriel's request activated it and used it on Macele.
As soon as the glowing ribbon wrapped around Macele's body, the clones disappeared.
“What’s going on?” Macele’s voice became slightly higher.
“You had this the whole time? Why didn’t you use it from the start?” Tina thinned her lips. He could have saved her the trouble of threatening and injuring Macele.
“Because you were doing so well on your own.”
Was Uriel mocking her? Tina glared at him, but his face looked serious, like he meant it, which he probably did. She pressed her fingers against her temples and slightly shook her head.
Lights glanced past them as a van turned off the road and onto the driveway. Its brakes squealed and sand flew around when it stopped before them, making Tina jump backwards.
The doors slid open and Haniel’s head peeked through them. “Are you ready to go?”