DARK FAÏZ Book 3: Dawn never keeps its promises
Page 9
"After the last ritual and just before the Demon took full possession of my father's body, he made me promise to come and find you in case I didn't have a chance. That was the last time he cared about my safety."
Masha's voice broke:
"All these years I wanted to believe that there was an ounce of humanity left in my father's heart, something good, love for me, but I was wrong. There's nothing left of him, except a body that's completely tattooed and mutilated. The Maestro will annihilate every living thing on this Earth, that's his plan."
Silence took place for a few moments. Thoughts jostled in Faïz's head. He swallowed before opening his mouth to speak, "I imagine the machines, designed by your father's small group, are already activated."
He turned to face Masha. She nodded as only answer.
"How can we stop them?"
"You must find Pavel before the bombs explode. On his body are tattooed the codes to deactivate all weapons. For the virus, however, you'll need to find the vaccine."
The young woman took out of her bag a small keypad that emitted several colored signals.
"The purpose of this detonator is to deactivate the bombs, even remotely. You'll have to input the codes into it. If you can do that, part of your mission will be accomplished. The second will be to put my father's body in the Maestro's tomb after you make him swallow the ruby. The gates of evil will close, taking with them the evil ghosts that feed on the most tormented souls and spirits. Time is against us, you can't afford to waste a single second."
The light in the room had changed again, indicating that the afternoon already well started. Faïz checked the time on his watch and then scratched the back of his skull.
"I have to go," he said, in a hurry to get this information to Inspector Barthey.
Masha pursed her lips, looking disappointed. After a short hesitation, she approached Faïz who attracted her obsessively.
"Keep this matter quiet," the young woman whispered. "The FBI offices are swarming with moles who feed the Front Pages of the newspapers for big bucks. In fact, a reporter working for the Los Angeles Times is expected to release an article soon that could spark an insurrection in the state of California. If I were you, I'd take care of it before his article acts like a... bomb."
A sly smile appeared on the face of the young woman that didn't shake Faïz's calm.
"A piece of advice," she added, "Focus only on the mission. Don't worry about dear Zoe. Agent Stephen Martinez will be happy to take care of her. I wouldn't be surprised if you were to find them together again tonight."
"I think our interview is over," said the young man in a bad tone. "I'm going to ask you to leave now."
"Oops, I hit a nerve," Masha said, displaying an embarrassed fake look. "Maybe I could try to make you forget her."
Faïz grabbed Masha's wrists before her hands landed on him. The young woman's eyes suddenly revealed an immense confusion. At that moment, she wished to lose herself in the dark abysses of the man's gaze.
"No other woman will be able to get her out of your head, won't she?" guessed Masha, her wrists still stuck.
Faïz's silence was irrevocable.
"How painful is it?" she asked timidly.
The young man's eyes darkened a little more.
"To the point of waking up every night," he confessed with great pain in his words.
Masha's heart squeezed in her chest in the face of his infinite distress.
"You know what they say: There are plenty more fish in the sea. It shouldn't be difficult for you," she said, trying to take a slightly lighter tone.
"Except I'd rather lose a thousand woman to get her again."
Faïz freed Masha from his hold and moved his head to show her the way out.
7
Sitting on the bench in the dance hall with Lexy and Asarys, I felt like the day had returned to normal. The students were rehearsing the latest hip-hop choreography they had learned with Katerina, a great teacher whom I had managed to convince to come and give dance classes at the association. At her side, Georgia was spinning and moving to the rhythm of the music. I looked at her with a smile on my face, happy to have finally found her. It must have been the second or third time that I took her with me to this room and each time it was the same: she became a happy little girl again. It was so rare to see her like that, breathing happiness with the joy of life that was reflected in her laughing eyes for a few hours.
"I still haven't heard from Elijah," I confided to my friends. "Tomorrow, I'm going to take a walk around Downtown. I hope I'll find him and make sure he's all right."
"If I were you, I'd look for Condor," said with irony Lexy who was finishing filing her nails. "If you find him, then you find Elijah."
"Do you want me to stay with you tonight?" Asarys asked me. "Ray spent the evening with David, still looking for any information that might lead them to the Maestro's tomb."
"No, don't worry. I want to spend some time with my daughter. I'll be in Elora, nothing can happen to us there. How's the research going?"
"Still nothing!" Lexy confided to me, looking annoyed. "David and the others must have spent thousands of hours looking in old manuscripts, grimoires and other books that tell the story of this demonic traveler, in vain."
"There's just one sentence that came out of all this," Asarys continued. "But it's not really clear. It tells us that the answer is right in front of us and that it will be given to us when we ask the right question, to the right person."
My friend's words appealed to me. They were, once again, the same words that Victoria had confided to me in one of my dreams.
"And the ruby?"
"There's no way of knowing where it is," Lexy replied. "I think it's well guarded so no one can get their hands on it. This stone must be under close surveillance 24/7."
Asarys suddenly cleared her throat.
"Otherwise... Lexy and I would like to know the nature of your relationship with Faïz at the moment."
We got there! My sidekick had finally tackled this burning subject, having taken great care to choose every word in her question.
"To tell you the truth, I'm lost."
My eyes followed Katerina as she did a series of moves under the concentrated gaze of her students. Georgia did the same.
"Is he moving on from the fact that you kept his daughter's existence from him?" asked Lexy, cautiously.
I let out a deep sigh and turned my eyes to my friend.
"I don't know!" I confessed in a low voice. "Part of him wants to move on. He's so complex. It's impossible to guess his real feelings."
"How about you? Do you still hate him so much?" Asarys asked.
"No. I feel like I have a multitude of regrets that suddenly came ringing at my door. There are many things I should have told him when we were still on Eros. I lacked sincerity and, while I was burying my head in the sand, Faïz, on the other hand, always saw the reality of things. I'm ready to give him a place in Georgia's life."
Asarys wrapped her arm around my shoulders, "That's good. We need to move on and let Will go. You need to give your daughter the best of yourself. I don't know if Faïz will be a good father, because on a relationship level he's just terrible, but the lies will only eat you up little by little. The truth is liberating."
Before I could answer, Katerina hailed me from across the room, "Zoe, I'll let you finish the class! Come and show us what you got."
Caught off guard, I tried to get out of it by showing my two friends sitting next to me.
"Yes, go!" Lexy cried, accompanied by Asarys's exclamation.
In the distance, my daughter was waving at me with her arms to encourage me to come. She must have had no memory of me dancing. Since William's death, I had left the lessons I was giving to others who were more passionate about it than I was.
"Come on!" insisted the girls.
"No, I can't dance anymore. I must be completely rusty by now," I replied, panicking at the thought of taking up this challenge.
The students also seemed to be waiting impatiently for me to start. They wanted to see for themselves everything that had been said about me about how I danced. My eyes fell on Georgia, who begged me with her eyes, worried that I would slip away again. I threw my head back and sighed deeply.
"OK!" I stood up, "You want a show, you're gonna get one."
My two acolytes applauded, all excited by my renewed energy. I took off my sweatshirt to make myself more comfortable. Underneath, I wore a simple black bra and leggings. Motivated, I walked across the room to join the group, set up next to the mirrors.
"Katerina, give me a good sound with a strong beat," I challenged her.
She rushed to the stereo and actively scrolled through the tracks before stopping on a song that I recognized at the first notes.
"Cardi B, ‘I Like It.’ Not bad, Kate."
"Show us what you got, baby," she was impatient.
My daughter, standing with her wings still attached to her back, stared at me as if she was discovering a new mother. I started my dance with Criss Cross, moving between Kick Ball and Typewriter and then I alternated my moves with dance hall and hip-hop. Finally, I let myself be completely transported by the music and freed my body to offer my audience a moment of high sensuality with movements of isolation of the pelvis and smooth undulations. The mix with jerky and complex moves served to put a certain emphasis in this entirely improvised choreography.
After several minutes, Cardi B's voice stopped, accompanied by cheers and applause. I was sweating. Georgia's bright, wide-open eyes took her whole face. I'd never seen her so proud of me before, and that was worth all the screaming and shouting in the room.
"Can you feel it, this life coming back to you?"
William's whisper spread a gentle warmth inside my body. Suddenly, my eyes fell on the entrance of the room where agent Stephen Martinez was standing, also applauding my performance. What could he be doing here? Alone, moreover. I hadn't heard Lexy coming behind me, bringing me a towel so I could wipe my sweaty face.
"What the hell is he doing here?" murmured my friend, who was as surprised as I was. "My God! He's devouring you with his eyes."
"Thank you for your legendary discretion," I grunted, teeth clenched.
"Well what?" she continued, raising her shoulders. "Don't tell me you too want to..."
"Lexy, Martinez is all yours, I'll leave him to you."
"Yes! You're a true friend, Zoe. I'll never forget that."
I handed her my briefcase and left to join the agent, hoping he wouldn't tell me anything serious.
"I never would have guessed that you dance so well," said Stephen, still stunned by my performance.
He put a hand on the back of his head and seemed to apologize for being here at that very moment.
"Dancing is one of my first passions," I confided to him. "It's been so long since I've practiced."
"It's hard to believe when we see you dance the way you just did."
He squinted with a warm smile. I could tell from his friendly tone and his more relaxed attitude that he wasn't here for business.
"Mr. Martinez..."
"Please, call me Stephen," he cut me off by tilting his head and smiling nervously.
What the hell is he doing? I asked me.
"Stephen, why aren't you with Barthey and the others? I imagine you've got your hands full with all that's going on right now."
Agent Martinez spread his arms wide before adding in a restrained tone:
"I've been kindly asked to go for a walk. My presence, with the government, wasn't wanted for the little meeting that was taking place in the late afternoon."
I frowned, shocked by this revelation. Indeed, the latter knew the file well, he had worked on this burning affair with William and knew my late companion's notes by heart. Martinez was no novice in tracking down the Maestro, quite the contrary.
"I don't get it. Who dared to evict you like that?"
"In your opinion, Zoe?" Stephen asked me full of bitterness.
The answer was obvious. I put a hand to my forehead and closed my eyes.
"Faïz!" I murmured before reopening my eyelids, "I'm... I'm sorry, you're collateral damage to what's going on between me and him."
"To tell you the truth, I kind of figured that. Seems like a hell of a control freak."
"Just a maniac," I replied in a low voice.
"Georgia's his daughter, isn't she? You only have to see the two of them, standing next to each other, to understand."
I nodded and turned my face in her direction. She ran across the room laughing with all her might, trying to escape from Lexy and Asarys who were chasing her.
"Did you come with your car?"
My eyes fell upon him again.
"No, we came with Asarys."
Martinez sighed deeply, as if to give himself courage.
"I've got a little time to waste, could I give you a ride home? We could stop at one of those horrible fast food places on the way home."
Surprised, it took me a few seconds to react. An expression of concern ran through his features succinctly. The poor guy must have spent a bad day to suffer the whims and reproaches of Faïz. Feeling pity, I didn't want it to end on a bad note.
"OK, we can do this," I agree. "Wait for me outside, I'll meet you with Georgia right away."
While I was getting dressed and checking my phone at the same time, the girls were already on my back, "You said he was for me!" grumbled Lexy, giving me a discreet nudge.
"You've got enough on your plate with Jul tonight. Try to be nice to him and distract him as much as you can!"
"Fuck you! You'll see how I'm going to make that pretentious little prick speak about everything."
"Zoe, I can bring you home," Asarys insisted, "I don't want you to feel you have to go back with Martinez just because he showed up here."
"Girls, it's OK. Call me as soon as you hear anything new on the case."
I took off my shoes one after the other and watched for a moment as Officer Martinez, standing in the middle of the living room, glanced at the master paintings hanging on the walls. It was almost strange to see him here, outside of his duties. I gave him a slight smile when his face turned towards me. The lingering dark circles on his pale complexion indicated how hard his days must be at the moment. His gray eyes smiled at the same time as his mouth as he smiled.
"Is Georgia asleep yet?"
"No, my daughter likes to draw before bed. It's her little ritual."
"And Lily and Charles aren't at the Villa?"
"Their work takes up a lot of their time. They'll be home late."
Stephen rubbed his chin and looked away before coming back at me. His gestures as well as his eyes betrayed his emotions.
"Would you like something to drink?" I was uncomfortable.
"I could use a glass of scotch, thank you."
While doing so, I decided to ask him a few questions about the course of future operations in the hope that he would be able to answer me.
"To tell you the truth, Stephen, I feel a little left out about this mission that you and the government are preparing against the Maestro."
Agent Martinez took the glass I handed him without looking me straight in the eye. He seemed suddenly caught off guard.
"As of now, we're thinking about different strategies to catch Pavel alive. You know that dead, he would be of no use to us. This is very delicate. If he feels the noose tightening around him, he could end his life and the Maestro would escape from us once again."
Anxious, I ran a hand through my hair.
"Pavel is ready to fight fair," Stephen continued. "However, the demonic entity that inhabits him increases his strength tenfold and makes him extremely powerful. William was unable to defeat him."
Martinez pinched his lips and suddenly plunged his eyes, tinged with sadness and guilt, into mine, before
trying to make up for it:
"Zoe, I'm sorry. My words came out too fast. I didn't mean to..."
"It's all right," I reassured him, despite the sudden pain that came back into my chest. "I was the one who put the subject on the table. I must overcome this trauma if I want to move forward."
He nodded with a forced grin and swallowed a sip of his scotch.
"It's Faïz who will fight Pavel," he informed me by putting his empty glass on the kitchen counter.
The anguish overcame me, it hugged me and prevented me from reacting. I had already lost too many people around me. A horrible feeling overwhelmed me.
"Zoe, you have to trust us," Stephen tried to reassure me. "I assure you the government won't let Faïz handle this on his own. We're doing everything we can to keep the situation under control."
His face opened before my dismay, revealing a man of great gentleness who undoubtedly possessed a soul of great kindness. He then took me in his arms. This comforting gesture was enough to bring down this overflow of control, and God knew how much I needed it. Suddenly, applause disturbed this moment of calm.
"So Martinez, that's what the break I gave you earlier is for! There's nothing more urgent to do, is there?"
Stephen, barely affected, straightened up and raised his shoulders.
"Mr. Mattew, I'm sure you came to talk to me about the meeting you threw me out of," ironically said the young man with a smile on his face. "As a result, I had one of my own with Zoe."
"I hope you enjoyed his company?"
His voice, deceptively sweet, forced me to intervene before the situation escalated.
"Stephen, thank you for..."
"Stephen?" cut me Faïz, harshly. "Do you know each other well enough to call each other by your little names?"
The latter, with a dark, unsubdued look in his eyes, smiled a smile of exaggerated friendliness and visibly refrained from exploding with anger. I prayed deep inside me that Stephen wouldn't get into his little game and decide to leave the villa. Unfortunately, that wasn't the case. He immediately responded to the provocation:
"And I thought a man with an oversized ego like yours couldn't be afraid of anything or anyone. I hope I'm not next on your long list of people to shoot!"