15- Sparks
A monastic calmness had settled in the villa the next day. Everyone went about their own business as best as they could, looking for information where they could find it. Alessio spent a large part of the day on the phone, making contact with the archaeological teams spread throughout the country, which he had mentioned the day before. The young Italian also tried to contact some important institutions in the capital and in Ankara, but didn't find anything interesting either. With Sasha's help, they contacted other international organisations whose roles were rather vague, but which could not help them to advance in their research either.
For his part, Mikhaïl concentrated for the umpteenth time on the translations. He tried to go back to almost everything from the beginning, even checking some extracts they had paid less attention to until then. During the afternoon, they went in town with Marie to pick up a few things and food for everyone. He enjoyed having this break in this little town lost in the middle of nowhere, which looked so different and so exotic comparing to his motherland.
Roman, for his part, tried to call on some friends from the Dark Net, but also, he didn't get any convincing results. He did some quick research on the history of the country, without success.
Kurtis had gotten up early in the morning, and after a quick cup of coffee, he had also started working on checking the translations. His mother had visited him regularly during the day, worried. She forced him to take a break later in the day so that she could tend to his wounds. His rib still made him suffering and had woken him up several times during the night.
Lara, on the other hand, spent the morning training and taking care of her injured leg and arm. The villa's facilities were perfect for training: she went to the indoor gym to do a gentle workout to regain strength from her leg, under the watchful eye of Kurtis, who was seated not far away, on the other side of the window that opened onto the living room. To her great surprise, Sasha joined her for part of the training and even came to help her with some of the still painful movements. Here again, Marie's miraculous hands relieved her somewhat.
Later that day she made a call to Winston. The poor butler complained that he hadn't heard from her recently, which had not failed to upset him, and of course worried him. Lara preferred to avoid discussing the kidnapping part with him, and concentrated on the few historical information she needed him to check in books from the Croft Manor library.
Once again, she was more than delighted to see that the old butler had already transferred everything in digital form within an hour. She spent the rest of the day working on these documents in her quiet and secluded room. She wasn't especially looking for specific information, but somehow she hoped to find a clue or mentions about Turkish or Ottoman peoples who would have crossed the path of the Nephili at some point.
It was already late in the evening when everyone finally gathered around the large central kitchen island to share dinner all together. They quickly took stock, all visibly tired. The discussions turned short, everyone was on edge and anxious. The only good news that came out of this strange day was that Karel and his henchmen had given no sign of life. At least for the time being.
At the end of the meal everyone left the kitchen in the greatest silence. Kurtis and Roman went straight upstairs, while Alessio hung around for a while in his study at the back of the villa. It was quiet again in the house. Sasha, Mikhaïl and Lara stayed for a while in the living room to talk. The old Russian kept thinking over and over about the translations, annoyed and, above all, exhausted. Marie, who was passing by after a last cup of herbal tea, came to give him a friendly pat on the back.
"You should get some rest Mikhaïl, I don't think we'll get anywhere else tonight."
The Russian shook his head with a weary, resigned look on his face. He stood up and stretched.
"I'm definitely too old for this, indeed..."
Lara gave him a kind smile. She didn't know how she herself could cope with all this anxiety. Sasha stood up in turn, yawning.
"You're not going up?", she asked, when she realized the adventuress was not moving from her seat.
"I don't know, maybe I'll have a look at the scrolls for a change... we'll see each other tomorrow."
The Russian nodded her head and disappeared up the marble stairs. It was only after a good hour, when the sun's rays began were already low on the horizon that the adventuress resigned herself to go back to her room.
She walked down the corridor leading to the rooms with a light step. When she arrived in front of her own bedroom door, she took a look at the one opposite hers. She realised it was slightly open. As she approached and leaned over, she saw the mercenary smoking a cigarette on the balcony, leaning against the railing. Her gaze wandered over the man's belongings. His chirugai was resting quietly on the bedside table, on top of various documents and notes. An object caught her attention: a small open notebook, with a large leather strap, was placed not far from the metal disc. On the pages which were in sight, she noticed a drawing, or more precisely, the portrait of a young woman.
"You can have a look, if you like," she heard.
She jumped. The mercenary had not turned around. After a moment of hesitation, she finally stepped into the room, took the small notebook and headed for the balcony, limping as best as she could. Her long silk bathrobe seemed to float behind her. The white of the bandage on her thigh contrasted with the black of her satin pyjamas. She had pulled her long hair back to one side. She joined Kurtis and leaned against the balustrade next to him. He gave her a soothing smile. As he exhaled, the smoke dispersed in a small whirlpool into the air. Lara looked down at the notebook and the portrait. It was that of a young woman with big and bright eyes and medium-length brown hair, which she pushed back behind one ear. She had a determined and serious look, but her delicate features showed her fragility and natural charm.
"I didn't know you like drawing. She's really beautiful," the adventuress told him.
The Lux Veritatis looked away.
"A very sweet and smart person. She was one of the simple kind, deeply nice and devoted."
"What happened to her?"
The mercenary didn't answer right away. His gaze looked randomly at the lake and the desert landscape facing them.
"Her name was Ana. She was a journalist for a small local newspaper at the time. We had met during a mission, she was doing some research regarding strange events that had taken place in the region. We were together for a couple of years. She died because of me, during one of my missions. She got trapped by demons."
He took another draw on the cigarette. Lara looked down at the little notebook and its leather cover. She quickly flipped through the pages, blackened with all sorts of annotations, sketches and notes. She discovered a number of drawings of demons and monsters, but also formulas, pentacles and even maps.
"My own parents died in a plane crash when I was a young student. I don't even know how I survived. I spent several days completely alone in the Himalayan mountains, trying to survive. And I realise today this is what pushed me to be who I am, even if it cost me a lot sometimes."
The young woman looked up from Kurtis's diary.
"It is clear that not anybody could live the lives we live," she whispered.
The young woman suddenly saw a shadow passing on his face. Kurtis looked away, as if ashamed of something.
"Sometimes I'm just fed up with all of this... fighting against the impossible and the unreal... without never seeing the end of it nor get any satisfaction... it really wears myself out. The Lux Veritatis, the Agency... they took a lot from me, without ever giving me something in return..."
The young woman watched the young man standing next to her carefully.
"Did your mother know?"
He did not immediately understand the meaning of her question.
"She has always known, in fact. She never wanted this task to be entrusted to me, she was the first to stand up to my own father to prevent him from using me as cannon fodder."
A bitter smile appeared on the Lux Veritatis' face.
"I think she is the reason why I didn't go mad. She was the pillar I was able to hold on to for years. And even when I found her unwillingly enlisted in the war, she stood by me. She's been a great help in our fight against the Nephili since the very beginning, even if she's spent most of her life hiding to survive."
"I can feel she's a tough and admirable woman, indeed."
They exchanged a knowing smile.
"And now, I'm here to watch your back, too."
Kurtis let out a small laugh.
"Should I consider that you like to keep an eye on me, then?"
"Only on people who try to kill me...", she simply replied.
"Did I ever try to kill you?!"
"... nor to rob me", she added.
"A demon hunter is not necessarily a thief, Miss Croft."
"Should we talk about the Louvre affair?"
"Don't see anything personal."
A mischevious smile appeared on the American's face. Lara stayed still, silently watching him.
"What?"
Her eyes narrowed, and a slight smile appeared on her face.
"I just came to realise how mysterious you are, mr Trent", she said.
Kurtis straightened up, his gaze full of both defiance and playfulness.
"Alright. Tell me then, what more do you want to know, Miss Croft?"
The adventuress stood up too, her mouth pinched in reflection. She turned to him, one hand on her hip.
"How was it in the Lux Veritatis? I mean, it's hard to imagine the life of the shadow knights for ungodly people like me..."
Kurtis seemed to take the question seriously, studying the answer before answering.
"I spent the very first years of my life growing up where I was born, in Utah. My father had followed my mother to her homeland, they had found the perfect place to stay away from the world and hidden from the forces that threatened the lux Veritatis. But it didn't last very long. My father soon left for a mission again, and my mother and I had to go into exile quite quickly. We moved regularly from one town or region to another, and we even lived in several different countries. Now I understand that it was to keep me away and protect me from the fight my father was already fighting, even though all I saw as an little boy was being away from him."
The mercenary smashed the cigarette butt against the railing's stone, his gaze absent.
"After a few years, however, he made up for lost time. In his own way. When I got six years old, he very quickly enrolled me in the apprenticeship of the Lux Veritatis warriors. I had no choice, despite my mother's reluctance. My father had become the Order's supreme leader after the massacre of its leading members at the time, during a mission against Eckhardt that had gone wrong..."
Lara leaned on her arms, listening carefully to him. She noticed the lack of interest in his tone.
"That's when things started to get complicated. Our order was weakened, prey to the fear of seeing its strength diminish against our nephilim enemy who was slowly gaining in strength... my father then plunged into a kind of paranoia, all he could think about was fighting the Evil forces. All he cared about was the mission he had been given. That's all he thought about, he didn't eat, he hardly slept any more... all that mattered to him was to train and form new members to make them more powerful and prepare them for combat. Ironically, in this quest for power, my father's fanatical attitude unwittingly drew attention onto the Lux Veritatis. Certain Evil forces were unleashed against us to prevent us from carrying out our missions. This, by the way, cost the lives of several people, including Sasha and Roman's mother. That's when they left the order, and took them away, so that they could escape from the training. For this was indeed my father's plan: to train as a priority the children of the cult's members, including me, of course."
He sighed.
"Over the years, the training became harder and harder. He was literally coming down on me every time. I think his desire, more than anything else, was to leave me this legacy, and to help him in this war. He soon realised the scope of my powers was much greater than he had imagined. My abilities were much more developed than those of my comrades. I suffered without saying anything until I turned sixteen, even though deep down I felt I wanted to detach myself from all this. A big incident occurred because of me one day, I almost killed two tutors of mine."
"You were young, you hadn't fully mastered your powers yet..." Lara said softly.
"That's right. But my father had had the good idea to lock me in a cell and torture me for days."
The adventuress shook her head, dumbfounded.
"That's when they did this to you?"
Kurtis raised an eyebrow, silently asking what she meant.
"Your tattoo..."
The American turned round to reveal his bare back. Lara could now see with precision the huge tattoo she had quickly seen in St Petersburg, and which covered a major part of the mercenary's back. She approached, almost impressed: her gaze glided over the large V-shaped cross, tattooed right between the young man's two shoulder blades. She came over another tattoo, much more extensive and much more detailed. A mix of different circular branches, like those of a star, formed a sort of round pentacle or mechanism, which came over what looked like a starry sky, full of constellations. The shape of the pentacle strangely reminded the adventuress of the scion of Atlantis.
From above his shoulder, Kurtis watched her get concentrated. He could feel she was intrigued, a rush of electricity ran over his whole body when her fingers slid along the rough lines of the ink deeply fixed into his skin. Her touch was soft, almost fearful. The young woman's gaze then descended along his spine, and her eyes fell on an ugly scar somewhere on the left kidney.
"Can't imagine it was pleasurable," she told him.
He slowly turned around, leaning back on the railing.
"This is how each of us is definitely considered as a member of the order, and it has been like hell, indeed. To be honest, it lasted hours, and it felt like a real torture. I was twelve back then. This is how they start our training and test our mental abilities and resistance. The point is to shape us, somehow."
"You were only kids..."
"They knew how to take care of us at the LV."
They both laughed.
"It is beautiful, by the way."
"It was worth it, then", replied Kurtis, smiling gently.
Lara stepped a little back and looked up at him. Their eyes met once again.
"But as you can imagine, I quickly got bored of all of this. I just couldn't stand it anymore. I was always on the edge, trying to do my best in every moment, but it wasn't never enough. So when I turned nineteen, I just left the order without telling nobody, one day in the middle of the night. I heard my father went totally mad at me for this, but that was not my problem anymore. That's when I joined the Legion."
He paused, taking a deep breath.
"I had heard about it way before actually. I really wanted to go away, as far as possible. I knew this was the kind of place that would help me disappear without a trace, they wouldn't ask too much about my past and my abilities. In my young heart, I really hoped I could start a new life with them."
Kurtis sighed.
"Back to square one. I started my training with the Legion and as they had promised, I disappeared from view. Nobody knew where to find me, not even my mother. They changed my name, so that it would sound less... American."
"You can't fool anyone with your accent," Lara laughed.
"Come on, it's not that bad", Kurtis laughed in return.
They stared at each other.
"I made some few friends there. Lone wolves like me, tortured spirits... people who understood me actually. But I was safe only for a short period of time. After several months, I quickly got spotted because of my... facility of adaptation, efficiency and my coldness. That's how Gunderson and 'The Agency' spotted me, during a mission in Russia."
He looked up at Lara. The young woman moved beside him. She turned back to him, one hand on her hip.
"Wait a minute..."
Kurtis frowned.
"This guy..."
He frowned even more.
"The guy in Montsegur... you know him, right?"
The American shook his head.
"I'm guessing Fred, the hotel/barman guy? 'Course I know him... He's a good friend of mine, we were in the same squad."
She couldn't believe it. It suddenly all made sense.
"I understand better know... that's why he was not that surprised to see me there."
"I had spoken to him quickly about you, indeed."
She gave him a suspicious look, to which Kurtis responded with another smirk.
"And does he know what's in the castle basement?"
"More or less... he knows there's something important. He keeps an eye on it for me, and lets me know if anything unusual happens. That's how I knew Morgau was on the trail of the manuscripts."
"She was there the night I arrived in Montsegur, she broke into my room. She was probably hoping to find some clues."
"I was already gone, too bad for her."
"And we missed each other."
They observed each other with complicity.
"I imagine this was one of your main sanctuaries?"
"One of the oldest, yes. It was erected at the birth of the Order by the eight Cathar knights who had survived the massacre of 1244, in Monstsegur, in fact."
"Eight statues..."
Kurtis shook his head again.
"Aicard, Bogomil, De Combel, Guilhem, Limoux, Montsegur, Occitan and Vasiley."
Lara shook her head in turn.
"The letters on their pedestals. At first I thought it was a code to open the door, but Werner hadn't mentioned anything about it in his personal notes. I guess only a Lux Veritatis could know how to open it."
"Indeed, how did you manage to get in by the way?"
The young woman couldn't hold back a smile.
"You wouldn't believe me..."
"Don't tell me you just broke in."
She pursed her lips, holding back a laugh. She didn't notice it straight away, but Kurtis played with his hands for a moment before handing her something. It was the ring he was wearing.
"You can only gain access if you have one of these seals, the Sanctuary's opening mechanism can only be activated by its touch. If this is not the case, the knights had foreseen that a defence system would be triggered."
Lara looked at him again with an embarrassed look.
"Talking about it, I think Occitan doesn't feel really good..."
Kurtis gave her a disapproval look, both dismayed and admiring.
"Sorry about that."
Letting go of the false seriousness, he smiled. His gaze then turned to the landscape before them.
"From the moment I first saw you, I knew you would get me into troubles."
They stayed there for a while, shoulders against shoulders, admiring the view below. Lara's gaze got lost in the still waters of the lake. Far in the West, far behind the high mountains, the sun was slowly going down, spreading a comfortable pink light before night fall. Lara took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"I'd be curious to know what's behind those walls, you've got a kind of a rough shell," she heard him say in a whisper.
She couldn't help but smile.
"Behind my survivor and warrior shell, I'm a human being too, full of sensibility."
Kurtis turned towards her: his gaze traced down the softness of her face, her small noze, the lines of her injured cheeks and jawbones. Some strands of hair of hers were floating in the air as they escaped the long hair which was falling down on one of her shoulders and her breast. He suddenly realised it was the very first time he saw her with her hair down. He smiled.
"I'm sure you are," he replied, staring at her with intensity.
She slowly opened her eyes, and met Kurtis's crystal ones. As they just stared at each other, a shiver ran down the young woman's spine. Time stopped for a second. Their breath short, they leaned towards each other, and their lips met, roughly, impatiently, tenderly.
But as they barely started to kiss, someone knocked on the bedroom's door. They both jumped in surprise and instantly took a step back. Lara felt the red rushing to her cheeks and just looked down, embarrassed. She tried to get control over all the feelings that were running through her body and mind.
"Kurtis...?"
The mercenary cleared his throat and stepped towards Alessio, who had just entered the room. Incounsciously, he positionned himself between the Italian and the young woman, as if he wanted to protect her. He talked to the man in a more agressive way than he intended to, also embarrassed.
"What's going on?"
Alessio took a look at both Lara and Kurtis, and got suddenly hit by a revelation.
"Oh, sorry, maybe it's not the right moment-"
"It's not, indeed," the mercenary answered sharply.
"It is," Lara replied at the same time. "I was about to leave."
The Italian looked desperately confused. Sasha suddenly appeared at his side, she looked a little lost.
"What's going on?", she asked too.
"I'm really sorry to interrupt... But there's something you should see. I think Mikhaïl has found something that could be interesting."
The Italian then disappeared into the corridor. After a suspicious glance at the two adventurers, Sasha disappeared in her turn. Without asking any questions, Lara stepped out of the room and followed them, her gaze still lowered, too embarrassed to meet Kurtis'. She felt the mercenary was following in her footsteps, he too without a word.
They followed Alessio and his slender silhouette to the ground floor, who hurried down the stairs and up the corridor that ran along the large living room, before turning left into his study. They found themselves in a large room entirely decorated in lacquered mahogany wood with gold details. There were a few framed photos here and there, large paintings were hanging on the walls, and an old lamp gave the room a subdued, almost suffocating atmosphere.
Roman, Mikhaïl, and Marie had taken their places around a large desk in a refined style, on which the manuscripts were displayed. All of them, dressed in night clothes, raised their heads when the two adventurers and Sasha arrived. Lara felt the discomfort return, she wrapped herself in her dressing gown. Kurtis stepped forward behind her.
"There's something I wanted to show you," Mikhaïl told them.
Lara walked a few steps forward, her arms folded against her chest, her eyes full of questions. The Russian rummaged through the papers lying on the desk to find one in particular, which he showed to the two adventurers. It was one of the first pages of the Sleepers' scrolls, on which were represented the first sketches of the Nephili. In its centre, a monster was depicted standing with its arms in the form of a cross, as the Christ would have been. All around, the leaf was literally covered with drawings of the same kind: a head, a jaw, a body part or a skeleton. Various annotations completed these drawings.
The adventuress took another step forward to take a closer look. She frowned. The Russian pointed to a particular line in one of the drawings.
"What does it say?", Lara asked, not understanding what he was getting at.
"Nothing..."
The young woman frowned a little more, unsettled.
"...Because they're numbers," Kurtis intervened, looking a little more closely at the scroll.
The young man walked past the Englishwoman and grabbed the scroll. His gaze glided at full speed over the sketches.
"Something had struck me earlier," Mikhaïl continued, "but I couldn't figure out what exactly. When I read these pages again, I came across these lines... I tried to translate them but nothing came out in words, or at least nothing coherent, and with my rusty Latin... I told myself they might be some kind of measurements as they are related to those anatomic drawings. I didn't look any further and moved on to something else... it had been on my mind since dinner, so I went back down here to have a look again..."
The Russian grabbed one of his notes sheets, blackened by the pencil he had used. The words overlapped, intermingled in all directions, it was illegible.
Lara and Kurtis leaned forward a little more to get a closer look. They tried to decipher Mikhaïl's handwriting. In a corner of the sheet of paper, a series of numbers finally appeared, or rather, several.
24607S200110W43728S400310E122918S800110E84301N400615E83801N460720W
"It looks like a code," Kurtis murmured.
Sasha frowned in turn, worried. She grabbed a piece of paper and quickly scribbled on it.
"And what if...", she began, but she fell silent almost immediately, concentrated.
Lara looked down at what the young Russian was writing. After a few moments, she stood up, brandishing her paper, her gaze triumphant.
"...Or GPS coordinates," she concluded.
Lara looked down at Sasha's writings.
2 46 07 S 20 01 10 W
4 37 28 S 40 03 10 E
12 29 18 S 80 01 10 E
8 43 01 N 40 06 15 E
8 38 01 N 46 07 20 W
The young women glanced at one another. Kurtis grabbed the paper and went to sit behind the desk. Lara approached in turn, Alessio and Marie stood in a corner to make room for them.
"Do you think it's possible?", Lara asked him.
The American remained silent for a moment, concentrating on Mikhaïl's parchment and Sasha's paper. Then, slowly, he raised his gaze to the adventuress who was watching him from the other side of the desk, leaning on it.
"Do you think the knights of the time were intellectually advanced enough to include this kind of detail?", asked Sasha, who didn't seem convinced at all. "We're talking about scrolls that were written centuries ago, it seems very unlikely to me that they used GPS coordinates at the time?"
"You'd be surprised to know our ancestors were relatively advanced in geographical sciences, they already had fairly advanced notions of calculation and orientation, especially during the Middle Age. But I think those ones could have been added after, indeed," Kurtis interrupted her.
"But do you think it could be the coordinates of the Nephili cradles?", Mikhaïl asked.
"Could be... the information had to be passed on in some way over the centuries...", Kurtis replied.
The young man bit his lips, in full reflection. He rocked backwards in the big leather seat with his hands folded behind his neck. His gaze shifted from the notepaper to the parchment.
"If that's all it is, give me those codes," Roman intervened.
All eyes turned towards him.
"I imagine that the coordinates are not necessarily in the right order, that would be too easy," Sasha told him. "I don't see how you'll-"
"I won't, but my computer will."
A flash of hope passed through Lara's eyes. The young woman straightened up.
"Do you think that if you put the data into the system, there would be a way to find out what they corresponded to?"
"Nothing more simple. I'll enter the codes and have all possible combinations analysed. The software will bring out all the matches, all we have to do is check whether the addresses that emerge are coherent, or whether there is a link with what we have found so far."
"How long do you think it will take before we get a conclusive result?", the American asked.
"That's the problem, it can take a long time... the system will need time to study and process all the probabilities, and to output all the results... it will take at least several hours, or even a few days..."
A breath of frustration blew through the room. All seven suddenly became discouraged.
"It's far too long," Sasha said. "We'll have had time to die maybe three or four times by the time we find something..."
"It might be worth a try anyway," Lara answered. "It's the only solution we have at the moment."
Marie shook her head, distraught.
"I really hope Karel hasn't found anything yet. It is dangerous to wait a few more days, he will gain even more strength."
"Lara's right, mum, I don't see what more we can do, we have no other leads to explore. As long as Alessio's teams haven't detected anything suspicious, we still have a chance."
The Italian nodded silently. Roman discreetly grabbed the paper on which Sasha had scribbled on and settled down before his computer. He played on the heyboard at high speed, before pressing the enter key.
"It's started," he announced. "No need to waste another minute."
There was silence in the room. Only the hum of the computer's central unit could be heard.
"You won't be able to help me any more for the moment, you can go back upstairs and rest if you want. I'm going to stay here, I'd rather check that everything is going well."
"I'll take over in a few hours, if you want," Alessio suggested. "There's no point in staying up all night to monitor a computer, it's better to take turns."
"I'll take a turn too," Sasha intervened. "It will be simpler and more comfortable if we do it together."
Kurtis got up from his seat. As he was about to speak, the young Russian woman interrupted him.
"You two go up and rest. We don't need you for now, just try to recover a little, it's already late."
Lara was about to protest too, but she changed her mind when she saw Marie's eyes.
"I don't want to offend you Lara, but I think Sasha is right. Not that you can't do it, but you and Kurtis are more of a grassroots people, no offence. You will be more useful to us rested and healthy."
Resigned, Lara nodded slowly. Marie was already turning her heels to go back up, followed by Sasha. Mikhaïl and Alessio spoke for a moment with Roman and Kurtis, who took a discreet look at the young woman, who had just rushed through the door. She limped back upstairs without turning back. As she was about to enter her room, someone stopped her by the wrist.
She couldn't look up at him. She just glanced at him over her shoulder. Her own voice sounded far away, devoid of any emotion.
"No, I... we shouldn't...", she said, in a low voice.
The mercenary let go of her wrist, which slipped between his fingers as she walked through the door and disappeared. He stood still there for some seconds, suddenly struck by a bittersweet feeling. He sighed and turned round.
—
Her kneels held close to her, the young woman was sitting on the edge of her balcony, silently watching the night lights. The air was cool, but it soothed her. She had not been able to sleep, lost in her thoughts.
The wound under the thick bandage started hurting her again. She grimaced. An additional pain pointed somewhere at her temple. She closed her eyes for a few seconds and took a deep breath. She didn't like feeling like that.
Destabilized
She shook her head, annoyed. Her thoughts got her back to this parisian night in the Louvre, when it had all begun. This burning sensation it gave to her when she had got caught into his arms, unable to move as he ran through her backpack to steal the painting. This weird feeling of raging challenge that had risen from deep inside of herself at this very moment, as she understood she was facing someone finally as skillful and determined as she was.
Actually, she realised she had very rarely felt this way before. She had seen so much and had always been in control of everything. She had never doubted to go for it, whenever it was time to, whatever was the price for it. She had always survived the remotest parts of the planet and the worst traps. But there, it wasn't a question of dodging a death trap, nor an enemy that she could have shot down with a 9mm gun. No matter how far she ran, she could not escape. And wherever she ran, reality hit her even harder. She had tried so hard to avoid all those feelings during the last past months. She had to resit. Her reason kept her resisting. She knew she was not afraid, but she had to face the facts.
I don't want to loose you into those darkness
She sighed. She ran a hand over her tired face. Her body needed rest, but in this state she would be unable to give it. Her gaze got lost again in the waters of Iznik. The lapping of the water against the rocks soothed her for a fraction of a second.
Then she swivelled and got down from the railing, holding on with her arms, until her feet finally touched the ground. She limped to the door.
—
The moon was shinning bright in the dark sky. The evening breeze swept the lake waters, and some of the few trees that stood in front of his bedroom. In the distance, the calls of a few wild birds lost in the night could be heard. After a quick shower, the young man went out on the balcony to breathe the evening air. He took a cigarette from his pocket and lit it.
The first puff gave him a very brief sensation of relief, before the knot that had settled in the pit of his stomach returned. He massaged the back of his neck with a nervous gesture. His thoughts were racing at high speed and in all directions, he was unable to silence the doubts that had suddenly taken hold of him.
He had never let himself be easily destabilized or distracted, especially when it came to delicate missions. He risked his life at every moment, and much more. He always put his own feelings and emotions aside. He had spent his whole life resisting and going against his own feelings and convictions. That's how he had learned to survive. And yet, for the first time in his life, he doubted.
He shook his head slightly.
The fact their paths had crossed in Paris was undoubtedly pure chance, but having found her again when everything should have been behind them was almost like fate. It was as if the whole universe had conspired against him to bring him face to face with reality.
He shouldn't have felt this way, he knew it was a bad idea and that it put them both in danger, and he knew that was exactly how the young woman herself felt. It was completely irrational, and he knew it. And yet he felt more than ever he could not go against what he felt. The battle raged within him. From the moment their paths had first crossed, and from the moment he had understood, he had fought. With all his strength, he had fought against this wave that was gradually submerging him. But the truth had imposed itself on him. Whenever he tried to look away, all his thoughts irremediably drove him back to her. Whatever he did, she was there. And more than ever, this feeling imposed on himself.
He blew out the smoke he had just inhaled before letting out a long sigh. He knew very well it was risky, and what it all implied. A rift had opened, and he knew now there would be no turning back. Nonetheless, the only fear he could feel now was the fear of rejection, the fear of the hope's uncertainty which slowly took shape in front of him, and above all, the fear of this powerful bond that was being created between them and which he could not resist.
In a last gesture, he finished his cigarette, discarded the butt before going to bed, bitter.
—
The floor was ice cold under her bare feet. The whole villa was silent and peaceful. Everything was dark, except for a ray of moon that pierced through a small window down the long corridor. She considered the wooden door before her. She could feel her heart beating hard in her chest as she felt a little bit nervous now. Then she decided to knock on the door.
After several long seconds, the door handle finally moved. She found herself right in front of a bare chest Kurtis.
"I can't sleep", she simply said.
What am I doing?
Indeed she suddenly realised how stupid what she had just told him was. The American looked down at her, half sleepy, leaning onto the door.
"Okay. And, is there any particular reason for that?"
Lara crossed her arms on her chest and their eyes locked. As she stayed still before him, the young man sighed, his gaze as cold as ice.
"I thought you were able to read minds."
"I thought we shouldn't," he retorted coldly.
She took a deep breath, as if she was about to give him an answer, but her lips couldn't move. Something got stuck deep inside her. Her feelings were driving her crazy, and somehow she hoped Kurtis would feel it and understand what was going on in her mind. But the mercenary didn't move either. Still waiting for a reaction that finally didn't come, Kurtis sighed again.
"I go back to bed. Good night."
With these words, the mercenary looked away and closed the door in the young woman's face with a sharp slam. It took a few seconds for the adventuress to understand what had just happened. Offended, she took a first step backwards, then turned her heels in the direction of her own room with a hesitant step. She barely past the door and stopped dead in her tracks. She abruptly turned round, walked back across the corridor, and in her momentum, opened wide the door to Kurtis's room and slammed it behind her. The young man, who had just sat back in bed, got up in a jump.
"What the-"
"How dare you?"
"What are you talking about?", the young man asked, completely lost.
Their gazes locked as she approached him with a determined step. Her eyes were literally burning with anger. The mercenary observed her, almost in shock. He could tell by the look in her eyes her thoughts were just as confused as his, she was visibly trying to figure it all out. And so was he.
"Who the hell do you think you are?", she asked, out of herself.
"What the hell are you talking about Croft? You're the one here who rushed into my room, yelling at me… What's wrong with you?"
"Are you telling me this is all my fault now? Come on... Don't play that game with me..."
"And what kind of game would I be playing exactly?"
The mercenary observed her, almost in shock. He could tell by the look in her eyes her thoughts were just as confused as his, she was visibly trying to figure it all out. And so was he. Lara shook her head and crossed her arms against her chest and rose her chin slightly, as if it would protect her. His eyes were literally piercing her.
"Don't blame me or get mad at me for something you feel yourself," Kurtis told her calmly.
The adventuress just stared at him, unable to utter a single word for some long seconds. He was right. She realized she was just shocked by facing what she had been trying to hide so deep inside herself. She had the feeling the ground was slowly disappearing under her feet, and that the walls were slowly closing in on her, as if imprisoning her. For the first time in her life, she could not see any way out. And she didn't know how to feel about it. She let out an outraged chuckle, destabilized.
"You're so arrogant..."
"Arrogant?", Kurtis replied cynically. "Are you fucking serious? Tell me again who fucked it all up in the Ermitage after deciding that she had better ideas and she would just go on her own?"
"Don't try to turn this around."
"I'm not turning this around, I'm just trying not to loose ground! You're always overreacting and you can't stand not being the one who makes the rules..."
"Says the lonely warrior who has forgotten he's not the only one involved in all this," Lara said, turning her gaze back to the mercenary.
"Are we seriously having this conversation again?"
"Yes we are, because you're the one who started this!", she yelled as she stepped forward too.
"And what did I start exactly?"
Silence fell between them. Kurtis massaged his neck distractedly, and let out a small nervous laugh, visibly offended.
"If you're referring to what happened earlier-"
"That's not what I'm talking about," Lara replied abruptly, trying to hide her own feelings.
"And so tell me, what are you talking about precisely, Lara? Because I don't see the point you're trying to get at here."
She couldn't hold back the feeling of anger that was suddenly overhelming her. She crossed her arms again, upset. She watched Kurtis carefully as his piercing eyes met hers.
"This is not a game," he told her softly.
"I know."
"And you should know I'm in the same situation..."
"I know..."
"...and you should know you can trust me, I am no threat to you."
"I know!"
Not able to resist anymore, Lara took another step forward and pushed him against the wall, pointing a finger to his chest. The mercenary couldn't hide his surprise.
"Look, you're definitely not the only one with a Damocles sword hanging over your head here. You're right, I'm always overreacting, and I know I'm a complicated woman. And indeed I hide myself behind a wall. But I've come to the conclusion this is just the way I am. It's me, that's who I am. I deal with it and I survive. I've always been in control of everything. And yet now, I feel like everything is slipping away... I definitely feel like I'm loosing control on everything. The world is about to be destroyed. Everything we knew before will possibly disappear. And I don't think the human beings will survive this anyway. And it is highly possible we will both die fighting for not getting to this... But you know what? This is nothing to me, as there is only one thing that really frightens me and obsesses me above it all..."
Kurtis waited for her to finish the sentence. He had a serious look on his face, and didn't take his eyes off her.
"...you."
Her brain froze. She felt like she had just toppled over the void, above a cliff that would have been hundreds of meters high. Her heart was beating hard against her rib cage. She held her breath, waiting for the mercenary's reaction. She just stared at him, unable to utter another word. For long seconds, Kurtis remained as if frozen, unable to move. His azure eyes got lost into the young woman's. A strange flame glowed in them.
"You should have started with this."
She felt his soft hands tighten around her waist. Without thinking, Lara grabbed his face and caught him in a furious kiss. At first afraid he would push her away after such hard words, she felt his strong arms tighten their grip around her. After a few moments however, she stopped hugging him and pushed him away slightly. Her determined gaze crossed the young man's piercing eyes, obviously unsettled by what was happening.
"Just be aware that I don't like being held up like that," she told him firmly.
Kurtis couldn't hold back a cynical laugh. The young woman saw a shadow of defiance passing through his eyes.
"You'll have to get used to it."
"You've got a hope," she responded between clenched teeth.
The mercenary swung her around. He dangerously pressed his own body against hers, blocking her against the wall. She felt his arms sliding on her skin again, cutting off any response.
"Has anyone ever told you about your bad temper?", he asked in a breath, panting.
Their faces were so close she could feel his hot breath against her skin.
"That makes a common point."
He grabbed her by the neck and drew her to him again. Their breaths mingled before their lips furiously met again, this time in a much more sustained kiss. The adventuress let her fingers run through the mercenary's hair, and pulled his firm body against hers. Blood was pulsating almost violently in her veins. She wouldn't have been able to describe how she felt exactly at this very moment. She just felt trapped: she wanted him and there was nothing she could against it.
The young man let go of her, panting, his azure eyes scanning her face. She let her hands go down on the arch of his back, before reaching his bottom. She pressed her hips against his. The mercenary's hands slid under her tank top, his fingertips softly brushing her ribs and the base of her breasts. He grabbed her top and put it over her head in a hurry, before throwing it a little further into the room. He lifted her up and helped her to put her legs around him, before carrying her to the large bed, on which they fell heavily.
Kurtis stood over her, blocking her arms above her head. As he leaned over to kiss her, Lara pushed on one leg, making them both swing, and finally found herself on top of the young man.
He grabbed her by the neck to get her close again. Their lips chewed affectionately as they swivelled once more. The young man got rid his trousers, before lingering on the young woman's hips. She couldn't hold back a sigh when he kissed her on the navel and as his hands slid along her skin and thighs to remove her stockings.
With tenderness, he came to lie on her. The heat emanating from him was incredibly strong, almost feverish. An intense heat wave invaded the young woman in her turn. She had the feeling everything around them was suddenly disappearing. She had the weird impression her senses were multiplied, that something was burning inside her, as if her soul was slowly going out of her own body. Their eyes met, they were unable to look away from one another. A smirk slowly appeared on the mercenary's face.
Go to hell with your damn little smirk
His smile only grew bigger as a small smile finally appeared on the young woman's face. He felt her body shake below him, longing for more. He caught her lips with his. They kissed hard, almost desperately. She grabbed him and held him close, almost scratching his back. She blocked him between her legs, he couldn't wait any longer. As he pushed himself into her, they let out a moan of pleasure in perfect unison.
