Disclaimer – I own no one in this story

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Chapter Eleven

† Flight †

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“Nice name.” Kiera told him, trying to keep the sarcasm in her tone inconspicuous, but he caught it and shot her an amused look.

“Liar.” He said. “It’s a terrible name, but there’s not much I can do to help it.” He stood up and again moved towards the sandwiches, placing the one he had in his hands upon a small white napkin. It had been left untouched. “Are you going to help me Kiera Croft?” He asked softly, still staring at the white bread resting under his fingertips. He seemed to be frozen, awaiting her answer in sheer anticipation. He was obviously worried she would refuse.

For some strange reason, Kiera found that she trusted this young man. He had no other reason to cause her harm, and he had just saved her life, at a great risk to his own. She felt that she owed him something, and as he had helped her, she should help him. Besides, he was cute and that sort of thing helped in these decisions. “I will help.” She said with a smile. “Just tell me what to do.”

A smile broke through Karel’s face and he pulled Kiera into a quick embrace, kissing her cheek. “Thank you!” He sang gratefully. “Thank you Kiera, thank you!”

Blushing, Kiera hung her head, her hair falling over her face like a curtain as he pulled away so he could not see how red her cheeks had just turned. Some sort of warm feeling was uncoiling in her stomach and felt an embarrassed smile quirk her lips upward slightly, even as she mentally scolded herself for such a reaction. She liked this boy, she decided. “What happens now?”

“We book our flight.”

“Flight?!”

“We’re going to Cappacodia.” He announced with another one of his grins. “We need to somehow help my… ah… relatives to get back to the human plane… so they can beat the Nephilim back of course.” His face wore a strange smug expression. “Cappacodia has an intricate web of underground cities, and there, it is said, lies the doors to Sheol. Apparently all the Nephilim need is one blood sacrifice to get back here, but the Repha’im are loath to waste lives, so all we need to bring them back is a single drop of blood. More importantly, yours. You are part Lux Veritatis, part Sorceress, I can see it in your eyes… and such a mix is not to be taken lightly. Your blood is so similar to your mothers, but your father… well… aside from being the last of his kind, he was also the strongest. That sort of thing leaves a mark.”

“You know my parents?” Kiera’s eyebrows shot up.

“Indirectly.” Karel said a little too quickly. “They are… legends where I come from. I would’ve loved to have met your father, but I had heard he came to a rather painful end?”

Kiera looked at him. “He didn’t die. Something happened, and I don’t know what, but somehow the blade my … grandmother used dragged his–”

“Whoa, whoa… what blade? I thought he died in the Strahov…” His eyes went wide and he began to pace, his face pale. “He was impaled by a creature… one of–” And then he stopped, seeming to remember something. He glanced at Kiera and smiled, the tension seeming to simply wash off his shoulders. “It’s an old tale, maybe I got confused, it wasn’t widely known who accompanied your mother in that place, but only she came out alive. Or so it was thought. No matter, it’s only a story.”

“Yes…” Kiera said, though she wasn’t so sure. “A story.” She shook her head and smiled. “So… when are we going to book our flight?”

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Kiera knelt down upon the hard tile floor and dragged the gleaming Chirugai from her backpack, turning it over in her hands. It was cool to the touch, despite the backpack being next to the radiator for the better part of an hour, and its shining face was perfectly smooth. Wondrously, she passed her hand over it and closed her eyes, focusing her mind upon the metal glaive he held. Her mind soared, easier than it had been before and she concentrated upon her father’s essence. With a jolt, she entered his mind and spoke quickly, carefully. Dad? You awake?

Yep. His tone was relieved. Are you coming home yet?

Not yet… Kiera chewed on her lip, wondering how she could say this without Kurtis and Lara packing their bags and following her to Turkey. I’m… going to…

Going to… what? Kurtis’ tone was now warning and Kiera winced.

Cappacodia. She said quickly. Bye Dad… got to go!

Hang on just a moment miss! Kiera’s stomach dropped as she recognised her mother’s voice.Cappacodia? That’s in Turkey! Have you taken complete leave of your good sense?

Kiera sighed. Someone needs my help. Someone close to my age called Karel, he wants my help to revive the Repha’im to kill the Nephilim… or something like that. I’m completely safe, he won’t hurt me.

There was a stunned silence and Kiera quickly took her advantage and removed her mind from the glaive, knowing that they wouldn’t be able to get back in touch with her. She didn’t know how she knew, she just did. The bathroom door knocked. “Kiera? You ok in there?”

“I’ll be out in a minute.” Kiera called, dragging herself to her feet and swinging the pack onto her back.

“Good, ‘cause the planes takin’ off soon. We don’t wanna miss it do we?”

Kiera grinned. “Nope.”

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Lara’s eyes were wide as she looked at Kurtis; her face turned a deathly pale. “Karel?” She demanded. Kurtis himself, was shaking, half in anger and half with fear. Fear for his daughter and he immediately struck out, punching an unoffending wall with about as much strength he could and more. The wall caved in and he stood there, seething silently while Lara stared at him, eyes wide but still standing strong.

“That… bastard… has… my… daughter.” He said in short gasps. “THAT FUCKING BASTARD!”

“Kurtis.”

“WHAT?!” He ripped his throbbing fist from the wall and seized a chair with is hands, angry enough to resort to pure brute strength than his mind, and he threw it against the wall he had just assaulted, showering them both with splinters. Lara stepped close to him and slapped him sharply around the face, her own features carefully composed.

“I can’t talk to you when you’re in hysterics.” She said coolly. “We need to get Kiera back here, now and if she’s going to Turkey, probably to revive the Nephilim that have been trapped in Sheol, we need to be with her to protect her.”

“Sheol?” Kurtis’ cheek was smarting but he tried to ignore it. His anger had been headed off by Lara’s slap but he still had urges to go kill things, namely Karel. The name Sheol had the ringing sound of familiarity to it and he frowned slightly. “One of the Underworlds… the worst one if I am not mistaken.”

Lara nodded. “Sounds about right.”

“Okay. So we need to head Kiera off… and quickly. I have a few friends in Cappacodia… some I shouldn’t have, given my reputation, but one of them has a very good excuse for wanting to help me… I may just call in a favour.” Kurtis reached for the phone. “Only problem is, is that I don’t know if the fellow’s still alive, if not, I think I may have to speak with his son…”

“Who are you talking about?”

“A demon master… he had ties with the Nephilim himself, he may have been distantly related to our friend, but he was betrayed and now he only lives for ruining every chance the Nephilim have of returning. I saved his life once, and so he owed be a debt.” Kurtis explained. His knuckles were stinging and they were wet, telling him, to no surprise that he was bleeding.

“What makes you think his son would acknowledge the debt?”

“It was over twenty years ago. His son, Valentine, wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for my intervention. I think he’d be grateful enough.” Kurtis quickly dialled a number and began to pace, his face serious. After a moment, he stopped pacing. “Hey, is that… how’d you know I’d be callin’?” A worried frown crossed his face and Lara started forwards, her hand reaching out to brush Kurtis’ shoulder. “Is she alright?” He became silent for a moment and then nodded. “Right… So Valentine’s already… yeah… uhuh… yeah… I think I understand. Why is he helpin’?” A few more moments and the Kurtis sighed. “Alright, we’ll come visit in a day or two… we have to pack and then we’ll go straight to your place. Tell Valentine to rest and he’ll be back to normal in a few days. Thanks, I’ll be in touch.” And then he pressed a button on the cordless phone and set it back down.

“What happened?”

“It seems he’s one step ahead of us. Karel has been seen using the guise of a teenage boy, and Valentine’s more than a little suspicious so he decided to investigate. Then he saw Kiera.” He smirked. “It seems that Valentine lives up to his name.”

“Are you going to explain?” Lara snapped.

Kurtis sighed. “Since he saw Karel’s men kidnap our daughter, he’s been obsessed with helping her. Raphael thinks it’s because Valentine knows what Karel plans to do when the rest of us don’t.”

Lara nodded and then turned to her wardrobe. “At least we have some people on our side, Kurtis.” She said. “But I’ll tell you something for nothing… I’m going to make Karel wish he died at the Strahov.”

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Thanks To:

Kez92p9: Thanks! Here's your update and I hope you enjoy. Hopefully this is going to clear up a lot of cunfusion :) glad u liked the last chapter

TangoFever: I couldn't resist,. I had bad block with that chapter and i just wrote that one line and everything started forming from there :) glad you liked it

BLACKCAT1393: Its not THAT good :O calm down!

Chakra Spirit: I agree:P Totally... well .. heres the next chapter. u can see its all unfolding :P