Last Voyages

Chapter 30

Shivers ran up my spine and I shook my head to clear the thought from my mind. That's not Bella. She's against killing in the first place, she wouldn't forget her morals because of anger.

"When I see those men...they're dead. I'm going to kill them." 

My eyes widen as Bella's murderous words pop up in my mind and I find myself doubting her control. 

"I'll be back." I mutter, leaving the three and walking over to Bella, hoping she wouldn't snap at me. For some reason I felt if I talked to her I could confirm for myself if she would react badly when we found Layla or not. 

My feet stop right behind her, the wind blowing her blonde ponytail to the side and I pause, my own hair getting blown by the wind. I take a deep breath before sighing, taking another step to be beside her, looking out at the sea.

I slide my eyes over without moving my head, seeing her looking at me with her eyebrow raised. Crossing my arms over my chest, I fix my eyes back on the water, seeing the sun sparkle across the surface as the water gracefully moves back and forth.

"You know, you shouldn't be glaring at everyone. They all think you're going to attack them." I say lowly and out of the corner of my eye I see Bella's jaw tighten. She remains silent so I take this as my opportunity to keep talking.

"I'm sorry for trying to put my level of anger on the same plane as yours. It isn't. Of course I'm still angry that Layla was taken, but I can't imagine what you're feeling. Maybe it was the same feeling of me losing my father." I guess, turning to look at her, trying to gauge her reaction.

She turns to look at me and narrows her eyes slightly.

"What are you trying to get at?" she asks and I frown. "Bella I don't want you to snap." I say bluntly and she laughs. But it wasn't her normal, sweet laugh, but a mocking laugh that made me cringe a little.

"You don't want me to snap? I wish I would've had that convenience when you snapped at me. But don't worry about that. I'm not like you, Harry. I won't snap." she says heatedly and her words pierce my heart. Of course it hurt having my mistake thrown back in my face, but she was right.

"I know...but also you've never been in this position before. You weren't even this angry when your mother was taken." I defend myself, trying to make her see that I was actually worried for her but I didn't have the words to say it.

"That was different. They took my mother to capture us for France, but they took Layla to spite me." she says, my eyebrows furrowing down. "Spite you?" I ask confused and she gives me a wary look.

"They have no beef with me. It's you they want. But since I have a connection to you, they want to lure you out by luring me out. What better way to do that than take the one person I love most away from me?" she asks angrily and I frown.

What she was saying made sense. These bandits didn't have any reason to go after Layla besides the fact I was her father. They knew I cared for Bella and she for me, especially after taking a sword for me. So one way to draw me out was to take away Bella's pride and joy - aka Layla - to evoke her response to get me to respond.

"That's a long drawn out process, don't you think?" I mutter, rubbing my hand against my head and Bella chuckles darkly. "Of course it is. These bandits are a lot smarter than you think, and a lot more resourceful. Obviously their inside agent isn't Wesly, but somehow they knew when we would leave. And they knew exactly who to take. If anyone else would've been taken, it wouldn't have provoked the same emotions or urgency. They want this over with." she says and I stare at her surprised.

"Over with?" I ask and she rolls her eyes at me with a sigh. 

"They've been wanting you and your family dead for a long time. Yet they've been ghosts over the last six years? Think about it Harry. It's like they wanted you to come back to us. They've been waiting all this time to strike. Why do you think they did that?" she asks, turning towards me finally and looking me in the eye.

I stare into her blue eyes, her questions resonating through me. The more I talked to her, the more reasonable she sounded. Her fury hid behind her words because she controlled it...yet her theory of these bandits were spot on.

The reason they waited...the reason they stayed hidden...

"They're planning something big." I whisper and she nods to me. "They obviously have something in mind that needed a bigger audience than just you. That's why they waited to drag me back into it. And now you have Shayla again as well. Everyone who disappeared six years ago came back and are together again, plus we have Layla too. All these pieces fell into place for a reason." she says and a sense of dread fills my stomach as I think of this aspect.

"That's why you were talking about a war." I say and she nods. "This isn't a simple game Harry. They're in it for something huge. I don't know what but I can bet you anything when we get to that island we are going to find out." She says and I take in a deep breath.

"So...why do they need everyone?" I ask a little confused and she frowns. "Use your head, Harry. Why do you think? All of us have a role in their game." she says and my eyes widen.

"Think about it. Whoever their agent is? That's the source of information. You're the main target, but to get to you and make you suffer they need pawns. Layla, Louis, Niall, Shayla, and me. We're pawns. We have been given our own agenda for their game. This entire ship is a piece they've factored in and every crew member you have is probably someone they've prepared for." she says and I blink a few times processing this.

"But why? What's the point of all this? If they just wanted to kill me they should've come at me already!" I argue and Bella shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know that part. But I can assure you of this. When we save Layla, we are going to figure out what they're planning." she says, both of us frowning as I hear those dreaded words from her mouth.

"And I don't know if we'll be ready for it."

Yay I updated!! I hope you like this chapter. It may seem odd how Bella is going back and forth with her anger, but remember she has always been a character with a level head. Anyways, please let me know what you think of the chapter and about Bella's theory of the bandits!! I've told y'all that the last arc is coming up, and the next chapter will officially start that arc!! I hope y'all are ready for it!