Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Angels and Demons ❯ His Thoughts...Again ( Chapter 10 )

A/N: And now on to the action!

 

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The man stepped toward him.

 

Dante's eyes flashed angrily. In less than a second he was standing before the man. He took him by the collar of his shirt, lifting him from the ground. He turned, throwing him toward his three companions. He looked at Amber.

 

“Are you alright?” he asked, his green eyes worried.

 

Amber nodded.

 

He leaned toward her, extending his hand. His silver hair fell around his shoulders. She took it, letting him help her to her feet. He looked back at the men.

 

“Leave and do not return,” Dante said calmly. “Next time we meet you won't be so lucky.”

 

The men turned and fled into the trees. The leader watched them for a moment, a satisfied sneer on his face. Then he vanished into the brush.

 

Dante turned to Amber. “Are you sure you're okay?” he asked, the edge gone from his voice.

 

She nodded. She fumbled with the whistle around her neck. “It didn't work,” she whispered, staring at it disdainfully.

 

He stared at her. “What do you mean?” he asked.

 

She put it to her lips, blowing deeply.

 

Suddenly Dante cringed, covering his ears. “Stop, please,” he begged, stepping away from her.

 

Amber looked at him. “You can hear that?” she whispered.

 

He rubbed his ears, a grimace on his face. “Yeah,” he said through a sigh. “What made you think that I didn't? I wouldn't give you something that didn't work.”

 

Amber gazed at the whistle. “But it makes no sound,” she said.

 

He gazed at it, then at her face. “It's a silent whistle,” he said. “So no one will be alerted other than me.”

 

She gazed at it a second longer. “Oh,” she said. She looked at him and smiled. “Thank you.”

 

He nodded. Then he held his hand out to her. “Come,” he said. “Aato has long been home, and people will soon be looking for you.”

 

She took his hand, his touch soft. She let him lead her into the trees. She didn't know where they were going, but she willingly followed him. Soon the mansion came into sight. She stopped, pulling away from him.

 

He turned to look at her, his eyes glinting in the moonlight. They looked confused.

 

“I'm not ready to go home yet,” she said quietly.

 

He nodded. Satisfaction glinted in his eyes, but he blinked it away. He watched her as she looked around.

 

She gazed around at the forest, then at the stars. They were on an outcrop, and it overlooked the valley below where the mansion sat, nestled in the trees. She let her gaze wander back to him.

 

“Can we stay here?” she asked, walking to a nice spot and sitting. She gazed up at him.

 

He studied her for a moment. His fine features were lit by the moonlight. His flawless skin was pale in the light, and his hair shone like liquid silver. Only his green eyes seemed to carry a light of their own. His muscular, nearly six-foot frame was silhouetted against the moon.

 

Amber looked away, his gaze intense. She felt heat rushing to her face.

 

“What ever you wish,” he said quietly, his deep voice sending chills down her spine.

 

She listened to his approaching footsteps. They were quiet; so quiet she almost couldn't hear them. She avoided looking at him as he sat next to her. Instead, she gazed at the stars. She suddenly gasped.

 

Dante's eyes shifted to her quickly, his senses alert. Then he saw her smile, and he relaxed.

 

“I saw a shooting star,” she whispered excitedly.

 

He couldn't suppress a laugh.

 

She gazed up, surprised. That was the first time he had laughed out of joy. “You laughed,” she said softly, turning her eyes on him. “You never laugh.” She looked away. “Not as if you mean it anyway.”

 

He looked at her for an instant, then away. He wasn't sure what to say. He didn't realize she had noticed that, and he felt, oddly, touched.

 

She smiled, realizing she had made him uncomfortable. “You're really quiet.”

 

“Silence is a benefit to some.”

 

She looked at him, wondering what he meant. She realized how close he was to her. Her shoulder was almost touching his.

 

He leaned back against the tree behind them and sighed. “It's nice tonight.” He closed his eyes, listening to the sound of the forest around them.

 

Amber looked at the moon. “Yes.” She stared at it, lost in thought.

 

“What did you tell the Baron?” Dante asked suddenly.

 

A frown creased Amber's lips. Her eyes remained on the moon. “I asked him to wait,” she said. Her voice sounded burdened.

 

“Ah, I see,” Dante said reading more from her voice than she intended. His voice was unconcerned, but, had his eyes been open, they would have seemed distressed. “What will you tell him?”

 

She looked at him. He was awfully curious for acting so uninterested.

 

He opened his eyes and looked at her when she said nothing.

 

She glanced away, hoping he hadn't seen her shock. “I don't know,” she said quietly.

 

“What hinders your answer?” he asked, watching her.

 

She picked at the grass, feeling chilled. She pulled his cloak tighter around her shoulders. “I don't want to marry him,” she whispered. “He's a wonderful man, but not for me.”

 

“It would appear you've already determined your answer,” he said, his voice playful.

 

She glanced at him, a smile on her face. “It's not that simple,” she said. “Now that I have Inverleigh and all those people under my rule, I have to take care of them.” She sighed. Worry crept into her hazel eyes. “I don't know if I can do that on my own.”

 

He gave an amused laugh. “Really?” he asked.

 

She looked at him, surprised. He sounded so sure of something.

 

He caught her look. “I mean, you're so independent,” he said quickly. “I don't understand why you feel you'll need a husband to rely on.” As he said those words, he realized, he sounded as if he were trying to talk her out of it. But why? Am I afraid of losing her?

 

She caught his thoughtful look. “What are you thinking?” she asked.

 

He sighed. “I don't know if I should say anything,” he said, his eyes rising to meet hers. “I don't know if you could understand.”

 

She watched his face. “Try me,” she said.

 

Uncertainty flashed through his electric eyes, giving her a new perspective of him. “I sort of think that perhaps I don't want you to marry at all,” he said. He looked at the grass. “That way I could keep you all to myself. I wouldn't have to share.” He glanced at her. “I could keep you.” He was silent for a moment as he thought. “But, that would be selfish of me,” he said finally. “I keep letting my feelings get the better of me. But I really do think you could care for yourself and your estate with out the Baron's help.”

 

She blushed suddenly. “I didn't know you felt that way,” she said.

 

He was silent for a moment. “Neither did I,” he said thoughtfully.

 

She looked away.

 

“But I realized something,” he said, looking at the moon. “You're not a little girl. You don't need saving, and you certainly don't need the Baron as your knight in shining armor.”

 

Amber stared at him for a moment, feeling surprised and speechless. She had once thought the same thing, but now she wasn't so sure. She sighed.

 

His electric eyes shifted to her. “You think otherwise?” he asked.

 

She shook her head slowly. “I don't know what I think,” she said softly.

 

He laughed softly. “Sure you do,” he said. “You just aren't following your heart.”

 

She rested her head on his shoulder. She felt him tense for a moment, then he relaxed. She sighed deeply. “Can you help me?” she whispered.

 

He looked at her. “Only if you are willing to help yourself,” he said.

 

“I mean, against the Baron,” she said.

 

Dante sensed her fear when she spoke of him. “Do not fear him,” he said. “Just tell him how you feel. Do not feel obligated to tell him yes. If you really want to, then do so, but do not answer out of obligation to any one, other than yourself.”

 

Amber felt calm and warmth radiating from Dante's conscience. She closed her eyes, and let her mind wander away as her breathing slowed. Dante could hear her heart beat begin to slow as well. He looked at her face for a moment, feeling her conscience slip into dreams. She had fallen asleep.

 

He blinked. Are my words so comforting as to put her to sleep? He put his arm around her, pulling her closer. She shifted in his grasp, but remained asleep. As he looked at her, he began to think.

 

She was just as he remembered her, if not a little older. And her eyes always held a hint of something he couldn't describe. Even when she laughed or smiled, they always seemed somehow sad, almost as if she could never be released from her painful memories. Her hair was a little longer, and she seemed to have gained a new grace that only came with age. Everything she did was graceful and smooth. She lacked that gawky-ness of the child she used to be. She had grown into a beautiful young woman.

 

He thought back to when he first met her. She had been a young girl of about nine or ten, and he had hated her. He called her a tag-along and annoying. But as they aged, they became good friends, and then something more.

 

And then the call came for those loyal to the cross the follow King Richard to Jerusalem. At first, Dante could remember feeling that it had to be done; he had to become a knight and return to ask for his fair lady's hand. But he had known he might not return. He was not foolish like the many other young men with the same dream, who dropped like flies on the battlefield. He knew death awaited him, and he felt, in a way, that Morgra had saved him. Not just from death, but from life as well.

 

He no longer worried or cared about the daily struggle to survive. He was now part of a race that lived beyond the realm of being simply mortal. And he would have continued to not care about human's petty struggle to cling to existence. Until Amber walked into Dramuela's hands.

 

At first he was tempted to let Dramuela have her, but something stirred his heart to feel compassion for her. He recalled the way her eyes had turned upon him in fear, even after he rescued her from Dramuela's fangs. At that moment, all he could do was hide the hurt he had felt. He had saved her life; why then was she scared of him?

 

Then he had realized that the fear was over-turning to awe, which soon gave way to sorrow. The longer he was around her, the more of her tortured thoughts he felt. He began to understand why the sorrow never left her eyes. Even now he could feel her pain from the loss of her father, but he could not truly understand it. He was numb to human emotions, but he knew he loved her. He couldn't feel it, and he didn't know how, but he knew it for a fact. Some force drove him to be near her, and he knew it was not the magic in his veins.

 

He let his eyes focus on Amber again. She slept soundly, and it relieved him that he no longer had to feel her thoughts. He wanted her to be happy, but he thought on that a moment. It was impossible for humans to be happy. In his time of seeing more than the petty life struggle, he had come to realize that no humans were truly happy.

 

He looked at the waning moon. Even he was not happy, for the happiness he craved came only from something he could not have. The one being he longed to truly love again was so close, yet totally out of his reach.

 

He looked at Amber. Solutions for his dilemma began to rush through his head. Perhaps if he changed her. All it would take is one bite, and then she could be his forever.

 

But she would not truly feel his love, just as he did not really feel his love for her. He just knew it was there, somewhere in this hollow shell he walked around in. He constantly felt a restlessness that stirred him on, and only her touch took that feeling away. Only her laughter soothed his soul. Only her presence made him feel as if he was were he should be. She made him want to behave in ways he never thought he would. She made him feel compassion.

 

He blinked as she stirred slightly. She rested her head on his chest, breathing deeply. Even her dreams seemed to amuse her. A small smile came to her lips.

 

“Dante,” she whispered.

 

He watched her, wondering if she was awake.

 

She turned her face and buried it in his chest. He tightened his embrace, not wanting to let go.

 

She sighed. “I want you to know something,” she whispered.

 

He knew she was awake now. “What is it?” he whispered. He heard her heart beat quicken. He felt his own breath catch at the excitement in her aura.

 

“I love you,” she whispered, her voice void of the emotions she felt.

 

He stared at her, wondering if she was serious. He saw her look up at his silence, and he was sure the shocked look had not left his face.

 

“Does that surprise you?” she asked.

 

“A little,” he said, unable to keep the shock out of his voice.

 

“Really?” she asked.

 

He nodded.

 

She looked away. “Do you want me to take it back?” she asked quietly.

 

“No,” he said quickly, shaking his head.

 

Amber looked up at him. She noticed that his silver hair had fallen over his shoulder. She reached up, running her fingers through it. It was soft and silky, and she gazed at it in awe.

 

“How did your hair become this way?” she asked.

 

He shrugged. “I don't know,” he said. “It's been like this ever since I can remember.” He looked at the moon, then at the mansion. “People are moving about down there.”

 

She sat up and followed his gaze. “How long have we been up here?” she asked.

 

He thought for a moment. “An hour?” he said. He stood, walking to the edge of the outcropping. “Long enough for there to be a stir at your house.” He looked at her. “I'm sure someone is looking for you by now. Especially since Aato came home alone.”

 

Amber stood. “I forgot about that,” she said quietly, stretching.

 

Dante held out his hand. “Come,” he said. “I must escort you to cemetery. They know you'll be around there somewhere.”

 

She smiled. “You must?” she asked.

 

He looked at her. “As your guardian, it is my duty,” he said. His eyes softened at her expression. “And I would like to be in your company for a while longer.”

 

Her frown turned into a smile. She took his hand. “Shall we go?”

 

He nodded and led her into the trees. After several minutes they reached the graveyard. As they stepped among the tombstones, Amber noticed that Dante was surveying his surroundings.

 

“Do you sense something?” she asked.

 

He stopped and was silent for a moment. “Not yet,” he said. “But I saw several people ride out from the estate. They should be nearing soon.”

 

Amber nodded. She stared toward the gate.

 

“Now we wait,” Dante said, echoing her thoughts. He turned and started to walk away.

 

“Wait,” Amber said, a sinking feeling inside her. She touched his arm. “Where are you going?”

 

He looked at her hand on his arm, then met her gaze. “I can't be here when they arrive,” he said, as if she were dumb.

 

She rolled her eyes. “I know,” she said. “But you don't have to leave yet.” Her eyes were pleading. “Please don't go.”

 

He sensed the anxiety in her aura. She didn't want to be alone. He turned toward her and sighed. “Alright,” he said. “I'll stay.”

 

She smiled gratefully.

 

He sat on a tombstone, watching over her like a guard dog. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his chest. He listened carefully. He could hear Amber's rhythmic breathing, and the creatures moving in the brush. His ears picked up the sound of footsteps, and he knew Dramuela was nearby.

 

He opened his eyes and looked into the trees. His sensitive eyes caught movement. She was watching them.

 

Amber saw his head turn. “What is it?” she asked.

 

He dragged his eyes from the trees. “Nothing,” he said. He let his gaze travel over her to the road. “They're almost here.” He rose to go.

 

Amber turned to him, catching his gaze. “Can we meet again?” she asked.

 

He was silent as he looked at her. He stepped toward her, placing a soft, lingering kiss on her lips.

 

She looked at him, her eyes searching his. She saw a frown come to his face when the sound of galloping horses could be heard in the distance.

 

“Later,” he whispered. His electric eyes seemed troubled at their parting, but he stepped away from her.