by N M Thorn
“Dima, are you in pain? Do you need me to help you clean up your wounds?” she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
“Just give his back a few good licks, and he’ll be as good as new,” suggested Gypsy, snickering.
Damian almost choked, sending Gypsy a veiled gaze. “No, River, thank you. A shower will do the trick. As far as the pain, I’m used to that. I’ll survive.” Turning toward the gargoyle, he smiled faintly. “Zhulik, will you stay guard tonight?”
“While you and River—,” the gargoyle started, wagging his eyebrows suggestively, a wide grin on his muzzle.
“While I am going to be dead to the world,” muttered Damian. “Until I wake up in the morning, I don’t want to hear from either of you.” He pointed at Gypsy and then at Zhulik. “Or else. Am I clear?”
“I assume you weren’t addressing me, soldier?” asked River, chuckling.
“No, ma’am,” replied Damian, slowly making his way around the kitchen table.
He walked through the hallway barely moving his feet, supporting himself with his hand against the wall. When he finally made it to his room and closed the door, he sighed with relief, dropping the dirty veil on the floor. Then he grabbed clean pajama pants and headed to the bathroom.
Leaving the pants on the counter, he stepped into the shower stall and opened the faucet without waiting for the water to warm up. As the cool jets enveloped him, the welts on his back responded with a tingling pain, but he ignored it. For a while, he just stood there, watching dirty streams of water run down the drain, his mind blissfully blank. Then he took a deep breath and started to wash his hair and body, careful not to disturb the half-closed wounds.
A while later, Damian shut down the water and took a towel, gently patting the water off his skin. After the shower, the weakness took hold of him with full force, and a task as simple as putting his pants on came with effort. He pushed the door open, wishing for nothing but to fall onto his bed and close his eyes. But as he stepped into the room, he froze, his eyebrows rising.
Dressed in a light, silky robe, River sat on the edge of his bed, her copper hair spilling over her chest and shoulders. She raised her blue eyes, bright against her pale complexion, and a shy smile tugged at the corners of her lips. At the look of her, everything inside Damian expanded with warmth, and all the terrible events he had survived in the last few weeks seemed to fade into the depth of his memory.
“Damian,” she whispered his name, her fingers fumbling with the edge of her short robe. “I just wanted to make sure…” Her voice trailed off, but she didn’t lower her eyes, gazing at him with so much affection, his breath hitched.
He wasn’t sure why he did that—it was driven by a pure need rather than a conscious thought—but he crossed the distance between them and lowered to his knees, wrapping his arms around her waist. Then he placed his head on her lap and closed his eyes, inhaling the delicate scent of her body—a fragrance of midnight desert mixed in with the aroma of wildflowers. Her fingers threaded gently through his hair, and he didn’t want to move, afraid to take a breath.
“Dima,” she called, gently tugging at his wet hair.
He raised his face, meeting the azure gaze of her eyes, and got up, spreading his shoulders.
“At my worst moment—and there were a few of them while I was away—all I could think of was coming back to you.” He sat down by her side and leaned forward, propping his elbows on his lap. “When the world went dark before my eyes, and I thought that was the end, I saw your face… River…” He turned to her and took her hand into his. Raising it to his lips, he kissed one finger at the time. “I just want…” His voice broke, and he shook his head, realizing that he shouldn’t voice what he truly wanted. “Nothing. What I want is impossible, and it’s not fair to you.”
“I don’t understand. How so?” she asked, genuine surprise and confusion in her voice.
“Destiny Enforcers can’t have personal attachments for a reason,” he started, stifling a sigh. “Personal attachments make us vulnerable, but I’m not worried about me. If word gets out that I have a woman in my life, it will put a giant bullseye on your back. Every supernatural creep out there who holds a grudge against me will do their best to hurt you.”
“And how is that any different from me being a cop?” She shrugged indifferently. “Every criminal asshole I’ve ever put behind bars sleeps and dreams about putting their hands on me.”
“Most of your criminal assholes, as bad as they are, don’t have magical powers that can destroy the world,” Damian objected quietly. “Anyway, you need a man who can protect you and take care of you. A man who makes you happy, who is there for you whenever you need him, no matter what.” He dropped his head, rubbing the edge of his bracelet. “My job can take me to the end of the world and back at any moment of night or day, and I have no choice but to go. I can’t quit. I can’t say no. I must obey or suffer the consequences.” He glanced at the black veil on the floor, biting his lip. “You deserve better than that.”
“Now, you really sound your age, Damian Blake.” River smiled, rolling her eyes. “It’s not the twelfth century, and I don’t need a man to protect and take care of me. I can do all that perfectly well on my own, thank you very much.” She huffed, looking at him with reproach. “Cole told me you were old school, but I had no idea how old.” She sighed and took his hand, caressing his knuckles with her thumb. “I don’t need you to do anything for me, Damian. I just want to have you in my life... All I need to know is that when you’re summoned in the middle of the night to do your crazy job, sooner or later, you will return to me. Not because I asked you to or you think I need your protection, but because you want to be here, with me. Because”—she waved her hand—“Paradise Manor is as much your home as it is mine.”
Damian opened his mouth to object, but catching the tense expression on her face, he snapped his mouth shut.
“Forget about your crazy job, vindictive monsters, and your code of honor worthy of any medieval knight. It’s a simple question, Damian. Do you want me in your life?” she asked, getting off the bed. “Yes or no?”
“Yes…” The word rolled off his tongue before he could stop it, and he cursed himself inwardly.
River exhaled with relief, and her tense features softened. She lifted the blanket and pointed at the bed. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have started this conversation when you were tired and in pain. Get some sleep.”
“Yeah, the timing could have been better.” Damian chuckled softly and lay down, rolling to his side.
She grabbed an extra pillow, placing it into his hands, and then covered him with the blanket.
“I know how you like to sleep,” she murmured, planting a soft kiss on his cheek. “I’ll see you when you wake up.”
As she tiptoed toward the exit, he called her, halting her by the door.
“River, can you please call my brother and let him know I am back?” he asked, his mind fogged by exhaustion. “I don’t even know where my phone is… and I am…”
“Cole is taking care of his… um… Ruslan, so he stays with him at the Brown’s estate, but he’s called me during the day a few times, asking about you. I’ll let him know, don’t worry,” replied River. “I’ll buy you a new cellphone first thing in the morning.”
“Thank you,” he mumbled and was fast asleep before River left the room.
A bright ray of sunlight touched his face, and Damian groaned, turning to his other side. His back responded with a sharp pain, and he moaned, carefully lowering himself on his stomach. For some reason, today his wounds seemed to be more sore than yesterday.
“Zhulik, are you here?” he reached out to his gargoyle.
“Kitchen.” The answer came right away. “River is cooking.”
“River is cooking?” asked Damian, flabbergasted. “That’s a first.” He chuckled and sucked in a sharp breath as pain spiked through him again. “Zhulik, I need to heal myself. Can I count on you to guard the house a little longer? The hea
ling will take about fifteen minutes, but you know how exhausting the healing magic is. I’ll need some time to recover after it.”
“Heal-away, Commander,” the gargoyle replied, “and come join us while the kitchen is still in one piece.”
Damian smiled and closed his eyes, surrendering himself to the healing energy of Earth. As it circulated through his system, with every passing moment, the nagging pain in his wounds subsided, and a few minutes later, it was gone completely, leaving behind the lightheadedness and debilitating weakness. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes.
He didn’t notice when he fell asleep again, but when he woke up, the sun was inching its way down to the horizon, coloring the purple rock formation with its last pink shades. Damian sat up and stretched his arms and shoulders, noticing with satisfaction that nothing hurt, and he felt strong and energized.
He noticed a box with a new cellphone on the bedstand and smiled, wondering when River had time to take care of everything and go to work. He took the phone out of the box and turned it on. She already set it up for him and entered the very short list of contacts he had. The only thing that was missing was the photo of Cole and River he loved and used to use as his lock screen image.
He put the phone on the stand and grabbed a fresh set of clothes out of the closet on his way to the bathroom. A brief examination in front of the mirror showed him that all the welts were healed, and except for the usual scars disfiguring his back, his skin looked perfectly normal.
Damian cleaned up, got dressed and made his way to the kitchen, enjoying the cool touch of the carpet to his bare feet. Zhulik lay on the floor by the entrance, his nose in his paws, and Gypsy had enthroned herself on her favorite spot, guarding the coffeemaker. Everything looked quiet and peaceful. As if answering his thought, Zhulik lifted his head and yawned, his long pink tongue curling.
“Everything is quiet, Commander,” he murmured and put his head back down, closing his eyes.
Noticing a yellow piece of paper covered in River’s even writing on the table, he sat down and picked it up.
“Dima,
I hope you feel better. You looked like hell yesterday, so I didn’t want to wake you up. Cole called earlier and said that he’ll stop by in a few. I think I should be back at about the same time. If you are hungry, I left some takeout from that little restaurant you like in the refrigerator. I’ll see you soon.
River.”
A takeout. Damian smiled. So much for River cooking.
He got up and stilled, listening intently. It wasn’t as if he heard anything out of the ordinary, yet something attracted his attention, sending chills down his spine. A low growl rumbled in Zhulik’s chest as he morphed into his natural state.
“Commander, something’s coming,” he growled, staring toward the main entrance.
Damian opened his other sight but still didn’t detect anything unusual. The Guardians magic flowed through the left wing of the house in soft, even waves, and the wards remained silent. Nevertheless, he decided to check it out. Stepping soundlessly on the carpet, he ran through the dark hallway and halted in the foyer.
Sharpening all his senses, he checked the area as far as he could reach but detected nothing. Yet something was bothering him, and not only him. Zhulik stood by his side, pressing his giant stone side to his leg, and if he had fur, it would’ve been standing up on his back.
“Something is coming, Commander, and it’s up to no good,” the gargoyle growled.
Dammit… The daggers materialized in Damian’s hands as he closed his eyes, relying on his other sight.
When the door opened with a light squeak, he spun to his left, his blades igniting with a blinding light.
“Damian, what’s going on?” River asked, entering the foyer. “Why do you—”
“River, run!” he yelled desperately, but it was too late.
The entrance door snapped shut with a loud bang which echoed through the hallways. The wards howled all at once, filling the house with an ear-splitting noise. Zhulik spread his wings and went up to the tall ceiling, his eyes glowing a bright blue. The entire house shook violently, and the energy of powerful dark magic assailed Damian’s senses with such force that he could barely take a breath. Darkness descended on the house, swallowing all the remaining light, and he could no longer see River in the quickly changing surroundings.
Damian raised one of his daggers and shouted, “Illucious.”
The shadows slithered away from him, but it wasn’t enough to illuminate the entire foyer. He ran in the direction where he thought River was, his movements slow and heavy like in a nightmare, and for a split second, he thought Mara was playing her games with him again. But the dark energy signature he detected was different, so he abandoned that thought. While it felt familiar, he couldn’t quite place it.
“River!” he yelled desperately, but his voice disappeared in the cacophony of the wards. As the entire building vibrated and trembled, he knew it was only a matter of time before the wards failed, and he still had no idea who was attacking him and why.
A strong wave of tremors spread under his feet, and suddenly, a wide fracture ran across the floor and up the wall, quickly increasing in size. Dropping his daggers, Damian connected with his element, but no matter what he tried, he couldn’t stop the process. On his left, he heard River’s constrained scream and darted in the direction of the sound, cutting his bare feet on the small rocks and debris. The concrete tiles kept breaking away under his steps, falling into the endless, growing hole in the floor. A waterfall of rocks fell from the ceiling, but he couldn’t see anything up above. He zoomed toward the wall and finally found River, pulling her to his chest. She wrapped her arms around his waist just in time as the remaining tiles vanished, sending them flying into the void.
He tried to open his wings but couldn’t, feeling as if some invisible ties locked parts of his Destiny Enforcer’s magic within his body. At the last moment, he touched his bracelet, and it turned into the whip. He swung it, aiming blindly for the area where the chandelier should have been, but Zhulik swooped down and caught the chain, stopping their fall.
“Commander, I see no way out,” he growled, making Damian’s blood run cold.
The storm of dark magical energy intensified, suffocating him, and he opened his other sight again, scanning for anything that could help him identify the perpetrator. Right above him, the darkness seemed to be thicker, forming a malignant, black mass. He couldn’t say who was there or what it was, but that was all he had.
“River, hold on tight,” he yelled, hoping she could hear him. As she wrapped her arms tighter around him, he channeled all the magic he could gather and pointed in the direction of the dark mass. “Exitius!”
As the blinding white light of his spell impacted the mass, it hissed and twirled in place, revealing the silhouette of a tall, skinny man wrapped in a black cloak. The man cackled, the sound of his laughter cutting through the racket of the ward. Before Damian could react, he zoomed through the air and seized River, ripping her away. She yelped, fighting his hold, but to no avail.
Damian screamed as if his heart was ripped out of his chest, but since the monster held River in front of him, using her as a shield, there was nothing he could do. He connected with his element, calling to the power of nature. Thick wines erupted from the hole in the floor. They broke through the walls and the doorway. Entwining together, they created a sturdy canopy beneath him.
“Zhulik, let go of the whip,” he commanded, and as the gargoyle let go, he dropped to the canopy, landing softly on one knee. Looking up, he saw the man holding River right above him, and he growled, “Now, attack!”
Without waiting for a second invitation, Zhulik zoomed toward the man. He flew around him at an incredible speed, using every opportunity to hurt him without injuring River. The man twirled in the air, waving his hands at the gargoyle as if he were an annoying fly.
River screamed as she started to fall.
Distracted by the g
argoyle, the man’s attention wavered, and Damian was able to open his wings to their full extend. He flew up, catching River in midair, and lowered her to the net of vines. Conjuring one high-voltage energy ball after another, he propelled them through the air, assailing the monster with full force. The man howled—a cry of blazing fury—and extended both hands toward Damian.
Damian didn’t recognize the spell he used, but he had no time to wonder about it. As the stream of purple light exploded out of the man’s hands, he pulled River closer to his chest and covered her with his body, wrapping his arms and wings around her.
“Procedia Amnia,” he shouted, erecting the shield of the basic protective spell around them.
The purple light of the dark magic wrapped around the dome of his spell, eating at it, corroding it with its malignant power.
“Commander Damian Blake!” the man shouted. “I’m Koschei the Deathless, and I’m here to make you a promise.” He fell silent for a moment, as if giving Damian a chance to process his words. “You imprisoned and killed my loyal servants. You destroyed the magical energy I’ve been collecting. So, here is my promise to you, boy. What happened today is just the beginning. I will not rest until every person and everything you hold dear to your heart is either dead or destroyed. Today, consider yourself lucky.”
Koschei snapped his fingers and vanished. The darkness dissipated, and the wards stopped buzzing. The light flooded the foyer, deadly silence enveloping them. Damian let go of River and folded his wings behind his back. Helping her to her feet, he quickly checked her for any visible injuries, but she seemed to be completely unharmed. Feeling a heavy numbness spreading through his chest, he backed away from her.
“Damian, I’m okay,” she said, taking a step toward him, but he raised his hands, shaking his head.
“River, I’m sorry,” he whispered, unable to speak louder than a hoarse whisper. “This is the reason Destiny Enforcers can’t fall in love, have family, have any kind of life.”
