Dante looked up to make sure Staci wasn’t looking at him, moved his hands into a position around the ring of scales and brought them together slowly, shrinking the ring down to a smaller size. When it was the size Dante wanted, he twirled his fingers, bringing a lump from the scales. The lump formed into a blue rose in full bloom. A vine-like shape etched itself into the band, wrapping all the way around to ‘tie off’ just under the rose’s bloom. Tiny thorn etchings appeared along the stem, glistening with the scales’ natural luster. That finished, Dante summoned an arc of silver-blue lightning between his fingers and held it there. He forced it to gather into itself and then crystallized it. The rough shape of the crystallized spell then formed into a perfectly faceted diamond. The lightning inside raced through the facets and made the diamond sparkle with its own light. A myriad of colors flowed through the diamond, dazzlingly displaying the perfect facets. Even Dante had to marvel at its beauty, not fully expecting it to come out so well. He wasn’t even sure his idea would work, much less not explode in his face. He set the diamond inside the center of the rose and curled the inner petals inward to hold it. The finished product was truly a beauty to behold and Dante knew it was perfect. Pleased with is work, he gently placed the ring in an inner pocket of his coat and moved to join Staci in her wandering.
“Hey, gorgeous,” he said, taking her hand in his. “Let’s see what’s at the end of the next tunnel.”
Staci nodded, allowing Dante to lead the way.
They entered the tunnel, followed by the shrinking ball of flame. A few yards into the tunnel, Dante dismissed the flame, letting the next chamber’s silver light guide their way. They walked in the glow for a few more yards and came into the cave’s largest chamber yet. Staci’s eyes widened in shock and she let out a startled gasp.
CHAPTER TWENTY
Staci walked into the huge chamber and gazed in wonder. The cave had emptied into an underground glacier, a magical anomaly left over from the war. Light from the sun filtered in through the blue-white ice and cast a silvery glow about the place. The walls and ceiling were made of ice, seemingly cut to a smooth finish. It was like being inside a diamond.
“What do you think?” Dante asked, stepping in after her.
Staci wandered through the room, amazed at the stunning beauty. “It… It’s wondrous,” she stammered. “This is all so… beautiful!”
Dante smiled, happy to see such amazement in Staci. “I made this,” he said.
Staci turned to look at him in astonishment. “You made this?”
Dante nodded. “I made it for you. Well, the glacier was already here, and I did have to make sure the dragon was gone. I hollowed this place out. It’s our little hideaway.”
Staci could not believe the beauty of the place. “So there were no teens who found the cave?” she asked with a wry smile.
Dante shook his head.
“And the mayor didn’t ask you to check this place out?”
“Well,” Dante shrugged, “he did ask me to look into the cave. Seems the dragon that was here needed to be taken care of. It wasn’t until after the fight that I found the glacier.”
“It isn’t cold, though.”
“Magic,” Dante replied. “The ice won’t melt unless I will it to do so.”
“Well, it’s beautiful, my dear,” Staci beamed. She held her arms out and Dante went to her. They wrapped their arms around each other in a loving embrace. When they pulled away to arm’s length, Dante reached into his pocket and pulled out the ring he had just made. Staci’s eyes widened when she saw it. Her shock left her speechless as Dante knelt on one knee. He took her hand in his and looked deeply into her eyes. Tears rimmed her eyes as she looked into his.
“Staci,” Dante whispered, his voice hushed by the moment. “Will you do this humble demon the honor of being his wife?”
Staci was too shocked and overwhelmed to speak for several moments. Finally, she grabbed the lapels of his coat, pulled him to his feet and kissed him with all the passion she could muster. Unabashed joy flowed through them both in that kiss. Tears rolled down their cheeks, falling to the stone floor.
Staci wrapped Dante in a tight hug, resting her chin on his shoulder. “Yes,” the whispered in his ear.
Victor sank to his knees in front of his scrying pool. Tears of sorrow and pain flowed down his cheeks. How could this have happened? It felt as if his entire world was caving in, being torn asunder by the very demon who had ripped his life away. Victor’s fists clenched so hard his knuckles turned white and his fingernails began to draw blood. Dante would be made to suffer for this heartbreak.
Dante rolled out of Staci’s bed later that night, pulled his pants on and went to the kitchen. He took a roll from the basket Staci left on the counter and took a bite. A smile still played across his lips as he chewed, still overjoyed that Staci had said yes. He had spent weeks carving out that ice chamber, hoping she would like it. He had spent almost as long perfecting the spell that created the ring he gave her. Everything was perfect for the first time in his life. He leaned against the counter and shook his head, smiling all the while. How did he get so lucky?
An itch at the back of Dante’s mind rocked him out of his reverie and caused the hairs on the back of his neck to raise.
“Who’s there?” he asked, turning to survey the room. In one dark corner not lit by moonlight was a shadow deeper and darker than the rest. Two eye-like points of light appeared and Dante felt his heart drop. “Lord Death,” he breathed.
The shadow seemed to nod. “Yes, Dante,” a voice hissed out. “It’s been a few years.”
“What the hell do you want?” Dante demanded, keeping his voice low so as to not wake Staci.
“Nothing,” Death replied. “Other than to congratulate you on your upcoming nuptials.”
“You saw that, then?”
Again, the shadow nodded. “I am Death. I am in every point in time and space. I keep an eye on you at all times to make sure you are headed in the direction in which I want you to go.”
“What do you mean?”
“I promised you a reward for doing as I asked you so long ago. Did you really think I would forget? Your new fiancée is that reward.”
“You… what? How is… How did you set this up?”
“Oh, it took quite the effort on my part. First, I had to make sure the two of you were in the right places at the right times, then I had to make sure you would meet. I implanted the drives that took you to the places she would be. Even in the past you’ve met other incarnations of your bride-to-be. Of course, each time you met her in the past was either too early or after you had already killed her. I had to make absolutely sure her reincarnation cycle was just right so you would meet her here, at the precise time that you did, with her of the proper age.”
“So… I was right when I thought that I had killed her before…” Dante’s gaze slipped to the floor and he sighed heavily. “Those memories torment me every time I look at her. I can’t bring myself to tell her about it, either. How do I tell the love of my life that I was responsible for the ends of so many of her past lives? There are times I lay awake at night, hating you for asking me to do that. All of the other deaths on my hands, I can handle. Hell, I loved every second of that. But every time I killed her, I felt my heart break. With every stroke of my blade and with every blast of magic, I tore my heart anew every single time she died. And I never knew why until I met her here. I’ve loved her longer than I’ve known her!”
The shadow dipped its head, acknowledging Dante’s remarks. “I know, Dante, and I am sorry. But know that I risked much more than I care to admit just to bring her to you. I promised you a reward for undertaking such an impossible task, and I upheld my end as you upheld yours. I am a being of my word and my word is law.”
Dante shook his head, trying to absorb it all. “You know what, Death? It was all worth it. All that heartache over killing her so many times, all that pain and all those sleepless nights, were all worth it. I have he
r in my life now. I suppose I understand your reasoning for having me kill her so many times. It was so I would know the pain of losing her, and so I would know that losing her in this life would likely kill me. So thank you. I will cherish this gift you’ve given me for as long as I live.”
The shadow almost seemed to smile. “I offer one more gift, however.”
Dante looked at the shadow, confused. “What’s that?”
“I offer you the knowledge to give her everlasting youth. You may have noticed that you stopped aging in your twenties, but she is still mortal. Humans do not live nearly as long as demons, so I offer you a way to keep her with you always. However, I have interfered more than I should have, therefore I must teach you the spell, rather than work it myself.”
Dante’s confusion turned to joy. “Then, teach me so I may hold her forever.”
“Training begins tomorrow.” With that, Death’s shadow faded away into the night.
Dante grinned, awestruck at the thought of halting Staci’s aging process. He would have to talk to Staci about it eventually to make certain she wanted it, but he felt he knew she would be willing to participate.
As Dante reached for another roll, he felt Staci’s feather-light touch on his back. She traced the gnarled scar on his back, as she did every time his shirt was off. It was the only scar on his body, left there from his first fight with Victor when the angel had run his sword through Dante‘s heart. Only a blessed sword could leave a scar like that. He could feel even her light touch vibrating through the scar tissue all the way to the matching scar on his chest.
“Couldn’t sleep, love?” Staci asked. She turned Dante around to face her. She wore only the bed sheet, wrapped around her naked figure and hugging her natural curves. She traced the scar on his chest with her free hand, her other hand holding the sheet in place. Her finger ran the length of the long scar and moved to the rest of the toned muscles, staring at his collarbones and slowly caressing downward to his hips.
Dante held up the roll and smiled. “Got hungry,” he replied, wrapping his free arm around her waist.
“Not surprising. You did work up quite an appetite in there, I’m sure.” Her wry smile was infectious and her eyes promised more pleasures to follow.
“I thought you would have worn yourself out enough to sleep all night,” Dante quipped.
“Not with you out of bed. I don’t sleep as well when you’re not there to keep me warm,” she pouted.
“Then let’s go back to bed and I’ll snuggle close to keep you warm. I’ll help you get back to sleep.”
Staci looked up at him, one eyebrow arched, smiling and biting her lip. “I don’t think ‘sleepy’ is what I’m feeling right now,” she breathed, playfully tugging at the waistband of his pants. One-handed, she deftly unclasped his pants and reached up to run her fingers through is hair. She pulled his face closer to hers and gently brushed his lips with hers. She let go of the sheet, letting it fall to the kitchen floor, to pull him in tighter with both hands.
As they kissed, Dante wrapped his arms around her and spun around, lifting her up to sit her on the counter. He stepped between her legs, pressing his body against hers. His hands rested on her hips, fingers gripping tightly as he pulled her closer. Using only her feet, Staci pushed his pants to the floor. Passion gripped them as they made love on the kitchen counter, driving them deeper and deeper into each other’s desires.
Victor pushed his scrying basin away, blushing. He had not meant to see so much, and had to force himself to look away to honor the couple’s privacy. As much as he hated Dante and loved Staci, it sickened him to spy on them in such an intimate moment. But he could have sworn he felt an ominous presence coming from Staci’s home. It felt cold and hopeless, as if the icy claws of Death had clutched the house, if even for just a brief moment. Victor had not seen anything, save Dante eating a dinner roll. Upon seeing the scar on the demon’s chest, Victor unconsciously brought his hand up to rest over his own heart. There was no scar there, however there would have been if Victor still had his original body. He had lost track of how many times he had been reincarnated via his soul storing spell. Far too many times, he often told himself when his mind wandered to that subject. He always allowed whichever human had unwittingly absorbed his soul to live a long and fruitful life before taking over the body after the original soul had departed for the afterlife.
After the first time Victor died at the hands of Dante, the angel had hunted the demon. He had found no sign of him, however, until several years ago. Much of his ire with the demon had been spent by then, but upon seeing Dante, Victor nearly lost sight of what truly mattered. He almost gave up his vigil over Bethlehem to pursue the demon, only pulling himself away from that destructive path at the last moment, reminding himself that these people needed him more than he wanted revenge. His love for the humans of Earth still guided his hands in whatever he did, and their safety remained his only goal.
His attention was becoming divided more and more between his desire to see the humans safe and Dante’s head on a pike, and he was beginning to realize that Dante was not the true threat Victor thought he was. This demon, no matter the angel’s prejudices, was now a respected member of the community and Staci’s beloved. It took Victor far too long to realize it and he was slowly starting to feel that his vigil was becoming unnecessary. He vowed to end his watch over the demon and resume his duties as the town’s protector. That meant more public appearances again, however, and he was unsure of how Dante would react to Victor’s presence. The angel had kept himself away from the demon, not wanting to put Staci in danger in case Dante lashed out at her. It was a risk Victor would have to take, knowing that Staci would want to introduce her new fiancée to her best friend at some point. A sinking pit of dread opened in Victor’s gut at the thought of coming face-to-face with Dante. The last time they had met was on the battlefield, and ended with Victor dying in an ever-growing pool of his own blood.
Victor shook the disturbing thoughts from his head and wiped the weariness from his eyes. He had spent too much of his energy focusing on Dante and wanted nothing more than to sleep. He went over to his bed and slumped into it, fast asleep within seconds of his head hitting the pillow.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Dante and Staci finally got out of bed late the next morning. Dante dressed unenthusiastically while Staci pulled on a robe.
“I should head back to the inn to pay up for the rest of the month,” Dante said, mostly to himself.
Staci smiled at him and shook her head. “My offer still stands, you know,” she replied.
“That may be, but I would feel a little out of place if we weren’t married first. Besides, I wanted to get a bigger place once we’re wed.”
“You don’t like it here?” she asked teasingly.
Dante smiled, pulling his shirt over his head. “You know I do. One bedroom is fine for just us, but we’ll need more rooms once we have children.” He and Staci had discussed the possibility of children months ago, when she thought she may have been pregnant. She had been worried his demonic physiology would have complicated things, but was assured by Dante when he told her his mother had been a human.
Staci nodded, conceding the point. “But until then? An inn and a hollowed out submarine?”
“What?” Dante asked, feigning offense while he strapped on his father’s armor. “She’s a bit rusted in places, but she’s got electricity and running water. Not to forget the fact that it’s beachfront property.”
Staci grinned and rolled her eyes, shaking her head. Dante had been firm in his position on moving in with her. He had said it was something his parents had taught him at an early age.
“Also, there’s something I want to talk to you about when I get back from the inn,” Dante stated.
“Oh?” Staci asked. “What about?”
“Something potentially exciting,” was all Dante would offer. He buckled his sword belt and adjusted his armor, then gave Staci a kiss. “I’ll tell
you when I get back.”
Staci smiled at him and patted his shoulder. “Have fun, then, dear. Say hello to Helgen for me.”
Dante nodded and left the house. He made his way back to the inn and strode directly to the bar. Helgen was there, as always, and nodded a friendly greeting to the demon.
“Morning, Dante,” the vampire said.
“Good morning, Helgen,” Dante replied.
“Just come from Staci’s, I take it?”
Dante nodded, smiling. “She says hello.”
Helgen nodded. “She does that from time to time.”
They shared a chuckle, each enjoying the friendly banter.
“So, what brings you in, looking so happy?” Helgen inquired.
“Do I look so pleased?” Dante japed. “Well, I suppose I should. I do have some good news.”
“Don’t tease me, boy, out with it.”
“Staci and I are engaged,” Dante grinned.
Helgen smiled, slapping Dante on the shoulder. “Congrats, my friend! Let us drink to the happy occasion, then.” He pulled a bottle of wine from under the counter and placed on the bar, along with two glasses. They toasted and drank, emptying the bottle within minutes.
“Good to know my girl found a good man - er, demon.” Helgen laughed.
Dante grinned, pleased to know the bartender approved.
“So… I hate to ask now, but do you have my payment?” Helgen asked moments later, still smiling. “Rent’s about due.”
Dante produced a pouch of coins and laid it on the bar. “Here it is. Hard earned and not conjured.”
Helgen grinned and laughed. “You had me going for a while when you did that. I almost threw you out on principle.”
Dante took the joke for what it was and started to turn for the door.
“Hold on for a moment, would you?” Helgen asked politely. “I have something here for you. Arrived a couple of days ago.”
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