by Tia Didmon
Dante entered Maddie’s mind, commanding the little girl to stop feeding. Maddie ceased and curled up on Dante’s lap.
“Jesus” Kiki said, staring at Maddie’s wrist.
Dante glanced at the stump. The skin covered over the wrist sealing the wound as if she had been born that way. “Her injury is healed but her mind is badly traumatized. Valen and Chad will need to help her now.”
Jess continued to look at Maddie. “I know you’ll watch over her.”
Kiki studied Jess in concern. “Dante, I don’t want to lose another friend. I know firsthand what this kind of betrayal does to you.”
Dante nodded. “I will take care of her. Valen is here. Please ensure your squad does not interfere with him or Chad.”
Kiki clicked the mic in her ear. “I’ll tell them.”
Valen and Chad were inside seconds later, taking the girl from Dante’s arms. Dante felt remorse, fear as his brother cradled the sleeping girl.
Valen turned to him. “I will block this memory until she is old enough to handle the pain and betrayal of today’s events. No harm shall come to your child.”
Until Valen had said the words Dante hadn’t acknowledged the connection he had made with Maddie. She was his. His blood would forever be in her veins. Her mind connected to his. “Thank you, my brother. Chad can you regenerate her hand?”
Chad touched the little girl in Valen’s arms. “In time yes. She will need more of your blood, as she is still developing, it will be a slow process.”
Dante nodded. “Thank you, my friend.”
Chad bowed. “It is always my pleasure.”
Kiki stared at Chad. “What are you? I can...”
Chad smiled at Kiki. “I must attend to the child Miss. Sanchez but please know my door is ever open to you.”
Kiki swallowed. “Another time... maybe.”
Valen and Chad left with Maddie. Jess remained seated on the ground. Her gaze fixed on the floor.
The warriors materialized beside Jordane. One stepped forward. “Draven switched forms. He attacked a member of the death squad. Arno is severely wounded. The team is attempting to save him. We continued to track Draven, but he entered a restaurant full of humans and switched again. We do not know where he went.”
Kiki looked sick. “I gotta go” She took off running with Jordane looking after her.
Jordane turned back to Dante. “We need to get you to a safe location so you can attend your bride.”
Dante picked Jess up, cradling her in his arms. She felt fragile as if she could break at any moment. “Take me to the residence at the shelter. I don’t want her near the PIA right now.”
Jordane nodded and led them from the warehouse. He glanced down the way Kiki had run.
Dante carried Jessica into the small house on the shelter property. It was clean and neat despite the pale-yellow walls that sorely needed repainting. Pictures of Ed with several animals hung on every wall. A shrine of a life lived with the single purpose of helping those who had no one else to fight for them. It occurred to him that Jessica had no one fight for her. No one person had put her first, yet she had continued to put everybody’s needs above her own.
He passed through the living room to the bedroom. It contained a simple queen size bed with tan sheets and an old oak dresser. Like the rest of the house the walls were adorned with multiple pictures of animals. He lay her down on the bed before nestling behind her, hoping the warmth of his body would thaw the cold ache in her heart.
It was over an hour before Jessica spoke. “Will Maddie be all right?” she asked in a broken voice.
Dante pulled her back, closer to his chest. “Valen has moved the memory to an older time sequence and shrouded it so she can’t access it until she is older. Chad has explained the accident to her without the gorier details of her father’s treachery and will reside with her until she is confident on her own.”
“Maddie may not be comfortable with a man she doesn’t know staying with her.”
Dante chuckled. “When the healer first chose his were form, the demon community thought he was mad. In the last few hundred years he has helped more humans than any healer before him. He took a form that inspires trust in your culture.” He nuzzled Jessica’s neck. “My demon was your equivalent to a teenager when Chad chose his animal, as it was new to all of us, we all found it entertaining. We chased him for hours.”
Jessica stirred in his arms. “Chased him?” she said with faint interest.
“Oh yes, we were all young and equally devious. His animal is fast and a young demon cannot pass up that kind of challenge.”
Jessica turned to face him. “What is his other form?”
Dante kissed her cheek. “You will have to see for yourself.”
“I promised to guess.” She said.
“You will be surprised instead. Laura was.”
Jessica’s eyes went up. “She’s seen him?”
“Chad is in Laura’s apartment with Maddie right now. My brother is sending me images of the ladies fawning all over Chad’s four-legged form.”
Jess pursed her lips. “Thank you for helping her. I don’t deserve your help. I’m sorry I...”
Dante put his hand on her face. “Jessica you have nothing to apologize for. They have manipulated you, mistreated since you were a child. I do not understand why a father could hate his daughter so much yet, revere his son. I can tell you that it is fortunate your father has passed from this world or I would have helped him leave it.”
He felt Jessica’s mental shields go up. He hated being shut out, but it was a sign her strength was returning and he needed that. “What is it you don’t want me to see?”
“How did you know my dad mistreated me?” she whispered.
Dante sensed her embarrassment. Did she think he’d think less of her for her fathers’ actions? “You were so distraught at the warehouse your shields dropped. It’s the first time you have left yourself wide open.”
Jess nodded. “I failed her. Dad poisoned Darnell against me and I didn’t see it until it was too late.”
“Your brother grew up hating you because your father did.”
Jess looked down. “I know.”
Dante tipped her head up. “I had thought it was because you were female and superior to Darnell but it is more than that isn’t it?”
A tear slipped from Jessica’s eyes. “Yes.”
Dante used his thumb to wipe the tear away. “Please tell me Jessica. Whatever it is, it won’t change how I feel about you.”
Jessica swallowed hard. “But it will.”
“Why do you say that Jessica, what did you do that your father believed you evil?”
Tears streamed unchecked down her face. “It isn’t anything I did. I was something my mother did.”
Jess couldn’t look at Dante. The memories of her youth. The moment she had learned the truth played through her mind. She couldn’t bear to watch loving eyes turn to rage and hatred. Not again.
Dante touched her cheek. “When I connect with you, I find only kindness and love. You would have died to protect Maddie. To protect me.” He tipped her chin up. “Believe in me. Trust in me. Tell me why you say this thing.”
Jess could feel his love. His commitment to her. Every person in her life that knew the truth had cast her aside or tolerated her. She wasn’t sure which was worse. “I don’t want you to look at me that way,” she whispered.
“With love. With respect, because that is the only way I see you. I know you don’t comprehend what it is to be my bride but you will not leave this room until you do.”
“I can’t be your...”
“You are and will always be my bride. My choice,” he said fiercely.
Jess could sense his frustration. She’d held so much back from him. He had given everything. He was open to her even now. She simply had to reach out and feel, see in his mind. “I was six years old when it happened.”
Dante frowned. “You did something as a child?”
&nbs
p; Jess swallowed hard. “It started when I was a kid. I fell from a tree I was climbing and was injured. My arm was broken, and I had several lacerations on my legs.
“Where were your parents?”
“My grandmother up in Seattle was days from passing. My mother was staying with her so my father rushed me to the emergency room. That’s when he discovered the truth.”
“The truth about what?”
“That he wasn’t my biological father,” she whispered.
Dante blew out a breath. “Jessica, I am sorry your father was angry at you because your mother cheated but...”
“She didn’t cheat Dante. She was raped. Sam Krane is my biological father,” her voice cracked.
Dante’s hand tightened on her side. “Jessica, my love. I am sorry and don’t know what to say other than it makes no difference who your father is. I am simply thankful you were born.”
Jess was in his mind. He was mad, but it was at himself. “How can you say that?”
Dante shook his head. “Your mother kept you despite your origins. That is why your father despised you?”
Jess blinked back the tears those words invoked. “Yes, he had been decent to me before that. He was never thrilled with having a girl but finding out the truth turned him into something I didn’t recognize. He blamed my mother for allowing the rape to happen. For walking to her car alone after work that night.”
Dante huffed. “You don’t blame a woman for a rapists actions Jessica. Your mother was not to blame for Sam Krane’s sickness.”
Jess nodded. “I know. My father treated us all different after the truth was exposed. He was furious with my mom for pretending I was his but he didn’t want anyone else to know. He said it was embarrassing enough that the world knew my mom was raped. We were all sworn to secrecy. He made sure Darnell knew of everything. At first Darnell said it would be okay but dad wore him down. After years of berating me, Darnell lost respect for me. He was never openly aggressive like dad but I could tell when he looked at me.”
Date touched her face lightly. “Did you ever ask your mother why she had you?” he asked gently.
“I did. She said the doctor told her she couldn’t have more children after Darnell. She was three months along before she realized she was pregnant. She didn’t know whether I was dad or Sam’s but she decided it didn’t matter. I was still hers. She said she could feel me.”
“Your mother sounds like a strong woman.” Dante said.
“She was at first but dad wore her down too. By the time she died I think she regretted the decision.”
Dante held her head in his hands. “What your father did is despicable.”
“Sam Krane was a rapist. Even the criminals despised him,” she said.
“I wasn’t talking about Sam Krane. Your mother was attacked and your father held her responsible for it. He made you feel guilty about it. He ruined your brother’s life over it. We have no control over another’s actions. We can control only how we react. If your father loved your mother, he would have supported her after the attack and her decision to have you. You are a miracle.”
Jess cried so hard her breathing came in stunted gasps. It wasn’t just his words. She could feel his anger at her father. His love for her. His commitment to do anything that would bring her happiness.
Dante held her close, allowing her to cling to him. “I realized as soon as you left the shelter, I had failed you.”
Jess pulled back so she could look at him. “Why do you say that?”
“After you left, I went back to see the calf you gave me. I couldn’t understand why you would give me the one animal I despise. I connected with its mind.”
“What did you see?”
“It’s loneliness. It’s fear. Pain. It’s love for Laura. Yet, it wanted nothing more than to nuzzle me.”
“What did you do?”
“I sent the image of you me and Maddie into her mind. I showed her she will be cared for and loved by her new family. That when she recovers, she will leave that pen for her new home.”
“I thought...”
“You gave me that tiny bovine to see if I could forgive her for something that happened hundreds of years before her birth. I held onto my distaste for her species out of spite. A teenager’s hatred of doing chores. The bovines on our farm were warm caring creatures that provided for our human workers in many ways. I was wrong to react the way I did. I would ask you to forgive me.”
His words stunned Jess. “I can’t believe you just asked me that. Every teenager hates chores and you’ve only had your emotions back a short time. I can’t even imagine what that kind of adjustment is like.”
Dante kissed her. Need. Love. Lust. All combined to send her body up in flames. She swallowed hard when he pulled back.
“That you would consider how hard it is for me. A newly awakened demon is a miracle. If you ever want to know what I am feeling, thinking, you need only look. I will hide nothing from you Jessica. You are and forever my bride.”
“I’m going to jail Dante. I betrayed the PIA. Regardless of the circumstances. I’m a traitor.”
Jess couldn’t comprehend how Dante could look at her with such love and understanding. She had told him her darkest, dirtiest secret and his faith in her had never wavered. He was angry, but not with her. He didn’t seem to understand the consequences of her actions.
“You are not a traitor Jessica. Being manipulated into wrongdoing is not the same as making a conscious choice. While Darnell wanted you to suffer the Ladon’s true purpose was to get the DK10. Darnell stole your ID without your knowledge. That is on him.”
“Yes, but I withheld the DK10’s proximity when the tracker went off. I agreed to give them information on you, though I realize now, that was a ruse.”
Dante shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not. They planned to have you in their grasp. They intended to get any intelligence from you they could that would further their cause and believed they would have years to torture information from you. This was their only shot at the DK10.”
Jess shook her head. “Draven could mimic Zane’s palm print and biometrics. I wonder why the gun wouldn’t activate for him. The gun activated as soon as Kiki touched it. She didn’t use a code.”
Dante nodded. “Jordane has a theory about the power source they have utilized for those guns. He wants to talk to Kiki about it but the little ninja is avoiding him.”
Jess shrugged. “She doesn’t like demons. I mean she...”
“Tolerates Valen and I because of Laura. She is honest about how she feels. I know she will never hurt us but I fear for any demon that threatens her.”
“Dante, Kiki will kill anyone who threatens her. That’s not exclusive to demons.”
“I suppose that is true but you are deliberately steering our conversation to Miss Sanchez’s killer instincts instead of discussing the issue at hand. Your future with the PIA.”
“I don’t have one Dante. I’m grateful for everything you have done but there is no averting the consequences of my actions.”
Dante ran his fingers down her arm. She couldn’t help the shiver that ran through her body at his touch. “I am sure there will be repercussions. They will not however include jail time or anything that takes you away from me.”
Jess fought to control her bodies reaction. “You can’t dictate to the PIA...”
Dante pulled her to him. “I can and I will. Your actions resulted from nothing less than blackmail, using Maddie’s life as currency. These are extenuating circumstances and an acceptable disciplinary action is being worked out as we speak.”
Jess huffed. “What is an acceptable discipline to you?”
Dante smiled wickedly. “I could spank you?”
Jess couldn’t stop the heat that spread through her body or the smile that tinged her lips. “I’m pretty sure that isn’t a viable solution.”
Dante lifted his eyebrows. “It should be.”
Jess shook her head. “I had no idea demons were so perver
ted.”
Dante laughed. “A demon without a bride or mate has no emotions. He does not feel lust, desire or love. Only his woman can give him those gifts.”
Jess inclined her head. “Are you saying that I’m responsible for your perverted mind?”
Dante grinned. “Oh yes, and I am eagerly waiting for you to corrupt me further.”
Jess laughed. She couldn’t believe she could feel happiness and relief so soon after almost losing Maddie. Dante had done that. Given her a sense of security, hope when none had existed since the day she had fallen from that tree. “Thank you, Dante. You have no idea what you mean to me.”
Dante’s eyes flickered. “I wish to bond with you. To be in your mind for all time... but before that it would be nice if you told me.”
Jess took a long breath. She had never been that good with expressing her feelings. Maddie had been the only exception. “I think you are amazing and fear that I will wake up and this will be a dream, that you’re not real, and Maddie is still in danger. I have never needed anyone, but I honestly can’t imagine my life without you in it.”
Dante kissed her gently. “I have waited centuries for those words. You cannot comprehend what you mean to me. I lived through centuries of darkness all for you. I have lost family and friends and none of those losses compare to what it would mean to lose you.”
“I can’t imagine what it was like,” she said.
Dante caressed her cheek. “Every touch of your skin is a paradise I feared to believe in. When you speak, the notes dance in the air like angels waiting on your next word. I can appreciate a child’s smile or a fine work of art because these too are gifts that only you give me.”
Jess swallowed. “I don’t know what to say.”
Dante leaned in. His mouth touched hers. “Say you will bond with me. That you are mine for all eternity. That whatever life brings it is ours to face together.”
Jess wanted him more than anything but years of training were not easily erased. “What is involved in the bonding?”
“I ask you to trust me in this and I will show you.”
Jess acknowledged the fear. It wasn’t pain, or the taking of her blood, which she assumed would be part of the process. It was the total surrender, body and soul, being forever connected with their souls intertwined for all eternity. “Yes.”