Dante

  He'd taken the same couch across from Eva and he had to admit, he liked having her so close. Laying across from her, he was able to finally relax with the soothing scent of blueberries calming him.

  After a while of listening to Eva's quiet reading, he heard her mother's light steps descend the stairs. They spoke in hushed tones, probably assuming the demon was asleep. He wasn't.

  He was sure Aliyah had given either her daughter or him a scolding look because Eva's response was for her not to be upset with Dante. That she'd made him open the door. Her mother responded with how she knew that wasn't true but dropped the subject.

  However, Eva was correct. And he'd do worse if it meant she'd feel safe.

  She'd brought her daughter some tea to help calm her nerves, also probably noticing the dark crescent moons under her eyes. It didn't take a genius to connect the dots.

  Demons + Death = PTSD and a complete lack of sleep.

  There was a subtle scent of power in the tea and he knew if Eva realized her parents were still drugging her, she'd be pissed. However, there was no harm intended with this Arcana, it was just some relaxing herbs. Hopefully, she'd actually sleep and not dream. He strongly wished that for her.

  Eva stayed up reading for a short while, fighting the effects of the spell, and Dante enjoyed listening to her little huffs or mumbles of intrigue and disbelief. But soon, her yawns got the best of her, and the sound of her flipping pages stopped. He let her breathing get heavier and her light snores more consistent before he opened his eyes to slits and glanced over at her.

  She'd dipped further into the couch with her bare feet planted on the cushions and knees up to let the book rest against them.

  Her knees had fallen slightly towards the back of the couch. Her hand, limp, still grasped the top of the old tome.

  While she'd covered most of the Primordial’s and was on the passages about Dante and his father, she hadn't gotten too far into the text.

  Carefully, he took the book from her hands and placed it on the shelf that had been above him. Placing his arms under her, he pulled her from the couch just as gently. Unlike the previous night, she didn't wake with the motion.

  The little energizer bunny had been putting too much on herself. She'd barely slept the night before.

  In the darkness, he'd been listening to her, waiting for sleep to take her but it never did. All night he'd wanted to say something to ease her mind, but wasn't sure what would help her. He'd never had to be a comforting conversationalist. Or a conversationalist at all really. So he'd settled for what he'd hoped was a comforting presence by her side.

  He took her to one of the cots and placed her down gently before covering her with a blanket on the shelf above the bed.

  When he turned to walk away, his name came from her lips in a soft whimper as she stirred, though she didn't fully wake. Like instinct, he was drawn back to her side, compelled to soothe her discomfort.

  Before he could stop himself, he'd placed a hand to her forehead, to both calm her and move her hair from her face. The back of his fingers gently trailed her cheek down to her neck and with his touch, she settled. A small, content smile replaced her slight distress, and he felt the corner of his mouth do the same.

  Monroe's boots thundered down the stairs, and Dante reluctantly pulled away from Eva. Monroe halted at the base, his hand resting on the grip of his gun.

  Dante's eyes locked onto Monroe's, and he raised a finger to his lips, the gesture a clear warning to be more considerate.

  Monroe's jaw clenched, his eyes blazing with a mixture of anger and curiosity while Dante's expression remained calm.

  The silence stretched out until Monroe finally broke eye contact, his gaze flicking to Eva before returning to Dante.

  "Shift change." He grunted, hand never moving from his weapon.

  Dante nodded, unphased by the empty threat. What was he going to do? Shoot him? Yeah, that would definitely gain him brownie points with Evanora.

  He smiled at him as he passed, mumbling the word “Reaper” under his breath as both a greeting and an insult.

  "Halfbreed." Monroe's jaw clenched, eyes brewing with the familiar taunt.

  They swapped out and while Monroe looked over the pendent, Dante swept the perimeter of the house before reentering and exploring. It had finally gotten dark and most of the house was asleep.

  Lowell was in the living room, snoring loudly. There was no surprise that Eva had fled from his side the night before. Dante could also hear the light snores of her parents on the first floor. He confirmed their location before silently closing the door to their room.

  The three sibling's bedrooms were upstairs with a shared bathroom. He didn't check the two boy's quarters, knowing Lowell was on the first floor and Simon was nowhere in the home.

  He found Evanora's space easily. Even with her new shampoo, he could find this girl's scent where it was the strongest. Once he'd entered, the room came into view for him and he immediately understood her reservations about returning.

  Despite her age, her room looked like that of a teenager. Trapped between childhood and reality.

  The globes and scrolls of both world and constellation maps, the desk placed directly in front of the window with a view of the city over the trees surrounding the back of the property. She spent her whole life sitting here, looking out at the world instead of experiencing it. Instead of living her life.

  This was a reminder of what she'd missed out on.

  His fingertips brushed the arms of her chair where the tips were nearly picked down to the black plastic. It was a sign of her anxiety, along with the ashen doodles carved deep into the wood of her desk.

  But his gaze fell upon something unexpected.

  A fresh footprint marked the surface of the desk and he recognized it as the sneakers she'd chosen that morning.

  A subtle ache formed in his chest, despite how illogical his sudden jealousy was.

  Her window was large enough for her to climb out of. There were a few scuff marks on the sill where paint flaked off in tiny white scratches, but he doubted she was sneaking out at night to meet someone.

  The narrative has been illicitly obtained; should you discover it on Amazon, report the violation.

  He turned to inspect the room again and landed on the blanket on the floor near the bed. It had been tossed carelessly and he could see debris and dirt speckled on its blue fabric.

  ? He thought as his gaze swept back to the window with an intrigued smile.

  Carefully he followed her print out onto the roof. The height from her room to the ground wasn't favorable for a human, so he knew she most definitely wasn't sneaking off in the night. Inspecting further he located where she'd probably been tucking herself for years.

  There was a small enclave nestled between her window and the bathroom wall. The shingles there were worn a different color compared to the rest of the home, and there were a couple tiny pieces of blue fabric in the crack of the siding where she'd placed the blanket earlier.

  From her spot, he followed her gaze and realized her focus hadn't been the bridge or even the city's horizon. Both could be seen from her desk. Looking up, he knew her eyes had been fixed on the sky.

  Even though they were still in the city and the light pollution was terrible, he could still see some stars out in the darkness.

  He laid back for a while just being in her space while also hoping it wasn't a violation of her privacy.

  He wasn't sure how long he'd laid there, trying to find a word for the ache in his chest or piece together why exactly she made him want to be soft with her.

  After a while, he heard the sound of tires pulling into their driveway, and he stopped his idiotic imaginings of what life could look like with them… together, as strange as that sounded to him. He stood immediately and found his way to the top part of the roof so he could see the front of the house.

  Dante holstered his weapons realizing it was just the idiot twin's car pulling up. He'd stopped just before the gate to sit in the darkness of his vehicle.

  Dante could see the faint glow of the phone in his hands and when the glow went dark, the boy exited the car. The door slammed roughly while his hands flexed in anger and Dante questioned to himself if he'd lost another bet. That's where he'd probably been while the rest of them were here worrying over his sister's safety.

  Dante didn't hear when the front door opened, only saw when Eva came sprinting out barefoot on the grass and headed for her brother.

  The boy had been pacing before he saw her and when he rushed her a little, Dante took a tentative step forward but worked to calm himself.

  He could just make out their conversation at their distance and he strained his ears. While Eva was positive her brother wouldn't hurt her, Dante still watched the exchange intently. Especially when he began motioning her towards the car.

  She seemed hesitant and Dante nearly called her a smart girl. But when her brother opened the passenger door and she took tentative steps forward, Dante knew his face mimicked her usual 'what the fuck' expression instead.

  He was jumping down from the roof so he could rip Eva a new one for leaving the house in the first place when he heard a crash and Eva's shrill shriek. He rounded the house to see that before she could even enter the car, a Vocia had crashed into the top of it, causing both siblings to fall back.

  Dante's heart raced with fear as he screamed profanities and tried to run at his full speed towards them. Though in his weakened state, he was still too damn slow.

  Eva had quickly turned to her stomach in an attempt to get to her feet or reach out to him once their eyes met, but the Vocia yanked her leg back just as quickly. It pulled her into its iron grip and screamed into her face, her hair flying back with the force of the shriek and greying more than it had days ago.

  After last night's attack, he didn't think it would kill her but the ache in his chest grew in intensity with the way Eva's body went limp.

  He'd had his guns drawn, but with it holding her so close, he never had a clear shot. Vocias were swift with their ghostly movements, and he didn't want to risk accidentally hitting Eva.

  By the time he was able to reach the idiot brother and his crushed car, the Vocia had carried Eva up and away in the opposite direction.

  His thoughts screamed profanities.

  "Che cazzo?!" He screamed down at Simon.

  Finally, her family and Monroe ran from the house, probably hearing the crash. Or either Eva or the creature's scream. Or Dante's loud profanities. Fuck he didn't know, but they were all too goddamn late. He'd been too damn late.

  He knew he shouldn't have fucking left her alone. He he should have locked her away in his goddamn office.

  "Where were you?" He screamed into Monroe's face pushing him, though not killing him as he wanted. Or could have. He wanted to break him in half for letting her sneaky ass out of his sight.

  "Me?" He retorted, shoving Dante right back. "Where were ?"

  "Vaffanculo! She was you! let her leave the house!" His body shook with his anger. His fear. "Why the fuck was she outside?"

  Dante looked towards the idiot brother who was still on the ground throwing around careless apologies. Snarling, he yanked the boy from his ass by his biceps.

  "Why the fuck was she outside?" Dante ignored Richard's words of calming down. He was far from calm. She was . was gone. The heaviness in his chest threatened to suffocate him. "What did you do, huh?"

  "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Dante shook the boy hoping to snap his mind to focus. His meaningless apologies were frantic and only angered Dante more. "They said I had two more days! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't know they were following me!"

  Dante stopped shaking him and his tone went even darker as he eyed the boy. "What? What are you talking about? They who?"

  "They said they didn't want to hurt her." He apologized again. "They just wanted the necklace. That's all, just the necklace."

  Aliyah gasped at her son's words and the shock rang heavier than the disappointment in her tone. "Simon, no. Oh, God, what did you do?"

  He looked towards his distraught mother with another apology. "I'm sorry, I didn't know what it was until after I'd bet it. This isn't my fault. You should have told me."

  "How could you?" Her voice shook with hurt but Dante shook the boy to gain his attention again.

  “Pezzo di merda!" Dante growled, pinning his back against the side of the crushed car. “Who?”

  "I-I don't know," he stammered out and stumbled when Dante released him. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry! They said it was just a valuable crystal. I didn't know. I thought I could just get the necklace. They said they wouldn't hurt her. That they didn’t even want her."

  "And you believed them?" his brother asked in disbelief. "They're demons. No offense."

  He'd looked to Dante, who nodded tensely in agreement with white-knuckled fists. It was the only thing he could do without breaking his promise to Eva. He could feel his essence boiling over from the inside out.

  "Are you just going to stand there?" Monroe snapped, shaking Dante's shoulder roughly. "Is there a plan? How do we get her back?"

  He shook the Reaper off and tried to keep himself from shifting with how furious he was.

  No, there was no plan. Simon had severely screwed them out of what little plan they'd had and now they looked to Dante for answers?

  The annoyance bubbled over, and with minimal effort, he turned and struck his fist out, connecting it with the dumbest sibling's nose, knocking him unconscious.

  "Dante!” The father pleaded, trying to hold his arm back though released him when Dante snatched it away. He was sure his eyes were the iciest of blue with the fury he tried to control.

  This whole situation was her family's fault. They had done nothing but lie and hurt her. Lowell's admittance to her last night replayed in his mind along with the Caster's words from earlier, making his blood burn hot. Their whole organization was shit.

  His brain wouldn't stop screaming profanities.

  He rounded on the brother again but instead of snapping his neck as he wanted, he lifted him from the ground. Ignoring his mother's pleas, he shook her son awake.

  How could she be concerned with this motherfucker's safety when he'd sold out their youngest child?

  "Hey! Wake up, dipshit." He slapped at his cheeks. When he came to, he looked confused and disoriented. "Hey, focus! Who did you lose it to? Tell me! Now!"

  "I-I don't know. Daaaammit.” He groaned, bringing his hands to his bleeding nose and, in the process, muffling his words. “Honest. I never met the buyer. Only the two demons that were the go-between."

  He fumbled in his pocket looking for something while keeping his other hand to his face.

  "How are you keeping contact with them?" Monroe demanded just as Simon pulled his cell from his pocket.

  If he'd been using his phone, Dante doubted they'd answer anymore. They'd apparently been following him the entire time and now that they had her, they wouldn't need him anymore. Dante wanted to snatch the phone from him and crush it down his damned throat.

  "Wait, wait!" Simon fumbled with his phone as it pinged in his hand. "Wait, that's them."

  Dante snatched his phone and dropped the boy who landed on his knees with a thud.

  "Why would they reach out? They already have her." Monroe tried to take the phone from Dante's hands, but he held it with such force he wasn't surprised when it crushed under the pressure.

  "Fuuuuck," Dante growled, unable to stop looking at the screen though it was black and cracked.

  The last message from an unknown number: