Whoot! Chapter 10! It was friggin huge, (18 pages) but I had to cut it down...lol
I didn't originally intend for it to be this way, but once I put just the two scenes I had pre-written out in one doc it was already 16 pages long and I still had to piece them together... Oy. Seriously, the pacing was off if I'd left it as it was, so please forgive and know the next chapter is written. I'm just a ho and want this chapter to sink in before posting the next. :D Maybe the middle of this week.
There is also some talk of Eva/Sparda in here and the more I've read it the more I want to write that out as an individual story...lol What do you guys think?
Also wanted to mention KM is coming to a close soon, but it won't be over yet.
The original intention was for two stories although I'm in debate on whether or not to separate them or just continue from this one. The difference being we will finally get into Vergil's head which to me makes it a different story. The story will continue, but there will be times where Vergil recollects moments from KM and all those things I alluded to will finally be explored. What was Vergil's initial reaction to the first kiss at Devil May Cry? What was he feeling as he sucked the poison from Lady? And why did he appear with fresh scars on his back the next morning?
So enjoy and don't worry about this 'being over soon', because my brain has much more in store for these characters. :) Until then, enjoy Artemis!
Killing Moon
Chapter 10
She wandered aimlessly through the streets knowing full well that leaving him again might be her undoing, but somehow with his need to get away from her she almost felt like he wouldn't care this time. Like maybe he wanted to be away from her too.
The only problem was where could she go? She could not go back to Dante's after what happened, she could not go home to where Vergil remained. The only name that came to her mind was Artemis. She needed to talk to him and for their little time spent together somehow felt his place was the only safe place for her at the moment.
Vergil had said he'd moved though and refused to tell her where. Lady walked for about a half hour through the empty streets distraught with her lack of options. It was getting late and she found herself both physically and emotionally drained.
Finally she stopped and sat on a bench at one of the street side bus stops. She pulled her knees up close to her chest to block out the slight chill of night and buried her face in her arms.
It wasn't a even a second when she felt someone pulling her sideways to lean against them, a strong arm going around her back.
"It's all right." Artemis said with a heavy sigh just in time to make sure she did not push him away or freak out at being touched suddenly.
Lady practically collapsed against his side as the fear and confusion finally took hold. She remained like that for a while in silence, just listening to the sounds of the night and her slowly fading sobs. Finally she found her voice once she had managed to calm down.
"Why are you here?" Lady asked as she pulled back to look up at him.
"Your soul was searching for me," he said simply. "I cast the spell and therefore we are linked. You can call on my aid whenever you need it," he continued gently as he pulled a tissue from nowhere and handed it to her. "You just never really needed me until now."
Lady sat back, as if suddenly aware he had an arm around her, sitting on her own and hurriedly wiping her face with the tissue. She glanced at him sideways quickly and he did not seem to react to her suddenly evasive behavior.
So he was there, but now what? The original thought was to ask him if he would take her in, but now that he was sitting there it seemed ridi--
"You have only to ask. I would not have come if I were not offering my guidance and protection for the night." Artemis said suddenly. She searched his face and noted he was dead serious. "I have no use for ulterior motives," he added as if he could see her thoughts. Then she remembered he could.
"You really need to stop doing that." Lady said impatiently.
"If I couldn't then I fear you would never just tell me point blank what it is you require. I know you well enough Lady and even if you had found me rather than I coming to you do you think you would have willingly asked for my help?"
Her eye twitched a bit. OK, so it wasn't far from the truth. Even now she was having troubles asking him.
"Lady. Would you accompany me back to my home?" Artemis asked when she did not. "I fear I need, what did you say when we first met? A bodyguard? Yes, a bodyguard to protect me from the threat of the things that go bump in the night."
"Uh huh... Acting like a weirdo really is going to make me want to come with you." Lady replied with a half smirk.
"Got you to smile a bit did it not?" Artemis asked mimicking her exact half smirk. She let out a small laugh and it made her feel better.
"Sure. I'll protect you. Where we headed?" She asked finally giving in and kind of adoring him in that moment for not making her ask him to come with him. The request was a guise for her benefit, but she was thankful for it.
Artemis stood, waiting for her to join him, before looking left, right and then offering her his arm. Lady took it, but before she could even feel the weight of it there was a flash of light and they were standing once again in the fireplace room of his home.
"Good thing I had you, or else I fear I would've never made it back alive," he quipped without looking at her. Lady rolled her eyes and moved forward to sit tiredly down on the couch. She leaned back and closed her eyes before opening them to watch him move about the room. He was lighting ancient lamps mounted in the walls but he was not using a lighter, but the tip of his finger which burned but did not scorch him.
"That's an odd trick." Lady commented.
He pulled his hand back once they were all lit and blew his finger out like one would a smoking gun.
"It has its uses. Now, tell me. Is there anything I can get you?"
"Like?"
"Food, drink..." he offered then added. "Alcohol?"
"God yes."
"Thought so, but in small doses please. I may seem like a cool cat, but even I have issues with drunken women on my couches," he said as a cup appeared in his hand already filled with a small amount of a amber colored drink. "Did you know reading the thoughts of a drunk person is like listening to gibberish? It's not as entertaining as that may sound."
"What is that?" Lady asked staring at the unidentified liquid.
"It's something that will warm you but also assure you sleep well tonight."
"Which is called?"
"So paranoid. I'm not the type to slip things into people's drinks unbeknownst to them," he replied cheekily as he glanced at her out of the corner of his eyes. So he knows about that too? "Of course."
"I didn't know what else to do," she said with a deep sigh as she sat back.
Thinking of it now made her feel anxiety again and suddenly she wasn't even thirsty. Yet Artemis gently pushed the drink towards her.
"Trust me, you will feel better once you get a good night sleep. You are safe here and I can guarantee you that Vergil won't approach Dante in your absence."
"I hurt Dante," she whimpered, feeling the tears threatening. "I keep hurting him."
Artemis came and sat down beside her.
"Dante will be fine. He has been through worse and come out on top. You'd be surprised just how strong that man is."
He patted her shoulder gently. Lady quickly wiped at her eyes to make sure no tears had fallen even if she somehow didn't feel ashamed letting them flow in front of Artemis. That was the strangest thing about him. Anytime Artemis was there, even when Vergil and she had been here with him, she felt at ease. Despite her sorrow she found again she felt more at peace with the situation like she could relax.
She took a sip of the drink he'd given her and it warmed all the way down. Lady could even feel it filling her stomach, expanding that warmth outward until she felt like she was wrapped in a soft blanket.
"Good stuff right?" He asked with a smile.
While it wasn't the first time he'd smiled at her, it was the first time he'd done it wide enough to see his teeth. Lady noticed immediately he had two fanged canines. That surprised her. It didn't make him look threatening. If anything it added to the mystery that was him.
He either read her thoughts or caught her line of vision because his smile faded enough to cover them again.
"Sorry. I spend so little time in the company of others, especially humans, I often forget how off putting they can be," he said when her eyes looked back up to his.
"If you're the mind reader you claim to be then you'd know they're not off putting to me." Lady said before a drawn out yawn hit her. Honestly she didn't care one way or another. For fangs they were kind of cute.
He leaned forward just a bit and narrowed his eyes as if reading something in her face. Then he broke into a very wide smile showing them again.
"What?"
"You think my teeth are cute," he responded happily.
She was about to say she didn't but only rolled her eyes knowing he probably read her like a book. Besides, it seemed to make him genuinely happy to hear that and she was too tired to argue.
"Don't know what's in this glass, but I'm going to pass out." Lady said as her eyes felt droopy. He took it from her.
"By all means," he said as he stood to let her lay down. When she did she felt a change in atmosphere and looked around to see somehow she was in a fluffy bed.
"Were you expecting me or something?" She asked groggily as he pulled the covers up over her shoulder.
"Perhaps. We'll talk when you wake, so just sleep," he replied as he placed a warm hand on her hair. Lady yawned again, pressing her face further into the pillow and not much caring that he was stroking her hair. It felt nice, like when she was a child laying on her mother's lap.
Very slowly she slipped off into sleep and for once dreamt of nothing at all.
--
She smelled something mouth watering.
Her stomach growled, waking her at an unknown time in protest of not eating anything since her breakfast the morning previous. She'd been too nervous to eat at home and now that the stress had lightened her ravenous hunger returned full force.
Lady opened her eyes to find herself alone and once again on the couch. She recalled the night before and the big fluffy bed, wondering if that was an illusion?
But it was forgotten as she looked to the coffee table in front of her to find a plate of real food. Eggs, sausage, hash browns, a biscuit and a tall glass of chilled orange juice. She sat up and pulled it to her, not even ashamed she was feeding her face like she'd never eaten.
"Hungry?" Artemis' voice mused from the corner. Lady turned, her cheeks stuffed with biscuit and Artemis just put a hand to his mouth to hide the laugh at seeing her that way.
She couldn't talk, so she nodded before taking a drink of the orange juice to ease the bread down.
"Did you make this?" She asked.
"Me? If I had made it... Well, I've no clue what would happen. I've never cooked before. But chances are it would involve a fire extinguisher and possibly the fire department," he replied. "I got that from a fast food restaurant and figured it would look nicer if I plated it."
"Plated or not, it's sooo good."
Lady woofed down more all the while Artemis sat in his chair watching her eat like a pig. She of course didn't care since she was starving.
"You want some?" She asked.
"The sentiment is appreciated, but not needed. I do not eat."
"That must suck," she said almost dropping egg down her front.
"Creatures who do eat always seem to take great pleasure in it, but I would not know one way or another. Please slow down. We don't need the paramedics here on top of the fire department." Artemis added giving her and odd stare at the excess of food on her fork she was about to shove down.
Once she'd finished eating she sat back content on the couch. Her eyes moved over to Artemis who sat back in the rocking chair very at ease with himself as well, although his keen silver eyes were trained on her.
Lady wanted to talk with him now that her mind was clear. Well, not just talk but ask him questions she was not sure he would answer. Possibly even questions a part of her didn't want an answer to.
Hell, she could almost read it in his eyes that he knew what she wanted but for once wasn't going to breach it himself. He looked expectant, as if waiting patiently for her to find the words.
"You tried to warn me, didn't you?" She finally managed when she recalled his words as she left his home the first night they met and how Vergil had rudely pulled her away before Artemis could say much.
"I did. Even though Vergil did not want you to know the side effects I felt they were important. Unfortunately I could not come to find you."
"Why not?"
"It's complicated and something I would prefer not discussing. Just know if I could have come sooner then I would have."
His face was so pleasant even though he'd just cut that conversation down before it had even gotten started. But then again he was secretive to begin with so she couldn't really be surprised could she?
"What were you going to tell me?"
"Exactly what you now know," he replied. "I would've kept nothing from you within my knowledge. Something Vergil obviously wanted."
"Because he knew I wouldn't go along with it?"
"Oh no. You would've gone along even knowing due to your affection for Dante. But knowing that you might focus that affection towards Vergil instead definitely would've given you pause."
Lady's eyes blinked.
"He... He knew this might happen? That I might feel something for him?" Lady asked incredulously. Bastard!
"Well, not entirely. He needed to understand the consequences of you possibly being drawn to him. It's only natural considering without him you would have been in pain, therefore you were forced to rely on him. Your body knows what it needs to survive so naturally feelings might creep their way in."
"So, these feelings are a lie?" Lady asked sounding relieved but feeling... disappointed?
"Do they feel like a lie to you?"
"I don't know what I feel. One minute all I can see is Dante, the obvious choice considering how good he is--," she said when Artemis snickered. "Well he is! Yes he swears like a sailor, drinks like a fish and isn't exactly humble in vanity or bed mates. But, he doesn't kill innocent people or blackmail them."
"And yet Vergil does not drink, swear and is ignorantly unaware of how attractive he is making him avoid most any social situation. He may have blackmailed you but I bet you didn't know Vergil has never killed outside the supernatural realm?" Artemis added with a thoughtful look towards her.
That surprised her. Even with all his hate of humans, like her, he had never killed any?
"Well, yeah... but he is evil. Are you defending him?" Lady asked confused.
"Alas, I could've once been considered a friend of Vergil's even if I was merely tolerated," he replied with a smirk towards her. "Like you I have seen sides of Vergil he would likely kill to hide and knowing some things makes it much harder to label him. He kills, lies and is unapologetic yet he feels even if he denies it. His ideals and morals are a direct effect of his life and experiences. I wish I could say he was Dante's twin in that department as well, but their upbringing was severely different."
When Lady opened her mouth to question he answered her first.
"Again, it is not something I would feel comfortable discussing. Should he feel the need to confide in you then you will know. I may know a lot through telepathy but I will never divulge that which is not mine to tell," he said resolutely.
Lady sighed feeling a little crushed. Damn if he hadn't piqued her interest considering she knew next to nothing about Vergil. The first slightly sane person who seemed amiable refused to tell her.
"Besides. I will always defend both brothers and guard their secrets as I did their father before them." Artemis continued at her disappointed look. This piqued a new interest.
"Did you know them? I mean, Sparda and Eva?" She asked hoping he would not shut her down on this. Dante had been too young to remember his father and Vergil said nothing of him now. This was a rare opportunity she hoped he would be candid about.
"I did. I only ever heard of Eva from him though, never had the pleasure to meet her," he replied conversationally giving her a feeling he may be up to this topic.
"What was he like? More Vergil or Dante?"
Artemis laughed at the question.
"Wouldn't it technically be which of the boys is more like the father? The answer is... both. In the beginning Sparda was more like Vergil. Pensive, quiet and stubborn. Then he met Eva and his visits here increased as did his annoyance with her."
"Annoyance?"
"The lasting loves in this world usually blossom from hatred. Haven't you read the romance novels?" He mused with twinkling eyes. Lady snorted. "Sparda was an unbendable hot head who, while he cared for this world never seemed to cast off his feeling of superiority of his blood. Until he met Eva and she challenged it. I myself was never privy to exact details, but he would go on an on about that contemptible woman who dared challenge him. If I recall correctly from what I got from his thoughts she had made him do something so degrading as… apologize for being rude."
"What a dork." Lady mused as she pulled her legs up to sit on them crossed.
"An absolute dork I assure you. Especially when it was plain as day he was interested in her. His mouth said one thing but over time his soul told a different story. Eva took ill after volunteering her time to help aid less fortunate people, something Sparda had always complained about because he said she did it to show him up. I think he just didn't want to admit she had a heart to love strangers when he couldn't get her to sneeze in his general direction, which drove him crazy when feelings for her began to show."
"Sounds like a lonely guy." Lady said.
"Of course. He was one of few with devil blood, and no one to really talk with but me. I make a rather lousy companion though, considering I tell most things like it is. I drove him crazy when I kept repeating that he loved the girl and should just give it up. He did not want to hear that. When she fell seriously ill though her mortality shook him in a way I had never seen. During that time he did not come to see me, instead remaining close at her side fearing the worse. I believe he confessed to her then."
"That's kind of beautiful… I knew some stories of when they were together, but never heard of how they came to be together."
"They didn't. Not then at least," he said sitting back and rocking his chair a bit. "He confessed when she was knocked out, and as soon as she recovered he acted as if nothing happened. I think he feared for her safety should he try and bring her into his life further. He feared the loss of the bickering and banter between them that secretly he loved about her. Her ability to be so sharp, and yet so kind to those she loved. I told him he was insane, and he told me to be quiet."
"So how did they come to be together?"
"Are you so interested?"
"Of course I am! I doubt even Dante knows all this." Lady replied waving her hand at him to hurry up.
"You don't think I'd tell him? It's no torrid secret and I am sure it was something his father would want his son to know."
"Yeah, yeah. Spill it already."
Artemis watched her with a smirk of admiration, but purposely dragging the moment out to watch her nag at him with her eyes.
"He came to me rather early in the morning. He hadn't slept a wink, he looked a mess and was still in his pajama's. This was so unlike him I feared Armageddon. Instead he told me she'd kissed him in the heat of one of their fights and something just… clicked. I tried to make him say I had been right, but he wouldn't budge. He couldn't sleep because he said she was laying asleep in his bed and every time he tried he couldn't close his eyes. "
"I couldn't stop looking at her he'd said in confusion. Devil's don't know or comprehend love even should it happen to them. It's fully possible of course, but very rare. He had been struck by it because he had a soul to care for weaker creatures which is even more rare. After that night everything was different between them. As time went on the confusion subsided and a much more jovial, kinder side emerged. Almost as if his reclusive side stemmed from frustration at not having what he wanted. When he had it there was nothing left to be angry about. Although he admitted to me in secrecy he sometimes purposely would pick a fight with her because it amused him to make up."
Lady blinked at him before letting out a laugh. Now she could see where being Dante-like was coming in. That seemed like something the hunter would do. It was a bad thing to do, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel warmth towards Sparda at hearing it. She half wondered if maybe Eva didn't know what he was doing and played along because she knew they would both be rewarded in the end.
"What did you do when he passed?" Lady asked when the thought came to her. Judging by the conversation Artemis had been a friend to him.
"He came to me in confidence to ask what he should do, but he already seemed determined on his set path to stop the threat of Mundus. It wasn't him he was concerned about but the fate of his family. It was the first time I ever lied to someone for the greater good of mankind. Already I knew Eva's fate was doomed without him, but I told him otherwise to make him go with peace in his heart. The threat Mundus posed at that time was too great to ignore. It still pains me to this day whenever Dante speaks of his mother."
Artemis looked off into the fire and for the first time his eyes were not alight with amusement or secrets, but weary and troubled.
"And what about Vergil? Are his intentions now good?" She asked cautiously.
"Please do not misunderstand me Lady. For generations my kind have toyed with the fate of mankind while I choose instead to rectify. It is our curse and punishment for the sins of those who begot us. I am a demon in biblical sense only, as my origins are that of the taboo joining of fallen divinity and humans. So the cycle goes on as more and more of my kind either fall victim to the sin of flesh to carry it on, or parish completely from refusal to give in and repeat history again. I am bound by a code of honor to always do what is right even in the face of two evils."
"I don't understand."
"The path I have set Vergil on is the best for him and for this world. It does not always mean a happy ending and if he cannot find his way… the right way to walk this road possible death could be what waits him in the end." Artemis continued in a deadly serious tone.
"He could die?" Lady asked softly.
"Does that frighten you?"
Lady considered that question carefully, because it wasn't asked in a knowing tone but seriously and unafraid. As if he needed to know. She didn't dare answer it, too unsure of where her feelings lay.
"He can change it though, if he goes it a different way?" She answered instead, grateful he did not push it.
"The other way would be backing down and moving on, which for him is unlikely at this stage."
"You can't know that for sure..." Lady protested. "How can you allow him to do this if it meant death without a second option? You cast him to the lions without giving him the opportunity to redeem himself. He's the son of a fallen friend, can't you help him?"
"You are his opportunity to redeem himself. Why do you think I would allow the son of a lifelong friend take such a reckless course unless I had some insurance? I chose you because in the end you will do what is right. When the time comes you'll know what needs to be done to release him from his torment. How that happens though is dependant on his actions from this point on."
"Stop talking to me in vague riddles. Just tell me what I have to do so I can end this. My suffering, Dante's and even Vergil's."
Artemis stood and came to kneel down in front of her even in the face of her angry eyes. He took her hand placatingly.
"I cannot give you what you need. If I told you now you might lose the nerve, or leave him all together. That I am most sure of. I would not have placed this on your shoulders if I was not sure you could handle it or that you would be harmed. Dante cares far too much for you, and perhaps this is my absolution for lying to Sparda about Eva. From keeping the truth from Dante," he said gently.
"I don't want to be your absolution at the cost of Vergil's life. Just tell me how to save him."
"Remain by his side, and when the time comes do what you know is right. That is all. You cannot run from this now, as you yourself have already set the wheels in motion and only you can change it."
He watched her closely as she gave him a mistrusting look because she didn't like that all of this was being told to her just now. It should've been told to her before she was forced into helping Vergil in the first place. Yet was his withholding of this information the only way she would've agreed to go along with it?
"Do not look at me like that, I beg you," he said solemnly with a wisp of a nervous smile. "I could not reveal all to you with Vergil so close by. If he knew my intentions... then he would've made sure I could not interfere. All will turn out, I promise you."
"Like you promised Sparda?" She said in a low voice. He looked momentarily tongue tied, stunned at her harsh tone.
"Cut me if you must, but I have never lied to you," he stated quietly. "I'm quite fond of you actually," he smirked somewhat nostalgically. His eyes flickered, then faltered as he patted her hand before letting it go. "Just know you can trust me."
He walked to the fireplace to stand against the mantle and Lady noticed the sad reflection the fire made in his eyes. He looked thoughtful, and when he turned seem to recapture some of his luster as he smiled. Switching it on like a light, which made the effect not quite as natural as most of his other more genuine ones.
"You should head home, it is getting late," he said after a second. Lady though continued to watch him unmoved, as if trying to figure him out. There was so little she knew about him, and yet she considered him... possibly a friend? Could he see her thoughts of curiosity?
Lady watched him closely, not liking the look she had just seen in his eyes. There are some things in this world that are so completely out of place that it sometimes can be painful, and somehow seeing Artemis doing anything but smiling was one of them. Maybe she had been so foolish as to think he could feel nothing but high energy happiness, yet she had witnessed a slight moment of weakness in him that made her warm to him just slightly despite all he had confessed to her.
She could see the guilt and the weight of his own choices in that brief second, and it dawned on her that he carried that guilt to make lives better. She had no right to judge him, because what would she have done if she were faced with the dilemma of losing those she cared for if it meant protecting the world? Billions of lives of complete strangers who would never know their lives were as frail as the decision of one man who had to willingly betray his closest friend and ruin the lives of two boys whom he would from that day forward be linked to.
Somehow in that moment they were not so different, as she was betraying Dante knowingly to redeem Vergil in some hope for a better tomorrow for them both. Somewhere along the lines she felt something for the small glimpses of Vergil the man in his unguarded moments and could almost see what he might've become if things had been different.
She stood as if to go, but instead walked towards Artemis until she was standing across from him. His eyes turned towards her, putting on their show of calmness yet speaking something else to her.
He smiled warmly at her in the kind of way she had only seen him pull off in the past. She found it odd that no one in her lifetime had ever smiled the way he did, and yet despite the fact it was happy it only proved to make her feel even more low to think of him smiling with all he had to take on himself. She would never understand the people who smiled through their grief and hardships.
She wanted to give him something, somehow thank him for all he had done as if to make up for all the gratitude that had been denied him by the millions who slept peacefully in their beds at night because of the sacrifice he had made. She did not immediately know what though would be the right thing to do, until she looked beyond his eyes and noticed... longing.
Lady stepped forward and slid her arms up under his, pressing her temple to the side of his chest in a hug. She felt him tense, could almost sense his look of confusion. It occurred to her in that quiet moment before his arms embraced her back that Artemis had never been hugged before. Who was there to hold him in his times of sorrow, or loneliness? If this were the case then a simple hug, to this man, could mean more than it does to human's who take such things for granted. Parents, siblings, friends... There was always someone there to hold and take comfort in. Even Lady had... once had Dante.
His arms curled around her back, his long fingers curling in her hair as his head leaned down to rest his cheek on the top of her head. With a soft chuckle he spoke so quiet.
"Why Lady... you've been reading my mind haven't you?"
Lady found herself laughing into his hair at that, letting him take as long as he needed to feel someone close to him. She usually hated to be touched, but something about him felt as if his intentions were always nothing but pure. This was a hug between long time friends who have not seen each other in a while. Slow, careful, and drawn out purposely to heal old wounds.
"You know, soon I may not let you leave," he murmured contentedly.
"What would the outcome be then?" She asked in turn.
"Alas, Vergil would turn this realm inside out looking for you and probably introduce me to the sharp end of Yamato in the process."
--
Reluctantly, but assured things would be OK Lady allowed Artemis to take her back a few blocks from where she lived.
"You cannot hide forever," he said when she stared down the street where her destination lay, obviously not looking forward to returning.
"I can try," she replied in a low mumble.
"That you can, but you'd be surprised how easily a half devil can find you."
Lady shivered at that thought.
"Are you that afraid?" Artemis asked noticing her tremble.
She didn't answer because she didn't know for sure if it was fear of Vergil or fear of what had almost happened that kept her still. How would he be today? Would he pretend nothing had happened? Would he even be there when she returned?
Lady drew in a deep breath and squared her shoulders. She had never withdrawn in the face of actual monsters who wanted to rip her to shreds. While Vergil was dangerous and unknown he had never really harmed her. He had even saved her. Although she knew it was so he could use her. As long as she was useful he couldn't do much. Even those intimate moments had ended as soon as she'd asked them to. He had let her go last night.
She exhaled and nodded as if set on something before turning to Artemis.
"Thank you for last night," she said sincerely as she watched him.
"You are most welcome," he replied cocking his head to the side and letting that even smile settle back across his face.
"What?" Lady asked feeling a slight flush creep into her cheeks.
"You know... Of all the species in this universe I've decided humans are by far my favorite," he said allowing the smile to widen to bare his teeth unashamedly. "Even with my abilities your kind still manage to surprise me by your strength of mind and heart."
Lady snorted derisively. He had no clue of humans apparently.
"We're flawed. Pure and simple," she said correcting him. His smile was unmoved and his eyes sparkled mischievously.
"Exactly," he said appreciatively before disappearing in the blink of an eye.
Lady stared at the spot he'd been for a moment before turning full towards the sidewalk. Another deep breath and her feet were heading to wherever the remains of the day would take her. Silently she prayed for a guardian angel.
Instead she found a devil waiting impatiently inside her home, pacing back and forth in the main hallway.