The Coven

Chapter 10: Dante

Miranda woke with a sharp gasp, suddenly aware of a stranger's presence in the cave. She strained her ears to hear anything, and when she heard the soft shuffle of immortal footsteps, she went to stand up, but was immediately held down by someone.

"Shhhhh, don't want to wake everyone up right this moment, do you?" a young man's voice whispered as she violently tried to kick him off. With a shuffle, she was also pinned down, unable to speak or move. Beneath his hand, she gowled.

"Don't try to play tough with me, chick. I'm no coward who backs off at the glare of an immortal," he hissed back, slightly pointed teeth bared.

With another attempt at freedom, she tried to bite his hand, and he let go only to grab her throat. Once again, she couldn't speak, only now she couldn't breathe as well.

"I'm going to loosen my hold slightly so you can speak, but be warned. I've killed far more dangerous vampires than you, without hesitation. Your coven won't get her in time to help you.

As she felt herself able to breathe, she stayed silent for a moment, baring her own fangs at this intruder.

"Who the hell are you?" she finally spat, her eyes trying to make out his face in the dark. He didn't look like an immortal, with his ordinary green eyes and tanned skin. Yet he had the fangs and strength of any vampire she'd ever met.

"I'm sure you've heard of the half-breed offspring of Nathan and his human girlfriend," he said even quieter, leaning in so she could hear him.

"Dante?" she guessed. She couldn't remember the lineage, but she guessed the name that she'd heard Elizabeth say as she described some scandal or another. She knew she'd guessed right at the slight nod and acknowledgement in his eyes. That made her even madder, "why in the hell are you sneakin around and attacking vampires you've never even met before?!"

"I didn't attack you. I'm just making sure the older ones don't know I'm here until night. Early generation rarely like being woken up from their nap," he said quietly, looking towards the others to make sure they were still asleep, "and I want them in a good mood when I speak with them."

"You didn't answer my question, prat. Why are you here?"she tried to wiggle out of his grasp, but only got his hand on her throat again. Not tight enough to keep her from breathing and talking, it effectively got her to stop.

"I'll just have to knock you unconscious if you're going to keep being this loud," he grumbled.

"Well do you expect me to cower in silence just because you have me pinned to the frickin ground?! Wrong type of vampire you're dealing with!" with a sudden grunt, she managed to finally shove him off and scramble into a crouching position. As she was about to shout to wake everyone, however, Dante leapt smoothly and tackled her, knocking the wind out of her. As she landed once again on her back, she writhed to try and escape him.

"Shush!" he hissed as she finally settled down as he found his grip on her throat again. He could practically hear the profanities she was trying to utter as her breath was partially cut off.

"…mmm…wha-?" Elaine mumbled as she woke up to the sound of Miranda hissing at some stranger who had her pinned solidly to the ground in front of her. With a gasp, she leapt up and jumped towards them.

"Finally!" Miranda growled as he let go of her to back away from the now fearsome and angry vampires in front of him. Before he could take more than a few steps, however, Miranda tackled him and shoved him up against the nearby wall, lifting him up.

"Well there goes plan A," he grumbled, not even bothering to fight to get himself down. With a sigh, he added, "might as well wake the rest of them while you're at it."

As Elaine woke the others quickly, Miranda let out a chuckle.

"Oh, so I'm funny to you. You sure become brave when your friends show up," he mocked.

"And you really need to learn not to poke fun at those who happen to have you pinned on a wall with backup coming," she replied with a sneer. Just to emphasize her point, she lifted him higher.

"Miranda, put him down," Elizabeth's voice rang clear from behind her and she reluctantly set him down, shoving him away as she stepped back. She mouthed the words 'watch yourself,' towards him, glaring.

"Who are you, boy?" she asked calmly, her eyes glaring gold in the dim light.

"Dante, and I'd really rather we did this when you were all in a better mood. What I have to share is bad enough," he answered quickly. Surrounded by the coven, he seemed significantly weaker.

"Dante? Nathan's boy? Why are you this far west? And away from him?" she seemed skeptical of this youth, but then again, Nathan never did keep tabs on the people around him very well.

"Abrielle had him send me to deliver a message. Like I said, I'd really rather it be delivered when you weren't so tired and hungry," he urged. At her name, Michael inhaled sharply from behind Elizabeth.

"To whom is the message for?" Elizabeth ignored the reaction of the man behind her.

"All of you."

With a sigh of skepticism, she turned away, gesturing Michael to follow her. The girls were left to keep and eye on him, and, in Miranda's case, glare.

"So you managed to pin Miranda? Impressive," Victoria put her hands on her hips and tossed her hair back. Even barely awake, she knew a handsome boy when she saw one, and even if he'd attacked Miranda, she'd probably deserved it. She always tended to bring out the aggressive side in people she met.

"That's not very loyal of you," Elaine smirked at the dark, curly-haired companion. At Miranda's confused glance, she shrugged and crossed her arms.

"Stay out of my mind, Elaine," she warned. Miranda made an 'oh' face as she finally caught on.

"So are you all going to just stand there while your elders decide the fate of the coven without you? Is that how this works?" he shrugged at them, leaning casually back on the wall.

"It's hardly that serious, Sunshine. And like you care how a family works," Miranda interjected.

"Sunshine?" Victoria snickered at the nickname, "why Sunshine?"

"He's not like us, idiot. He can step in sunlight without harm," she snapped.

"Don't go picking fights with me just because someone beat you at something fight-related," Victoria sniffed and continued to bat her eyes at the youth.

"Oh please, ladies. Bickering is all you two how to deal with another? Just be quiet and watch him!" Elaine sighed exasperatedly.

"You must be Elaine," he said suddenly.

"What of it?" she answered.

"Abrielle speaks of you. Says you're a psychic. One of the truly Gifted Ones."

"I am psychic. That's all you need to know," she said.

"Aidan's like you. Bit loopy, he is," he murmured, knowing that they'd hear him.

"Watch your mouth, scud," Miranda raised a fist threateningly.

"Never said she was. What, she your girlfriend," he sneered back at her.

"My maestra," Elaine answered just as Elizabeth and Michael returned, still mumbling to each other about something. Finally, they addressed Dante.

"You will stay here while we hunt tonight. After, you shall tell us this message and leave. In the meantime, we shall try and sleep, but you must swear to leave us be," she stated, adding with a meaningful glance in Miranda's direction, "that includes all of us."

"Sounds fair enough. How do I know that you'll return from the hunt and not just leave me here?"

"We're curious. Abrielle hardly speaks to others," Elizabeth smiled at him.

"So we're just going to let him watch us while we sleep, defenseless? He'll try and kill us, maestra!" Miranda protested.

"He won't, Miranda. He knows better," Elizabeth walked away without another word, retreating back to the darkest area of the cavern, disappearing from view.

"Scared of the half-breed?" he taunted as soon as Michael and the others left reluctantly to their corners.

"You wish," she said as she stomped off to go find Elaine. She heard Victoria begin her pass at him as she walked out of hearing. Shaking her head, she sighed, frustrated.

"So what're you going to do while we're out killing things?" Victoria stepped closer to him as the others went slowly back to sleep, even Miranda. His eyes were startlingly green, which was an odd color to the vampire, who was used to the odd colored eyes of other immortals.

"I'll stay here, as your maestra asked me to," he answered.

"All alone? Why don't you come with? Or don't you have the thirst like the rest of us," she stepped even closer, batting her long, dark eyelashes at him.

"I do thirst, but I just hunted, not two days ago. I don't need to feed like a typical vampire," he took a slow step forward, staring into her violet eyes. He knew what she was trying to do.

"Too bad. What kind do you prefer?" she pressed on; ignoring the fact that Elaine probably knew what she was doing and shaking her little head in disapproval.

"What do I prefer in what? Food or girls?" he smirked and she let out a girly giggle.

"Either one."

"I won't tell you," at his answer, she made a slight 'tsk'ing sound and nudged his shoulder playfully.

"That's not very fair."

"Who said I was?"

"Well I assumed you had some sense of fairness. After all, beating Miranda in her own brutality is an act of fairness right there. She can get so violent," she said with a sigh.

"I didn't attack her. And I didn't beat her, or I wouldn't have been discovered until this evening. Speaking of which, you need your sleep as much as everyone else I assume," he stepped away, while she sighed again.

"Well I suppose I do, but it's just fun to talk to someone I can relate to. Elizabeth's too serious and far off sometimes, Elaine's just plain strange all the time, and Miranda only hears what she wants to in most conversations," she complained with a pout.

"Are you always this eager to complain about your coven? It doesn't send such a loyal message."

With a slight blush of embarrassment, she cleared her throat and answered, "Well you seemed like a good listener. Anyways, I best be off to rest." She turned quickly and practically ran to the back of the cavern to hide. Her flirting attempt wasn't very effective, it seemed.

With a sigh of his own, he sat heavily on the ground, aware that Miranda was again glaring at him, half asleep next to Elaine. As she noticed that he was looking at her, she grumbled and turned away, seeming to fall asleep again.

"I wonder if Abrielle knows about Michael being here," he mumbled to himself as he felt sleep make his limbs and eyelids heavy. Unknown to him, Elizabeth had snuck close enough to hear this, and she quickly turned and retreated to her corner, frowning. Abrielle wasn't one who took surprise information with dignity and understanding. They'd have to be extra careful on the hunt if they were to survive their journey to find Isabelle.

End Chapter