Chapter XIII: Final Warning

It took several days before Tess was well enough to get out of bed and for Dante to completely disregard what he'd just been through and start looking for more trouble. But things seemed to have cooled down again. Nothing really significant had happened, which made Dante quite bored. The very next day after giving Roy his guns for repairs, he had been raring for another fight, some more excitement to curb his frustration at the park's near-disaster. He'd been sloppy and put someone in danger and that ticked him off.

Without much else to do, he took to wandering the city, tracking demons down and taking care of them. He'd checked out the park one last time but there was nothing there anymore, not even Bloodgoyles. It seemed as if Chernobog's death had cleared the demons right out of there.

Dante got back to the house late that afternoon, his sword bloodied from combat. His clothes were merely dusty and crumpled, except for one particularly large tear. It reached across his back diagonally and ruined his khaki-colored tank shirt and coat; he'd probably need to ask Roy to mend that one later.

He'd just gotten out of a particularly amusing scrap with another one of those madmen and a bunch of Bloodgoyles. After the park incident, neither Roy nor Magda had done much to stop him from doing whatever he wanted, other than ask him to not bring it up with them and keep his escapades away from the building. There was no question of Tess venturing out; her cold was bad and Magda was too angry at her to allow her to go out and about; even more so with Dante. Roy was, for once, fully backing the old lady up. Dante was sure he'd let up eventually and let the girl have some breathing room again. While she was struggling to recover, Dante was killing his time by venturing around the city and dispatching demons.

With his sword on his back, Dante crossed the lobby while stretching lazily and then made his way for the stairs, boots thudding on his way up toward the bathroom for a shower. The lobby was empty again. He smelled something funny in the kitchen hallway, like a meal gone wrong. He would never get used to that; it must have been one of the herbal draughts that Magda had been forcing Tess to take for her cold. He felt sorry for her about those, but at least they did make her better.

Tess and Roy's concerns that Chernobog was only part of the problem seemed to be confirmed. The whole city appeared to be sinking into a sort of collective delusion, where the murdering bouts continued, although they decreased in frequency. They had also noticed something more disconcerting. People seemed less rational, acting more aggressive and snapping easier. Roy heard rumors that hit-and-run accidents, drivers actively abandoning victims dead or on the brink of death, were on the increase, as were reports of abuse, assault and other violent crimes. Reason itself seemed to slip. Dante had witnessed other such occasions, of people just passing by acts of violence as if they didn't even see them. He'd seen a couple more of those odd madmen in different places. In every case it was the same: maddened humans turning into demons. It was like a disease.

As Dante reached the floor landing, Tess' door creaked open and she poked her head out. She had bed-hair and was still wrapped in a dark purple blanket over a pair of cotton pants and a black sweatshirt. She was pale, probably from running a low fever and coughed. But she looked a lot better than she did a couple days ago when she couldn't even stand upright.

"Psst," she muttered. "Finally, you're back. Ugh, you stink like demon guts. Go get a shower and come downstairs. I got some things to tell you about," she said. "You're interested."

Dante registered but didn't stop. His first priority now was getting a shower. He gave a thumbs-up as he passed. He didn't waste much time. He cleaned his sword, took a shower, changed and headed downstairs to meet her. Coming to the end of the stairs in the lobby, he looked around for any sign of either Magda or Roy. Neither of them was anywhere to be seen and satisfied that they would have some privacy, made his way to the kitchen to wait for her.

On her part, Tess had gone downstairs while Dante was in the shower and was taking advantage of Magda having gone to re-supply in essential herbs used in the potions she'd been treating Tess with. The girl shuffled around the living room in her grandmother's quarters. Looking over her shoulder ever so often, with the blanket still draped over her shoulders, she pulled open a cabinet's drawer and picked a small tin box out of it. Pushing the drawer shut with a nudge of her thighs, she fumbled with the box, opening it and taking it out a seemingly mundane item: a deck of cards.

These cards meant something quite important to her, both sentimentally and practically. They belonged to her mother, who used them for meditation. Tess found other uses in them, but they had been out of her reach for a while; Magda wouldn't let her touch them. She held them in hand as she crossed the lobby, sneezing as she went. She smiled faintly, seeing him, as she got into the kitchen.

"You have a thing for red, dontcha?" she chuckled, looking at the red shirt he had on.

Sitting in a chair and having a can of beer, Dante cocked a brow up. "So I like red. What of it?" he said, shrugging.

She bowed an eyebrow in turn. "So you like my hair too?" she chuckled. She sniffled a little, taking a seat opposite him. She placed the deck of cards on the table.

Dante just averted the gaze, pretending to roll his eyes. He didn't answer the question, just mumbled something about wishful thinking.

"So what's this?" he asked, nodding to the cards and then glanced at the fridge.

Tess guessed he was hungry-he'd often state how fighting demons worked up an appetite. "Tarot, but nevermind that now. I heard Roy mentioning that things are getting weird."

"He's right," Dante said. "He told me he's always sniffing out some demon or other when he's out. Say, just what the hell does he do when he runs into demons? I've never seen him when I go out."

Tess shrugged a little. "Kills them, I'd think. He doesn't like them any more than we do." She rested her elbow on the table and cupped her chin. "Probably not a far cry from your habit of introducing them to your sword."

"Ha!" Dante scoffed. "Still…I need my guns back. Last time I asked him about how the repairs are going he snarled at me. Said something about missing some spare parts." He took another sip of beer.

Tess chuckled. "Let him take his time, or he'll half-ass it on purpose just to piss you off," she said. "Anyway…I did some thinking and reading and I had a couple of ideas about what might be going on. Today I thought of a way to test it."

Dante sat up with his elbows on the table now, much more interested in what she had to say. "Good. I've been running into pipsqueaks all along, I'm sick of the small fry," he said, taking another swig of his beer. "Anyway, how do you know what they could be up to?"

"First things first. You've seen more of those strange madmen and their messy shenanigans, right? And they either kill themselves or get bumped off by you," she said matter-of-factly.

Dante nodded. "Yep. And it's the same deal too, they were turning into demons. Couple of them chickened out and bumped themselves off while I was tracking them down."

"Then you see the pattern?"

Dante rolled his eyes impatiently. "I see it, but what the hell does it mean?"

"I have an idea about that. These killing sprees can't be random; they're far too frequent and way too bloody for that." Tess curled some hair around her finger. "And these…creatures. It's one thing to become possessed but actual change out of the blue? Spontaneous demonification or whatever-it's just not possible, not even with all the magical bullshit in the world. And then there's all the shit going out with people's behavior in general. You've noticed, right?"

Smirking at her comparison, he nodded, dully. "You're right on that one. I've heard of the presence of demons affecting human behavior but an entirecityis a bit of a stretch."

"Exactly. That alone just screams we're not dealing with small fry. There's some big-ass demon around but where the hell is he? I snooped in on Grams a couple of times and she and Roy haven't found anything either. Not like she cares about dealing with it, she just wants to avoid it. It's all pretty fishy and it's gotten me thinking. There's a method to this, I just can't work it out yet." She picked up the deck of cards and shuffled them absently.

Dante gave a frustrated grunt. "I hate back-stage demons," he muttered. "Why the hell don't they just come out and act like they've got balls instead of being dodgy and hiding away? They're fucking weaklings!"

Tess tilted her head to the side. "I don't know… It could be that they have no other way to their means besides subversive tactics."

"Roy said something like that. Some demons are trapped or whatnot," Dante blurted.

Tess blinked. "That makes sense. You know…it could be that all this craziness is some kind of ritual. I just don't know what. Can't be for opening a portal to Hell; none of the usual signs for that are here and its range is far too large. This is different. But I've thought of a way that might help us find something," she added, placing the shuffled cards on the table between them.

Dante gave her a sideways glance then stared at the cards then back at her.

"It's a long-shot, but Tarot helps me focus my second sight without going all ga-ga," she said seriously. "We might be able to find something. You're half demon, so I need you involved in this as my 'link', understand?"

Dante chuckled, put his hand on the deck and slid them across the table back to her. "Sorry. I'm not into Tard cards. Demons are one thing, but I don't believe in fortune-telling."

She jerked her hand out from under the blanket covering her shoulders and stopped his hand from pushing the cards away. "You don't trust me? This isn't fortune-telling. I'm going to focus my second sight. And don't forget it's why you're not deep-frozen fish food at the park," she said.

Dante sulked and stared at her in the eye. After a moment's thought, he lifted his hand from the cards as if to say 'Fine',letting her have her way. "Do I need to do anything?"

"Yeah; pay some friggin' attention and stop thinking this is a waste of time. I don't want to get lame about 'bad vibes' and such, but with your aura, you could very well screw something up," she said, taking his hand off the cards, shuffling and 'cutting' them before dealing them in a certain way. "I'll do the work."

Dante watched her closely, noting that she had a certain method in laying out the cards, face down. She started with six cards arranged in a cross-like shape, the vertical and horizontal parts made of three cards each, where the middle ones crossed over each other. Four more cards were laid out in a vertical line to the right of the cross shape. Every motion was calculated, done without haste. She seemed to be sinking into a ritualistic sort of movement, and he pictured her mind emptying of other thoughts.

After she dealt the cards and set the remaining deck aside and took a calm breath. Then she began turning the cards over, one by one, starting by the two overlapping cards of the cross shape: The Tower and the Ten of Swords. As she put her finger over each card to explain to him, she spoke softly and quietly, like she had fallen into a very light trance.

"The immediate problem, that which makes things difficult, is conflict," she said, touching the Ten of Swords. "What we think is the result is in fact the battle itself. The city is fighting a losing battle."

Her finger moved to the Tower. "This is the context; a threat that grows. This isn't a small problem we can bide our time with and killing Chernobog has not made it go away."

Dante attempted to ask her something but she quickly raised her finger to her lips to ask him to stay silent. Her expression and sharply focused eyes prompted him to obey and he allowed her to go on. She touched the next card, the Eight of Swords.

"This is what affects the present situation. It gets interesting. Something has been hidden or trapped…"

Dante's eyes gleamed a bit with certainty. "Chernobog's master," he said softly. "Damn, Roy was right. We have a trapped demon."

She nodded. "He's acting through others because he has no choice."

His interest was immediately renewed. He was never one for 'magical bullshit', but her conviction in her skill and knowing that her power had effectively saved his life, he let her go on, in case she could shed more light. "Where is he, then? What kinda demon we talking about?"

"Don't clutter me with questions, I can't slapdash this," she hissed. "Keep the facts we already know in mind. What we find out might not make sense out of context."

She flipped the next card, revealing the Chariot. "This is recent developments. Something is progressing-getting stronger. The demon."

Dante stared, thoughtful. "What if that's what these killings are about?" he suggested. "To strengthen him?"

Tess frowned at that suggestion. "I don't know. It might."Another card revealed itself; Temperance, upside down. "But this bad outcome could be very well it. The Temperance upside down spells trouble."

"What kinda trouble?" he interrupted.

"The kind you get when a whole lot of power is without restraint. We're talking about bad things, if it's fully released, but I can't tell when this will happen, yet. And we know that even contained it's doing a number on the city, you just said so yourself. Five of Clubs. This is going to be bad," she muttered, skeptical as she turned over the next card.

"How bad?" he asked, observing.

"It's something we're going to have to face soon enough. If this unleashing occurs we're going to have a lot of violence on our hands. It's going to become personal, but I'm not sure how," she replied, turning over the next card, which was the Hierophant.

"This is strange…" she muttered. "The root of this mess has authority of some kind-a high-ranking demon, perhaps. It's odd…"

Dante shared her sentiment. "High-ranking? Funny, where'd he come from? If some way to Hell popped open I think we'd have felt it. It'd have stirred up too much shit to be ignored."

Tess looked back, biting her fingernail with a thoughtful expression, but in the end she came up blank.

"Is it possible he's acting through a human? Like, the demon was summoned here? I mean, he's turning crazy people into demons, isn't he? What if he's acting like that?" Dante asked. If that's the case, he thought to himself, then this guy's one hell of a backstage player.

She smirked wryly. "I have no idea, but I don't think there's a middleman of that kind, the card's would've shown it or we'd have seen some other sign. Here, look-"

She pointed to the cards again. "Eight of Swords is a prison, where I assume the demon is. But the Chariot means it's about to break free. But I don't think it's your father's seal being undone. It's different."

Dante mulled it over a little. She had a point; he knew enough of his father's history to deduce that a demon breaking out of the Underworld with impunity would indeed have indeed caused too big a havoc to ignore. In the meantime she turned over another card to reveal the Knight of Swords.

"Well now we're it," she sighed. "You're going to be involved whether we like it or not. And I just know you're going to pull us along, kicking and screaming."

"What?" he blurted. "I'm already involved, what do you mean?"

"I mean specifically with this. This card-" She held up the Knight of Swords. "-is here to represent you. The Knight is temperamental and arrogant but a fighter. Right on the mark."

Before he could protest, she flipped the next card. "And you stand on the Judgment. Interesting and alarming at the same time, if you ask me."

"Huh? Why?"

"Because like I said, you're going to be directly involved. It's going to be too important." She flipped the card next to the Knight of Swords, revealing the High Priestess. "Oh great, like I didn't see this coming," she sighed.

"What?" he blurted, although a sudden realization gave him a hint of what the High Priestess card meant. "Come on, finish that thought."

Tess flushed. "Yeah well...that card," she said, rubbing the back of her neck. "It's a card about intuition and deep understanding; wisdom and the subjective mind. Usually when she turns up next to a card it means that experience and intuition both will be important influences in the event and-" she saw that her rambling wasn't getting anywhere. "Okay, fine, it means I'm going to be involved too."

Dante chuckled "Really? A card representing wisdom, you think it relates to you?"

He laughed a little, just to tease her and break the tension, before relenting and motioning her to continue. "Go on, wise one, keep talking."

She narrowed her eyes and glared at him. "You're such an asshat sometimes. The High Priestess isn't just about wisdom-oh I'm not gonna discuss this with you," she said, flipping the last card.

Card XIII. Death.

Dante looked from the card to her. He expected some kind of dramatic explanation about the ominous card. He poked fun at her some more. "Oh, wise one, what does this card mean?" He chuckled at himself before slouching in his seat and throwing an arm over the backrest. Although interesting, this was getting somewhat ridiculous. "Does it mean I'm going to croak it soon?"

"Ha-ha, real funny. You're killing me," Tess scoffed. "It just means the end of an old situation and the beginning of a new one. I can't tell whether this is good or bad, it was the last card, the final outcome." She pulled the cards back into the deck. "And I don't mean expected changes. It wouldn't turn up unless the change it's warning us about is something that will affect us directly."

"Whatever. I wish this stuff would've been more specific," Dante grumbled. "You barely gave me anything to go on."

"I know. I wish I could understand all this better myself. It kills me that this is all I can do," she sighed.

Out of curiosity, she pulled the top card of the stash in her hand. She felt like cheating, since the particular spread had answered the questions concerning the demons. She was asking a personal question. She looked at it dully and didn't say a thing, before shoving it back into the deck and shuffling it then putting it away.

Three of Swords. She hated that card. It was a card of separation, severing and loss. All the things she hated. Dante paid no attention to her peek at the last card, neither at the bothered frown.

"Still, if that demon's trying to release himself…how long do you think we've got until he does? If we found him soon enough maybe we could catch him before he got outta hand," Dante suggested, evidently trying to think of ways to track this demon.

In fact, he got so distracted that they spent a long moment in complete silence, which amazed her. She had never seen him so quiet or absorbed in thought.

"Are you actually spacing out?" she scoffed.

Dante snapped out of it and squinted at her. "I'm thinking. You should know about thinking, wise one," he retorted. "I thought you witches were good at keeping tabs on this kinda thing."

Tess leaned back in her chair. "Hmph, well it's good to know I'm not the only one doing the thinking," she muttered lowly.

He stood up and was heading for the lobby when he almost ran into Roy in the doorway.

"Gah, watch where you're going," the djinn blurted. "I've been looking all over for you. Your canons are all ready."

He held up Ebony and Ivory; both guns looked brand new. Even their enamel now looked like it wasn't a day old.

Dante's expression switched from thought to pure delight. Wide-eyed and thankful, he took his guns from Roy and inspected them, bearing a smirk of satisfaction and gratitude.

"Wow, they look brand spanking new! Thanks Roy," he quipped, twirling them happily and shoving them in the back of his pants. He slid past Roy, thanking him again and now setting his mind on another target: he was getting hungry.

Tess looked sourly as Dante went past Roy without so much talking to her, and just kept fiddling around with the cards. She was starting to get used to being given some attention by the half-demon, even if it was relentless teasing. Roy chuckled and headed into the kitchen.

"Anyone up for steaks tonight?" he said, rather cheerfully.

Tess rolled her eyes. Men! She glared at Roy. "What, had your fun with his guns and now you're all sunshine and smiles? You're such a nerd," she said.

Roy laughed that off. "Oh please. You're messing around with Tarot again and I can't be a little happy over a nice case of craftsmanship? I'm an old man; I only have that many little pleasures left. I don't get to work masterpieces that often."

Tess huffed. "Whatever. You blessed the guns. I could sense it a mile away and my detection skills are just a little better than Dante's. He's probably never gonna see it."

Roy protested. "He's going to need it! He's doing things with those guns that humans don't. They'd never handle the pressure if I didn't fiddle around a bit! They need to live up to what he'll be doing."

"Whatever," Tess repeated.

Dante walked back into the kitchen, carrying another microwavable dinner, after having gone upstairs and leaving the guns in his room. When he entered the room, the two silenced and looked at him. "What?" he quipped.

Tess just rolled her eyes and coughed a bit, covering her mouth. Roy just smirked at him, a little offended.

"Right. I guess you're taking care of your own meal. You probably don't want a barbeque steak," he stated, moving to the fridge with an air of indifference.

Dante's eyes widened. "Steak?"

True, he didn't want to show much dependence or attachment to them, but he was sixteen. A juicy steak beat microwave meals by miles! And he had plenty of room! He tossed the meal packet onto the counter negligently and with a smile from ear to ear, said, "That sounds goooood!" He turned to Tess. "Steaks, Tess. Steaks!"

Tess just raised an eyebrow at his excitement. "Yeah, so?" she said, smirking.

Roy just laughed. "Don't spoil his joy, Tess. You know you love them too."

"Yeah, but he's acting like he hasn't eaten in his life," she laughed. Then she dropped a carefully crafted question. She always hit Roy with those when he was unguarded. "Hey Roy, I have a question. Besides breaking through a seal, what other rituals would involve a lot of carnage and blood?"

Dante immediately perked up too after taking a seat at the table across her yet again. He watched intently, waiting for Roy's answer. He seemed a little surprised as well at Tess' bluntness.

Roy stopped shuffling through the fridge, turned around and looked over at her, then Dante, after the sudden question. He seemed a little surprised. Then he resumed his work, pulling a plate with some marinated steaks on it out the fridge. He spoke carefully, like a professor teaching class.

"Not many. Blood is life and vessel of the power of the being. Take that and you take the very life of a being. In opening seals, blood is needed to carry a force to open a seal. You could say it's the fuel," he said, laying the plate on the counter. "In other cases it's a sacrifice to gain power; presumably of those whose blood is shed...or to nurture."

"Nurture?" Tess echoed him. "Like what, feed on blood? What is this, vampires?"

Roy shook his head. "Feed from thepowerblood carries. Hell if I know how that's done. It's foreign even to us djinn. That's really all I know."

Tess sighed. "So we have no leads," she groaned.

She looked at Dante and during that moment of silence they pretty much shared a thought. They were skeptical about the real nature of a ritual demanding so large quantities of blood acquired in such a gruesome fashion.

"I know what you two are thinking," Roy interrupted their musings. "Yes, the manner and seeming randomness of all this is not conventional. There's something about this that's strange. Chaos, madness and the arbitrary is integral to this."

Dante hung his head in frustration. He sighed heavily and stared at the tabletop for a moment, before he dropped a question of his own in the same blunt manner as Tess. "Roy, do you think that Chern-the-butter's master was watching the fight?"

Roy snarled a bit at the sound of the name. "I don't know," he muttered, laying the tray with the prepared steaks on the counter, his back turned. He sounded like the mention of the particular incident still irritated him. "No demon with the power to subdue Chernobog can prance around undetected. But you know a funny thing about Bloodgoyles? The ones that share a blood-source share a hive-mind too. Many of them can act as one entity. Interesting isn't it?"

Tess just looked away, thinking about the things she had read in the Tarot. She thought audibly. "I think something bigger is going on. If Bloodgoyles can act as a hive-mind, then who says the ones that survived didn't report back to their master? Something wants to get out of a cage...something like Chernobog's master."

Roy's reply to was curt, but rather absent-minded. "Nicely put."

Dante shook his head, "Well, I'm convinced his master was there when Roy showed up that night and when we bumped him off."

Roy shrugged. "He could've been, but not the way you think. I wouldn't be surprised if those Bloodgoyles were made with that master demon's blood to act like eyes away from his body. Give him a clear sense of what's going on and what he's after."

The young slayer rolled his eyes. "Yeah, great. Disembodied eyes, hidden masters... tch, this is sounding more like a goddamn mystery novel than demons. Trust a senile old man to turn everything boring."

Roy looked at Dante over his shoulder and glared at him with a rather nasty glare, his eyes turning amber for a second. "You think I'm going to keep taking your insults forever?" he growled.

Tess kicked Dante's leg under the table softly. "Come on, quit baiting him," she said. "But I dunno, I think I agree with Roy on this. Chernobog's aura was enough to make me dizzy; if his master was around I'm pretty sure his aura would have knocked me out."

Then she leaned back looking troubled. "Dante and me think this master of Chernobog's is machinating all the madness going on in the city to use it to break free."

"It's very possible," Roy nodded, picking up the tray to carry to the barbecue in the back yard.

Tess stopped him from leaving. "Hey Roy, do you know any old hospitals in the city that are abandoned?"

"Yes, one or two. Why?" the familiar replied.

Tess shrugged, blushing a bit. "I-I just keep having this nightmare all the time. I keep seeing what looks like a wrecked hospital hallway."

Roy paused, staring at her for a moment. "Tess," he sighed. "I know you trust this strange sight of yours, but sometimes it really,really worries me. You're getting into this too deeply; you should try going back to the basics."

Then he promptly walked out of the kitchen.

Dante huffed and glared at Tess, while rubbing his leg where she kicked. "If I knew it was a crime to contribute I'd have kept my thoughts to myself!" he snapped, folding his arms and frowning. "Back to basics…pshhh!"

"He meant that for me. He's got nothing against you" Tess said tiredly. She looked down. "He's not taking me seriously anymore. I still think that nightmare is I have so often has something to do with what's going on. The answer's right under our noses but we can't see it!"

She watched him sulk. "Don't tell me that I kicked you that hard. Come on, what kinda half-demon are you, yelping at a Twig's kick?"

Dante snapped back to his old self. "Well maybe you're one of them shape-shifting witches! You know, look like a twig, kick like a linebacker! Hell, put on a hundred pounds and you could be a linebacker!" he growled, before he could stop himself.

He cringed, certain she was about to either throw a fit at him or subject him to more snide remarks. To his surprise, she just stared, started to frown...but then smirked and chuckled.

"Man, sometimes the things you say are too funny to get pissed at," she said, covering her mouth and laughing quietly.

Dante had really expected to suffer her temper and so her amusement was strangely soothing. He found himself cracking a laugh at his own lame one-liner, and found that even when burdened with sickness, Tess could still be incredibly likeable once she stopped being defensive or worried. She became a completely different person and he was always pleased and impressed to see her smile—so much that for just a moment the task ahead, the lack of leads and the whole situation just didn't exist.

Tess, in a better mood, stretched her arms over her head, flexing. "At any rate...I have a favour to ask you," she said casually.

"Don't hope for too much, Twig," he said slyly and she just scoffed.

"You'll like it, since you complain so often of being bored. I think I know where another of those murders will happen," she explained. "The problem is... Grams has bound me. I can't leave the house."

Dante tilted his head sideways. "You're...trapped?" he asked, trying not to sound a little disturbed at the extent of Magda's stubbornness.

"Sort of. I suppose she'll lift it when she's done playing lady tyrant but that could take some time." She scowled and pestered her hair again, coiling a strand around her finger. "She got so pissed that she bound me to the house with a spell. I can't leave or use witchcraft to work around it. So I can't come along," she coughed again. "Not that I'm totally okay anyway."

Dante shrugged. "Fine by me, I can take care of it. I mean, with Chern-the-butter gone, what could be left besides the big cheese? I'd rather you sit the next one out anyways. You know, let me do the prospecting on our new 'friends'."

Wow, did I just volunteer to do legwork this easily? As he thought about it though, he stood by it. He wanted to enjoy a good fight without having to worry about anyone but himself. Now that was a good idea.

Tess smirked a bit. "Okay. Hold on then," she said, getting up.

She shuffled through one of the drawers, producing a pen and a piece of paper before returning to the table. "I had another vision last night and I'm sure it was a warning. Among others I saw a place I thought was familiar and this morning I realized it's a small local clinic."

She scribbled a quick map on the paper. "It's the one near the store you go to, know that?"

Dante nodded. He knew what she was talking about.

"I'm worried because I saw a lot of blood in my vision, so I have no idea how many victims we're talking about," she said, circling the clinic on the map she drew. "I could see out a window in my vision and the sun was just going down, so it'll probably happen around the evening. You'd better go check it out as soon as you can." She then looked up at him with a weird look. "And do try to not get killed, this time I won't be around to save your arse."

Dante laughed and all he had to offer in reply was a "Pff!" He knew he could upset her, but added "You saved me, what, once? How many times did I pull your thin, twiggy ass out of harm's way?"

He quickly went over all the situations he'd gotten in with her, considering that one time she saved him, he'd almost actually died and silently took back his retort, but let her carry on if she chose to.

Tess just shook her head and handed him the map. "Whatever. Just go take a look. And about my ass...I bet you actually like it, or you wouldn't talk about it all the time," she countered cheekily, standing up.

She folded the light blanket she'd kept on her shoulders and leaving it on the chair, moved over to the counter make herself some tea. After her back was turned while filling the kettle, Dante nearly laughed; that last comment had been really bold of her. He stood to go throw on another shirt and as he did so, he stretched and yawned. He grunted a bit before stepping past Tess and suddenly patting her bum, leaning over and whispering in her ear: "You read me like a book."

Tess jumped, freezing up, her mouth gaping open slightly. She almost dropped the ceramic mug and the teabag she was holding to make her tea. She slowly turned her head to him, her face very red and her eyes wide. She breathed out and glared. "You…" she mumbled, squinting at him a little.

Dante glared right back, but with a smile. "Me," he echoed, in a mock-menacing tone.

He anticipated a thrashing or a tantrum from her, but at this point it didn't mind. He'd gotten what he wanted for now: to surprise her and tease her, the rest was just gravy, be it sweet or sour.

But she seemed unable to help herself, and in unusually good spirits, laughed it off. "I bet you treat all the girls you know like this. So I'm not gonna fall for it. Now get, but make it fast or your steak's gonna be cold," she said as serenely as she could manage, pouring water in her mug and adding honey. She was calm, but still red in the face.

"Not all the girls," Dante retorted and walked off, looking over his shoulder with a wide smile.

He couldn't believe how cool she was acting about it. He was almost certain she would've at least punched him again. He trudged upstairs and changed into another, long-sleeved shirt, one since the cold was getting a little bitterer around the house. When he got back into the kitchen it looked like he was just in time. Roy was setting spots around a plate of five or six sirloin steaks, roasted on the backyard stove, and Tess was dressing a salad that she had probably just chopped.

Roy looked up at him as he came in and faintly smirked. "Hope you like them well done," he chuckled.

Tess put the bowl of salad on the table. She eyed up the stakes and rolled her eyes even as she smiled, getting a couple beer cans from the fridge as well. "Always cooking for a battalion, Roy. It's just the three of us."

Roy shrugged. "You're kids, you need food to grow. And you, miss, better start eating more. Dante's right, you're a real stick and you look worse since you caught that cold."

Tess frowned, sitting down. Dante laughed in agreement and sat down too. The smell alone from the steaks made his mouth water, not to mention that fond memory of getting a handful of Tess. Strangely that alone made the day a whole lot more interesting! He noticed picked up and cracked open one of the beer cans with a gleeful smile.

"I love you guys," he said and took a big gulp.

Tess chuckled, and rolled her eyes. "Yeah, whatever, you're just saying that because we're feeding you. If you weren't pitching in with the expenses you'd be such a freeloader," she said, serving herself a load of salad seasoned with dressing.

Roy glared at her a bit and poked a juicy steak with a fork, unceremoniously slapping it on her plate despite her muffled objections. "Eat it. You're not gonna help your cold otherwise," he ordered, slapping another one on his plate. "Help yourself," he told Dante, as he opened a can of beer for himself.

Dante didn't shy away at all after he was offered. He took the first steak he saw, prodding a fork into it and pulling it to his plate. He then started carving away greedily. He took a big piece of steak in his mouth and groaning at the pleasing taste in his mouth.

"Damn, what do you do to these?" he said. "I didn't know heaven tasted like steak!"

Tess rolled her eyes. "Ass-kisser" she said, sipping some beer.

Roy laughed, covering his mouth with his napkin. "Little secret from the Middle East," he chuckled. "Been doing it for a couple centuries and it's still good." he smirked, rubbing his chin.

After dinner, Roy was picking up the dishes once they had all finished. He was still upset because Tess seemed to have eaten little, but the girl was content with one steak and a helping of salad. She went upstairs after dinner, saying she wanted to sleep, but she just sat on the ledge of her window and looked absently at the snowy street outside. She was still very concerned as to where Dante was headed by her own prompt. She didn't like the feeling of sending him off by himself, partly because she felt it unfair, like she was ordering him, and partly because she longed for some action herself. But, with the bind set on her, there wasn't much that she could do about it.

Dante had retreated to his room for a short while after dinner, but when someone knocked on her door, she almost knew it was him before he stepped in.

"S' open," she said dully, still sitting on the windowsill and looking outside.

He walked in boldly, his sword secured to his back and his guns tucked in their holsters, and came right up to her. They looked at each other awkwardly and Tess realized he could see the envy written all over her face.

"I'm heading out. I'll be back soon, tell you what happened, 'kay?" Before she could answer, he put his hand on her shoulder, rubbing her skin under the shirt and added: "I know it pisses you off but I'm glad you're not coming this time. Rest up."

Tess stared back a little surprised by his forwardness. She smiled a bit awkwardly. "Yeah, I will. I'll just goof around and read a book. Be careful, you never know what those things are gonna pull off. And try not to get lost," she said, smirking.

Dante did not lose his smile. "It's either gonna be the demons or getting lost that gets me," he chuckled.

"Just get back in one piece," she said suddenly, and her face colored. "Get this over with. I...have a really bad feeling about this. Don't keep me up all night. I want to hear the tale, so make sure you can come back to tell it."

Dante held his arms open as he backstepped to the door, and casually said "Hey...it's me we're talkin' about!"

He left her room with a confident smirk, strangely careful not to say goodbye and was out the door very quickly. It was a pretty peaceful night, and he almost refused to believe something would happen. He didn't know he'd left Tess suddenly feeling regretful about telling him to go and wondering what sort of trouble she'd sent him off to.