**DISCLAIMER: The concept of the Night World and all related characters
belong to L.J. Smith, not me.**
Author's Notes: Hi
everyone. This takes place in the Night World universe but there's not going to
be much going on with L.J. Smith's characters. These are all mine. Also, it
takes place before Circle Daybreak is formed and therefore before the Night
World books take place. Please send some feedback or review! Enjoy reading!
*******************
"In love the paradox
occurs that two beings become one and yet remain two."
~Erich Fromm~
Amulet of Artemis
by: The Silver Princess
Half of Elise's mind froze, repeating frantically, no, it's impossible, no. The other half was thrown into analytical action. It told her stunned, motionless body exactly what to do.
The assailant was already stumbling from the
earthquake that had started unnoticed during her moment of panic. Using her
better balance and a strength born of terror, she kneed him between the legs
and then, prying his fingers off, wrenched his hands away from her gasping
throat.
She backed away from the man, breath rasping in her
chest, fingers outstretched and groping, searching for a weapon. As she kept
her eyes on him, waiting for his next charge, she got a good look at him.
His white blond hair was meticulously combed and his
clothes prepared with equal care. He seemed respectable until you looked at his
eyes, gold eyes all wild and bloodshot. The eerie combination of orderliness
and derangement took her regained breath away. He terrified her; she had no
idea what expect from him. Those demented eyes had gone unfocused during her
counterassault, but they were now trained on her.
With a shriek, he sprang towards her, knocking her
back with his momentum. She yelped as they slammed into the counter, the edge
catching her in the spine. His fingers were at her throat again and the counter
was digging into her back. Her mind chattered with lightheaded terror. Black
dots swam in her vision, as she clawed at the hands around her throat. I
have to do something, I have to do something. Forcing herself to release
his hands she brought back her arm, and swung her fist, catching him in the
side of the head. His grip faltered, and she aggressively scratched and kicked
at him. His hands loosened, but he was still pressed against her, pushing her
into the counter. He griped her hands so that she couldn't move them any
longer, and then he smiled. She snarled and clamped her teeth down hard on his shoulder, drawing blood. He
yowled and backed away from her, gasping. Elise panted with exertion, trying to
ready herself for his next attack.
He came at
her again, smiling wildly, when a shape hurtled itself through the broken
window, knocking the man away from her. Two more shapes followed with
preternatural grace.
With amazement, she saw Sonakuta crouching in front
of the man he had just knocked over, flanked closely by Leilani. Xander didn't
even glance at them.
Xander rushed towards her, sweeping by the
threatening figure. "Are you all right?" he asked frantically. Elise nodded,
her adrenaline draining away leaving her dazed and weak-kneed. Leilani,
however, was not distracted by Xander's alarmed concern, nor was Sonakuta. The
dhole snarled fiercely, about to leap.
The man smiled gleefully and crazily and, just like
that, leapt out the window with no further attempt at violence. Leilani and
Sonakuta followed.
Almost sobbing with relief, Elise suddenly found
herself encircled in Xander's strong, comforting arms. With stunned surprise,
she noted that he was trembling almost as badly as she was. "You put up a good
fight," he noted tensely. His cool voice, thick with emotion, was almost
unrecognizable. She raised her head to look him straight in the eye.
And stopped cold. That hated, remote, indifferent
expression was completely wiped away from his countenance. His fiery emerald
eyes were wide and dilated, like a frightened child, smoldering with worry,
fading terror and something else.
Her chest throbbed so honestly, and then she knew why
it did so around him and why his eyes looked like that now. She loved him and
he her, simple as that. And they both knew it in that instant.
And then he kissed her.
Elise had never been kissed before, and in a flash,
she knew that Xander was the only one she'd ever want to kiss. His love bathed
her and comforted her, purging the last few minutes. It was as though a golden mist
had encircled them. She didn't even care that they weren't kissing anymore,
just embracing each other, his face buried in her mass of gold hair. She loved
him, and that was all she could think. He was stroking her hair so delicately,
as if afraid she weren't real. He murmured, voice soft and muffled into her
hair over and over, "I love you."
Joy rippled through her at the thought of it, like
the waves a stone makes when dropped into a still pond, and she whispered back
through the lovely warm mist, "I love you."
She smiled with delight. Soulmate. The word just came
to her in a flash of inspiration like a bursting of stars. They were soulmates.
With a stunned start, she realized that Xander was mentally nodding, and she
could feel his happy agreement as though she were inside his mind. She melted
into the sensation. It was magical. Magic, pure and simple. She was Elise, he
was Xander, and they were one and the same, together.
Elise's hiss of pain woke them from their sheltered
world, jolting them from the mind-connection that had sprung up between them.
Xander pulled away from her and looked down at her hand, knuckles sorely
bruised from her wild punch. "Let's get you cleaned up," he said.
He sat her at the table, laughingly saying that he
didn't need help to make an icepack and that she needed to rest. Elise nodded
and closed her eyes, not really protesting that much.
"Here," he said as he sat beside her, laying the
icepack on her hand. "Once Leilani gets back, she'll give you some of her balm
that she makes for anything that feels sore. Trust me, it's better than
anything in the stores."
"She always just carries it around with her?" Elise
asked.
"No, she'll realize that you're hurt and pick some up
from home before she comes back," Xander said, his fire-emerald eyes staring
off into space. He focused again and looked at Elise, smiling.
Leilani returned, so angry that her face was as red
as her hair. "He got away," she said through clenched teeth, eyes flickering
towards Xander. He nodded and turned towards Elise with fiery emerald eyes, no
longer distant, but full of love.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he said tenderly.
Leilani smiled briefly and inattentively at her,
engrossed in thought as she handed her a small bottle filled with thick lotion.
"Just put it on anywhere you hurt." With those parting words, the Morgans
departed, but not before Xander kissed her again when Leilani wasn't looking.
* * *
Leilani pounced on him the moment the two were out of
hearing range. "Well, come on. Details, details. You didn't say much in that
little mind-message. Tell me everything. Did you two kiss?"
He blushed and stared straight ahead.
"You did!" she squealed.
Xander glared at her, which she returned. Then she
laughed good-humoredly. "Well, I'm glad you're not pining away anymore. Since
apparently that's what was going on with you," she said teasingly, eyes
twinkling impishly.
He glared at her again but that only succeeded in
widening her wickedly delighted grin. "What about that witch?" he said somewhat
desperately, trying to steer her away from the subject of him and Elise.
She turned serious instantly, her enthusiasm
disappearing as quickly as a flicked switch, turning off her kilowatt of
energy. "He's not that powerful a witch. Just someone's hired muscle. Xander,
someone's here. Someone more powerful than they would send just to hunt down a
couple of runaway witches. This witch is playing for keeps. Sona sensed immense
fear on that witch. The witch who's commanding him—whoever he or she may be—is
powerful enough to scare other witches, probably Circle Midnight if he or she
even accepts their authority. I know it couldn't have been the Crone or the
Mother. Definitely not Aradia. I honestly think this is a rogue who just does
their own thing, regardless."
"Why go after Elise?" he asked, voice strained.
"He or she probably has Sight. You Saw yourself that
she has something important to do with this." In a softer voice, she continued,
"We'll take care of her. Don't worry. With a witch for a best friend and
another as a boyfriend, she'll be safe through whatever's going to happen. If
it'll make you feel better, maybe we should send Sona to take care of her for a
while."
"Yeah, maybe we should," he answered, thinking
simultaneously that he would do everything possible to protect her himself.
* * *
Elise didn't want to wake up that morning. She was
afraid it had all been a lovely dream. It had happened so suddenly and without
apparent warning, that maybe it hadn't happened at all. She stretched catlike,
not feeling sore at all.
She padded softly over to the kitchen, saw the
smashed window, and knew it wasn't a dream. With a whimsical expression, she
swept up the piercing glass shards and slammed closed the shutters, locking
them securely until she could have the window repaired.
She spent the day lazily, knowing the twins would be
over that evening. How different everything is now, she mused. I have
a best friend and a—she blushed a little—soulmate. In only a week.
Yet, despite the lack of time, she already felt completely at home with them.
She shivered deliciously, as the thought of her kiss last night rose to the
surface of her thoughts.
"Helloooo!"
"Leilani! In here!" Elise called from the living
room. Leilani bounced in merrily as Xander followed.
Elise was at once shy and elated. How should she act?
Xander put her fears to rest by giving her a quick kiss.
Elise blushed intensely, as Leilani looked on with
amusement. "So, well? I want to hear it from my best friend. In words. You guys
a couple now? Officially?" she asked Elise.
With a self-conscious smile, Elise replied, "Yes."
Then, as meetings with the following always were, Sonakuta was unexpectedly and
cheerfully in her arms.
Xander smiled, his first in many days. But he seemed
to withdraw; his smile didn't quite reach his now inscrutable burning green
eyes. "We brought Sona to keep you company. You know, after last night and
all."
Touched at their concern, she accepted Sonakuta as a
friendly loan. The trio settled down to dinner. Elise hoped the twins wouldn't
notice her anxiety. She'd found a note on the floor when she'd gone to get the
dinner. She didn't want them to worry unnecessarily. It's just a silly note,
a complete prank, she thought. Silly, no details even. Yet, as she
remembered the words, they, although vague, struck true, and her skin prickled.
Be careful. You have no idea what you're dealing with.