Time After Time

Chapter 7

Dante sits there waiting for Lexi to respond. This better pay off, it is going to be a royal pain in my ass if this goes the other way, he thinks, mentally crossing his fingers. He feels like he has given her just enough information to intrigue her, but not enough to scare her away. Luckily, she didn't press the issue of how he got here. There no way he could have walked here and been here so soon since she left his house, not if he was human anyway. Looking at her sitting there contemplating, Dante realizes how completely enthralling she is.
" Okay." She replies hesitantly.
He nods, and still holding her hand in his, ignoring the snippet he saw earlier of our hands clasped at what appeared to be a different time, says " No better time to start than the present. We will need someone to practice on, though. I say we head to the mall. Plenty of people walking around."
She nods her agreement, all the while wondering why she is agreeing to go off with someone she just met, and they climb into her car and head to the mall. When they arrive, they find a bench to sit on and watch as people go to and fro. Sliding closer to her, Dante drapes an arm around her shoulder. She looks at him, her eyebrow raised.
He chuckles and whispers in her ear "If we look like a just cozy couple on this bench, it will draw less attention."
She is still looking at him skeptically, but she doesn't pull away. Still close to her ear, he pretends to muzzle her neck and in a low tone instructs her "Choose one of them, anyone. Focus on them, their presence, their energy. Picture lifting an imaginary veil off them."
Her breathing is shaky, but she nods and says "Her, the blonde with the glasses." Dante turn his head enough to see who she is talking about, and says " Okay, go ahead." Lexi sets her jaw and focuses on the woman.

As her focus increases, the shield she unknowingly keeps up begins to lower. The sense of power he gets from her, raw and untamed, shocks him. He has never encountered a human with power this strong. He should have expected it, if she was shielding and her power was still enough to draw us here, without her shielding, it is on a completely different level.
Dante's concentration breaks as she sighs in frustration. " It isn't working."
Grabbing her hand and squeezing it gently, he instructs her " Try again, here let me help." He squeezes her hand tighter and let some of his magic flow into her. She gasps and focuses again.
After a moment, she looks at him and grins. "She is stressed and a little annoyed , I think her boyfriend was supposed to meet her and he hasn't shown up."
Returning her smile, he says " Try someone else."
They continue this exercise for another couple of hours. Eventually, Lexi can concentrate and channel it without the help of any magic. She is exhausted but thrilled, if the expression on her face is anything to go by. He tries to push the sense that he knows her, that they have done this all before out of his mind. Maybe being alive as long as he has is finally making him lose it.
" I think that's enough practice for today, let's head out." Dante says, pulling her to her feet.
" Okay" she says, rolling her neck around in a circle.
As they head to Hawthorne house for her to drop him off, Lexi fills him in on the feelings and moods she picked up today. He listens to her prattle on, amused at her excitement. We still need to work on her being able to shield while she is focusing, which she doesn't even know yet, he thinks, watching her as she drives. They pull up to the estate, and he opens the car door. Before climbing out, he reachs out and touches her chin, lifting her face so he can look in her eyes.
" You did really well today, come back tomorrow and we will work on you being able to shield yourself while you read others."
Her eyes widen " Shield myself?"
He smirks at her surprise, still so much to learn.
" Oh yes, you leave yourself wide open when you focus. Don't worry, we will fix it." Tucking a strand of hair behind her ear, Dante gets out of the car and strides into the house, not looking back at her to see her reaction.

The next day, Lexi heads back over to the Hawthorne estate, against the voice in her head that says to stay away from Dante. Something about him is different. She can't figure it out exactly, but something is telling her he might be dangerous. Another part of her can't wait to see him again, like being around him is just where she needs to be. Shaking her head, She might be going crazy. She just met him, but strangely, she has this sense of knowing him somehow, like he is familiar. Knocking on the door, she realizes it is cracked open. Pushing it open, Lexi enters calling out
"Hello, Dante? You here?"
He appears in front of her, out of nowhere it seems, causing her to jump. " Lexi, do come in."
" The door was open." She replies, turning to gesture behind her at the door, which is now closed. Dante just raises his eyebrow and says nothing. She gets the feeling he is messing with her, but can't figure out how.
"Are you ready?" He asks
She nods and goes to sit on the tufted leather sofa in front of a huge fireplace. " Do you care to explain what you meant by my shield?" She leans back waiting. He smiles, no smirks really and replies " Exactly what I said. You shield your abilities , clearly you don't even realize it. When you focus to use them, the shield seems to come down, and they can be sensed much easier."
Tilting her head at him, she asks " Why does it matter, how many people are walking around being able to sense abilities?"
He actually chortles " Well you can't think you and I are the only ones who are different? Wouldn't that be nice?"
She blushes, embarrassed that he is making fun of her. Spreading her hands wide, She retorts " How should I know?"
" Touche. But we aren't. Different abilities exists and not everyone is your friend." He stares at her evenly.
Lexi nods lowly, a thought occurring to her
"Does Erik have abilities?"
Dante looks uncomfortable for a moment and finally replies " Yes, but it isn't my place to tell you what they are. You will have to ask him that yourself."
" Okay, fair enough." She concedes reluctantly.
Dante rubs his hands together " Let's get started. I want you to focus on me, try to sense my mood. While your doing that, I want you to picture yourself with a wall around you, that no one can get in."
She stares at him, practicing what he taught me yesterday, imagining lifting a veil off him. It is much harder to read him than the people yesterday, but she can get a glimpse of excitement and something else that is hard to decipher. Focusing harder, forgetting about the wall, that she is supposed to be building around herself. She almost has it, when he clears his throat loudly. " You are not shielding."

She snap out of her focus, looking at him, his eyes are locked on her face and she can feel a flutter in her stomach. How can he make her feel so unnerved yet comfortable at the same time? Gritting her teeth, Lexi tries again, this time focusing on lifting the veil while simultaneously picturing building a wall around herself. It makes it more difficult to get a read on him, but she can actually feel herself shielding as he calls it now.
Clapping his hands, Dante exclaims "Excellent! Now let's keep practicing for a bit until you can shield yourself without trying."

Nodding her head in determination, Lexi try's again.
When she is exhausted and finally tells him no more, she lays back on the sofa, her head throbbing. Pressing a hand to her temple, Lexi looks up to find him holding a glass of water and two aspirin. Taking them gratefully, she gulp them down. Dante slides onto the couch with her, picking up her head and laying it in his lap. He begins rubbing her temples with his fingertips while saying, "I want you to keep practicing. Not just when your focusing, just in general. If I could sense your power, others will be able to also."

She nod her head slightly, trying to focus on his words, but what he is doing feels amazing to her worn out brain. He chuckles and slides his hands in between them, to massage the back of her head and neck. Lexi groans, closing her eyes and thinking god that feels wonderful, she is so exhausted. She knows the sun is about to set and she should get going, there is school tomorrow, but just a few minutes more of this can't hurt. Suddenly, something like a vision of Dante and her laying on this couch, making out and wrapped in each other's arms appears in her mind. It isn't a vision exactly, because she sees it from her own point of view, looking up into Dante's eyes as he hovers above her, lowering his face to her. Lexi gasps, her eyes flying open, and Dante's hands still as their eyes meet. She can tell he saw it as well. She is still laying with her back arched to accommodate his hands, her head still in his lap, when she hears the sound of someone clearing their throat.

Turning her head slowly, Lexi sees Erik standing there, arms crossed. "What's going on here?"