Midnight Eclipse: Book 1# [EE] [Heaven's Curse]

Chapter 5

Gothalia glared at the door. "Go away."

Silence strained the air between them.

"I can't do that."

The electronic wooden door permitted entry to Danteus; whose heavy frame was dim against the light of the hallway. His expression was unreadable, but his eyes glinted with a rare concern.

Gothalia's eyes lingered over the door key card in his hand. A dark reminder of the massacre, a day she could remember in parts, but never as one scene. She was aware that if anyone had a high enough élanocyte count, they could remove the entire door from its frame.

"That door was supposed to stay locked. Why do you have that?"

Danteus closed the door a little, allowing the fair light to drift over Gothalia's frail form.

"To check on you. Anaphora lent it to me. You were pretty broken up," he said carefully.

This was a mission he had no knowledge of how to approach. A part of him couldn't help but want to say—"you have the worst luck, don't you?"—but, even by his standards, he knew how insensitive that comment would be.

Gothalia scoffed.

"Why wouldn't I be? Should I be okay with people dying?" Her hurt and reproving eyes fell on his and he recognised the fragility of his position.

"No one can ever be okay with people dying but have you forgotten you're a Centurion. A soldier. And so were they. They did their jobs knowing the consequences, it was their duty to their Reserve. Learn to look at things objectively, and maybe . . . it'd be a little easier."

Gothalia exhaled, feeling weaker beneath the weight of his words, tensed her shoulders.

"I haven't forgotten what their duty is, nor have I forgotten mine. I am just wondering how much more pain and suffering is to come before things get better. And when it does, will I no longer see things the same?"

The bed ducked beneath Danteus' weight as he settled himself on the edge.

He had not thought of her at that moment as a soldier but as a friend.

"No one said living was easy but the freedom to live without suppression and oppression is something we must fight for. Especially, if the Xzandians plan on enslaving the entire world."

"That's if the Humans live long enough," she darkly added.

"It won't only be Humans who will suffer, as history has it—that's why we're here. We are to do what our ancestors did centuries ago. Even if many will hate and criticise us for it. There will be others who will be awakened in the upcoming war and we must be there to remind them to fight and not to give up. Do you think you can do that? As a Centurion of the Fire Reserve?"

Quietly, she thought over his words, then nodded, surprised by the sudden stiffness of her legs as she stretched them out along the cold dry sheets. Gothalia examined her bare legs, battered with scrapes and bruises. They were a reminder: she was still here and that was enough to keep going.

The weight on the bed shifted once more. She felt the gentle touch of Danteus' forehead against hers. He was close enough that he could smell the salt of each tear.

"Don't ever feel like you're alone. We're here, even L'Eiron and Anaphora. We're not going anywhere."

In the darkness, Gothalia's short sniffles and shallow breathing reverberated throughout the room. Danteus did not move. Without words, he listened, allowing the memories of that evening and everything she had encountered as he had, to resurface. He knew how much harder it was going to become from that moment on.