Dancing With the Devil

Chapter 12

Dante's P.O.V.

Waiting for the kid to show up is even more boring than sitting around my office at Devil May Cry in anticipation of a phone call with a decent-paying job awaiting me on the other end. Thinking back to yesterday afternoon, I feel a pang of regret. I had left Rose alone at her blacksmithing shop, and now that I really put some careful thought into it, I probably should have taken her with me. Especially considering how far this place is from home. However, there's no time to go back and get her. Besides, she would most likely slap me for having left her after getting her aroused like that. How am I supposed to tell her the effect she has on me?

"Babe, I'm the detective, and you're the scene of the crime," I mutter to myself. "It's my personal job to investigate thoroughly."

Closing my eyes, I can accurately picture her angry scowl, and I can even feel the outline of her hand print on my cheek.

Damn it, I inwardly scold myself. I can't let my hormones get the better of me like this.

What if it's more than hormones, though? my demon asks quietly, as if he already knows something that I don't.

I open my eyes, resting my head back against the wall I'm leaning on as I review that question. The day I met Rose, she'd broken into my shop while I was out and managed to render the entire place much more of a mess than it already was in less than ten minutes. On top of that, upon my return, she wasn't even fazed when I started flirting with her. In fact, she'd even hit me with a few smart quips of her own. I'm not sure how, but in that first day, she'd gone from being a potential threat to my business to being a smoking hot babe that lives with me, as difficult as that is to believe. During the entire month she's been living with me, she's done nothing but smile and get my demon riled up. There were several occasions when she would take a shit job for me and, more often than not, would return with double the amount of money originally promised. Having Rose around has been more of a blessing than I could have ever expected. Even so, there is a nagging part of me that's warning me not to give in, that it's too good to be true. The risk of her turning against me is still there.

My thoughts are interrupted when my demon picks up on a handful of Scarecrows in the room, earning a low growl from me.

"Sneaking up on a guy like that ain't very nice," I chuckle, pulling Rebellion off my back with one hand and drawing Ivory with the other.

As per usual, the pathetic weaklings present no challenge to me. If anything, they serve as a way to distract me from any thoughts of Rose.

"Dante!"

With Rebellion in mid-swing, I whip my gaze around the room, my demon also scanning the room for her demon's presence. Mind you, this only took a couple of heartbeats, but in this time, the Scarecrow I was about to kill is able to take a swing at me with its blade-bearing arm. I leap back just in the nick of time, narrowly avoiding a nasty face makeover, though I do sacrifice a minuscule strand of my hair. I finish the Scarecrow off with a barrage of bullets from Ivory. Holstering my gun and securing Rebellion to my back, I stand completely still, closing my eyes and letting my demons senses reach out to every corner of the spacious room. I believe I heard some of the higher-ups from the order referring to it as the Ascension Chamber.

Once again, the only soul in the room is myself, the bodies of the demons I killed dissolving in a small cloud of smoke. Sauntering over to one of the four pillars that held up a platform-like slab above a raised section of the floor, I lean up against it, sighing heavily.

My biggest concern is how I was so easily fooled into thinking Rose was actually here, and moreover that she could have possibly been in danger. Maybe I'm-.

There's no guessing anymore, you moron, my demon growls at me. You're falling for her.

"She's just another woman," I snap out loud. "She just happens to be a half demon instead of a human."

Listen to what you're saying, you self-centered fuck! It's no wonder you have such a horrible reputation with women.

I open my mouth to reply when a few dozen memories come flooding back to me. Each and every one of them depicts a woman whose heart I've left broken. How do I know? They're all in tears, and looking into their eyes leaves me with a stab of regret. The last image is of Rose, but her expression is a little different. Behind the hurt in her emerald orbs burns the fury of her demon. She opens her mouth to speak, but instead of the accusing tone to which I've become immune, her voice is calm and collected, which will make her words sting all the more painfully.

"Why am I not surprised?" she whispers, her every word ripping my heart open. "Now it all makes sense. You're half the demon Sparda was... It's only fitting that you have half the heart he did."

Rose turns on her heel and stops, turning back to face me. She reaches behind her and draws Ember and Spark from their holsters, setting them on the ground at her feet, placing one gun on top of the other. Next, she summons her double-edged longsword, Redgrave, and drives the blade into the floor, impaling both of her guns, rendering them useless. She pulls her sword back out and straps it onto the back of her jacket, turning her back on me as she walks out of Devil May Cry, and out of my life... Forever. The vision ends abruptly, and I have to blink a few times and look around to remind myself of where I am.

That's what will happen if you break-.

"If I break her heart," I snap, cutting my demon off. "Yeah, yeah, I get it."

No, my demon snaps angrily at me. That's what will happen if you break her. If you break her heart, she will kill you. End of story.

"You know this... How?"

She's a half demon, dumbass. Need I say more?

Right. Forgot about that.

The door to the Ascension Chamber opens and slams shut again, snapping me out of my thoughts. I hear the kid's breath hitch and he stops in his tracks.

"What took you so long?" I ask casually, lightly kicking off from the pillar I'm leaning against.

"You... What are you doing here?" he growls, a sharper than usual tone of anger in his raspy voice. "Forget it, I don't have time for this."

Avoiding any further eye contact, the kid keeps walking, shoving past me.

"And neither do I," I reply sternly, putting a firm hand on his shoulder to stop him.

For a heartbeat, he doesn't move a muscle, and then he whips his head around to glare daggers at me. He wastes no time in swinging at my face with a right hook, which I easily avoid. Sidestepping behind him as he whirls around to try again. Once again, I avoid his fist, this time grabbing a firm hold on his wrist.

"So I'll cut to the chase."

The kid's expression grows very infuriated and his mouth curls in a feral snarl, his teeth bared like an animal. He tries to pull his arm out of my grasp while it begins to glow bright blue. Quickly letting go, the kid is sent careening into the wall as a result of my unexpected release of his arm.

Time to let it out, kid, I think to myself.

...

On second thought, maybe saying that isn't such a good idea.

"I'm here for the sword."

Much better.