Malevolent

Chapter 19

The ground met my back harshly as we landed, leaving a throbbing on my body that quickly subsided. It was dark, and I realized I was still cocooned within the embrace of Dante's massive wings.

He was close. I could feel his breath by my collar. His large demon body was a firm weight pressing against me. Those massive wings dug into the floorboards on either side of me, like a shield against the chaos we left behind. The problem was, the chaos was within me now.

I felt as though the world had caught up to us in an instant, ejected from one chaotic reality to another.

Cam had revealed a missing piece to that dark memory Dante had uncovered not too long ago. So I hadn't just murdered my father in cold blood. Dante had possessed me, taken control of my body and forced my hand. The hand of a child.

I pushed against his body, feeling the anger surge within me until I broke free, distancing myself from him. My heart was pounding as anger coursed through my veins like a torrent.

"How could you?!" I seethed. "How could you force me to do such a thing?!" The words hung in the air like a poison I hoped would suffocate him.

Dante was already at a stand, the massive beast loomed before me, eyes red and black as he drew nearer but I backed away.

"You had no right!" I met him with a fiery glare of my own. "You didn't just possess me, you shattered my life!"

Dante's eyes burned with unyielding intensity. "And in doing so, I saved your life." He retorted, deprived of remorse, "Or did you forget that?" His steps shook the floor beneath me.

My fingers curled into fists, my frustration mounting the second our gazes locked, "Saved my life?" I scoffed in disbelief and anger, "At what cost, Dante!? My family, my memories— everything was taken, erased! I spent years feeling alone, abandoned, searching, blaming myself!"

"But you survived." He said coldly, with a stoicism that drove me mad.

Without thought, I launched into motion, driven by a force stronger than anger alone. I swung at him, his clawed hand caught my wrist and forcefully spun me, pinning me tightly between him and the wall.

"I saved your life," he whispered harshly in my ear. The sharp points of his teeth grazed the curve of my neck.

I kicked off the wall, sending us tumbling. I took the upperhand, straddling his waist. "You took everything from me!" My fists collided with his face as I screamed.

Yet his stony face remained unmarked, while my knuckles came out bloody. I didn't care.

"You had no right!" I repeated with each blow. "You've taken everything from me, and you dare stand here without an inch of remorse for what you did! You made me a murderer, Dante! You left me broken!"

My arms grew tired, but I continued until Dante's words cut through the chaos. 

"I will never regret saving you that night," He declared sternly, unwavering. "If it led to my fall, so be it."

My strikes faltered as his words pierced through my anger-clouded thoughts. A moment of realization dawned on me then that his actions were not solely driven by darkness.

I paused, and Dante took my hesitation to regain the upper hand. He hooked an arm around me and flipped us over, pinning me beneath him. Gently, he restrained my arms above me. His red eyes were steady, no longer flickering.

"I saved you, I helped you, but I wasn't the one who erased your memory or took you away from your family. I did nothing wrong," His grip tightened. "You might not admit it out loud, but I don't have to read your mind to know that you think so too. Or did you think I was wicked when you thought it was another little girl I had saved?"