Levana Ceri (Moon Love)

Chapter 10

Chapter 10

 Serena opened her eyes and looked into a pair of very worried ones. "Oh thank God." Darien said in relief before he pulled her up into his arms and held her tightly against his chest.

 Serena's mind was still reeling with Saturn's parting words echoing in her brain. "We need you Princess. Something must be done to avert the impending tragedy. You are the only hope we have. Please..."

 Serena shut her eyes shut and wrapped her arms around Darien and held on for dear life, pressing her face tightly into the crook of his neck. The screams from the vision Saturn had given her still reverberated in her ears. The sight of her friend’s lifeless bodies on the palace steps...the bodies of her people littering the ground.

 The image of Earth being destroyed. Darien...

 Serena pulled away from Darien and looked into his face.

 Darien raised his hands and wiped her tears away with his thumbs. "What happened? One moment you were sleeping peacefully then the next you were thrashing around."

 "It was just a bad dream." Serena whispered to him.

 Darien frowned slightly at her still holding her face in his hands. "Really? I didn't know bad dreams could make you cough up blood."

 Serena's eyes widened. "What?"

 Darien held her eyes with his own then nodded to the trashcan he had pulled close to the bed. Serena looked and it was filled with bloody pieces of tissue.

 Swallowing Serena turned to Darien again and gave him a watery smile. "It was a really bad dream." She said lamely.

 Darien looked thoughtful. "Must've been." He tilted her head up slightly and touched a raw spot on her neck that hurt like hell. Serena flinched away. Darien raised his finger and showed her the blood on it. "Funny that a line of blood appeared on your throat like magic. If I didn't know any better I'd have thought someone pressed a knife to your throat."

 Serena tried to turn away from Darien's knowing gaze but he only pulled her back. "Something's going on. I'm not stupid Serena. I can't help if you don't tell me."

 Serena wrenched herself away from him. "I don't want your help." She told him angrily. "Well, whether you want it or not doesn't matter. It looks like you need it." He snapped back.

 "What the hell could you do? You don't know anything!" Serena yelled at him.

 "If you'd tell me then I'd know." He yelled back.

 "It won't change anything." Serena tried to swing her feet over the side of the bed to get up, when Darien suddenly grabbed her legs and pulled them over his lap. With one hand restraining her legs his other hand pulled her upper body close to his. "I won't watch you go through shit like this again without knowing what the fuck is going on!" He smashed his lips against hers. There was nothing nice or tender in his touch. This kiss was a punishment. For the fear that had struck his heart when she was asleep and he couldn't wake her up. The fear that she would never wake up and die in his arms. His soul nearly died when she coughed up the blood and there wasn't a damn thing he could do about it. He had been helpless. Helplessness was not something he dealt with well.

 Serena couldn't help it. She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him back. Kissed him with all the passion she had been holding back the last few days. She held him close, afraid to let go. She had watched Earth be destroyed. She had lost him. To now hold him this close, to allow herself the pleasure of being held in his arms and knowing that at least at this very moment he cared...