Malevolent

Chapter 44

Gentle waves carried Amra in a sea of darkness. There was no agony, no pain, no fear. Only peace. A peace that made her feel she was at home, but soon there was another presence with her. She couldn't see it, but she could feel it. It was full of love.

Amra opened her eyes as she floated in a shallow pool of nothing. Above her there appeared to be a starry sky. All around her was darkness, but she knew someone was here. 

Her gray eyes scanned and roamed until finally her eyes landed on the culprit and her heart swelled. Those eyes. Those sets of eyes. A warm smile graced her face.

"Do I know you?"

"Yes, you do, but I'm afraid we have no time for formalities."

Amra sat up from the pool she floated in. It was odd. It looked deep enough and yet she sat up as if a sturdy floor were beneath her. Her hair was slick, but there was no cold. No warmth even. A shooting star above her caught her attention. "What is this place?"

"You're in one of Limbo's gateways."

"Limbo?" Amra's breath caught. She remembered learning all about limbo from the nuns in the orphanage. It was a place between heaven and hell for either lost or passing souls.

How did I get here? She couldn't recall, but she suddenly felt an urgency to return as memory with no particular order flashed across her mind. She just knew she needed to go back.

"Am I dead?"

"Almost. Your heart is stopping as we speak, but there is still a chance for you to return."

Amra felt her whole-body tingle and she eagerly stood from the pool, realizing the entire place was covered in the dark waters as far as the eye could see.

"Would you like to return?"

"Yes." Although she had no memory of how she got here, she knew she couldn't stay. She needed to get back to where she was really from.

"I'm glad." Two hands reached for her and waited. Amra extended her hand but stopped just short of their grasp. "Will I see you again?" She asked.

"Yes."

"Then return me." She smiled and clutched their hands.

The gentle waves below her began to push and pull and build, until the peace turned tumultuous. 

Her body began to ache, as if it was coming alive. Pain shot throughout each nerve ending, like fire on her skin, until she was nothing but ache, and light consumed her. 

A piercing noise shook her, and air returned to her lungs.

Amra sat up in panic. Touching the wound on her stomach that had miraculously sealed. She expected it to hurt, but only dried blood remained as proof Cam had stabbed her.

Her wide eyes immediately searched around her and landed on Lily's face hidden behind her knees, then a familiar boy looking at her in shock, and an unconscious Arlo.

Everything returned to her. Including the moment Dante had grasped her in his arms as she died... she had died. And something or someone she couldn't remember anymore had returned her.

Amra grasped Lily's arm, and the minute Lily's stunned expression met Amra's, Amra offered her a reassuring smile, but before Lily could utter a word, Amra turned to see who she assumed was Dante.

Beneath the gargoyle-like monster, she could feel him there—Dante. She could sense his deep, heart-wrenching agony. He still thought she was dead. 

Dante, she stood just as she noticed the light like thunder in Camiel's grasp.

"Dante!"

As dark and as twisted as Dante had been, there was no doubt in Amra's mind that he loved her. In his own malevolent way. He'd protected her, fallen because of her, found her, and saved her again. Now it was her turn to save him. To fall for him.