The Knight of Her Dreams (Dragons and Dreamphasers) (10 page)

Only one of many games between them over the
years.

Granted, she was a beauty, clever, and
mischievous as any guardian devil of her breed, her curly hair sometimes
obscuring her horns.  But she couldn’t deny being part angel as well, thanks to
her wings, a gift from her mother’s parentage.  Perhaps that accounted for her
inner vulnerability that she tried to hide, unlike the more wanton females of
her type.  It was Buddy’s knowledge of her hidden innocence that brought on the
protective angel side to him, and he was determined to keep the local devils
away from her.

Of course, she’d provoked
his
devil
side often enough with her flirtations.

Too
often!
he decided,
knowing that there were complete guardian angels that’d wanted to cast aside
their halos forever for Jarissa’s attentions.  He was no different, except he
was close friends with her, which was better than the rest could say.

Theirs was a relationship of
literal heaven and hell, but to a half-and-half guardian like Buddy—and the
similar situation of Jarissa—they truly seemed meant for one another.

Or at least meant for Bedlam.

His dream-like stare was enhanced
when he saw the three familiar females enter Lost Limbo.  Kiri pointed towards
their table instantly, but Buddy didn’t notice.  He was too busy staring at the
brown-haired guardian devil who was heading straight for him, an odd expression
in her eyes.  Her warm smile caused him to discount her gaze... moments before
she smacked him stingingly in the face.

Good-bye, dreams!

“What the hell was that for?” he demanded as he
stood. Jarissa stared up at him with undisguised fury that bore no hint of
fear.  A common trait of female guardian devils.

“You men are all alike!” she
exclaimed, pounding him on the chest once with her fist.  “Kiri just visited
Riff, and her mind-reading ability tapped into your conversation with Dominick
earlier.  You men seem to think that we women are here solely as the targets of
your conquests.  Well, think again, buster!”

Right now, he could only think
that Kiri’s powers helped her to eavesdrop way too much.

“It wasn’t
my
idea!” he protested. 
“Why don’t you vent your anger on Riff and Dominick where it belongs?”

“And you call yourself a guardian angel!” she
hissed mockingly.  “Yet you’ll stand by while a poor girl in a fragile
emotional state is seduced by the petty whims of your
friend!
”

“Guardians aren’t dreamphasers,
Jarissa.  Even if you told me to interfere, I couldn’t.  Dammit, you know
that!”

Yes, she knew that, but it still didn’t sit very
well with her.  “You could talk him out of it,” she suggested, her quiet tone
barely concealing her anger.  “A guardian’s power of suggestion can be of some
use with dreamphasers.”

“Maybe with some, but Dom’s will’s too strong,
and I really don’t want to get involved.”  He turned away to walk over to the
window, hoping that would end this discussion, but the persistent Jarissa
followed him.

“I see,” she said, spreading her hands
defeatedly.  “You know, Buddy, maybe you’re right.  After all, it is just a
dream to the girl, and that certainly excuses all else.  And I know you’d be
just as morally upstanding if I told you that a dreamphaser had shown up in
my
dreams recently.”

Things went from quiet to chaos
in less than five seconds.

“
What?
” he shouted, whipping about
to face her, while earning the attention of everyone else in Lost Limbo as
well.

Jarissa casually ran a finger against the edge of
a table, nodding with a serious expression.  “Given your most
understanding
nature, I suppose you’d have absolutely no qualms over my telling you that I
was pursued by a dreamphaser more than once, and that he finally succeeded in
ravishing me.  After all, it was
just
a dream, and we all know
how you feel about... Ouch!”

Having grabbed her shoulders with a steel grip,
Buddy shook her hard.  “Who did this?” he demanded loudly.  At her silence, he
prompted her with a shake.  “
Who?
”

“Buddy, you’re hurting me!” she protested.

“Much less than the pain I’ll inflict on whoever
the bastard is that’s responsible for this!” he swore.  Jarissa felt a rare
wave of fear sweep through her as she stared into her angry companion’s eyes. 
No longer the friendly blue, they seemed darkened beyond recognition now, more
characteristic to a guardian devil.  “If you don’t know his name, give me a
description to go by.  Just tell me what you know, Jarissa!”

“Nothing, nothing!” she blurted out, shaking her
head.  “Buddy, I was just trying to prove a point, that’s all.”

“Really now?” he sneered.  “Judging by your
character, I tend to doubt that.  Now for the last time, who are you
protecting?”

“No one, I swear!  I...”

“
BUDDY, LET HER GO, OR ELSE!
” a
loud voice shrieked, nearly causing him to release Jarissa if only to cover his
ears.  Several other patrons did reach for their ears, causing several mugs to
drop and shatter.

While he merely gritted his teeth
against the pain from the ear-piercing shout, many others in Lost Limbo loudly
protested the usage of Psych’s deafening ability.  When she got angry, there
was no one with a louder voice, and since she and Jarissa were so close-knit,
Buddy knew better than to push the issue.

“Mind your own business!” Psych
called out in a more normal shout, or I’ll shatter the rest of your beer mugs
for you!”  The grumbling continued, but more quietly.  “Sorry, Zantarl,” she
told the barkeep.  He waved a hand in dismissal, using his own ability to raise
the shattered glasses and restore them whole again.  The patrons affected then
brought their repaired mugs over for refills, including several newcomers who
were surprised by Zantarl’s ability.

“She’s telling the truth, you
dummy,” supplied Kiri, folding her arms.  “She only said what she did to make
you understand the Earth girl’s plight.  You won’t lend a hand in her case, but
you don’t seem to like the idea of a dreamphaser chasing after Jarissa, do
you?”

Glaring at her once before turning back to his
silent companion, Buddy squeezed her arms tighter, his anger still close to the
surface.  In a low voice, he said warningly, “If you ever,
ever
,
throw a lie like that at me again, I’ll send you gift-wrapped to an appropriate
dreamphaser myself!”

“Don’t bother,” she murmured
coldly, exiting in a literal flash as she vanished.

A singeing flash which left burn marks on Buddy’s
hands.

Gasping once at the sharp pain, while waving his
hands quickly to cool them, Buddy angrily heard murmuring and laughter from the
attentive crowd around him. 
Leave it to Jarissa to exit with a bang!
his thoughts mocked him.  Striding back to his table, he rubbed his sore hands,
without giving the slightest glance to the two remaining females.

“If that crazy she-devil thinks I’m going to interfere
with a friend’s affairs, then she’s got less of a brain beneath those curls
than any of her would-be suitors know,” he told Inferno.  “I also have more
faith in Dom than to believe he’d take advantage of a woman, dream-state or
no.”

“A typically male response,” hissed Kiri.  “But
it’s the women who pay the consequences for your actions, angel-boy.”

“Now just a second,” Inferno broke in.  “Aren’t
you forgetting that we’re talking about Dominick?  I don’t argue that some
dreamphasers might be as you say, but I agree with Buddy that Dominick is
not
the type to force his attention on this woman or any other.”

For a few moments, Kiri’s
expression softened.  Of the two brothers, she knew Dominick did seem to have a
deeper sense of caring when it came to another’s feelings.  Something she
wished would rub off on Riff now and then, although privately she was certain
he wouldn’t force his attention on women either.  Even knowing this though, the
situation didn’t seem right.

“Maybe there’s a mutual attraction there that we
don’t know about,” he continued.

“Sure, if someone spilled glue
over them,” murmured Kiri, tossing her reddish-gold curls angrily.

Buddy turned to her with a forced
smile.  Moments afterwards, Kiri gave a loud gasp of outrage.  Slapping him in the
face, she stormed out.

Psych stood in confusion,
glancing after her departed friend.  Admittedly, Kiri had a chip on her
shoulder regarding men, no doubt built with assistance from Riff over the
years, but she had a good heart.  She just didn’t want to see someone hurt,
emotionally or otherwise.

Given Kiri’s ability to read people’s minds,
Psych grasped the obvious, turning to Buddy accusingly.  “All right, angel-boy,
just what were you thinking that caused that?” she demanded.

“Merely an added thought to her
glue comment,” he replied nonchalantly.

“Which was?”

He shrugged.  “Simply that glue’s the only way
she’d ever attract anyone willingly, much less the attentions of the most
desperate dreamphaser.”

Psych slapped him too.

“Beast!” she hissed, following in her friend’s
footsteps.

Maintaining somber expressions, it was only when
the door slammed that Buddy and Inferno released their laughter.  Picking up
their glasses, they held them aloft cheerfully.

“A toast to the wiles of unpredictable women,”
said Inferno.

“And a toast for bravery to good
ol’ Dominick.  If this Earth maiden of his is anything like Barokka’s females,
then he may be in more danger than she is!”

Laughing boisterously, they clinked glasses.

*****

The Earth maiden in question might not be in
danger right now, but she was certainly agitated.

Julianna paced the floor
nervously as she struggled to keep awake.  Glancing at the clock, she saw that
it was past two in the morning, yet the last intention on her mind was of
sleeping.  Last night’s dream had haunted her endlessly with its disturbing
vividness, as if it had really happened.  And as it had been on her mind all
day, she was worried she’d wind up back with Dominick again.

Not that the dream last night had been
unpleasant.  Far from it.

But it had been all too
real
.

Why, if she hadn’t woken up when she did... well,
even if it
was
just a dream, she found it disturbing!

Her feet soon tired from her
pacing though, and rather than wear out the floor, Julianna reluctantly sat
down on her bed to read a book instead.  Maybe she could erase thoughts of
Dominick with a good science-fiction novel, she thought hopefully, picking up
the first one to catch her eye, ‘Warp Zone of Doom’.

Quite an appropriate title lately.

The idea seemed to work, because after reading
several pages, all she could think of was futuristic people on space ships,
instead of the nineteenth century characters of a romance novel.  No more
thoughts of hall-of-mirrors ballrooms, no more fancy ball gowns, and no more
Dominick.  She yawned once as she flipped through a few more pages, just before
sleep began to overtake her.  Realizing this, she reached out to grope for the
light switch.  With a quick flip, the room was blanketed in darkness, and she
leaned back with a contented sigh.

Moments later, a curiosity broke into her tired
state.

Her eyes drifted half-open upon sensing light
upon their closed lids, and she struggled to see ahead.  Her eyes weren’t
adjusted to the dark yet, but she could see the streetlights from outside through
the edges of her window curtains. 
Nothing unusual there
, she thought
absently. 
No doubt my imagination working overtime again.

Relaxed as Julianna was, she soon gave it no
further thought, turning to her side while her eyes fluttered shut again.

She was totally oblivious when a string of
countless, tiny star-like lights filled the room moments later.  Lights which
circled the room, just before forming the silvery outline of a certain
dreamphaser.

Feeling for a moment as if he was
in fact truly part of her world, Dominick’s ghostly astral form cast a
shimmering glow on the peaceful expression on Julianna’s face, only enhancing
her beauty.  He couldn’t help smiling, as she looked so innocent while quietly
lost in slumber.  Despite the knowledge that there weren’t many hours left in
which he could be with her again, Dominick found himself reluctant to abandon
this moment where he could gaze upon her freely without retribution.

The silvery light framed her
face, much like moonlight, as he moved to stand beside her.  Glancing down at
her with longing, he found himself wishing that he had the ability to become
tangible here, if only for a moment, so he might touch her cheek just once in
reality.

He sighed heavily, knowing his powers could never
allow him to do that.

Funny how a search two months ago had brought him
to this.

Back then, he’d been traveling about this town in
his astral form, floating through each house’s walls as if they were made of
mist.  He’d nearly brushed through Julianna’s room without a second thought
too, but even on that first night, he’d found her crying herself to sleep.