Samara met Danteous at the well that night and every night for the next few days while also helping Leela with the housework and training for hours during the day. She was so exhausted she could barely stand by the end of her and Leela's training matches. Leela started becoming suspicious and began asking her more questions:
"Why are you still so tired, you should be able to sleep by now?"
"Are you okay?"
"Is there anything you want to tell me?"
Every time Leela would ask if she was okay and why she was so tired, Samara always had the same excuse: her mind was in overdrive with everything going on. Eventually, Leela dropped it and stopped asking her and Samara thought that was the end of it.
Her nights with Danteous mostly consisted of walks through the forest and on the beach while reminiscing about their childhood. Other than being more bold in his advances (he was no longer an awkward teen), he seemed like the old Danteous to her. She could feel all those first-love feelings coming back to the surface. Despite those feelings, she wasn't ready for their relationship to move on to the next step—she had learned her lesson from last time with Brent.
They held hands when they walked. They talked about everything except Cyril. Both of them avoided the subject.
"When are you going to talk to Leela?" Danteous asked one night as they walked together through the forest.
Samara shrugged. "I don't know." She hadn't really thought about it. Asking Leela to trust Danteous enough to have a sit down conversation with him wasn't something she was looking forward to. Leela was stubborn and good at holding a grudge. In Leela's eyes Danteous had abandoned her—she swore she wouldn't forgive him for that. And then, there was the fact she was convinced he was working with his father now and if Samara was honest with herself, she wasn't one hundred percent sure that he wasn't. Most of her trusted him but there was still a nagging voice at the back of her mind that sounded a lot like Leela.
"You still don't trust me, do you?" Danteous said.
"I don't know," she admitted. Then looking up at him, she smiled shyly and added, "Sorry."
He tightened his hand around hers. "That's all right. We have time."
Did they? Samara doubted that.
They made it to a clearing that Samara recognized as a spot she and Leela would sometimes train at. Danteous climbed onto a boulder and then offered a hand to her, helping her up so she could sit beside him.
"I used to come out here when I was a boy," Danteous said looking up at the clear sky; thousands of stars looked back down at them.
"It seems so long ago, doesn't it?" Samara pulled her knees up to her chest and gazed with him. It was quiet other than an occasional rustle of the trees as a breeze swept through, and the chirping of crickets.
"It does," he agreed. "But it wasn't that long ago we were children."
"You were always 'too cool' to play with us," Samara teased.
He laughed. "It wasn't that. You two were always pranking me and trying to be as annoying as possible—it made me want to get away from you."
Samara laughed at the memories. "Yeah, that was mostly me. I came up with most of the ideas, Leela just went along with them."
Danteous leaned close to her. "Oh I know, you were a little terror." He touched her lips softly with his. "How things can change ... now I can't imagine being away from you."
Samara's heart pounded in her chest and for a minute she was worried he would be able to hear it. The touch of his lips against hers, the warmth of his body so close, his breath against her lips, it all sent warmth throughout her every time they were close. They kissed again, Samara ignoring the warnings screaming in her mind.
She knew this was wrong. She knew this ... whatever this was—whether it was her holding on to the past or wanting something new—would end in heartbreak.
Unless she could convince him to renounce his father....
***
Every night, Samara set a soft alarm to meet Danteous at the willow after midnight. They lived night by night, avoiding the subject of Cyril and the future. Samara knew that if they spoke about it, she might have to make a difficult decision that she wasn't ready for.
She was going to enjoy Danteous while she could.
Their night had become routine. They would walk together, either to the clearing or to the beach. They would sit beneath the stars in the clearing or watch the waves roll in while sitting together on the sand. They held hands. They kissed. They spoke of the past, but never the future.
Danteous asked about Leela every night. He missed being her brother, that was obvious to Samara. She hoped when she became brave enough to talk to Leela that Leela would agree to talk to her brother.
Sometime in the middle of the night, Samara would fall asleep against Danteous' shoulder or in his lap, letting the sound of the waves or the chirping of insects lull her to sleep. He let her rest, watching over her until it was time to walk her home. Samara always made sure she was home before Leela woke up.
Growing more and more concerned for her well being, Danteous suggested one night that they return home early so Samara could get a decent night's sleep for a change.
Samara reluctantly agreed. She hated parting with him, but she was exhausted.
They walked back through the forest from their spot in the clearing. Close to the house, they heard a shuffling noise in some of the brush ahead. Danteous stood in front of Samara protectively, listening further and looking in between the leaves to see what was making the noise. It turned out to be a deer, which froze when it caught scent of them. After a minute it sprang off in the other direction.
"What did you think it was?" Samara asked. He had seemed overly concerned about the noise, as if he were worried something dangerous was in the forest.
"Nothing, you just never know what might be out here." Danteous put his arms around her and flashed a sly grin. "Don't worry, though, I'll protect you."
Samara playfully shoved him backwards and said. "As if I need your protection."
"Oh yeah?" Danteous laughed. "Show me what you can do."
"There's not enough room here," Samara said looking around at the closeness of the trees and brush. She would trip over roots and fallen branches for sure.
"If you think that then you can't protect yourself," he challenged. "You should be able to fight anywhere."
That was true. She and Leela had always made sure they had plenty of room to move around and she wondered then why Kalahari had never thought to have them practice in tighter spaces.
"Fine," Samara said.
And they sparred right there in the forest. Samara blocked Danteous' advances, though she had a feeling he was going easy on her, which frustrated her. She had been training since she was twelve years old; she knew how to fight. Although she had never fought a half-dragon before.
She also had the disadvantage of fighting without much room to move and having to dodge a bunch of obstacles (low branches above, rocks, roots, and brush below).
She tripped more times than she could count, and while dodging one of Danteous' attacks, she almost ran smack dab into a tree. Good thing this wasn't a real fight or she would have lost early on.
Danteous caught her arm as she tripped again and teased her, "Still clumsy as ever."
"Okay, you have a point," she said, her cheeks hot with embarrassment. "This is something Leela and I need to work on."
"I can help you."
"You want to train me?"
"Why not?"
She didn't want to say what she was thinking then. Because your training might help me with the upcoming fight against your father and the rest of your family. Then she thought of something.
"Wait, what is that supposed to mean? 'Clumsy as ever'?"
"Have you forgotten?" Danteous said. "I saved your life once, remember?"
Samara's eyes widened. She had forgotten until now:
She had been around seven years old, before she had come to live with Kalahari. Her grandmother had brought her out to the house for one of their visits. It had been raining when they got there just before lunch. The clouds moved out shortly after and once they finished eating, Kalahari and Samara's grandmother shooed the children outside to play while they cleaned up the dishes.
At that age, Danteous had no interest in playing with them; however, he still hung around nearby, usually kicking around a ball or something.
Everything outside was still wet from the rain, the grass was especially slippery.
Danteous had been tossing a rock into the air and catching it around the willow tree while Samara and Leela played tag. Samara had already fallen several times, her pants splattered with mud; Leela looked the same—grass stains and mud on her pant legs.
Samara and Leela had always been active children, running and climbing on everything they could. Leela, who was six at the time, tried to show off to Samara by climbing up on the branch of a tree and swinging back and forth, so Samara thought she had to show off, too. She didn't want to copy Leela so instead she had gone over to the old, uncovered well (which her grandparents and Kalahari had warned her not to play on several times before) and began climbing on it. The rocky walls were wet and slippery but she had been determined. She climbed up on the well, saying "watch this!" to Leela, who was perched on the tree branch, looking down at her friend.
Samara walked, balancing on the edge of the well with her arms out like wings.
She walked around the entire well and then smiled at Leela, who didn't look at all impressed. When Samara started to turn so she could climb down, her foot slipped and before she knew it she was starting to fall down the well. She screamed and grasped for the edge of the wall.
A hand grabbed her wrist and then another grabbed her other wrist and began to pull her back over. Danteous had been close enough he could grab her before she fell into the darkness below.
"Hold on!" he had said. He pulled her out. They both fell back into the grass just as Leela jumped down from the tree and rushed over to help.
"You need to be more careful," Danteous had scolded her when she was safely on the ground. Samara had been too scared to say anything and just nodded her head.
"Are you okay?" Danteous asked.
"I think so. My arm hurts though."
"Come on, let's go tell your grandma," Danteous said pulling her up and holding her hand.
"Are you okay, Samara?" Leela had asked, taking her other hand. Samara didn't answer her though, she was too worried about getting into trouble.
"You're not gonna tell on me, are you?" Samara asked Danteous as the three of them walked.
"I might, you know you're not supposed to be near the well," Danteous said.
He always acted like he was so much more mature than them. Samara made a face and jerked her hand out of Danteous'. "Then I'm not going inside!"
"You said you hurt your arm," he replied.
Samara and Leela started running away then, heading for the back yard and laughing at Samara's daring escape and avoiding getting into trouble with her grandmother.
The memory faded when Samara heard Danteous' voice now.
"You did forget," Danteous accused her.
She shook her head. "No I didn't, I swear."
He grinned and gently pushed her back against the tree behind them. "Liar." He went to kiss her, but she stopped him.
"That was so long ago, all kids are clumsy," Samara said. "I'm not nearly as bad now."
"I'm not sure I believe you."
"All right, I'll prove it. We'll practice out here again."
Danteous smiled, satisfied with her response, and pursued his kiss. Samara closed her eyes, moving her lips against his, her hands holding onto his waist. The fight had already sent those warm feelings throughout her body and they were intensifying now with her back pinned to the tree and him against her.
The sound of more rustling broke their moment and Danteous pulled away from her to look around again. Samara peered past him and at the ground where she thought the noise had come from. She spotted the creature that had interrupted them.
Meow.... The sound was weak.
"It's a cat!" Samara shoved Danteous aside and leaned down to look at it. It wasn't very old, probably only a couple months. It was scared of her at first, but Samara held her hand out to it, letting it sniff her. After a few minutes the cat let Samara pet it and then pick it up.
"Be careful, it could have a disease," Danteous said.
"Oh, it's just a baby. Looks small. I bet its mom abandoned it." Samara held the kitten close, it snuggled into her chest. Danteous was watching with an indifferent expression.
"What's wrong?" Samara asked.
"Nothing, I'm just not fond of cats."
"How could you not like cats? Look how cute he is!" Samara gestured to the little ball of fluff in her arms and then gently lifted one of his paws. "Look at his little toe-beans."
"Toe beans?"
"His paws," Samara explained, "aren't they adorable?"
Danteous smiled and shook his head. "If you say so."
"I'm gonna take him home," Samara said. "Kalahari won't like it, but she's not here." As soon as she said the words, she realized she shouldn't have.
"Where is Kalahari?"
Samara shrugged it off, pretending to be nonchalant. "She just went to visit a friend for a few days."
"I see. You know she's allergic to cats."
She rolled her eyes. "Oh please. That's just what she says, we all know she just doesn't want pets because they aren't sanitary. When she came to my grandparents' house she never sneezed once and we had three cats."
Danteous laughed. "She can be sneaky like that."
Samara nodded as the kitten started purring in her arms. He stretched a little, showing sharp baby claws against the sleeve of her jacket.
"Ohh look at those claws," Samara cooed. "I know what I'm going to name him."
"Already?" Danteous still seemed unsure about the cat.
"Clawesome, because of his awesome claws. Claws for short."
He couldn't help but laugh at that. "Come on, let's get you and Claws home."
***
The next morning Samara hesitantly showed Leela the kitten, afraid she would object and tell Samara to get it out of the house before Kalahari came home. She was pleasantly surprised when Leela's eyes lit up and she said, "Where did this little guy come from?"
"I found him in the forest last night, I think his mom abandoned him. He looks like a runt." Samara handed Claws to Leela and she gladly took him in her arms and began petting him but she eyed Samara and raised an eyebrow.
"Why were you in the forest last night?"
Samara felt her cheeks turn hot as she realized the mistake she had made. Again. She had to learn to stop opening her big mouth. She blamed it on the lack of sleep.
She tried to recover quickly. "I couldn't sleep again, so I went outside to meditate and heard him crying. He was just at the edge of the tree line."
Leela seemed skeptical but didn't question her further. They gave Claws a can of tuna (he wolfed it down) for that morning. They set up a place for him on the screened-in back porch with a box and warm blankets, a water dish, and a box with shredded newspaper until they could get a litter-box and the other items he needed. They went to the store for all that: food, litter, some toys, and Samara's favorite: a blue collar with a dapper bow tie. Kalahari was probably going to be mad at them when she returned, especially for spending grocery money on cat stuff, but they would deal with that when the time came. Maybe she would agree to keep him if they promised he would stay on the porch. They could put in a little kitty door so he could go outside whenever he wanted.
Kalahari called that night to let them know that she, Jax, and Blaine had finally convinced Joan that they needed her help. It only took four days to talk her into it....
Samara "forgot" to tell Kalahari about Claws.
"Have you girls been keeping up with your training? Is the house clean? Have you been mowing the lawn?" Kalahari grilled them.
She sighed. "Yes, Kalahari."
"Excuse you. What's with the tone?"
"Nothing, you should just have more faith in us," Samara said.
On the other end Kalahari sighed. "You're right. Any news? Have you seen Danteous?"
"No." Samara felt bad for lying.
"That's good," Kalahari said. "Maybe he went back to the mountains."
They chatted for a few more minutes and then Kalahari told them she and the others would be off to the next house the following morning to talk to Lucinda and her son. They didn't hear from Kalahari again for the next few days.
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