One Man's Treasure - 33

Stay strong, stay strong, find Dante and stay strong… the words chanted in her mind, a prayer of fortitude, her heart a marble pillar. She could handle this. She would find him, and save him, as he’d saved her so many times before. It was going to be okay…

At Adrian’s slightly hesitant hand on her arm, she felt her control slip, and her shoulders shook. A small sob escaped her, and her eyes squeezed shut, tears sliding from them.

She felt as if her heart would break. It was –not- okay. She didn’t know where Dante was, she didn’t know where –she- was, and it was simply too much. All alone in a strange city, no where to go, no one to turn to, barely understood the new reality in which she stood- and here was Adrian, from no where, her savior.

Kestrell had never been very good at self control. Abruptly, she let out another choking sob, and all the hurt inside of herself seemed to boil to the surface. The pain, the fire, the missing hand, the missing lover- her remaining hand jerked up, catching Adrian’s arm, thin fingers gripping it. Without any more warning than that, she jerked towards him, and threw her stump arm about him, burying her face in his shoulder as she wept.

In that moment, her mind was made. She would tell him. She had no where else to turn… and maybe, just maybe, he wouldn’t think she was crazy. Maybe….