The Devil's Smile Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven: At Last My Love



So it had come to this. He had not seen her for three days. He felt a strange, heavy sensation settle over him, and he finally admitted it to himself. Without Mihr's presence, something now seemed wrong in his life.

Zepar couldn't sleep, couldn't eat. He had sent Enigma back to the ether after she and Enepsigos had started bickering. For awhile they had been too worried about him (yes, he knew that much; he could see it in their eyes) to fight, but something had started them off, and he had not had the patience to deal with them. Since meeting Mihr, his temper had seemed exceedingly short, especially with Enepsigos and Enigma.



When had he become so distracted? When had he fully fallen under her charms? In the beginning, those first few days, he had been drawn to her, a moth to the flame, but it had been simply curiosity. She had been unlike anyone he had ever met before. Some part of him had been distracted and disturbed at her naivety and innocence. But the rest of him had found it a blessing in disguise.

And then her smile had started to brighten his day, to make the red sky of hell roll back and the sun shine down. He looked forward to seeing her, and she had diligently met with him.

He had been frightened when he had encountered Marchosias at the lake, but he was certain Mihr was safe. Even so, she had stopped coming, and just when he realized he needed her there.

He needed her. The simplest, most profound realization of his life.

Lord Zepar, the demon of seduction, Prince of Hell, needed her, an angel, more than anything he had ever needed before in his life. She was his water, his air.

But perhaps it was too late.

He was so distracted by his own thoughts he hardly noticed the silent approach of his remaining minion.



"My Lord?" He looked up, then pushed himself up and considered her. She was more timid than he had ever seen her before. He must have been a beast the last few days to make even Enepsigos concerned and walking on eggshells. "It's the middle of the day," she said quietly. "You should be asleep."

Zepar sighed and turned his face away.

"I couldn't sleep," he finally said. "You don't have to be up, Enep. Go to bed." She gave him a heartwrenching look.



"I know," she said slowly, as though carefully picking the right words, "that something is worrying you. Whatever it might be, I understand if you can't tell me. But don't give up on it, things will work out. I know it." His look was startled as he met her red eyes, then he finally softened a little and beckoned to her.

"Come here, Enep..."



He pulled her into his arms, feeling the warmth and softness of her against him. Her heartbeat was clear against him, and she buried her face in his neck, clinging to him. Something eased within her, a tension long-held, and he closed his eyes to consider it.

"I'm sorry for making you worry," he said. "It's nothing, really. I've just been thinking too hard on things lately." She just nodded against him until he finally pulled away and sank into a seat on the earth, leaning back against the pool of darkness. She joined him silently, gazing out across the garden Enigma had first planted decades ago. Her eyes were ringed with dark circles, and she looked worn to the bone.

Zepar reached and pulled her head down to his lap, stroking her hair softly as he peered out across the ashen plains of Hell.



They were silent so long before he thought of something to say that Enepsigos had already fallen asleep under his tender touch. He smiled a little down at her, letting her sleep. Her little speech of quiet encouragement had moved him a little, and he had made up his mind. He was careful not to disturb her as he slowly gathered her into his arms to carry back to the fortress.

That night, he decided, he would go once more to the Mirror Valley. He would wait for Mihr as long as it took. And if she had not come by morning, he would take it as a sign she wanted nothing more to do with him.

So be it. The third day, one final day of waiting, and then, at last, one final night before he would declare his love to her, or say farewell forever.

***



He was there. He was waiting for her.

It was the first thought through Mihr's mind, and the last. From his seat, Zepar stared, as if unbelieving, and she stared back, unable to decide what to do, what to say.



"I thought you wouldn't come," he finally whispered, but his voice carried across the silence of the Mirror Valley to her ears. She shook her head.



"I wanted to. So badly." He just stared, a thousand thoughts flashing by in an instant before he was left with only one final burning thought.

'I need her. I love her.'



She was in his arms in an instant, and his eyes met hers in the darkness. "Mihr, I've missed you...so much..." In that second they were both exhaling, the weight of three days of pent up feelings finally escaping them both. Between them, the atmosphere felt charged with an odd sort of electric pulse. He picked her up and spun her about.


"I thought I'd lost my chance. I thought I'd never see you again," he declared, and she blinked away tears.

"I love you," she said suddenly. "I thought I'd never be able to tell you." He lowered her slowly, setting their foreheads together.

"And I you, my love. At last you're back in my arms." He pulled her then into a crushing kiss, tasting the essence of her. She did not hold back, pushing herself closer, kissing him with a growing passion she could not have contrived.



A sense of peace settled over Zepar as he held her in his arms, a sense of rightness and calm. And then it was replaced, suddenly overtaken by a more primal urge. He could not stop himself, and when Mihr pulled him into another kiss, he could only breathe, "I love you," before he was on her, his demon colors finally showing through, his careful restraint gone.



She welcomed the passion that burned within him. For a moment, it was as though they lived and breathed one another, and she was ready for him, had been her entire life. In that instant they both knew it. In that instant their souls finally joined.



"Zepar..." He heard her whisper his name and lost himself to her in that single moment. All caution was lost, all inhibitions gone. There was nothing between them now. The world grew small, encompassing only them, and perfection blossomed in their joining.



"Mihr, I love you," he murmured, kissing her softly, and she drew a soft breath in the darkness of the Mirror Valley. They fit together flawlessly, as though they were made to be one.

"Zepar, I love you."



Together they lost the time, lost the weight of the world. When at last they were finished, they lay together for some time, listening to the sound of the splashing waterfall and their conjoined heartbeats, feeling the warmth of skin and the soft cooling breath of the gentle wind. And she said it once more: "I love you, Zepar."



An eternity later, she lay in his arms, her head on his lap, sleeping as only an angel could, and Zepar watched her, love burning bright, and a darkness settling in his heart.

He had taken everything from her. He loved her, and it had cost her the entire world. What had he done?

She wasn't safe with him. There was no room in their world for the pair of them together. It was a dream within a dream. This, then, was the nightmare.

It was his fault, and there was only one thing left to do. With a heart afire with love and a conscience weighing him down with iron will, he made up his mind. For Mihr sake, it must be so. For her sake, there was no other choice.

For now they had this night, this single night. And when dawn broke at last, he would say goodbye to his love forever.



END CHAPTER 7