Dreamer's Redemption

Chapter Sixteen

            "I think your demon's scared," Eddie remarked to Dominae when he and the two Californies (as he called them) had settled into the living room.

Dominae frowned. "I don't blame him," she said. "I'm terrified."

"You think something's going to go wrong?" Eddie asked.

"I hope not," Dominae told the boy, "though that won't make it so." She sighed. "The fact is, he's right. I know next to nothing about what's going to happen when we get there. I don't know if anyone will be guarding Sara, or if she'll come willingly... or if she'll see us and start screaming her head off. Anything could happen. I don't know."

"But you're going to do it anyway," Eddie pointed out, "even though you know next to nothing."

"Yeah," Dominae said, exhaling the word softly. "I am. And God help me, I'm dragging Minion and our unborn child with me."

The boy's face was unreadable. "Your child will be half demon," he said.

"Yes," Dominae confirmed.

Eddie tilted his head. "That doesn't bother you?"

"Why should it?" Dominae asked. "It was my choice, Eddie. The child will be loved, no matter what it is."

"Maybe it will be like me," Eddie said.

"I'd thought of that," Dominae told him. "And that would be all right. Nothing would make me happier."

"Really?" Eddie asked. Finally, he started to seem animated.

"Yeah," Dominae said, smiling fondly and reaching out to ruffle the boy's hair. "You're a good kid. Healthy and you have a good personality. You're the kind of kid a mother dreams of."

Eddie's eyes shifted away from hers. "Not my mom," he said softly. "Or any of my relatives, for that matter. Or anyone at the orphanage."

Dominae said, "Then they don't know what they're missing."

"Maybe it's that you don't know what you're getting," said Eddie, lifting his eyes to look at Dominae again.

"A good friend named Eddie," said Dominae, her eyes sparkling. "One who, in time, may let my child call him 'uncle'."

"I..." Eddie gave her a stunned look. Tears formed in his eyes, and he wiped them away with the back of his hand. "I'd like that, Dominae," he said. "Thank you."

Dominae smiled. "You're welcome. And call me Domi, please. I'm not much for formalities, especially with those I'm close to. You're a friend, you can call me what my friends call me. And friends are within a step of being family, anyway." She grinned at Cacia. "Sometimes closer."

Eddie nodded. "Domi? I like the sound of that."

"So do I, Eddie," said Dominae. "So do I."

###

When the door to the bedroom opened, Minion let his eyes fall to slits, straining the light through them. He caught Dominae's scent before she spoke. "Minion?" The word was soft and dark, like velvet. He sighed and opened his eyes more fully. "You are awake," she said.

"I couldn't sleep," the demon admitted.

Dominae nodded and settled on the bed beside him. "You worried?" she asked.