Page 21 of The Danger Kiss

The Specter

Although she didn’t return the gesture, I held on to her in my arms.

I held on to my little Blanca for as long as she would let me.

She smelled of apples and sweetness. Her dark hair was thicker now, longer and more vibrant. She had a woman’s body too; gone was the gangly girl who wavered about in the night wind as soon as she’d taken down nearly twenty opponents.

She finally had enough of me and pushed me away. I stepped back to give her space.

I could feel the tension between us grew taut, like strings stretched to their very limit.

As we stood there, locked in our silent battle, the world around us seemed to fade into insignificance. Everything faded next to her.

I reached out to her, wanting to touch her again, but then I saw her recoil. My hand fell away.

“Would you like to come with me, then?”

She hesitated. “I don’t know.”

“At least let me make it up to you with dinner. I can cook.”

“You can?”

I shrugged. “I picked it up quite easily.”

It was completely dark by the time we started walking out of the marketplace. The air between us was thick with unspoken words and lingering memories.

"Would you like to take my arm, or perhaps I could carry your bag?" I offered tentatively, hoping to bridge the chasm that had grown between us. But Blanca's violet eyes bore into me with unwavering intensity, her pale face betraying no emotion.

"Neither," she replied icily before continuing onward with determined steps, her dark hair billowing behind her like a shadowy specter.

Her refusal stung, but it did not surprise me; the delicate girl I had once protected had become a formidable woman. Nothing stayed the same forever.

Undeterred, I attempted to engage Blanca in conversation, eager to learn how she had been faring all these years.

"How have you been?" I tried to maintain a semblance of casual small talk.

She remained cold and silently detached, her gaze fixed on the path ahead, her replies almost inaudible.

"Forgive me if I am prying, but I can’t help but wonder what happened since you were twelve. Your family...your brothers?" I was desperate for any morsel of information about her life, one I never quite understood.

She let out what sounded like a strangled snort, then she hesitated, as if contemplating whether to indulge my curiosity. “I’ve barely left our family home all these years. I’ve since become my family’s chemist. I've become rather adept at crafting poisons. I suppose I did get something out of this, don’t you think so?"

Her words sent a chill down my spine, and I marveled at the duality of her nature. How had the fragile girl I rescued transformed into this dangerously fascinating creature? And would she ever forgive me for the role I had played in her life?

"Your expertise in poisons hasn't gone unnoticed, Blanca," I confessed. “I've heard some impressive things about what you’ve done, as well as your recent interest in the upcoming black market auction."

Her violet eyes flickered with surprise, but she remained silent, her expression unreadable. I could sense the undercurrents of curiosity and suspicion churning beneath her stoic facade, but was uncertain how to navigate these treacherous waters.

"A friend informed me that you were in town," I continued hesitantly, hoping to elicit a response from her. "It seems I was meant to find you this time.”

She barely looked at me or responded as we walked the way of the way to the fringes of Project D. We arrived at my gym, its exterior worn and weathered by years of exposure to the harsh elements and the pollution in the city.

"Welcome to my humble home," I announced, gesturing towards the narrow staircase that led to the small apartment above. She gave me a long, unreadable look before she took the steps ahead of me.

The modest living space was sparsely furnished. A flickering lamp shed a dim glow upon the room, casting shadows that danced across the walls with an eerie grace.

“It almost looks the same as the old place,” she said, looking around her at the simple, mostly unadorned surroundings.

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