Chapter 36
NEVER SAID BEFORE WORDS
Violette made a heavy step through the dense forest. Didn't matter how much she looked around, her eyes couldn't find anything that looked like a path. Instead, their way went through the tangled bushes and the tall trees.
Dante's coat was weighing her down and made her tired very quickly. Dante all this time strolled slightly ahead, without going far. The silence was hanging in the air until Violette got caught over a thorny bush.
“Will all our way be that…clogged? I don't want to complain but–” she broke off, waiting for Dante's voice to be out in the air.
“Be patient. We might find a path soon,” he said, treading forward. Not once did he look over at her.
A warm puff of steam left her mouth. The vampire suddenly stopped and turned her way, which she didn't notice until she staggered closer. She lifted her head and found his eyes.
“If you're tired you can just say it,” he said blandly.
“I'm fine,” she muttered and made her way past him.
“We can make a stop,” he continued.
“No need.”
“Nothing will happen if we take a break for ten minutes,” he insisted as he appeared shoulder to shoulder with her.
Violette raised her head to the stars and then trailed her gaze to Dante. She was silent for awhile – she didn't want the vampires to catch up with them but if Dante was sure they could take a little break then perhaps, she shouldn't worry. In truth, she was longing to sit.
She sat on a log and raised her head towards, just breathing in and out. The cold air made the journey even worse, she barely could keep up with Dante’s pace.
Her eyes opened – the stars were sparkling bright as diamonds against the inky gulf, settling tranquil in her heart. The pale moon shone with silver hue, emitting the space around itself. As always Violette sought something else there, maybe a sign or moment of epiphany; the sight of stars while traveling all these nights was soothing her with a feeling of protection, even if it was a very weak glimpse of it.
“You like looking at the sky,” Dante suddenly released into the air.
Her head spun to him, his gaze directed at the stars. She didn't understand if it was a question or just a statement.
Steam released out of her mouth, her lips bent in a faint smile.
“My mother told me once, that dead souls go to the sky and shine among the stars, so I just…I just hope she’s there too,” she paused, her brows slanted, “watching me. I know it sounds stupid but it's nice to think so.”
Dante's voice brought down the silence almost immediately, “It's not stupid.”
Violette shifted her eyes, watching him intently.
His head tipped towards the sky. “There are so many stars in the sky that you can't even count them. If you think about it – how many lives have passed since the beginning of time?”
She blinked, entranced with his face as if she would have watched a painted portrait. His silhouette majestic against the moonlit sky, too immovable, absolutely monumental. His eyes – inscrutable as if he was hoping to see something there as well but he knew he couldn't – it wasn't there.
“Isn't it sad, you can watch a million stars above your head forever, except one, the brightest?” Violette voiced, shifting her gaze back to the glittering sky.
Dante turned his sight to her. He stared at her for some time, then again at the stars.
“I prefer the moon over the sun,” he breathed into the air. “It’s different but more…familiar. We can see her shape, her shadows, different phases of her life, how it changes. Howshechanges. How her parts disappear just to come together again. How she rewrites herself every month – her rebirth.
“She lightens the way for travelers at night, which is way more than the sun does. The moon leads you through darkness.” His eyes sparkled with that precise sapphire hue that was always so quick to escape. “She doesn't hide behind blinding light, letting us watch all her imperfections. And to allothers, she's never trying to outshine the stars' beauty.”
Violette found herself watching Dante with parted lips, completely mesmerized. A sudden tug inside her heart, quick and silent but the one that leaves traces. What he said made her feel some strange way of rue and dejection, but it was beautiful, all of his words made a perfect sense.
His eyes met hers.
“You stare again.” He smiled derisively.
