Chapter 5 -- Witchblade Karma

[ Show ]

Support VoyForums

[ Shrink ]

VoyForums Announcement: Programming and providing support for this service has been a labor of love since 1997. We are one of the few services online who values our users' privacy, and have never sold your information. We have even fought hard to defend your privacy in legal cases; however, we've done it with almost no financial support -- paying out of pocket to continue providing the service. Due to the issues imposed on us by advertisers, we also stopped hosting most ads on the forums many years ago. We hope you appreciate our efforts.

Show your support by donating any amount. (Note: We are still technically a for-profit company, so your contribution is not tax-deductible.) PayPal Acct: Feedback:

Donate to VoyForums (PayPal):

�My God, Ian, you�re shaking like a leaf!� Sara struggled with her own composure as she heard Ian sob in earnest. Thoroughly unnerved, Sara held him close as he wept away the years of loneliness. Irons� I could kill that bastard if I hadn�t already, Sara growled silently. Ian sat up, abashed and shaken, and tried to leave her; she would not permit him to retreat. Finally he gathered his composure somewhat. He stumbled over to Irons� chair and sat heavily.

Sara found Ian�s robe thrown over a stool. She draped it around him as much to ease his mortification as to cover his body. Ian offered her grateful glance as he slipped into it and tied the sash. He kept his head averted as Sara dressed.

�Sara. I should apologize.� His face, lit by the firelight, looked stark and sad. �I was weak.� His eyes flickered to her face, then quickly down again. �From my childhood I have been taught that my purpose in life � my sole purpose � was to protect the Wielder of the Witchblade. I was kept from all emotional entanglements to that purpose. My father�� His fine lips twisted bitterly at the words, �told me from when I was a child � virginity is invulnerability. And now�� He raised his eyes to meet her steady gaze. They sparkled with unshed tears. �Now I am vulnerable� to you. I was to have been your protector � Not to�� With a gesture he indicated the rug where they had made love. �Not to take you like an animal would, on the hard stone floor. I feel as if I have failed you.� He tilted his face down once more. His sigh was pure self-recrimination.

�Ian. Nothing has to change. You didn�t take anything from me. Be my protector, if that�s what you want. But let it be what you want, not what Irons expects of you.� Sara caught her breath against the sudden feeling of desolation. �If the Witchblade hadn�t sent me here today, none of this would have happened in the first damn place.� She indicated the now-dormant bracelet with an angry motion of her arm. �If anyone�s at fault, it�s this damn thing. Not me, and not you.� Her husky voice trembled. Damn it, she mumbled silently when he glanced up at her. Of course he would have heard the hurt in her voice.

�It has changed, Sara. You have changed me.� His gentle tone was almost her undoing; tears sprang to her eyes despite her resolve. He rose to stand behind her and surrounded her in his embrace. �I love you, Sara� but I was created to protect you. That is my intended purpose,� he whispered against her hair. �I cannot change that any more than I can change who I am. As much as I wish it.� She leaned into his embrace for a moment before turning to face him. Stubborn pride lifted her chin. I won�t� can�t� say �I love you� back� not now, not yet.

�Hey. It�s okay.� Her lips twisted into a wry, sad little grin. Tears sparkled in her eyes, but she would not permit them to fall. �I gotta go now.� With a sigh and one last hard squeeze of his arms, Sara moved away from him. She almost turned back at the door, but forced herself to keep going. She knew that if she looked once more into those sad eyes, full of the wisdom and sorrow of the ages, she would never be able to leave him.

Standing in the shower, at home, Sara closed her eyes and mused over the happenings of that day. Who would�ve thought it, she sighed. And where do we go from here?

She did not notice the shadow at her window. She did not know that her protector had once more taken up his accustomed place on her fire escape. His eyes followed her every movement, love and sorrow reflected by the street lamp.