Dead Men Smiling

4.0 I AM THE DANGER

Everyone always tries their hardest to be a hero but no one ever mentions how one wrong step can make you the villain.

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"Did you take the pill?" Dolan asked Leilani as they walked past a gloomy mansion which Dolan spared no glance. Leilani smiled with a nod. "Yep and I feel much better. Thanks again."

"Don't mention it," he replied as he gently touched the only blemish on his skin. The action was caught by Leilani whose smile turned into a grimace as she remembered how she's responsible for that scar.

"I'm sorry." She rubbed the back of her neck sheepishly. "I don't know what came over me but I'd never willingly attack you with the intention of hurting you, Dolly."

Dolan rolled his gold eyes and smirked at the female. "I think I look sexy."

Leilani burst into laughter at Dolan's words. He put on a mock offended look, asking if she disagreed with the statement. Leilani had shaken her head while trying to recollect herself before explaining how the scar made him look more mysterious than sexy but how it goes without saying that she thought Dolan was attractive.

She felt her smile fall. "How come it hasn't healed? You've never had a scar from what I remember."

Dolan tugged at the strand of his hair. "you used the dagger remember?" "Yeah but, you never scar."

"Well, Leilani, here's another hint to what species of Unwanted I am. My species doesn't scar unless from magical objects and the dagger, despite me not having used the runes on it yet, still has magical properties. And I used silver to make that."

Dolan then sent her an odd look. "May I ask why, despite you not being Unwanted, still fight for equal treatment?"

Leilani blew a raspberry as she processed the question while they kept walking. "Why do you ask?"

"You represent everything that took away the chances of none humans having a home and yet you-"

She cut him off. "I support animal rights and I'm against animal cruelty. Does that make me a horse?" "Well, no..."

"I believe in reforestation but am I an acacia?" "No you aren't but hear me out-"

"I believe that you should listen, Dolly. You may not be human but you still have a valid reason for your existence; all none humans do. That's why I fight for them. I don't have to be one of them, I just have to be humane."

Dolan untied his hair and let his fringe cover his left eye. He smiled at her words. You really do just need a heart to be able to see how alike we are.

He smiled. "We need more people like you if the world is going to develop."

Leilani blushed at the compliment before opting to change topics. "Uh... don't you think Maximus' pills will finish soon?" "By the end of this week," Dolan said, confirming the other's fear.

"What even is in those pills and why won't Max tell us what they do?"

"Ask me no questions and I'll tell you no lies, Lani."

"Point to you."

The pair fell silent as they walked into a town, both deep I their ow thoughts. Dolan placed a crystal I his mouth and chewed it, filling the silence with the sound of I cracking. Leilani on the other hand was thinking about how little she knew of her friend and frowned at the discovery.

Well, that won't do at all.

"What 's your favourite colour, Dolly?" "Orange."

"How come?" "I don't know. I just like it."

Leilani pondered the answer before answering. "I like red because it reminds me of the blood of my enemies staining my clothes."

Dolan swallowed the crystal as he thought of the best way to ask her how she knew how blood looks stained on clothes when they have seldom resorted to killing.

Leilani smiled mysteriously as the image of the woman's disfigured and bloodied head flashed in her mind. She then shrugged still grinning. "I'm a female human being with a healthy reproductive system. Take a hint."

Dolan wrinkled his nose and barely suppressed a shudder. "No thanks."

He then smiled as he walked towards some run down store and walked in. Leilani, however, hesitated before she pushed open the door that creaked heavily and walked in only to find Dolan buying a little too many crystals and shoving them in his hoodie pockets.

"Who's he?" Leilani asked while she took in the items in the store, a bored air around her as she vaguely gestured to the man at the counter.

The man grinned, revealing crooked, yellow teeth. "Name's Pete and what's your name pretty lady?" "She's one of my partners." Dolan slid a list of items to Pete who looked at them with a slight furrow in his brow.

"Let me guess, she's King?"

At Dolan's silence, he shrugged his shoulders and busied himself with retrieving what was on the list.

"This place looks illegal." Leilani noted as she scanned some items on the shelves. Her dark eyes glimmered as she reached for a jar labelled fairy dust which she opened and promptly sneezed. "What does fairy dust do?"

Dolan hardly spared her a glance. "Fairy dust does not make you fly. Instead, it was made to put enemies of the Fairies in excruciating pain."

Leilani made a noise at the back of her throat as she closed the jar and put it back on the shelf just as Pete walked back to the counter with a black bag that Dolan shouldered with ease after paying the former.

The dark haired female whistled in appreciation. "Damn. Where did you get all that money from?" Not really waiting for an answer, she walked towards the sword that had gotten her attention a while back. "What sword is this?"

Pete smirked while quirking an eyebrow. "That's the cursed blade: Iron Heart. She's known to be forged from the blood of 400 men and was forged by the Demon, Uzi who gifted it to his human lover who gave it to her husband who used it to win a war.

"Iron Heart always has to be given or won off someone for her to effectively work."

Dolan who was deeply invested in the story made notes. "Who was her last holder?"

Pete shuddered, losing his cool for some time as if reliving a dark moment he'd rather forget. He quickly recovered before his audience could react. "He was tall and wore a hoodie that shadowed his features when he spoke his words came out smoothly and the aura around him was... dangerous. I hope to never see that man again."

He just gave it to you?" Leilani frowned as she stared at her reflection in the blade.

"I was told that her rightful owner would soon come and claim her but they seem to be taking their time."

Her hand inched closer. "Does it have any magical properties?"

Pete's expression changed to one of contemplation. "Her cuts never stop bleeding unless the ice quartz is used."

"What?"

Leilani had moved her hand a little too fast and sliced her palm open, wincing when she did do. Pete face palmed. "I just said her cuts don't stop bleeding unless the ice quartz is used is used and do you know how rare that bloody crystal is? What the actual heck were you thinking?"

Dolan forced three purple crystals in his mouth as he rushed to Leilani's too assess the wound. He quickly pulled out his wand and waved it over her palm, smiling slightly when it sealed before it reopened.

"Did you say ice quartz could heal this?" Dolan asked Pete who huffed. "I also said that it's pretty rare but I bet you aren't listening. But you should know that I'm fresh outta stock and you bought the last one."

Dolan searched his pocket for the specific crystal and frowned as he held it up to the light as all the knowledge he knew about the specific item flashed through his mind. "It heals anything blood related and is the known cure to Lamia."

He chewed the inside of his cheek. "Can only be used once and only in its solid crystal form."

With that thought, he rubbed the crystal over Leilani's palm and watched as the cut sealed with a sinking feeling in his heart. Leilani flexed her hand and nodded in appreciation. "That was awesome. How much for Iron Heart, Pete?"

This one has a serious listening problem. Pete decided as he shook his head. "She's not for sale-" "How about for 20 million?" She bargained.

"Do you happen to have a hearing problem, King?" Pete asked, genuinely concerned about the female that one of his top clients happened to have around. He glanced at Dolan who still had the now useless crystal in his hand and made a mental note to ask for a restock. When the white haired male looked up, he faced Leilani. "I happen to have something to help with your terrible hearing."

Leilani opened her mouth to argue back at the exact moment that Dolan had had enough. He grabbed his friend by her arm and dragged her out of the store while shouting an apology to Pete who stared at him with a mixture of relief and pity.

He heard the door creak and light footsteps sounded causing Pete to blanche. "I thought I didn't have to see you until later in my life story."

"Au contraire, my friend. I told you I'd be back when you meet the owner of the sword."

The soft voice nearly made Pete throw up but looking at the man's soft smile, he knew that the sword was now the property of the very lady who had cut herself with it but surprisingly hadn't stained the blade like everyone who had touched it before her. "I'll send it to her with the crystals I intend to send a friend."

Thirty minutes into their meal, Leilani saw a pair of familiar riding boots, excused herself and followed the owner quietly until the person had stopped walking and smiled at her.

"Hello my Queen."

---

Dolan shook his head as he paid he bill and went out looking for Leilani who literally ran right into him. He had managed to catch her before she fell from the impact only for her to push him away. "Get away from me you monster!"

"Me? A monster?" Dolan scratched his head. "Please elaborate."

He took a step towards her only to receive a blow to the stomach, knocking the air out of him. The gold eyes narrowed. "You have thirty seconds too explain why you punched me, Lani."

"You and I know you deserve more than one punch you foul creature." "May I at least know why?"

"Twenty seconds, Your Majesty." He mocked. "And don't concern yourself with me being chivalrous. I have no problem with fighting a woman who I know can well defend herself. Especially if she attacked me first."

"You're a Vampire!"

Dolan immediately tensed at the accusation, wondering how she knew and how many other people knew his species. He smiled at her without showing his teeth, something he had always done and now Leilani wondered how she never guessed sooner. She glared at him and warned him to stay away from the others in fear that he might harm them.

"Oh, please. I've had better chances to kill all of you. Why would I try now?"

Then next thing Dolan registered was the sound of a gunshot and crumbled to the floor, the feeling of pain immediately beginning to subside. He crumpled to the ground for good measure and looked at her and spoke through gritted teeth. "What happened to no one deserving to feel unwanted, Leilani?"

She cocked her head. "Monsters like you don't deserve to feel unwanted."

She then began to walk away from the scene. When she was a good distance away, she spoke.

"You don't deserve to exist at all."