This one is a direct continuation of part 2! Thanks
again to Toni!

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Dancing With The Devil Part 3
by Christina

Grace felt unbelievably better after talking with her
teacher. Perhaps she was overreacting over Riddick’s
potential behavior. He had seemed different from the
moment he stepped onto her ship. She still didn’t
fully believe he could be trusted, but then he had
saved two people’s lives.

She walked into her spacious townhouse and fell on her
couch. The mental war was wearing her thin.

“I’ve been waiting for you,” the deep voice said from
behind her.

In one fluid movement, she was off the couch, gun
drawn, and staring into the goggles of her tormentor.
“How the fuck did you get in here?”

In response, the man tilted his head and gave her a
smile. “You know.”

She put her gun away but didn’t turn her back on him.
“What do you want?”

Riddick walked around the room. It was slow and
deliberate, but every move he made was deliberate.
And for a large man, he made surprisingly little
noise. “I’ve been doing some exploring. Did you know
there are some very amazing people around here?” Even
through his goggles, Grace could tell he was staring
at her. “I always make it a habit to know my
surroundings and I’ve discovered that this place is
simply fascinating.”

Grace just watched him, not quite sure she knew what
he was getting at, and not wanting him to know he was
causing her concern. “I had been told that this place
was unique.”

“It is. It’s amazing what you can learn if you ask
just the right questions.”

Grace sighed and dropped back onto her couch. “If you
have some earth shattering discovery, share it or
don’t. I’m not into playing games, Riddick.”

He laughed as he came around and sat beside her on the
couch. “You want me to be forthright?”

“Please.”

He sat back and regarded her closely. Beautiful and
deadly, yet fair and reasonable. Still, there were
some things he wanted to set straight. “Do you know
there are people here who can read minds, move objects
without touch, sense emotions, and even tell the
future—or possible futures anyway?”

‘Remain calm,’ she told herself. ‘And don’t lie.
He’ll sense that.’ Looking him directly in the eyes,
she said, “I hadn’t heard about the telekinetics or
clairvoyants, no.”

“How about the empaths and telepaths?”

“I had heard of them, but nothing specific.”

He leaned in closely to her. The heat of his breath
mingled with hers. “Are you sure?”

She swallowed, either nervous from his nearness or the
interrogation, she didn’t know. “Just generalities,
Riddick. Why are you so obsessed with this?”

He pulled back and smiled at her. “Just curious is
all. I don’t really think people want to be messing
around in my head. And before you start in, it’s not
because of what I’m planning to do, but because what
I’ve done still rattles around in there.”

Smiling, Grace replied, “That’s my problem. What
you’ve done rattles around in here too.” She pointed
to her own head for emphasis. “Right or wrong,
changed or not, it’s still there.”

He stood and started to walk toward the door. “Good.
You should never forget. I can’t promise 100%
compliance. And the minute you forget, you’ll lose
your edge.”

Chuckling softly, she said, “And sometimes your edge
is all you have.”

He looked back at her as his hand hit the doorknob.
“Sometimes it is.” And with that, he was gone.

Grace stared at the door for several moments. As she
tried to regain some of her equilibrium, a thought
crossed her mind. He knew something. Jumping off her
couch, she opened her door and found him walking back
toward his apartment. "Wait," she called. The damn
man was going to kill her or drive her insane. She
wasn't sure which she preferred.

Turning halfway, he cocked his head and said, "Yes."

"Whom specifically have you talked to? I know you
have so don't tell me you haven't. You wouldn't have
shown up in my home on a hunch. I want details."

"You do, do you?" he asked, moving very close to her
again.

Not backing down, Grace held her own as she replied,
"Yes I do. It's part of the deal. Who are you
stalking?"

"You assume too much. I went for a walk… that was
all." He turned to walk back to his apartment then.
When he reached the bridge to cross the river, he
looked back at her. "I didn't find out anything
specific. But I don't like the thought of someone
trying to control my mind. And knowing they are out
there causes me concern."

"Nothing will happen unless you provoke it."

He stared at her for a moment. He had been able to
tell by her earlier reaction that she knew more than
she was letting on. This response more than proved
it. She was going to try to control him through these
people with extra sensory perception. Damn her! And
here he'd been hoping she actually believed that he
was willing to try. He wondered why he even bothered.

She stood and watched, as he seemed to be thinking
things through. He was being very distant so
obviously he didn't like whatever conclusion he'd
drawn. "Riddick, I promise you that no one will try
to control your thoughts, no one will read your
thoughts, no one will make you do what you don't want
to do unless you leave us no choice." She'd just lost
the ace in the hole that Jasa had given her, but she
couldn't handle the thought of him seeking these
people out and making sure he wasn't intruded upon.

Riddick turned back toward home and walked across the
bridge. Verbal spars with Grace were quite nice,
especially when he got what he wanted. He knew,
though, that it wasn't actually his win as it was her
conscience that told her to do the right thing.
Sometimes, he wondered what it would be like to have
one.

Unthinking, Grace ran across the bridge and stopped
his progress by touching his arm. "Did you hear me?
I mean it. And since I'm of the opinion that you
aren't going to provoke us, I doubt that it will ever
be necessary."

"Don't count it out though."

"I won't." She sighed… best to go for it all. "I was
planning on talking to the police as well."

Riddick nodded. "Good choice. It's good that they
know who is living in their valley."

Grace watched as he started to walk away again.
'Perfect,' she thought. Somehow, she wasn't doing
anything right at the moment. "What the fuck do you
want from me? You want me just to forget who you are,
what you've done and I can't." She was standing right
behind him and this time when he turned, their faces
were extremely close.

"No," he breathed. "I don't want you to forget. In
fact, haven't I told you that you shouldn’t? Listen
to me, Grace, I told you before that I wasn't sure if
I could play by the rules, but you're stacking the
deck against me."

"By going to the police?"

"No, by going to your friends, asking them to have
telepaths read my mind, asking them to keep track of
me. What were you thinking?"

"How did you know?!" She stood there simply shocked
beyond belief.

"Stealth, my dear. I told you, I took a walk. So my
walk ended up following in your footsteps."

"But you heard…"

Riddick shook his head. "Silly girl. I'm not
superhuman. I didn't hear a thing."

"Quit fucking with me," she said, almost to the point
of tears. It had been a long day and she was tired.

"When I decide to fuck with you, you'll know it. I
followed you to your friend's house. Through my
ramblings around the city, I learned that she was
friends with a witch, a telepath, and an empath who is
also a clairvoyant. Now, I didn't learn this
information from what can be considered the most
upstanding of citizens, so I came to ask you. The
rest, I deduced from our conversation."

She sighed heavily. "I'm too tired to do this
anymore, Riddick. I'm going home. You can practice
your mind games on someone else for the rest of the
day. I'll see you tomorrow morning."

He nodded and continued on toward his apartment.
Truth was, he was tired himself. He wanted to trust
her, knew he could more than anyone else, but was
still reluctant to fully believe her. When he'd
guessed at the mind control, it had been a shot in the
dark. Damn, he hated it when he was right. But, he
also felt that all the cards were on the table now.

In a huff of indignation, Grace turned back toward her
home. It was dusk and the sky was turning a beautiful
red. She paused in her retreat and simply stared at
it. It was truly a beautiful sight.

"Very nice," she heard from behind her.

"Yes, it is," she replied, her eyes never leaving the
sunset even though she felt the immortal signature.
Jasa had said she couldn't be killed permanently. She
hadn't even considered that she was on the wrong side
of the river. When that thought struck her, she spun
on her heel and faced the man who had spoken. He was
taller than she, with long hair and a crazy look in
his eyes. His head was shaved on both sides, and
curling tattoos were clearly visible there.

"I wasn't referring to the sunset," he said smoothly.
The leer on his face told her exactly what he had been
referring to.

Deciding it was best to beat a hasty retreat,
especially since all she carried was her cattle prod,
she started to head for the bridge. "Thank you," she
said. "And I'd love to stay and talk but I have an
appointment."

"At seven o'clock at night. How interesting! Well, I
won't keep you by all means."

"Thank you. It was nice meeting you." She didn't
like the way he was sizing her up and didn't like the
fact that he was carrying a sword and she wasn't.
What had she been thinking following Riddick over here
without a sword? Hadn't she promised Jasa that she
would always come over here heavily armed?

"Nice meeting you, Miss… I don't believe I got your
name."

"Hammond. Grace Hammond."

"Ah! Grace. I am Caspian. Have you heard of me?"
He had moved very close to her, sizing her up like she
was a piece of meat. Clearly, he had little regard
for her as a person.

"Caspian…" Where had she heard that name before?
“Well, Caspian, I really should be leaving.” She
started to walk away and that’s when she felt the arm
come around her waist and herself pulled up against a
hard body. Inhaling deeply, she said, “I suggest that
you take your hands off of me this minute.”

Breathing in her ear, he said, “A beautiful woman on
this side of the river is a rare thing. You must have
come over for a reason, so don’t tell me you don’t
want this.” The last was punctuated by his hips
rolling into hers.

“No fucking way,” she said as she instinctively
stepped back onto his foot. When he released her, she
rolled onto the ground and caught his groin with her
foot. She arched up and with one powerful kick, she
took out his jaw.

Caspian roared. No way was a woman going to get the
drop on him. Ignoring the pain, he drew his sword and
leered when he realized she did not have one. “How
about if I cut you and then fuck you? That should be
fun.”

Grace was set in the ready position, trying to defend
herself any way she could. It was then that a strong
hand grabbed Caspian’s wrist and squeezed. Grace
looked into Riddick’s eyes as she heard the bones
crunch in the immortal’s wrist.

Riddick let go of the wrist and landed a solid punch
directly on the man’s nose. “There’s still something
to be said for a sneak attack,” he said as the man hit
the ground. Without a word to Grace, he looked at
Caspian and said, “This one is mine to use as I wish.
When and if I get done with her, you can have her.”

Caspian smiled. He’d walk away for now, but only for
now. He’d have this woman yet, if only to make a
point. There was always a way, and time was
definitely something he had plenty off. To Grace, he
said, “I’ll see you later.”

“And I’ll be armed, you can count on it.” At that
moment, the strong hand grabbed her arm and literally
pulled her back over the river.

“That was stupid,” he said, “you could have gotten
your fool self killed.”

“Well, Riddick, I didn’t think you cared.”

“I don’t.”

“Then why did you come back?”

He thought about his answer carefully. Why had he
come back? He’d seen the man move up behind her and
knew what he wanted and would do. He’d moved from the
window and sat on his chair with a beer. She wasn’t
his problem. And that’s when he thought again. She’d
done so much for him by bringing him here, could he
really leave her to the fate he knew she’d have at
that man’s hands. No, he couldn’t. Damn! “I came
back because I owed you. You saved me, I saved you.
It’s as simple as that.”

Grace nodded. He was continuing to walk her back to
her house. “Thank you,” she said softly.

Once she was deposited in her home, Riddick left her
to her own devices and headed back across the river.
He spent the majority of that night thinking about
that moment when he decided to help her. Suddenly he
realized they weren’t even, protecting her was
something he was going to do for some time to come
because he was right when he told Caspian that she was
his, every bit as much as he was hers. They were
bound by that deal; each had the other’s lives in
their hands. It riled him as much as it excited him.
Tomorrow was another day; he’d have to see what came
of it.