Chapter 20
Chapter twenty
Sammy gasped as the heavy doors crumbled, and everything came rushing in at once.
Light spilled into the room from the corridor beyond. A gust of wind swirled dust high above him, carrying the scent of blood and smoke as the distant roar of battle flooded the chamber.
Then his breath caught, and his pulse leapt into a gallop when a wolf the size of a small house prowled across the threshold.
Head lowered, lips peeled back from glistening canines, the beast released a snarl that reverberated off the vaulted ceilings and rolled through the room like thunder. Eyes like burning embers swept the space before locking onto Sammy with fierce, unbearable intensity.
“Behind you,” Sammy blurted as the lone guard stepped into the light.
It proved unnecessary.
The man took one look at Dominic, went pale, and backed straight through the shattered doorway without so much as glancing at his employer.
Dominic let him flee, his full attention on Henri.
But it was too late.
The vampire moved with frightening speed, slipping behind Sammy in a blur. Bony fingers clamped around his throat while dagger-sharp claws bit into the skin beneath his jaw.
Sammy froze as cold pressed tight against his spine.
“Careful now.” Henri’s voice brushed against his ear.
A savage growl rolled from Dominic’s chest as magic rippled over the wolf’s massive body like heat over asphalt. Fur receded in dark waves. Bones compressed with sharp cracks. Shoulders narrowed, and his spine shortened as the towering beast folded inward on himself.
In the span of a breath, Dominic stepped forward from the unraveling shape of the wolf—naked, blood-spattered, and furious. He looked far more dangerous as a man.
Henri’s grip tightened, and Sammy winced as his claws pricked deeper.
“Don’t kill him,” Sammy shoved frantically through their bond, already guessing his mate’s intentions.
They needed names, both of victims and of every monster tied to the vampire. For that, at least for now, they needed Henri alive.
Dominic’s gaze flicked to him, understanding beneath the anger. Sammy could practically see his control sharpen to a razor’s edge.
Then he smiled.
He lifted his hand slowly, methodically, as if intentionally drawing attention to it. Two fingers extended, wrist turning in a small, almost absent motion—like screwing a bulb into a socket.
The crack rang through the chamber like a gunshot as Henri’s head jerked sharply to the side. His grip went slack, then vanished, sending Sammy staggering forward as the vampire’s body folded to the floor behind him.
Dominic flashed across the room, catching him around the waist and dragging him off his feet. Arms like steel bands surrounded him in comfort and protection, and despite the crushing embrace, Sammy breathed deeply for the first time since arriving at the mansion.
“Are you okay?” The wolf sounded none too steady himself.
Instincts and conditioning pushed him to agree, but he answered with something reassuring yet truthful instead. “I’m not hurt.”
Lowering him back to the floor, Dominic adjusted his grip—one hand on Sammy’s hip, the other cradling his cheek—and slanted their mouths together. The kiss was neither gentle nor careful. He didn’t coax or tease.
He branded him, possessed him, claiming his mouth with heat and urgency.
“I love you,” Dominic growled a moment later. “But if you ever—”
“Me?” Sammy gasped, lips stinging and lungs burning as he panted for breath.
His mate palmed the back of his neck and pulled him close again, a sigh brushing across Sammy’s ear. “Let’s get out of here.”
He pulled back with a frown. “You are very naked.”
Unconcerned, Dominic shrugged. “If I recall, you didn’t exactly mind when—”
“Dom!” Face burning, Sammy reached out and smacked his hand against the wolf’s bare chest. “Don’t flirt with me right now.”
His mate smirked, but a moment later, a pair of black leathers and a cotton tee covered his body. “Better?”
Sammy nodded, his ears still stinging with heat. “What about Henri?”
“The bloodsucker?” Dominic spared him a glance. “He’ll be out for at least an hour. Someone will be along to retrieve him.”
“And the others from the auction?” His chest tightened as his thoughts strayed to Aerin. “There was a nixie, and—”
“Thierry and Chapel already got them out.”
Sammy took a deep breath and released it slowly. Then he laced his fingers through Dominic’s and allowed the wolf to lead him toward the remains of the door. Halfway across the room, however, he jerked to a stop again and spun around, his gaze going to the table by the fireplace.
“Wait. The relique.”
His mate pressed a kiss to his forehead, encouraging him without words to stay there while he retrieved the locket. He didn’t waste time with anything as mundane as walking. Instead, he jumped to the other side of the room, reappearing beside the table.
Grabbing the necklace, he clutched it in his fist and turned, his gaze going to the floor, to Valerie’s lifeless form.
“Your mother?” he asked, tone flat and his eyebrow raised.
Sammy followed his eyes. “Yes.”
“I’m sorry, colibrí.”
Unsure how to respond, he stayed quiet and nodded. Mostly, he didn’t feel anything about her death, and that apathy made him feel guilty, which in turn frustrated him.
So, yeah, he had a lot to work out when it came to that whole situation.
“Can you break it?” he asked instead. “The binding spell?”
Dominic held the locket up by its leather strap, examining the casing in the glint of the firelight. He shook his head.
Sammy’s heart sank.
“But you can.”
“Me?” He took a step back, physically distancing himself from the relique. “What are you saying? No. That’s not—I can’t—”
His mouth turned arid, and he licked his lips, trying and failing to force more words, to make Dominic understand.
“The caster is dead.” Dominic looked at Valerie again. Then his eyes shifted to Henri. “For all intents and purposes, so is the contract holder, at least temporarily.” Finally, he brought his attention back to Sammy. “That leaves you.”
Sammy shook his head, his mouth working furiously as it chewed on discarded arguments.
“You are the only one connected to the original spell still upright and breathing. Blood magic is powerful, but it needs an anchor.” He took Sammy by the wrist, turning his hand over and placing the locket in his palm. “Right now, that’s you.”
His hand twitched as he recoiled, but Dominic held him steady.
He expected the locket to feel heavier. Warmer. Maybe the sensation of static against his skin. Something to indicate it held the kind of power that had controlled his life for more than a decade.
But it was just a necklace, cheap costume jewelry that had been scratched and dented over the years.
“You can destroy it,” Dominic murmured. “This can all be over.”
He wanted that. Of course he did, but he shook his head again.
“I don’t know how.” Dragging his gaze away from the locket, he looked up at his mate. “I’m not a witch like my mom. I don’t have any magic.”
“But I do.” Dominic grinned roguishly, a hint of mischief in his eyes. “I’ll help you.” He stepped closer, guiding Sammy’s hand up between them, the locket still resting in his palm. “Just let it happen,” he said quietly. “Don’t think too hard about it.”
Sammy swallowed and closed his hand with reluctance, his fingertips brushing the satin ribbon braided around the edges of the casing. The metal pressed cool and unremarkable against his skin.
Nothing about it felt powerful. Nothing about it felt dangerous.
Dominic covered his hand with his own, his touch warm, grounding. Magic stirred, not wild or explosive, but a faint hum that seemed to settle into his bones.
“Focus on what you want,” Dominic murmured. “Not the how.”
Freedom.
The word rose unbidden, sharp and aching. Freedom from the contracts, the summons, and the invisible leash that had followed him across cities and years.
His grip tightened.
For a long time, nothing happened. At least, nothing he could detect.
Then Dominic tensed.
His fingers flexed against Sammy’s wrist—tight, almost reactive—before he caught himself. But the pressure had lingered a fraction too long, and something unreadable flickered behind his eyes.
Sammy frowned, panic bubbling beneath the surface. “What? What’s wrong?”
Dominic blinked, the tension smoothing away as quickly as it had come. His thumb brushed lightly over Sammy’s knuckles as he gave him a reassuring smile.
“Nothing,” he said, voice easy. “Just stay with me.”
Sammy hesitated, but what choice did he have? As long as the relique existed, he would never truly be free.
Besides, he trusted his mate. Dominic had basically fought a war to get to him, and he wouldn’t let anything hurt him now.
“Okay,” he breathed. “Keep going.”
Dominic’s hand settled more firmly over his, steadying him. “That’s right. Everything is okay. Just focus.”
He did as instructed, clearing his mind of everything except the totem and the magic that cursed him. He concentrated on what he wanted, on a life unplagued by fear or restraint.
The locket grew warm, and a faint pulse beat against his skin, slow at first, then quicker, like something waking up after a long sleep.
His breath hitched. “Dominic—”
“I’ve got you.”
The words wrapped around him as the pulse surged.
Heat flooded his hand, racing up his arm in stinging, electric currents. Then a thin, high buzzing threaded through the air as the casing warped and bulged.
Sammy gasped, instinctively trying to pull away, but Dominic held fast.
“Don’t let go.”
The pulse spiked.
Light cracked through the seams of the locket, thin at first, then blinding as something inside it fractured under the strain. The drop of blood sealed within seemed to shudder, dark red shifting to something brighter, almost incandescent.
Pressure built—tight, suffocating, unbearable—and tiny etched symbols flickered across the surface of the pendant.