Chapter 17
CHAPTER 17
A fter pacing the floor for a while, I tried to distract myself with books. Desperate, again, I attempted spells from any books written in English that I could find. Feeling defenseless was the worst thing ever, and each time I remembered how close the dhole was to me and my belief that he wasn’t there to help, fear rampaged through me. There was no way I would have survived. I’d be like everyone who came in contact with him. His presence was a death sentence.
The minutes crawled by. Nothing could distract me. Peter had used me to release the shades and now they were acting as his army to retrieve me. Peter wanted to pull from the well of magic again.
He had a tremendous amount of power, so what did he need me for? To imprison the royals again. What if he could do that without me being in the underworld with them? What would be their chances of release?
Peter now had an army of shades and Awakeners. We had a fractured alliance between the Conventicle and those who wanted to take their position. Could people who wanted your position of power be trusted? After my head started to ache, I switched my thoughts to Nailah. She was somewhere in the house, and I had no idea how she was doing. Flashes of her crumpled body and Areleus’s panic-stricken face ran through my mind. He wasn’t all cruelty. He cared for her. But the cynic in me had me wondering if his show of compassion was because of her magical skills.
“Luna?” Nailah’s strained voice called from the other side of the door. Jetting to the door, I yanked it open and stopped abruptly.
She eyed the illumination of the ward and gave a tight smile to my apologetic look. I trusted her. I was just about to break it when she stopped me.
“Don’t. It was put there for a purpose.”
Was she warning me against her?
“You wouldn’t hurt me,” I said with unwavering confidence. Not sure where it came from but regarding Nailah, I had it. Whether magically influenced or not, it was steadfast.
“No. I see you. I know you are an unwilling participant. Unfortunately, you may end up as collateral damage.” She winced from pain with the slightest movement. I edged closer to the barrier, wanting to comfort her.
“I’m fine. Broken rib probably. It could have been so much worse.”
“This is a war, isn’t it?”
She nodded. “One that has been brewing for years. Inevitable, I guess,” she whispered. She lowered herself to the floor in front of the door, her face fatigued and worried.
I couldn’t let her stay on the floor in pain, when she could rest on the sofa or bed. “Come in, Nailah,” Again I moved to cross the threshold.
“No!” she blurted. Then she dropped her voice. “We’re not alone here.”
The royals were gone but the guards were there. Reading Nailah’s expression, I gathered they weren’t there to protect me. It made sense why Dominic had rushed me away.
I eased to the floor, too. “I’m tired of my life being in danger.” The constant state of panic and fear made being optimistic about this ever ending difficult.
“I know what you are.” She said it so softly, I would have missed it if I wasn’t so close to her. “Areleus has an idea. Seeing how desperate Peter was to get to you, I suspect the others have come to a similar conclusion.”
“I’m not safe, am I?”
Another wince and she held her ribs. Everything in me wanted to comfort her, but there wasn’t anything I could do for a rib fracture. Even a visit to the emergency room would be treated with pain meds and rest.
“No. You’re not. I wish I had a different answer. I’ve seen your death too many times and in so many different scenarios,” she admitted with a frown. “But at least you’re safe for now.”
It was a hollow victory because nothing was guaranteed.
“Who’s going to win?” I asked.
Her frown deepened. “As of me leaving, Peter will be the victor. I saw humans around them, which mean the supernaturals are no longer living in the shadows.”
If Nailah’s solemn expression was anything to go by, there wasn’t anything I could do. But I refused to do nothing and simply let things happen to me. I just had to figure out what to do. Sitting in contemplative silence, I avoided looking at Nailah whose eyes would flash the violet color every so often—looking at the future I held based on what had happened. Most of the time her expression was blank, but a look of desolation would peek through, letting me know my fate hadn’t changed.
“You should be resting.” Areleus’s voice boomed in the hallway before he came into view. He glared at the barrier but said nothing about it as he helped Nailah stand. He kept hold of her hand while the other one rested on her back. The scent of lilac permeated the barrier and the tension in Nailah’s shoulders relaxed.
“Better,” he said, pulling her closer to him. She nodded as they headed away. Everything about her seemed better, her gait becoming light and an easy spring in her step.
I could hear part of their conversation as they moved down the hallway, but neither Dominic’s nor Helena’s name was mentioned. I wanted to believe he would have shown more emotion if they were injured or worse. But who knew? Areleus had proven to be a swarm of contradictions.
The slightest sound at Dominic’s bedroom door had me rushing to it. I snatched it open to find Dominic looking pensive. I tried to interpret what it meant. His sister loomed behind him. Both were waiting for me to break the ward but for two entirely different reasons. Stifling the fear her presence caused, I stepped over the barrier and moved aside to let Dominic in.
“Anand?” I asked.
“He’s in his room.” Dominic’s hand moved from its position on his front as he looked over his shoulder at his sister. Helena’s keen amber eyes danced with deadly intrigue, her expression set with ominous determination.
“Peter has aligned with the Awakeners. The shades are his new army, and we are at the mercy of two warring sects who will betray to gain more power and benefits.” Helena bristled.
“I am aware.”
“Are you? Because even with the Conventicle’s strongest, we were only able to destroy five shades. The Conventicle doesn’t have the ability to manage the chaos that will ensue. It is only a matter of time before keeping the existence of supernaturals will be impossible, and then we won’t just be dealing with a civil war but also with humans who will attempt to wrangle some control. The supernaturals will be more than willing to show them that they can’t.”
She was just voicing everything I was sure Dominic had considered.
“The new Conventicle can’t be trusted, and the Awakeners are all tenacity and disorganized ambition. But there are many of them. That needs to be handled if we are to have any chance of getting this under control,” Helena cited, deep-seated anger in her words.
“I know,” Dominic breathed out, sliding past me and dropping onto the sofa. He ran his hand through his hair, making it as messy as the situation. I took several cautious steps from Helena when she eased in.
“Temporary imprisonment would be best, and once this is handled we need to require a binding agreement that their freedom is contingent upon adhering to the Conventicle’s laws.”
Helena’s brows drew together as disgust twisted her features. “What? No. They are aware they are in violation. There must be swift and deadly reprisal. Nothing else is acceptable. It will serve a dual purpose. It will weaken Peter and make a statement to the New Conventicle that we are not to be challenged. They can’t enforce rule the way we can. Let me take care of it.”
Take care of it.
“You can’t kill them!” I blurted. “What is wrong with you all? Why is violence and death always the first and only answer?”
In a breath of movement, Helena’s claws were at my chin and Dominic was on his feet, his own claws extended and glaring at his sister.
Placing her face inches from mine, she sneered. “Because it works and always has. My brother cares about your human sensibilities. I don’t.” She stepped away from me and glared at Dominic. “Continue showing this one the docile version of you, if you wish. But she will not domesticate this wolf into a poodle.”
The insult landed, although I didn’t understand why. Nothing he’d shown me was poodle-like or docile. Were they just saying words? Did an underworld dictionary exist that was completely different from the one I knew?
“Helena, I don’t disagree with you on this. But if you kill them it won’t have the effect you believe. The New Conventicle will rise up because they don’t view us as part of them. It will only support their argument that we are savage?—”
“As we should be. We aren’t human nor should we subscribe to their ways.” She shot me a chilly glance. “Don’t let your human toy be the anchor to your downfall.”
“Luna has nothing to do with my decision.”
“She has everything to do with it, and that’s the problem, Dominic.”
More than she knew.
“Our success today was because we had both the Conventicle and the new,” he pointed out.
“We only need them because you have restrained yourself. I don’t like this version of you, Dominicus. Your human has caused more damage than just taming you. Whatever she is, I hope it will be worth the harm she has caused.” For the first time since I’d met her, she displayed genuine concern for him. Her approach toward him was gentle and assessing. “You’ve helped me so often. Let me handle this for you. She’s in your system and it’s blinding you to the problems she’s causing. This can’t go on for much longer. Let me take the burden.”
“You will not hurt Luna,” he whispered with conviction. Helena looked at me once again before giving a nod of concession. I didn’t trust it.
She turned to leave, looking over her shoulder as she tossed out, “Perhaps Emory will offer his assistance since mine was declined. If it weren’t for the Awakeners showing up, are you confident he was there to protect your Luna? I’m not so sure.”
It was exactly what I thought. The dhole kept me from being abducted by the Awakeners, but it didn’t mean his intentions were to keep me alive.
With her departure, I tugged out a strand of my hair and held it out for him. Without a response, he took it from me and made the magical barrier. I wasn’t safe in the house with his family, and he knew it as well. I paced for several moments, Dominic watching me from the sofa.
“There are at least forty more shades out there.”
He nodded. “The number of Awakeners at Peter’s disposal is the wildcard.”
“They’re emboldened by him. With the type of magic he possesses, I understand why,” I said. Under the weight of Dominic’s scrutiny, I tried to say what kept going through my mind since his sister’s departure. “The chaos and the lives lost is because of me.”
“Because of Peter using you,” he corrected.
“Semantics. I gave him the opportunity to do it. I’m at his whim and I hate this so much. We need a way to stop me from being used by him.”
“I don’t know if there is one,” he admitted softly.
I had no idea where to begin. The political landscape was a mess. It wasn’t just Peter at the root of it, but the dissention, too, and everything in me wanted to find a harmonious solution when there wasn’t one. People would die, be betrayed, lose their freedom, and be worse off than before. I didn’t cause the fire, but I was fodder for it.
Distracted by my own thoughts, I wasn’t aware of Dominic directly in front of me until his fingers were rubbing the creases out of my forehead before kissing me, nothing chaste about it. Heat ran through me, my nipples responding to him stroking against them. I felt grateful for the bra that hid my response to him, but from his mischievous grin, he was aware of it. He’d ruined me. Sex and magic were forever intwined.
He took me in, I’m sure seeing the dejection I felt. I didn’t have the ability to hide it.
“You are a wonderful insight into the many parts of humanity that I don’t see often. I adore it for its optimism, beauty, empathy, and heart, but you are its weakness.” The prince had just landed what Emoni and I called a compli-sult. An insult wrapped in a compliment. I was the weakest part of humankind. What the fuck? How the hell was I supposed to take this compli-sult?
Ignoring it, I opened my mouth to redirect the conversation to what I wanted to suggest. Before I could, he held up a hand to stop me.
“You want me to do the spell my grandfather performed to recapture the shades and spare the lives of those who will hunt them. Am I wrong?
“When Callum attacked you against my wishes, he should have been handled without mercy. You stopped that. Your empathy will be seen as weakness and your kindness exploited.” Again, he held his hand up to stop a rebuttal. “Nothing you say will make that any less true. I will not sacrifice my magic for that. No matter how many may die. You will see my refusal as cruel, but it is necessary. I will not put myself in a position to be weaker than my father. I need all the power I have because the next attempt on my father will end with his death.”
“You couldn’t do it before,” I pointed out. The complexity and viciousness of their world would never sit well with me, but I felt better knowing he couldn’t kill his father.
“You dying when the magic was removed from you is the only reason he is alive. I wasn’t aware of the shades’ release, but I knew I would need my father to handle Peter and the incipient war. After Peter and the shades are handled, things will need to be stabilized, and the three of us are the ones to do it.”
No matter how many times I reminded myself this wasn’t my fight, the rules of this game of life were predetermined, and my only goal was to exit it intact, it was hard to blindly accept the ways of their world.
“I can’t read you,” Dominic whispered, concerned.
The rampant thoughts in my head were concerning, too. “Your sister’s right,” I blurted.
“Are you petitioning for your death?” Dark intrigue clung to his words.
“No. I just don’t understand. You’re so pragmatic about everything but—” The words fell away.
“But when it comes to you.”
I nodded.
“Well, Little Luna,” he drawled against my ear, “since meeting you, I’ve accepted that some things are beyond our knowledge. I want you around so I can continue to satisfy that curiosity.” His breath was warm against my ear. The moment I started leaning into the heat of his body, I startled and took several steps back.
“Stop that. Stay on task,” I demanded.
His rumble of laughter did ease some of my tension, but the problems remained.
“Of course. You get some rest. I’ll be going out again with the others to hunt.”
“For the shades?”
He nodded. “And the Awakeners. They must be taken out of the situation.”
“Temporarily imprisoned, right?” I clarified.
I repeated my question when his only response was closing the distance between us, his finger gently gliding along my cheek. Instead of focusing on his touch, I was drawn to the splatter of blood on his clothing.
“That is the initial goal,” he offered, leaving no room for further questioning. He studied me for a long time and made a low rumble. “You will keep my humanity,” he said, so softly that it seemed like it was a reminder to himself.
He moved to the door and waited for me to break the barrier to let him out.
“I have dinner with my family at seven tomorrow,” I reminded him.
“You’ll need to cancel.”
“No. I can’t cancel or not show up.”
“If your family were sources of magic, Peter would have used them.”
“You’re probably right, but I’d like confirmation and I need to see them.” My voice broke. There was still a chance I might not make it out of this situation alive and the dinner could be my last time seeing them. It was a morose thought but a very real possibility. I wanted to see my family. I needed to see my family. Blinking caused the tears to spill.
In a heartbeat, Dominic was inches from me, his thumb sweeping gently across my cheek, wiping the tears away. His expression softened to concern. “Of course. I’ll be back in time and provide you with a way to determine whether they have magic. But you must come back here. Back to me. Okay?”
I nodded in agreement, squashing the plan I had to talk to Cameron. It would be best to talk to her once things were resolved, anyway.
If things were ever resolved.