Chapter 22
CHAPTER 22
I leana’s chamber didn’t display the regal, unique beauty of the other rooms. Textured pewter-color walls, thick heavy drapes covering a floor-to-ceiling window, and a somber peach glow from the lantern sconces gave the room a grim appearance. There was a bookshelf on one side of the room, filled with books, jars, and on a shelf by itself, a dagger with markings.
Ileana gave Dominic’s and my clasped hands a look of cool regard, her lips forming a tight moue before her gaze trailed over Dominic’s face, studying it with an intensity that would have made me uncomfortable but had no effect on him. Her low-cut white flowy maxi dress exposed toned arms and legs with each step she made toward us. Her hair pulled back in a braid gave us a full view of her features that seemed harsher under the unflattering lights.
Extending her hand to me, she gave me an expectant look, cuing me to take it. I did, and a small smile eased over her lips.
“Dominicus, she’s mine now.”
So, there’s not a less creepy way to say that?
He nodded but hesitated, definitely sensing my unease that I couldn’t seem to marshal. After several long, measured breaths, I assured him it was okay. Or as okay as it could be, given the circumstances.
Once he was gone, with a wave of her hand, the ajar door closed completely. My attention snapped to it. Bronze illumination locks formed along it, followed by a wall of lively vines. Moments later the lights dimmed until she was just shadows of movement circling me. Following each step, I focused on the glint of the knife in her hand. Risking a glance, I looked at the shelf where the knife had been. It was gone.
“He’s never been one to take the easy way out,” she mused in a low, sorrow-laden voice. “Nor have I fully understood him.”
With each revolution, she got closer and closer. Finally, she was directly in front of me, her eyes pensive and full of curiosity. “He chooses entropy over your destruction. I don’t truly understand. You are quite lovely, but are you worth it?”
Taking her question as rhetorical, I tried to breathe normally while preparing to ward off a knife attack that I wasn’t likely to survive.
“I could save him from himself and make this situation markedly better,” she continued.
“But you won’t,” I asserted with an assurance that surprised me.
“No, I won’t.” A trace of sadness was in her admission. “I may not understand the plays he makes, but they have always proven to have long-term benefits. He wants you alive. I don’t believe it will serve any other benefit than to make him happy. And that matters to me. Extend your arms.”
Ignoring the feeling of dread that washed over me, I thought of her words. Ending my life would hurt her son. Despite her odd sensibilities and apathy to chaos or the well-being of anyone who wasn’t a creation of hers, she loved her children. It was warped in its nature, but it was intrinsic in its execution.
My arms shook as I held them out. The room flooded with energy as I felt the caress of the magic around me, providing an analgesic effect that left me numb and my body lethargic. I struggled to keep my eyes open. There were some quick slashes of the knife. I saw the crimson liquid run down my arms but didn’t feel a thing as Ileana lowered me to the ground. Fading in and out, I heard Ileana speaking in a rapid clip. Words rushed over me and a noticeably different magic began to slink around me. A mist floated over me as my eyelids flickered to stay open. It moved closer, spreading over me and tugging at my body. I gave in to the darkness, falling away from it and life.
Ileana’s voice was a low melodic entreaty that felt so far away. She asked me to respond but I couldn’t muster the energy to do so. Feeling weighted down with a boulder, I tried to push past it and through the murkiness that had consumed me. It didn’t feel right. Dark, dank, and draconian. I felt misplaced. Ileana’s voice became more pleading and laced with a deep sorrow. Consumed by an emptiness that I couldn’t escape, desperation and fear settled in.
Ileana said my name, but my mouth couldn’t form words to answer. My body wouldn’t cooperate enough to give her a sign that I could hear her. That I was alive. But I wasn’t alive. I didn’t think I was. There was too much emptiness. I was a hollow husk. I could feel more magic tugging at my body, energy winding around it. A flare of light. I attempted to reach for it with arms that previously wouldn’t cooperate. But now they floated with featherlight weight toward it, dragging the rest of me with it. I emerged from the darkness. My restricted movement was a result of being wrapped in Ileana’s arms. When I squirmed, she released me with a smile of relief that made her face brighten as much as the room.
“That’s you,” she told me.
With each breath I took, the lights brightened like a heartbeat. Squinting at the brightness, I asked, “How do I get it to stop?”
“You tell it to and then force it to your will.”
It couldn’t be that easy. And it wasn’t.
“Stop,” I whispered.
Nothing. As the light violently pulsed, my body whirred. It was nothing like when I borrowed magic from Madeline. Everything about it was painful and wrong. A rejection of magic that wasn’t mine. It was a strange dichotomy, a soothing harmonious hum and an energetic burst of adrenaline. I had no idea what to do with it.
Closing my eyes, I took in a deep breath, trying to reconcile the two opposing energies in me. Control them. Make peace with this being the new me. The new Luna. And when I opened my eyes again, the room was a muted glow around me and Ileana was standing against the wall with a smile.
“I think you will be a quick learner,” she said. It was the first time there wasn’t a tightness of apprehension in her voice. “You can come in,” she whispered.
The vines curled away and disappeared, the bronze locks vanished, and Dominic was quickly at my side, his eyes roving slowly over me with an expectant look. Inconspicuously, I ran my hand through my hair—no horns. There wasn’t a way to check my back for wings and butt for a tail.
From Dominic’s smirk, it was apparent he knew what I was looking for. He stood next to me—my height hadn’t changed, either.
“Luna, the same Luna,” he whispered against my lips before kissing me in a wholly inappropriate manner in front of his mother. I abruptly ended the kiss and put a few inches between us, shooting a look at his mother, who was unbothered. I’d never get used to their family.
“Now it’s time to teach you how to use your magic,” Dominic asserted.