Chapter 26
CHAPTER 26
P eter moved to the far side of the room, cloaked in an insidious intent as his eyes casually swept over what I had left in ruins. His dismissive look at the wreckage hit at my confidence but not my drive to take his magic and leave him magicless and unable to cause more destruction.
“For so long, I thought you were just a rumor. A well of magic that could give us the ability to destroy the ruthless trio.” His eyes hardened, anger drawing him taller. Agitation forming a rough scowl on his face.
“And you’re not ruthless?” I challenged.
“Not nearly to their degree,” he ground out, baring his teeth. For a moment, I expected to see fangs. I didn’t discard the possibility that he had them and chose to keep them a secret.
“Dominic hunted and killed all the Casters. I’m the only one left.” His eyes brightened. “ We are the only ones left.”
“There’s no we,” I shot back.
His mirthless laughter filled the room with an ominous threat. “You’ve heard his version of reality, so your response is understandable. I’m not the monster you’ve been led to believe and Dominicus isn’t the lamb he’s presented to you.”
Everyone was using words so wrong. Lamb? Dominic had never given me the impression he was a lamb. Didn’t give me the impression he was decent a hundred percent of the time. Never denied that his morals sat firmly in the gray area. He wore the armor of a ruthless monster when needed. I waited for Peter to continue. As he inched closer, his arms crossed over his chest, hair disheveled, t-shirt molded to his sinewy chest, and loose-fitted jeans, I got glimpses of the deceptively bookish-looking man who hung out at Books and Brew.
My attention stayed on the wide-rimmed prop glasses he clearly didn’t need. Noticing where my eyes had landed, he removed them, and with a quick whisper they vanished in a cloud of smoke.
“We are powerful and never subscribed to their rules or leadership. Why should we? Magic like ours give us the privilege to shape the world in the manner we see fit.” He inched closer. Closer was better. The closer he was, the easier it would be to use the Garon. “Why should we be held to inferior rules? Dominicus, Helena, and Areleus aren’t. We should be extended the same privileges.”
“They work with the supernatural community to protect humans.”
He snorted. “What lies has he fed you?” he asked. “They seek to control the supernaturals. Humans being provided some modicum of safety is just a byproduct. We’d do the same, but under our terms.”
“What would be our terms?” I asked.
The question eased some of his reticence as he swallowed up more of the distance between us.
“You have no idea how powerful you are. Now we have the shades, who will do our bidding so long as it satisfies their needs.”
“Their need for violence and chaos,” I pointed out.
He dismissed it with a wave of his hand. “Do you want a docile army or one that is feared?”
As the moments ticked by and his question went unanswered, he said, “It would be foolish to believe there won’t be any violence. Even the humans haven’t managed such a feat.” Disdain raveled around the word ‘human.’ “I’ve established an alliance with them that is mutually beneficial. They will be controlled.”
“Okay, we have an army. What next?”
Peter’s smile widened and he moved until he was in front of me. He extended a hand to me. “Let’s sit on the sofa. Me speaking to you while you’re splayed on the floor seems…uncivilized. We are equals.”
Me sitting on the floor never meant anything more to me than just that—me sitting on the floor. Everything about this world had a meaning, a demonstration of a person’s role and position.
I eyed his extended hand, debating whether to smack it away or give him the finger. I did neither, taking it and allowing him to help me to my feet, hoping the small show of acceptance would cause him to lower his guard. I made sure to take the left side of the sofa, so that when I positioned my body toward Peter, I’d have quick access to the leg with the Garon. My casual seat, one leg crossed on the sofa, appeared to put him at ease. Sitting closer to him, I could feel the thrum of his powerful magic. It was undeniable. How had I never noticed it and how off his energy was?
“Here you are,” he whispered. “The Casters were all looking for you. I’d given up hope. There was no way you were just a tale of a sacrifice of one to give others the power they need to deal with Dominic. Then I happened to walk into Books and Brew. The description of what to look for had been skewed so much over the retellings. But the hair. The moment I laid eyes on you, I was sure. But I needed to be certain.” I ran a self-conscious hand through my auburn waves. “Discovering how curious you were made confirming you were the right person easy. That particular spell wouldn’t have worked on anyone else. It only would have worked with an affinity magic.” A dark smile curled his lips, his eyes slowly traveling over me as if he were getting thoughts of us being some awful dark-magic power couple. His head canted as he scrutinized me.
“You’re not human,” he said as a reminder.
“I know.” My chest squeezed. It felt like a betrayal. Despite knowing it, there was a part of me that felt a loyalty to humanity. To protecting humanity because that was all I’d known myself to be.
“Dominic, Helena, and Areleus are wrong and you’re right?” I inquired, needing more information and for him to be more comfortable with me. Needing him to be relaxed to the point he wouldn’t expect me to take his magic.
His eyes drifted to the window behind me. “What is in place is fine. Humans should know of our existence. And we should have a place at the table in society. No, we should be at the head. Entirely running things.”
“We?”
“You and I, of course. Do you understand the power I wield? With one spell, I could kill everyone on this block. I could unleash the shades with a word. I could bring most of the supernaturals to their knees with a well-crafted spell.”
“You against hundreds of magic wielders, shifters who are immune to magic, and vampires who move like lightning?” My words dripped with a skepticism that I made no effort to hide. He was a monster and an arrogant one, too.
“There’s a spell that will end the shifters’ immunity. The two of us can do it. I have no intention of allowing them to maintain that advantage. Too many vampires currently exist in this world. I will be pruning the population?—”
“Pruning sounds a great deal like genocide,” I countered, surprised at my ability to keep my voice neutral despite his admissions. I saw his easy reveals for what it was. My fate. He offered the information freely because he was confident I wasn’t going to leave. Whether my position with him was voluntary was up to me. Everything about his ominous smirk showed that.
“Our hands will remain perfectly clean. Roman will be released from the Perils and allowed to curate the vampires. I suspect he’ll only want his bloodline to remain. Which would be advantageous. They would be an asset and our goals would easily align. Vadim will also be a good addition. The spell would cause him to lose his immunity to magic as well. I’ll decide later if he’ll be allowed to keep his magical ability, based on how much of an asset he proves to be. Unfortunately, Celeste and her bloodline needs to end. That bloodline of witches has proved to be too powerful. Too obstinate. There are other skilled witches who’d be better.”
It didn’t go unnoticed how freely he had claimed the union between us. Having Vadim as an ally would ensure Peter could use him against Dominic, Helena, and Areleus.
From his appraising satisfied expression, I gathered he’d taken my silence as acceptance and not the same disdain and incredulity that raced through me when Ileana offered a similar plan. What the fuck was wrong with these people? Did great magic lead to being so malevolent and amoral?
“We’ll carefully sieve through those that remain. This is a good strategy. I thought I’d just have your magic to pull from, but now I have you. A far better situation, and I have the prince to thank for that.” Once again, I found myself under his unwavering inspection as he leaned forward.
“How did he do it?” he whispered.
“Do what?”
He wasn’t fooled. With a swipe of his hand, I was hoisted in the air, magic coiling and tightening around me, making breathing difficult. It continued its winding to my throat, cutting off all breathing. Panic seized me and a tear slid down my face.
He inched closer until his face was just out of reach. I closed my eyes and concentrated. Trying to break the bonds. Pulling at its strands. Trying to force my magic to destroy it. This magic was all about destruction and violence. Why wouldn’t it break the bonds?
“I’ve had this magic for hundreds of years. Honed it to perfection. Do you believe your days with use of it will match mine, Luna?”
I had a body, but I’d never questioned if I could die. As my head grew lighter, there was a clear answer. I could. I would. What would happen to my magic upon my death?
“I’ll ask you again, how did he do it?”
Was Dominic’s mother unknown to most?
A strangled sound escaped from me and he relaxed the magic.
“He had someone do it,” I choked out.
“Who?”
After a long stretch of silence, he gave me a few more inches of space. The hold of magic lessened enough for me to get some oxygen, but I was fully aware that just a flick of his wrist or an invocation of a spell could return the stranglehold.
“Release me and I’ll tell you.”
“You’ll tell me because I asked.” He was directly in front of me, trying to catch my eyes. Seeking eye contact reminded me that vampires required the same to compel someone. I wasn’t sure what Peter was going to do, but I knew me looking at him was essential. I closed my eyes. There was a tug at them, like fingers were being used to open them. I didn’t feel a body close to me or shadow from a body or an extremity near me. He was doing it with magic. He barked out a dark, cold laugh and pain surged through me.
I can do this. Luna, you can do this. Forcing all my will into my command, the coils loosened and a surge of power exploded from me. There was a loud thud and I opened my eyes to Peter coming to a stand, an appreciative look spreading over his face.
“Strong untrained magic. I can work with that.” Approaching me, he released his magic and I fell on my butt. Even through my attack, he was able to maintain his magic. I wasn’t a challenge to him. I needed more practice.
“There won’t be need for Dominic, Helena, or Areleus anymore. Killing them will be difficult. If I don’t succeed, we will secure them in the underworld, where they won’t be able to intervene where they aren’t needed.”
My expression betrayed me. His lips formed a dramatic pout. “Aw. Have you grown fond of that dreadful family? Or just Dominic?” His last comment a sheer mockery. I had no issue with him locking Helena and Areleus in the underworld. But not Dominic.
“Who did this to you, Luna?” he asked again.
“What? Abused me with magic? That would be you,” I hissed.
“Who are you protecting, Luna?”
It wasn’t protection. He wanted the information for a reason, and not a good one. I was doing what I could to limit his acquisition of power. I wasn’t completely confident he couldn’t get to Ileana, but based on Dominic’s stories, maybe they should meet. He might not walk away from that encounter. My gut was telling me not to give him the information, so I pressed my lips tightly together.
“I’d like to have you as a companion in this. It will be a lonely venture, but I’m quite capable of doing it by myself. All I need is your magic. I can take it with a spell, or I can use that gauche Garon in your pocket you’ve been trying so hard not to draw attention to.”
Shit. I shot into action. Snatching the Garon from my pocket, I launched at him and held on like a koala to their momma. Instead of being latched to his back, I held on to his torso. Any painful magic he inflicted on me, he’d feel himself. I evoked the spell. The magical object took its claim on my hand, drawing blood.
I couldn’t see if the Garon illuminated or if the black tendrils branched out in search of similar magic. But I could feel a different magic sweeping over me—over Peter. He croaked a sharp sound of surprise. A hum of words emitted from him, but the magic continued to suffuse. Thick and heavy, there was something dank and different about it. I no longer had a koala hold on Peter; it was the new magic securing us to each other.
A gray haze formed in front of us, a larger replication of the tendrils formed during my practice with the Garon. Coolness swept the room. Blinking several times, I took in the figure before it disappeared, leaving behind traces of the ominous magic.
The front door blasted open, raining splinters of wood everywhere.
“Luna,” Dominic called out, his light footfalls nearing us. I risked a look in his direction to see the horrid expression on his face. Rushing over, he reached me and hissed in pain but continued, ripping me from Peter. Dominic didn’t give Peter a moment to respond. He tossed Peter feet away, then sent a glowing sphere of magic into his chest that crashed him into the wall across the room. Peter slumped to the floor but attempted to return fire. His eyes widened and filled with panic when nothing happened. He made several more fruitless attempts, his breathing increasingly short and raspy. Fear and confusion washed over his face.
“Where’s the Garon?” Dominic asked.
Preoccupied with keeping contact with Peter and successfully performing the spell, with the influx of the new peculiar magic, I’d lost track of it. I looked around the immediate area for it. Gone.
“I don’t know.” Standing, we both searched the surrounding area. Peter remained frozen in stunned disbelief, unable to reconcile with the new knowledge that his magic didn’t counter the Garon and that his magic was gone. Dominic’s mask of anger fell when he looked at me.
“Perform magic, Luna,” he instructed.
I tried to erect a protective spell. Nothing. I attempted a spell. Nothing. Swiping my hand over the room in effort to clear things from my path had no results.
In a flash of movement, Dominic was on Peter, a hold around his neck, claws at the pulse of it.
“What did you do?” Dominic demanded.
The shrewd confidence exhibited earlier had vanished. Peter looked just as confused as I felt. Without his magic, he was at a terrible disadvantage with Dominic. Despite it, he managed a glare in Dominic’s direction.
“Why would I take my own magic?” he barked.
There was a long moment of consideration before Dominic drew back his hand, the unbridled viciousness and mercilessness shown in his sneer. The same look I’d seen when he fought.
“No!” I blurted. He stopped with his claws just a half an inch or so from Peter’s neck. He snapped in my direction.
“The Garon is gone and so is our magic. Someone took it.” I explained the figure with the tendrils that resembled the tendrils I’d seen during practice with the Garon. How I had been secured to Peter and the off-putting magic that mingled with ours. “If someone took it, we may need Peter to get it back.”
“We won’t. We’ll find another way,” Dominic asserted.
The blaze in his eyes made my approach to him cautious. Driven by fury, he wasn’t taking everything into consideration. Recounting Peter’s plans, a number of scenarios went through my mind of what could be done with both of our magic and none of them were good. I wasn’t spiraling into a full-on anxiety attack because it wasn’t another Dark Caster who took the magic. Peter was the only one. We were the only ones. The unthinkable level of destruction the thief could cause if they learned to harness it, scared me. Dominic was looking for a way to use the magic—what if someone had beaten him to it?
“Please,” I whispered. Dragging his eyes from Peter, his gaze was gentle as he looked at me.
“Remember what I told you,” he said softly. He’d warned: “Your empathy will be seen as weakness and your kindness exploited.”
“This isn’t about kindness or weakness. Our magic is gone. Peter has access to spells and magic that you aren’t aware of. Killing him will take away an advantage.”
He released his hold on Peter but used magic to keep him pinned against the wall. Taking hold of my arm, he moved me to the other side of the room, out of Peter’s earshot.
“My mother gave us the Garon,” he said in a pained voice. I heard the implications in his tone. He thought it was his mother. He’d been betrayed so often by his family, he could no longer extend the benefit of the doubt. “Peter took you. That can’t go unpunished.”
Gently, I touched his hand, aware of the scrutiny of our audience. “Make sure it’s her before you do anything with him. Please.” If it was, I had no intention of appealing for mercy for anyone. Accepting another betrayal wasn’t in me, either. It was hard to see Ileana betraying her children, but her suggestions and Peter’s plans were aligned.
“Ask her,” I urged again.
Shooting another spiteful glare in Peter’s direction, without a word, Dominic pulled me to him, plunging me into darkness as we quickly went to the underworld and then to Vita. Standing in front of the ward, he made the silver undulation come to life. Running across it were streaks of crimson waves that pushed us back. His upgrade to the barrier. It wasn’t just a magic flare, it was a stop sign. An urging to just keep moving. A few rote movements of his hand and a spell, it fell and we moved through it.
Dragar stepped into view, a miscreant look on his face, tail whipping behind him playfully. “Dominicus,” he drawled, the smile dropping from his face, the playfulness draining as he looked at Dominic. Wrathful and murderous looking, Dominic stalked past him toward his mother’s estate.
Meeting us at the pathway to her house, concern swept over Ileana’s face at Dominic’s state. A mixture of emotions that he didn’t bother to mask.
“Dominicus, what’s wrong?” The soft maternal request was a direct contrast of what she’d ever shown.
“The Garon is gone and so is Luna’s magic,” he said.
Her brows drew together, and her breath whooshed out the question. “What do you mean?”
“It’s gone.” Although his voice remained strained, there was notable relief. His mother wasn’t responsible. She was given all the information I gave Dominic. By the end, Ileana’s breaths were short and ragged.
“Peter’s magic is gone, too?”
We nodded. Her gaze swept from me to Dominic.
“You know what this means, Dominic?” How could they not. An unknown person had just acquired an insurmountable amount of magic that would give them the ability to do everything Peter had planned, including locking the royals in the underworld.
He nodded. “No one is safe, including us.”
Luna and Dominic’s adventure continues in A Taste of Magic (Magic of the Damned Book 3). Available for preorder.