Chapter 3
CHAPTER 3
T he next morning, we revisited the activities of the previous night and managed to get a shower in as well. The sex was a form of escapism, but with each intimate coupling…there was more. I could see it in the way he looked at me; between the passionate, intense sex were furtive glances and soft caresses. And the words he held back, replacing them with touches and strokes that conveyed his emotions.
Dominic was insatiable, so I was tasked with pulling him from his languid exploration of my body as I attempted to get dressed. Through the distractions we managed eventually to get clothed. Turning to face him, I laced my fingers through his.
“What’s the alternative to the mutual destruction?” My curiosity was alive and ready to be sated.
“Peter,” he breathed out in a reluctant sigh. The apprehension was heavy in his words. “I need to determine how his magic was stolen without using a Garon, which only works when it’s in contact with the person you’re taking magic from. Magic was taken from you both without the Garon or touch. I suspect he may know the answer.”
A shiver ran through me as I relived the strong, portentous magic that had overtaken mine, binding me to Peter and ripping it away from us both.
“Do you think he knew of the other Dark Caster?” I asked.
“You’d have a better idea than I would.” His penetrating gaze held mine, searching my face, before his brow lifted in inquiry.
I considered my interaction with Peter prior to me attempting to divest him of his magic. I shook my head. “If he knew he hid it well. He seemed to genuinely want a partner in this.”
Dominic frowned. “I don’t think it was romantic. His only attraction was to the power and getting control over the supernaturals.”
Annoyed, I exhaled. I was becoming increasingly irritated recounting Peter’s impassioned soliloquies. My mind had been playing them in a loop since his name was mentioned. “Years of him blathering on about history being written by the victors, the ruthlessness of mankind, and accosting people with his unfiltered and unrequested lectures on history, only to be just as cruel and ruthless.”
Dominic smirked at my rant. “That’s with humans. Perhaps he holds humans to a different moral standard. The rules and expectations aren’t the same because we have similar gifts.”
“Not really. Your gifts exceed most. And I don’t think you prey on people.” I was being a little liberal with the use of prey . Dominic didn’t prey on others, but he had no problem demonstrating his power and using it for coercion. Although he also kept his word and attempted some forms of fairness.
He nodded, although I wasn’t sure he believed that to be true. “I’m not my father.” If he found solace in that, good.
“He’s ruthless.” I said the part that was left unspoken. Dominic’s expression hardened and he put a lot of effort in softening his furrowed brow and clenched jaw. The hold he had on my hand was increasingly tight and uncomfortable.
“Ow,” I whispered.
“Sorry.”
“It’s fine.”
The tacit conversation between us expressed more than we’d said in that exchange. To dethrone his father, Dominic would have to become just as ruthless. And I’d see a side of him that I hadn’t yet seen. I’d said it was fine. But would it be?
Patricide. When I thought of fathers, a warmth swelled in me. My dad’s quirky ways, his overt affection for my mother, and his tight, comforting hugs. That was what fathers meant to me. Dominic didn’t have that kind of relationship with his father. He wouldn’t be killing a person like my dad, but a father who had betrayed him, used me as a pawn to hurt him, and brutally attacked him. Their relationship was anything but typical.
With a tight smile, Dominic guided me out of the room, his fingers twined with mine as we walked to the dining area. Once in our seats, we were given plates with French toast, bacon, and an assortment of berries. My stomach growled at the sight of the food, but I couldn’t pull my attention from the woman who served it. Her pale coral skin was complemented by russet-color low-coifed hair. Vivid, wide brown eyes and vulpine features were distinctive but human-like, if I ignored the fluttering butterfly wings. I thought they were just ornamental until she used them to retreat to the kitchen.
Sabin, who was sitting across from us, offered a wry smile before picking up his nearly untouched plate and leaving. His departure felt like he was fleeing rather than deciding to have his meal elsewhere. With Sabin gone, my attention moved to the lavish dining area and kitchen that reminded me of Dominic’s focus on Ileana’s created and their unsuccessful attempt to be unobtrusive.
This place is creepy . I wanted desperately to be more fascinated and intrigued by the created but couldn’t manage to get past them unsettling me. Despite my introduction to shifters, witches, vampires—even a soiree with shades, the weirdest of the weird—I still found her creatures simultaneously beautiful and discomfiting.
Shoving a forkful of French toast into my mouth, I had the indulgent tastes of butter with hints of vanilla and cinnamon turn to sawdust at the sight of Areleus and Helena entering the room. I gulped water, forcing the mouthful down. Dominic stopped mid-bite, his eyes searing over his father and giving little regard to his sister who greeted him with a warm, insouciant smile devoid of any traces of remorse for her betrayal. She turned the same smile to me, and I responded with a glare. If he couldn’t hate his sister, I was more than willing to hate her doubly on his behalf.
Dominic managed to school his murderous scowl into a cool look of indifference that mirrored his mother’s, who had glided in next to her daughter. The similarities in their appearance were so stark that Ileana had to see herself in Helena every time she looked at her. Maybe that explained her insistence on leniency for Helena’s behavior.
“I intervened since I wasn’t confident that you’d call on your father and sister for assistance.”
“You were right.” Steeled hostility filled Dominic’s words. He pushed his nearly full plate aside. Well, he might not need food to function, but I did. I scarfed the remainder of my breakfast despite the rising feeling that in minutes I’d be in the middle of unfettered violence between Dominic and Areleus. Dominic’s claws emerged in protection. It took several beats of slow breathing before they receded.
“We need to figure out how to recapture the shades so they can’t be used by the person who now possesses Luna’s and Peter’s magic,” Areleus stated, approaching the table with an aloof confidence that wasn’t warranted by the situation.
Read the room, man.
He’d known his son longer than I had, so how could he miss the calculations in Dominic’s expression? There was nothing reassuring about Dominic’s calm, which was just the peace before a blistering storm that encouraged approaching without fear. Areleus was ruthless, cruel, and had years of knowledge including the skills of self-preservation, yet he wasn’t exhibiting any of those attributes today.
“Has there been any activity?” Dominic managed in a tight voice.
“The New Conventicle and the Conventicle appear to have unified. A common enemy seems to do that,” Helena offered.
Dominic offered a cool assessing gaze in response before a cynical smile lifted his lips. “It’s good to know that people ally for a common goal and not because they are power hungry. That I can understand and respect.”
Helena swallowed her retort and pressed her lips into a rigid line.
It was a fragile union between the Conventicle and New Conventicle, which was hungering for power and just waiting in the wings. Could people who wanted to seize your position of authority be trusted?
Ileana’s speculative gaze traveled over the royals’ faces, the hostility-filled room deepening her frown. What exactly did she expect? Areleus and Dominic had every intention of determining who would be the official ruler of the Underworld under any violent conditions necessary. Helena would ally with the victor, whoever it was, although I suspected she preferred Areleus who would continue to allow her cruel behavior with impunity. Although Ileana clearly had no more use for Areleus, he’d help her create weapons that could ward off any invasions.
“I doubt we can do anything with that fractured alliance,” Dominic said.
His father smiled and nodded, stepping forward to extend his hand to Dominic. Jerking his eyes to the proffered olive branch, Dominic stared, then dismissed it by turning an expectant look on his mother.
“Tenuous alliances are difficult to manage, which is why I made sure it was inevitable by releasing the prisoners from the Perils. If that doesn’t work, I’ll release the ones they were tasked with imprisoning,” Areleus provided before Ileana could offer any explanation for her interference.
Dominic narrowed a hard gaze on his father. An assassin’s final look through the scope. I had the sneaking suspicion Ileana was the instigator of Areleus’s decision to release the prisoners, because she kept a keen eye on the two of them like she was expecting the hostility to escalate quickly.
Before Areleus could defend his actions, Ileana spoke up. “The Conventicle, along with their counterparts, will have to work together if they don’t want to fall victim to the released prisoners’ vengeance. Their focus on staying alive will strengthen their alliance more than their shared dislike for the Dark Caster, which at this time is an unknown. It’s difficult to forge a bond over an unknown. They need to understand the threat. Some of them have been victims of Vadim’s, Roman’s, and Celeste’s cruelty and recklessness, or know victims of, so they will be motivated to prevent more losses.” Her lips quirked into a knowing smile. “ And , this person with immeasurable powers isn’t going to go after lowly witches, shifters, and vampires. The others—” She rolled her eyes. “The Awakeners, petulant children who don’t see the value of anonymity, are not the majority or the strongest from what I understand. Forcing them to join the alliance. The three sects will be unified. Once this situation is over, keep it that way. It is beneath us to be so involved in their matters. Discover other ways to entertain yourself.”
“I thought you weren’t going to be involved,” Dominic said.
“I’m not. I simply provided a strategy and set things in motion for the best outcome. It is a better approach than”—she looked at me, her smirk more pronounced— “descending into chaos and murder or setting off a magical carpet bomb. I’ve made things decidedly better,” she said, paraphrasing the accusations I’d made about her previous strategies.
But did you?
Only having had a fleeting moment of magic, I felt like an island whose sole purpose now was to be the voice of humanity, because these people had proven that in situations like this, they were too far removed from it to care about those they deemed the lowest of them all. Humans.
Somehow, I’d failed and had to reluctantly accept that things would devolve into cruelty and unbridled violence. It was now about harm reduction. Now, I felt compelled to be the voice of reason and arbiter for minimal violence.
“Roman’s claws still affect us,” Dominic pointed out. “How will that make things better when I have to deal with his retaliation? I’m the one he hates the most.”
Helena smiled. “It’s handled. He isn’t the threat to us that he once was. I couldn’t undo that tricky witch’s spell, but I performed an unbinding spell that I believe will disrupt the spell enough for it not to have the same effect.” She gave an appreciative nod in her mother’s direction, who I assumed had given her the means to do so. Ileana giving Helena more magical arsenals to cause trouble wasn’t in the ‘decidedly better category.’
“Did you test it?” Dominic challenged with a sneer. Roman’s poisonous claws rendered the royals magicless until it wore off.
Helena lifted her chin in defiance. “I’m confident in my skill. But I suggest staying away from them as a matter of practice.”
Her advice just revived images of her stabbing her brother with her own claws. Based on the piercing look he gave her, it did the same for him as well.
Ileana waved a hand. “With the prisoners at large, I believe you will have the willing support of all three sects. As a unit, you will be dealing with exceptional power and skills, which will be a deadly challenge. If you three can’t manage to squash any mutinous intentions and subdue them, do you deserve to live?”
Harsh.
“The shades?” Helena looked at her mother expectantly as if she was now at the helm of this situation.
“They should never have been allowed to exist. If I’m not mistaken, they were drawn to our little harbinger of that particular magic.” As expected, all eyes turned to me. “And that very magic allowed them to escape. Whatever plans one might have for harnessing the shades for use needs to be abandoned. They are a liability. Destroy them,” Ileana proposed. “Considering all that has occurred, I don’t think it’s just about the humans’ supernaturals but us as well. Our magic is strongly linked to this world. If it is destroyed, it will affect our magic and our standing. The Dark Casters should have all been destroyed. They are the only ones who truly challenge us in a concerning way. Our concern shouldn’t have been with the humans' supernaturals. Let the humans handle their messes. They will never have any bearing on us. The Casters are our problem. I’m sure the acquisition of Peter’s and Luna’s magic is in preparation to destroy us and our residency.”
Letting the words settle in, Ileana shook her head in disbelief at the possibility. She looked at Dominic. “I stand by my initial plan. Let the Dark Casters make their ruin for thirty days, maybe sixty, when they will have sated their need for destruction and limited their pool of potential allies. They can’t help themselves. But apparently, that is too inhumane.” I earned another look from her. My feelings toward her were complex. I admired her directness and unwavering decisiveness but was appalled by her apathy about others. It was a strong fifty/fifty split. Part of me believed her suggestion earlier was for shock value, to prod Dominic into extreme action to preserve the integrity of the world we knew—they knew.
“You’re not going to help?” Areleus asked.
She shook her head.
“If the Dark Caster manages to get here, do you have any plan for self-preservation?” Areleus asked.
She considered his question. “I won’t leave mine. If I’m confronted, it is a sign that you three have failed. It is likely that I won’t stand a chance. But my demise won’t be as a result of me protecting people I don’t particularly care about.”
That fifty/fifty split was now at a firm thirty/seventy. I definitely felt more appalled than admiring.
She headed for the exit but stopped, looking over her shoulder at Dominic. “Remove the ward you placed at the entrance.” He’d placed a second layer of protection that served as a warning to deter the uninvited from entering, or at least to rethink their decision, knowing that if they entered they might not leave.
Defiance blazed and then withered in his expression before he nodded. He had more pressing fights ahead of him.
With that, she departed, not allowing for further debate or questions. I didn’t know if she’d ‘set things in motion,’ but she had done something. Whether it was good remained to be seen.