Chapter 10
CHAPTER 10
U ncertainty lingered in the space after everyone had gone, but Dominic remained intently focused on me. His jaw clenched from holding back words that needed to be said. Blowing out a breath, Dominic’s hand cuffed around my wrist as he led me out of the room.
Out of the sight and earshot of the others, he spun me around, pressing me into the wall. Fire blazed in his eyes; his face strained at his attempt to rein in his emotions. He closed his eyes, his breath sharpening. After several moments of tense silence, his eyes opened. They were simmering with unidentifiable emotions. He sank his fingers into my hair, guided my head up to rest his forehead against mine.
“Why are you here?” he asked in a strained voice.
“What?”
“Luna, you were safe behind a ward. Why did you break it and come here putting yourself in danger?”
“Ileana showed up looking for Helena. Did you expect me to tell her that Helena was missing and just give her directions to this place,” I challenged. Seeing the warring emotions of relief, frustration, and anger, I attempted to temper my words, but it was difficult. His expectation that my safety took priority over everything was unrealistic and put me in a position of ignoring what was right.
“Yes. Never underestimate her. She wouldn’t have had great difficulty finding this place.”
“Exactly, I don’t estimate your mother. I felt just as safe with her as I would be with you. Helena’s missing, how can I just send her off with some vague directions to this warehouse?” My hands glided lightly over his arms until they came in contact with his hand and held it.
“Don’t ask me to hide when I can help. Ileana needed my help.” I whispered. “ And , have you met her?” I teased. “She’s not one you deny. Ileana was likely to level my apartment if I’d declined.”
He cut his eyes as if it was absurd but didn’t refute it. Because it was doubtful he could with certainty.
“I’m not asking you to do that. But I’m asking you to behave as someone who doesn’t have magic, is considered by some as dangerous and the reason for all of this, and someone who can be used as a weapon against me,” he admitted.
“I’m not being careless. If I thought for one moment I would compromise the situation or have been in danger, I’d have figured out another way.”
“I know,” he conceded. “It’s…” The words were lost into the deep kiss he gave me, conveying his feelings in a way I doubt he could express in words.
Magic and warmth wrapped around me when he ended the kiss, sinking into me. “Luna,” he said with reverence and slivers of frustration at finding himself in a place I doubt he’d ever been before.
“Helena,” I said.
The mention of her name had him shrugging off the weight of the emotions and refocusing on the various problems that needed to be addressed.
After planting another soft kiss to my lips, forehead, and cheek, he returned to the room with me close behind him. I gave Emoni a reassuring smile that did nothing to quell her inquiring look and the heated glare she shot in Dominic’s direction. Her mounting fears and frustrations from the turmoil needed a target and he was it.
After a stifling quiet while everyone surveyed the room, Areleus said cryptically, “I need to check a place.” He vanished before anyone could ask any questions.
“He’s probably going to where he’d met Peter—” Dominic left out the day Helena and Areleus sided with Peter against Dominic in hopes of acquiring more power.
Both Dominic and Ileana gave the vacant space a look of suspicion. She frowned. “Be mindful of Areleus. His loyalties are tenuous when acquisition of power is on the line. You’ve never showed those flaws but”—her eyes softened as she looked at him—“your relationship with Helena has been riddled with misunderstanding.”
Ileana had diplomatically placed a creative PR spin on her daughter trying to claw her brother on more than one occasion, and betraying him. She moved directly in front of him, concern blooming over her features, eyes whetted with curiosity.
“Helena’s return is important to you?”
“I care for her safety.” The strain of his conflicting emotions clung to his words, making his assertions sound insincere. “If her life is ever put in jeopardy, it needs to be because of betraying me, not being a pawn for power or destruction. I will not allow her magic to be used against us in any way.”
Ileana’s movements were graceful and light as she paced a small trail in the room, periodically sweeping her gaze around at the signs of the fighting. “If you were in the Dark Caster’s position, tell me the ways you’d attempt to use Helena’s magic,” she said.
While Dominic considered her question, she watched him with intense fascination and something that wavered between pride and apprehension.
“I’d use something similar to the Garon.” he said. “ But , use of it against Peter was only possible because the magic was the same. That is why it was used against Luna. I’m not aware of anything that could strip us of our magic. Even if such an object existed, would the Caster have the power to do it? “
“The Dark Caster didn’t use anything to take my magic. It’s not an ability Peter possesses, because when I denied him, surely he would have taken mine to increase his power,” I said.
Ileana and Dominic considered this.
“You restricted Helena’s magic. Can the same be done to the Caster?” Anand asked.
Dominic shook his head. “Her magic mirrors mine, which was how the sigils were created to restrict hers.”
“Is magic mimicry possible?” Emoni asked, lifting her gaze from the floor where it had been directed while she listened to the discussion.
Ileana and Dominic froze at the idea. Perhaps with just standard magic it wasn’t possible. Three times the magic, and Helena, changed the potential. The implication marred their faces with worry. Dominic’s lips parted to speak before he gave his words more consideration.
“I don’t know.” The words slipped out in a low, stiff rumble, washing a look of concern onto Ileana’s face. They’d never experienced powerlessness and weren’t faring well at the idea.
“I need to speak with Peter again. There has to be a way for us to locate the Caster through him,” Dominic said, exiting the warehouse and waving me to come with him. Emoni rushed to my side.
“If they can’t be of help they are a hindrance,” Ileana said when Dominic didn’t stop Emoni, who’d somehow become my self-appointed guardian.
He spoke up. “Having a team is advantageous. It’s the reason the Dark Caster went after Luna initially. With Luna’s refusal, I suspect she’ll take Peter as a consolation. I need to be there when that proposal is made. Make no mistake, Luna is still wanted. I want her at my side so she won’t be taken.”
Ileana’s attention fixed on Emoni who met her look in a challenge, wearing her defiance like armor. “I won’t let anything happen to my friend,” Emoni asserted.
“Is there something you can do to prevent it?” Ileana responded with a taunting dark humor. It reflected her low opinion of the magicless.
Emoni ignored the question and headed out the door.
“They both will be protected,” Anand added, closing the distance between him and Emoni.
As we neared the SUV, Dominic looked over his shoulder at his mother. “If I need anything, I will call on you. I will return Helena to you, where I think she should stay.”
Ileana’s jaw clenched, but I couldn’t tell if it was because of Dominic’s unsubtle way of asking her to leave or that she’d no longer be welcomed in his world. I clung to what that meant: When this was over, Dominic planned to be Lord of the Underworld and his father no longer a situation.
Ileana’s disapproving gaze was felt with every step until we were in the vehicle. Emoni remained stiff alongside us. Even her breaths seemed to have changed to infrequent and shallow in an attempt to remain inconspicuous.
A look of shocked wariness was shared between me and Emoni when there was no mention of taking us home and we headed in the direction of Peter’s apartment.
Why did they want us with them? Was it safer to be around them than at home? Was our presence necessary for the best outcome? I was sure of only one of the three things: that if the goal was the least amount of violence, death, and human autonomy, our presence was necessary. Maybe that was our role in this. Who knew?
Dominic’s persistent knocks at Peter’s went unanswered. The knocks were a simple courtesy. A small whirl of his fingers near the door, and it opened for us. Expecting to see a bedraggled Peter, I was surprised by the empty apartment and all evidence of his failed magic gone.
Dominic and Anand searched, looking for reasons for his departure and hints to where he’d gone.
I looked for the book he’d used to communicate with the Dark Caster. It was gone also. Had Peter finally had success with his attempts to communicate with Ophelia, or, after I refused her, was he chosen as an alternate? Despite all evidence that the book was gone along with Peter, I continued scanning the room for it.
My eyes snagged on an ivory-color infinity knot at the far end of the room. Moving closer to it, I felt ominous energy suffusing from it, crawling over my arm, making it tingle. Tendrils of the strange magic lingered. When it settled, I was tugged forward. I dug my heels in, but it didn’t help. The pull was too strong, and I found myself just inches from the object. I winced at the sharp blaze of heat that wrapped around the skin just above my wrist. I pulled my attention from the magical object to the red symbol that appeared on my wrist. It was identical to the black one that suddenly appeared on the infinity knot.
Just a few inches from it, I grappled with the overwhelming urge to touch it. Don’t touch it , I commanded myself. But the demands of the enigmatic tool were too great.
“Luna,” Emoni’s concerned voice resonated in my mind, which was becoming increasingly fuzzy. Don’t touch it.
But it was demanding to be touched, held. Used.
I knew I shouldn’t and contracted my muscles to force resistance against the strong magical pull. Before I could reach for it, Dominic was at my side, pulling me away. Positioned in front of me, his body became a wall, preventing me nearing it.
It didn’t stop the need. And when he picked up the object, Emoni grabbed my arm and jerked me to her before I could touch it. She kept a firm hold on me.
“Luna,” she said. I didn’t respond. She cupped my face and searched it for information. I wanted to speak, but words just didn’t come freely. They felt locked. There was only one goal: Touch the ivory knot.
“What is this?” She lifted my arm to inspect the mark. It throbbed and felt warm. Her urgency made her touch rougher than I’m sure she intended. Her nails digging into my skin was enough of a jolt of pain to clear my head a little. My thoughts were split between listening to my friend and my curiosity about the object. Desire to answer her question and to hold the magical tool.
Dominic growled out an angry spew of curses. Walking around us, he stopped spewing long enough to whisper an invocation. Similar sigils that he’d used to restrict his sister and a witch’s magic during a fight formed a circle around us. The enigmatic pull of the magic stopped, my head cleared, and the need to grab the object stopped. I was unable to explain what had happened or make sense of it because my attention was drawn to Emoni’s series of questions.
“Why is she marked? What did you do? Why is this happening to us?” Followed by a promise of bodily harm, removal of their magic, teaching them true fear, and an impressive list of threats she didn’t have the physical strength to perform, wasn’t anatomically able to perform, and without magic and preternatural speed or strength could never perform.
“How are you, without any magic, planning to destroy all magic?” I asked in response to one of the more unreasonable threats. Her smirk mirrored mine, and the tight grip she had on my arm loosened, but her attention stayed on the symbol.
“I don’t have a plan, but anger makes a lot of things possible,” she snapped with a laugh at her own ridiculous response. I needed her calm, because anger from Dominic and Anand was rampaging through the room.
With the infinity knot in his hand, fire blazed from Dominic’s other hand.
“Do not destroy it!” Areleus commanded in a surly voice, a quick slice of his finger in the air extinguishing the fire. “Not yet,” he tacked on at the challenge in Dominic’s expression that overtook his look of surprise at his presence.
“What happened?” Areleus asked me.
“Magic touched me. Lured?” I said, my explanation lacking a surety they all wanted. It was an alluring pull of magic, but nothing like Dominic’s, which teased and seduced me. Instead, it was a command to be obeyed.
“Magic pulled me to it.” With more confidence, I told them about the flare of heat, the symbol forming on my arm that remained, and the urge I felt to touch the object.
“They want her!” Areleus said. “If she had touched it, I suspect a spell similar to the temporalibus would have put someone in her place.”
“Not possible without something of hers: hair, blood, intimate clothing,” Dominic said.
“Or phone.” I was positive I’d left it at Peter’s, or during my last visit. Could anything of mine have been used?
“ Perhaps they know of a spell that wouldn’t require those things,” Dominic speculated.
“It would have switched me with Peter?” I asked. Had he been abducted or had he left willingly? Was he being used as a pawn again?
“I doubt it. Probably with someone inconsequential. An unknowing or unwilling participant.” A person minding their own business and swooshed into an unknown apartment. I hated the feeling when the temporalibus was used and I’d found myself swept away and in the Perils prison where Peter had been housed.
“Ophelia—that’s the name she gave me. And she does consider Peter inconsequential.”
Dominic shook his head, frowning at the ward that enclosed me. “Probably not now. He’s an asset who likely has had his magic returned. There is power in numbers, which is why they want you. Three people with their magic would be formidable.”
“Why?” Emoni blurted. “She lacks the very thing you all seem to have too much of, a thirst for power and violence. She’d be no help to anyone.”
It was probably the first time that being useless was an attribute.
“I’m sure there’d be a line of people willing to possess that magic. I don’t understand why it has to be her.” Emoni’s voice broke at the end with a desperation of a seemingly hopeless situation. I was starting to feel it, too.
“Because she’s able to carry the magic. It’s her magic,” Areleus said, keen eyes on me. He stepped toward me, eying the ward that surrounded me and Emoni, but was quickly blocked by Dominic before he could further close the distance.
A cynical smile curled Areleus’s lips. “ And because Luna possesses the one thing that the other Casters do not. Immunity. Whether she burns down the world, puts us or others in danger, or becomes a complete menace, my son will not hurt her.”
I’d never heard acknowledging a link sound so tyrannically cruel.
Despite having Dominic as a barrier and being enclosed in a ward that I wasn’t sure Areleus could break, I took as many steps back from him as I could while remaining in the circle.
Areleus’s eyes jumped to the infinity knot in Dominic’s hand.
“Keep it intact. It may be of some use,” he urged.
“Why are you here?” Dominic asked.
“I figured you’d be here. Without the use of location spells, how can we find Helena? Why isn’t she putting effort into helping us? Helena is tenacious, so how is she being held so easily?” Areleus said the last part in a whisper, posing the question to himself.
“Her magic has been compromised. She attempted to escape to the Vita, but it was unsuccessful,” I reminded him. Something that Ileana had told him, but anger had made him distracted.
Areleus’s eyes darkened. After exhaling a ragged breath, he said, “They can’t restrict her magic. No one can.”
“It has happened. We are dealing with a Caster who’s managed to elude being caught and has learned how to steal magic from other Casters without the assistance of a magical object. Simply using a spell. She shouldn’t be underestimated.”
Areleus’s covetous thirst for more power sparked in his eyes. His loyalty couldn’t be trusted, and I wouldn’t put it past him to cozy up to the Dark Caster as a way to grab it.
Dominic fixed his father with an assessing look. I suspected he thought the same. The exchange of hostility was undeniable with the knowledge that at the end, one of them probably wouldn’t survive. Observing the tension, Emoni gave my hand a squeeze.
“How do we remove the mark from Luna?” Her intentions were obvious in the sharp look she shot them. She wanted the mark removed and us as far away from this situation as possible.
Areleus relaxed his stance but kept an attentive eye on Dominic, who remained a wall between me and Areleus.
Ignoring Emoni’s question, Areleus directed his response to Dominic. “Use Luna to find Helena. They want her.” He glanced at the spelled infinity knot. He side-stepped Dominic to get closer to me, triggering an immediate reaction from Dominic who pushed him back several feet. A reaction that seemed to be out of instinct, not malice. Areleus’s exposed claws were a declaration of violence.
“Do you believe for one moment she will be safe? They want her and will have her. Should we fall and our realms be destroyed for her? You’ve lost sight of your responsibility. You’ve listed all Ophelia’s abilities and yet you don’t see a need to impede any further acquisition of power? With her having the use of Helena, you will be at a severe disadvantage. Are you willing to accept that for a woman?”
“A woman I love.”
My mouth parted at the confession that came from him so freely and the raw vulnerability on his face. Areleus’s claws retracted and the anger washed from his face. The atmosphere was charged with unspoken emotions. Dominic positioned himself defensively, ready to shield and safeguard me from any harm from Areleus.
Dominic’s father’s face grew mild as he adopted the persona of a person who valued love, but his emotions were clouded by his desperate need for his daughter to be returned. The act was convincing, but I knew what lurked behind the amiable expression.
“Then creating a situation where she’s not in danger should be important to you. They want her and won’t stop until they have her. You’ve always been pragmatic, but that ability seems to have escaped you. Allow Luna’s connection to be a way to obtain proximity to them and end this. You have the means. I know you do.”
I wasn’t wholly convinced that Peter was with Ophelia, because I recalled the venom in her words when she spoke of him. I couldn’t imagine a willingness to return his magic and work with him. But neither could I imagine wanting to destroy the race of vampires, subjugate witches, and make shifters vulnerable to magic to garner power over them. I didn’t have great insight into people who were willing to do such things. Peter was skilled and with the same aligned interest and a mutual hate for the royals. That would be advantageous to her.
I was out of my league. I wanted out of this situation as well. Dominic’s confession stayed in the forefront of my mind. He loved me and he was part of this situation. With all the surging feelings and the turbulent situation, Dominic was a surety and constant. I wanted him. I was still sorting out whether it was love.
“Areleus is right,” I admitted . Ugh, that didn’t feel good at all. Agreeing with him left a bitter taste. “If I can be used to locate them, then I’ll agree to it.”
The heat of Emoni’s shocked gaze bored into me. Ignoring it led to her nails piercing the hand she’d kept a hold on.
Turning to face me with an expression that settled between awe and confusion, Dominic offered me a grim smile. “Your bravery always exceeds my expectations.”
At face value it looked like bravery. Bad actions and decisions often disguised themselves that way. I was making the best decision that would allow Helena to be found, stop the Dark Casters, maintain the integrity of the Underworld, and continue my relationship with Dominic without the chaos of the supernatural world.
Am I asking too much? Probably.
Dominic handed the bespelled infinity knot to Anand. “Will you take this far from us, please?” In the small apartment, Anand moved away and into a room that I suspected was the bedroom.
Dominic disengaged the ward. “How do you feel?” he asked.
“Fine.”
He positioned himself directly in front of me. “Release her hand,” he instructed Emoni. Several seconds later, she released it.
Everyone kept a keen eye on me like they were expecting me to bolt toward the object. I was half expecting it, too. But I didn’t feel that enigmatic pull or any tendrils of magic pricking at my skin. Nothing.
I shook my head.
Dominic whispered, “Come closer.” He was looking past me, addressing Anand. An extensive amount of time was dedicated to determining the distance I needed to be from the object to prevent it eliciting a response.
Though the distance seemed to be about six feet, Dominic was overly cautious, asking Anand to take it home to his wing of the house. “We’ll be there soon.”
“Why?” Anand asked, keeping himself and the bespelled object a safe distance from me.
“I need the Book of Umbra.”
The mention of the dangerous book that Dominic kept from his father for fear of abuse piqued Areleus’s attention. Anand and Dominic took notice.
“Should I escort her home?” Anand asked Dominic, gesturing at Emoni.
She wasn’t having it. Shoring up for an argument and protest, she locked her arm through mine.
“It’s okay,” I whispered, trying to disengage from the hold.
“What exactly are you okay with, Luna? Me not hearing from you for days? Me wondering if things were successful? Or being forced to pretend things were normal while wondering if I’d ever see you again?”
The sad desperation in her voice compounded my remaining guilt. Dominic studied my face then moved to Emoni’s. I’d accepted that the royals weren’t moved by human emotions and the decisive look on his face supported it. It wavered when his gaze returned to me. Everything would be done to keep her safe, and I wanted her with me.
He nodded. Placing me in front of him, he held me tight and kept a loose grasp on Emoni. “Close your eyes,” he instructed her, and when they opened, we were at the door of his home.
Emoni stepped back, holding her head, trying to regain composure after the unsettling travel that left a person off-kilter. It wasn’t dizziness but an airy feeling of losing your bearings.
Immediately and without a word, Areleus entered the house.