5. Onyx
Onyx
Onyx huffed, but he crossed the room and returned to Dominic, stopping just out of easy reach. “What?” He crossed his arms against his chest.
Dominic gave Onyx a pointed look, indicating for him to step closer.
Onyx made a rude noise beneath his breath, but he did, staring down at Dominic. “What?” he repeated.
Dominic rested his hands on Onyx’s hips. “This doesn’t have to be the only time this happens. This can be something that happens regularly… so long as I don’t have any reason to regret allowing you to have it. Hmm?”
Onyx shifted restlessly, not quite pulling away but not moving closer either. “Yeah,” he said. “I remember. I’m not allowed to kill myself.” His voice was snappish, brittle, as he stared at Dominic. “And if I killed you, I’m sure there are all sorts of terrible things waiting for me.”
Dominic nodded. “I have planned and arranged everything here in excruciating detail, Onyx. If you are looking for an opportunity, this is not it.”
“You’d say that no matter what,” Onyx muttered. But he didn’t think Dominic was lying. There would be no escape attempt for him today.
Or ever, really.
Onyx would only get out when one of them was dead.
“What happens to me when you die?” Onyx asked abruptly. “If one of your other games backfires and you end up dead.”
Dominic silently assessed Onyx for a few moments before he replied, “If I die and nothing nefarious is involved, then you will go to my sister. She will come over from England to dispose of my estate according to my will.”
Onyx’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of person is your sister? Am I going to want to set her on fire too? Or is she the only decent person in your life, or whatever?”
Dominic chuckled, lightly stroking Onyx’s hipbones.
“She is a Bancroft. Some would say that that alone precludes any of us from being ‘decent.’ I would say that of the three of us — my sister, my brother, and I — she is the one where that descriptor might apply. I am not a good person; I make no claim to be. Nor is my brother. My sister at times is.”
Onyx shook his head. No, there were no “decent” Bancroft witches. No decent supes, really, except… Except he’d thought maybe Shane could be, and that was debatable considering what he’d done to Onyx and what he might do to others if he was given the order.
Shane, who he hadn’t seen since that day — who Dominic was dodging questions about.
He had mixed feelings about the whole thing, unsure of whether he hated Shane so much he never wanted to see him again or if he wanted to resolve things between them.
But today wasn’t the day to think about that. Today was the day to think about having his magic, if only for a short period of time, and he shifted restlessly, tugging back away from Dominic’s touch.
“Can we leave now?” Onyx didn't want to think about Shane, or Dominic’s family, or what his fate might be if Dominic continued to play his crazy fucking games…
With someone else.
Someone else who wasn’t Onyx.
Someone else who could be what Onyx wasn’t.
Someone better than Onyx, who wouldn’t crack beneath the pressure of it all.
His eyes darkened.
Dominic chuckled and patted Onyx’s hip. “Soon." He nudged Onyx back and turned to his laptop again. “Things are still being finalized, and I have work to finish first. Sit.”
He indicated the spot next to his desk, then got Onyx’s headphones out of his drawer and held them out to him.
Onyx looked at the headphones, then back at Dominic. He wanted to throw a fit, to say that he didn’t want to wait, but he didn’t want to do anything that would jeopardize his chances of getting to use his magic later. He didn’t think he was going to be able to sit still or quietly, though.
“Can you just get Shane to run me through some training?” he wheedled, the words escaping before he really thought them through. “There’s no way I’m going to be able to sit still.”
And the last thing he needed was to get in trouble right at the finish line.
Dominic considered Onyx silently for several long moments, a slight frown on his lips, before nodding slowly. “Very well,” he said at last. He reached out to press the intercom button on his desk. “Send Shane to my quarters.”
Onyx had been quick to think of a solution to his restlessness, but he had potentially been too rash, because it meant he hadn’t thought it through completely. Maybe he’d just assumed Dominic would deny him, or maybe he hadn’t thought about the fact that then he’d have to face the wolf.
Either way, once Dominic actually sent for Shane, he realized he was going to have to see him. Talk to him. Exercise with him.
Try to kick his ass, too, probably, because what the fuck, Shane had called Dominic when he should’ve just let Onyx die. And now Dominic was acting crazy and possessive and doing things like kissing him, and it was all Shane’s fault.
But he wasn’t going to retract the request, either. He sat on the edge of the chair, trying not to pace and annoy Dominic so much that he changed his mind on the trip to the warehouse. “Thank you.”
“Of course.” Dominic smiled faintly before going back to his laptop and typing more.
Fuck, Onyx was bored.
He twitched and fidgeted while Dominic worked on his document, peering at it without actually paying any attention to what was being typed.
He just needed something to do, both to keep his mind working and to keep himself from getting up and starting to pace across the room again.
Now he was both doubly agitated, from being made to wait and from being allowed to see Shane again.
In reality, he hadn’t thought Dominic would ever let him see the wolf again, and he was a little surprised that the Bancroft witch had chosen to allow it.
Maybe there really was something to be said for the insanity that made him want to give Onyx anything he wanted.
There was a light rap on the door only minutes later, then it cracked open as Shane carefully stepped into the room with a blank expression. “Mr. Bancroft?” he asked.
“Shane,” Dominic said, his tone entirely too mild. “You will be training Onyx today ahead of his venture out of the house. This is something that you should be able to manage successfully, without any undue damage occurring, I believe?”
Shane nodded once. “Yes, Mr. Bancroft.”
Onyx’s expression darkened as he took in the sight of the wolf responsible for keeping him alive when all he’d wanted was to die, but he didn’t want to say anything to change Dominic’s mind about this either. “Can we go?” he asked with as much patience as he could muster.
It wasn’t much.
Shane kept his eyes on Dominic, only stepping back out of the room after Dominic had nodded.
He held the door stiffly while Onyx came out into the hallway, and closed the door behind them.
He didn’t say anything, just started toward the workout room, not touching Onyx but making sure he stayed in sight.
Onyx exhaled slowly, but he didn’t look at Shane. He didn’t make an effort to talk to him, either, instead simply heading for the training room.
Only when they were inside and the door was closed did he turn to face Shane, his voice sharp as he snapped, “You called him! How could you do that to me?”
He hadn’t meant to start out that way. He’d meant to exercise and be done with it, not to have this conversation. But the words had escaped him before he could stop them, and now he wasn’t going to back down until he got his answers.
“I’m not ready to die,” Shane said, like it was that simple. “And if I let you die, Dominic wouldn’t let me live.”
Onyx crossed his arms against his chest, staring at Shane. “He can’t just kill you over something happening to his property,” he snapped. At least, he was pretty sure he couldn’t. Wasn’t that how things were supposed to work, anyway? “You’re a supe, and I’m just some slave.”
Except he wasn’t just some slave to Dominic, somehow, and he didn’t know how or why or when that had happened. But even so. Dominic was acting like he actually cared about what happened to Onyx, when that was impossible.
Someone like Dominic Bancroft would never care about anyone else, and Onyx didn’t want him to pretend to care about him.
Shane shook his head, a harsh laugh laced with a touch of bitterness escaping him.
“Laws don’t matter where someone like Dominic Bancroft is concerned.
And you—” He shook his head again. “You’re not just his slave.
You’re his obsession. Even I can see that.
That makes him dangerous where you’re concerned. ”
Onyx glared at Shane, partially because he was still pissed and partially because he was speaking the truth. Dominic was obsessed with him, even though he was legally nothing, and… well, Bancrofts always got what they wanted. Especially the rich ones.
“You’re not the one who has to deal with being his obsession,” he retorted. “If you were, you’d want to die too.”
But instead of dying, Onyx was on the verge of having his magic back for the first time since his capture. Did that change things? Could that change things?
“Maybe I would,” Shane said. “And maybe I’d pray that someone else was ready to die to let me out of it. But I’m not — not his obsession, and not ready to die. There’s a good bit that I’m willing to try to do, but that’s a lot to ask.”
Onyx scoffed. “There’s nothing you’re willing to try to do, not if it might bring His Highness down on you,” he sniped. He crossed over to the mat, letting his hands drop to his sides again. “Well, come on, then. I think I deserve to get at least one good punch right to your fucking face.”
“I’m not a dying-for-a-cause kind of guy. I told you that before,” Shane pointed out. But he got into position opposite Onyx, in a loose and defensive stance.
“Yeah, well, I am,” Onyx said, his voice just as brittle.
Was?
He wasn’t sure, now that he looked back at it in retrospect. But then, he’d take an opportunity to die if he got one, no matter what it was for.
He closed the distance between them and threw a punch, following it with a kick, then with another, as he launched into a full-out attack that might even seem in earnest against the werewolf.
What was the point in holding back? Shane could take it.
Shane had obviously been prepared to meet the attacks Onyx launched at him, and he gave ground easily before unleashing his own set of counterattacks that made Onyx work.
Onyx was all torn up inside, conflicted and consumed by uncertainty and bitterness, and the only thing he knew how to do was fight.
Well, that and throw fireballs, but considering he couldn’t currently set Dominic on fire, that wasn’t a possibility either. Maybe he’d tell Dominic to print out pictures of himself for Onyx to set ablaze later that day.
For the moment, though, he threw himself into his attacks, fighting until he was panting and there was a sheen of sweat across his forehead and seeping into his clothes. Shane was working hard, too, but Onyx wanted to push him harder, make him work more, before he took off any of the pressure.
The doors to the room swung open after what felt like hardly any time at all, and Dominic strode into the room, a smile touching his lips as he looked over Onyx.
“Good,” Dominic said, though not specifying exactly what the good was in reference to. “Get rinsed off and changed, and then we’ll depart.” He turned to Shane, the smile dropping away. “You verified the facility again this morning?”
Shane slipped through the ropes of the ring and grabbed a couple of water bottles, tossing one to Onyx. “I did,” he replied. “Everything is secured.”
Onyx barely paused long enough to catch the water bottle before heading to the makeshift locker rooms, where he could shower and change. He didn’t bother to let the water warm up before stepping under the spray, still half-dressed in his haste to follow those particular orders.
They would lead him out of here, into being able to use his magic… as long as Dominic wasn’t toying with him.
What would he even do if it turned out that this was all some elaborate lie?
But no. Dominic was a lot of things, but he wasn’t a liar.
Probably.