41. Onyx #3
Fuck, it would’ve been so much better if he’d just killed Dominic…
though then he probably would’ve had to kill Shane, too, and he really would’ve been all alone in a world on the run until Dominic’s sister tracked him down and did whatever she’d been ordered to do.
Assuming Onyx would’ve let himself be caught. He might’ve just gone down in flames.
“Do you think I’m weak for letting him collar me again?” he asked, his voice pleading as he watched Shane’s expression.
“No,” Shane said without hesitation. “You’re not.
Minds do shit. It doesn’t always make sense, and it isn’t always logical, but it’s not weakness.
You haven’t been weak. Hell, the first day I saw you, you were fighting and hissing even when you could barely stand up.
If you coulda put me on my ass from will alone, you’d’ve done it. ”
Onyx managed another smile, more genuine, though that one didn’t last either.
“Yeah. It… sucked. But I wanted to kill you both. I would have if I could’ve that day.
” He sighed. When had that changed? He was sitting there with one of his rapists, declaring that he wanted to call him a friend and meaning it, and the other…
It was so complicated.
He reached up to touch the collar at his throat, the very thing that kept him from accessing his magic and getting him out of all of this.
“I think… I don’t know who I am anymore.
Just a soldier and a slave, someone who takes orders, not someone who thinks for himself.
And I think sometimes that it’s easier this way. ”
Shane nodded sympathetically. “Can’t imagine that’ll be easy to sort out.”
Onyx shook his head. “It’s not. And maybe I never will.
” He sighed, fidgeting with the hem of his shirt.
“Dominic thinks the people who attacked might try again, that they might be stupid enough to even attack here. They can’t know him at all.
I mean, if they did, they wouldn’t have tried at all.
But I don’t guess they’ve figured out that trying again would be even more stupid. ”
Shane nodded, and Onyx could see the relief in his expression at the subject change.
Guilt gnawed at him, but he’d needed that. Badly.
Minds do shit.
Yeah. Yeah, they very much did.
“Yeah, Dominic has me running scenario planning and weakness assessments,” Shane said. “He’s reached out to a contact of his, a specialist of some kind, to conduct interviews with the household. I know he doesn’t think the threat is over.”
Onyx considered that for a moment. “There’s pretty much zero chance they’d be able to get me out of here.
They’re probably going to wait until they think Dominic has let his guard down and leaves again.
Assuming that happens ever again.” He sighed.
“They have to know he has the place warded to hell and back. What do you think they know? This informant, or traitor, or whatever?”
“Hard to say,” Shane replied, canting his head as he considered the question.
“It depends a whole lot on what they want to know, which is something we don’t really know.
We have to assume that whatever information they wanted, they’ve gotten.
I think one of two things will happen. Either they’ll do whatever it is that they’re planning to do immediately, though I think if that was the more likely scenario, they would’ve already done something.
And it's possible that they have and we just haven’t seen it yet.
Or they’ll go to ground and we won’t see anything out of them for a while.
And then we’ll be on their timeline, so we don’t really have an idea of when something will happen next. ”
Onyx nodded. That made sense. “So that’s probably what’s happening,” he concluded.
“But that gives Dominic time to find the leak and fix any cracks in his defenses. The more time they give him to prepare…” Maybe they were just trying to come up with a plan on the fly and they would attack soon.
But Onyx couldn’t see them getting him out of the house.
Not while Dominic was alive, at least.
Shane nodded. “There’s a lot of unknowns right now. So contingency planning is a right bitch.”
But if anyone could contingency-plan, it would be Dominic. He was sort of curious how Dominic had decided Shane was fully trustworthy, really. If he was Dominic, he might’ve looked at Shane first, given everything he knew.
Maybe he had. Onyx didn’t know.
“If it helps—” Shane started to say but was interrupted by the gym’s door swinging open and Dominic entering the room.
Onyx glanced over at the door, and he was wary that the witch might be upset that he and Shane were obviously having a serious conversation. But Dominic could’ve been eavesdropping on any of it, and he hadn’t decided to enter until right then.
Hours had passed since breakfast, and his stomach grumbled, reminding him that it was lunch time.
He got to his feet, feeling steadier than he had since he’d woken up, and ducked out of the ring.
Dominic held out his hand in the familiar come here gesture, waiting for Onyx to join him. He lifted his hand to cup Onyx’s face for just a moment, his thumb brushing over Onyx’s cheek. “You should rinse off before lunch,” he said softly.
Onyx tensed at the touch, but he nodded. “Okay,” he agreed.
He hesitated, remembering both what Dominic had said and what Shane had said, then leaned in to brush his lips against Dominic’s in a light kiss. Not the peck of earlier, and not anything deep, but more of a chaste kiss that was still there nonetheless.
“I’ll be right back,” Onyx promised.
“Any requests for lunch?” Dominic asked before Onyx had fully turned away to head for the showers.
Onyx shook his head. “Just something quick,” he said. “I’m starving.” He glanced at Shane. “Thank you." For the training, for the talk, for all of it — and he hoped he conveyed that.
“Any time.” Shane smiled.