26. Bree
“Good evening ladies.” Dominic’s sensual voice wrapped around me, warming me from within. He wore a black t-shirt that clung to his muscles like a second skin and black athletic shorts, stitched with a red dragon on one leg—his fighting clothes. “Can Bree and I have a moment alone please?”
“I gotta head back out there anyway,” Frankie said, casting me a final look that said it all.
There was no turning back.
Marissa leaned closer to me. “Want me to stay?”
I shook my head. I needed to face him on my own, no matter how difficult. But honestly, I had no idea what I was going to say or do. My thoughts and emotions were in complete chaos.
After they both left, Dominic met me in the middle of the room. His beautiful eyes roved over my face. “You’ve been avoiding me.”
“Like I said in my messages, I’ve just been really busy.” I dropped my focus to cracks on the floor, unable to lie while looking at him.
His fingers lifted my chin until I met his gaze again. “It’s more than that. Talk to me.”
I couldn’t do this. I needed space. Taking a step back, I shook my head, not really sure what I was saying no to. “Why are you fighting?”
He studied me for a moment before answering. “I made a deal with Ichiro. If I agreed to this fight, he would publicly name me as his heir.”
My stomach dropped into the deepest darkest ocean. “But only if you win, right?”
His lips pulled up into a delicious grin. Tides, I wanted to kiss those lips until I forgot about everything else.
“You know I always win, darlin’.”
“Not always,” I said quietly.
Linking his fingers between mine, he raised both my hands to his warm lips. “Are you worried about me getting hurt?”
That and so much more. I yanked my hands out of his. “I don’t understand why you would even want to be his heir, Nic. Everything about that family is corrupt.”
His expression hardened, but I knew from our previous talks his anger wasn’t directed at me. “That’s exactly why I need to do this. It’s worse than you know. He’s—” He stopped short as if contemplating whether to continue, then asked, “Do you know what pyrocrystals are?”
I vaguely recalled the conversation with Frankie about the red rock I’d found. It felt like a lifetime ago. “Just that they’re a drug of some sort.”
“They’re formed during a dragon’s spirit bonding ceremony and help enhance the new connection,” he explained. “Ichiro has figured out a way to create them en masse and is selling them to Gifted people.”
I didn’t quite understand what he was implying. “Why is that bad? Besides the obvious drug part.”
The lines along his jaw moved as he clenched his teeth. “They’re a very powerful and addictive drug to anyone not bonded to a dragon. He’s using them to force submission and seize control. Soon, he’ll be more unstoppable than he already is.”
Oh, crab on a coconut. Ichiro was already one of the most powerful people in the city, if not the most. “So, you want to take over and put a stop to it, I’m guessing.”
“I’m not a good man, Bree.” His gaze darkened, but it only served to make him more attractive. “I’ve never pretended to be. But this goes too far. He’s crossed a line, and the only one who stands a chance going against my grandfather is me.”
My heart ached as cracks formed, ready to break apart completely. I didn’t agree with him at all. He was a good man, but one stuck in an unfortunate situation, having to make difficult decisions. I could relate.
“Can’t you fight him without having to be named heir?”
“The only way to put an end to this is from the inside. There are too many variables involved.” He stepped closer and cupped my face in my hands. The cracks in my heart grew bigger. “I know this is difficult and that I’m asking a lot, but trust me. Please. I wouldn’t do anything to hurt you, and I would kill anyone who tried to.”
I closed my eyes and leaned against his palm, trying to find some comfort in his touch. Unfortunately, there was no comfort to be found.
The deep clang of a bell echoed across the gym, followed by erupting cheers that shook the walls.
That would be Frankie announcing the fight and hyping up the crowd. We only had a few more minutes, which meant I needed to make a decision—fast.
“What happens if you lose?” I whispered, my voice thick with emotion.
He shrugged and smiled, much too casually for his next words. “He’ll kill me.”
And just like that, my decision was made.
If he won, Marissa and I would lose our home. There was no way Ichiro would let us live in the basement rent-free, and I couldn’t afford it on my current salary. I couldn’t afford any place.
Marissa and I had been homeless and hungry before, we could do it again. And Frankie was scrappy enough to survive the apocalypse. We could come back from those things.
But if I won, Dominic would lose more than just the fight.
There was no coming back from death.
The illegal fights at Subliminal were brutal, partly to give the audience a good show, but also because Gifted people healed at faster-than-human rates. It took mass destruction to win, and in some cases, one or both opponents died from their injuries.
He needed to win, but there was no way he was going to fight me like that tonight. Despite his tough exterior and the arrogance he wore like a shield, Dominic wouldn’t hurt the people he cared about, which meant he wouldn’t hurt me, even to save his own life.
Unless…
…he hated me.
My heart hammered viciously against my ribs as an idea formed. The only true way I could get him to feel nothing but violent hatred toward me. It would be despicable, but it would work.
Could I do that to him?
To us?
The bell rang again, and I knew my time had run out. Frankie would expect us in just another minute. I had no other choice.
I swallowed the lump forming in my throat and squared my shoulders. Channeling Marissa’s sass with an inner grimace, I twisted my lips into a smirk. “Ready for round two, lizard boy?”
Dominic’s bewildered look would have been funny in any other situation. “Round two of what?”
I gestured toward the gym. “They’re waiting for us to fight.”
“You.” His eyes widened, and his gaze traveled the length of my body, taking in my Subliminal shorts and sports bra. He finally seemed to comprehend my outfit. “You’re the mystery opponent?”
I gazed at him coolly. “Do you have a problem with that?”
The crowd’s cheers grew thunderous, but it was nothing compared to my pulse drumming in my ears.
He let out a short, surprised laugh. “I’m not fighting you.”
“Scared you’ll lose again, only this time in front of your adoring fans?”
“Scared of hurting you,” he said softly, reaching for me. “I have to win this.”
I backed away from him. I couldn’t do this if he touched me. “So win.”
“Aren’t you worried about everyone else figuring out that it’s you?” he asked. “Regulars will notice you’re not watching the fight.”
“Frankie has that covered.”
My boss had created an illusion of me that would remain in her office, reading a book. No one would find that suspicious behavior for me, even for a big fight night. The illusion could handle simple replies that shut down conversations before they could happen.
Thank the tide for fae magic.
“Bree, you know how I feel about you.” The pleading in his voice just about killed me. “Please back down.”
The time had come to smash his hopes and drown his dreams.
“You know what I am, Nic.” I grabbed my mask and headed for the steps that led to the gym. Resting my free hand on the railing, I raised my gaze to meet his surprised one. This was it, the kill shot. “Did it not occur to you that what you’ve seen and everything you feel are lies?”
His entire body tensed, and crimson light flared within his eyes. The Red Dragon had awakened. “Stop. I know what you’re trying to do.”
“Do you?” I smiled cruelly, hating myself for every second of this charade, this betrayal. “How well do you think you actually know me, Dominic?”
“Better than you think I do.”
When I allowed someone to truly feel my magic rather than block them from sensing it, the experience was far from pleasant. A rather revolting sensation, or so I’ve been told. At least for landlubbers who weren’t used to the slick, intimate caress of a sea creature like me.
I cast my magic out like a net, looping it around Dominic’s mind, and encouraged him to kneel with a single lyrical note, “Fa.”
A startled grunt escaped his lips before he fell to his knees. His eyes opened wide.
My hands trembled, so I gripped the railing tighter and hoped he was too stunned to notice.
“That was just a taste, darlin’.” I climbed the steps and grabbed the door handle. With my back to him, I squeezed my eyes shut, holding back the tears threatening to spill.
No, I wasn’t just a sea creature…
…I was a monster.