Chapter 13
Chapter thirteen
The chaos outside was distant white noise against the steady, strong heartbeat. Mira focused on its rhythm, willing everything else to fade.
“We’re blown. It’s time to go into cooldown.”
Jackson’s words finally pierced her cocoon of sound. She slowly lifted her head from Dominic’s chest.
“What?” she whispered hoarsely.
Jackson stopped pacing and gestured impatiently around the empty Le Prestige dining room. “Look at us. We were even targeted by the Council. We’re fucking blown, on every level.”
Dominic’s hand tightened in Mira’s hair. “Cooper wasn’t acting on behalf of the Council.”
Jackson huffed. “Does that even matter if he still works for them? We need to follow the playbook. We dissolve our unit, split up, and find new units to join after shit has cooled down.”
Mira stared at him without comprehension. She glanced at Aubrey across the room, but the other woman only looked at her with reddened eyes before turning away again.
“What about Max?”
Jackson’s face twisted in disbelief. “Max is gone, Mir. We can’t fix that.”
He crouched in front of her, and she felt Dominic tense.
“Remember how we used talk about South America? Come with me,” he urged. “Let’s start our own movement. Write our own playbook. This is our chance. There’s nothing left here, for either of us.”
Mira sat up as anger flowed through her, poisoning her words before they even emerged. “Max is on his way to the morgue. His killer is still out there. And you’re bringing up South America like this is a fucking honeymoon?”
She couldn’t stop the fury flowing out alongside her tears, blinding her. “I don’t even know you, Jackson. I don’t want to know you. You’re just somebody I used to fuck.”
Jackson stiffened and grabbed her arm. “What the hell is your—”
He tumbled across the room in a whirl of gray smoke. Dominic reappeared, dragging him up against the wall by his collar. Jackson’s eyes widened until Mira could clearly see the whites across the dim room, and she knew Dominic’s own must have started glowing.
“You don’t touch her,” he said between his teeth. He shoved Jackson hard against the wall, until his head lolled. “You’ll never touch her. Again.”
Something broke inside Mira. She covered her face as her tears began to run freely, her shoulders shaking. She heard Jackson fall to the floor with a grunt. Dominic’s warmth returned to her side.
“Get me out of here.” She sucked in a sobbing breath. “Please get me the fuck out of here. Take me h-home.”
Mira pried open her swollen, sandy eyes, and stared into the darkness of Dominic’s bedroom.
She’d asked to go home, and he’d brought her to his apartment in Hyde Park. Yet, the idea of returning to her apartment with Tyler, and his questions, made her curl into a ball.
Pulling the blankets higher, she inhaled, searching for his Dominic’s scent on the blankets.
At the sound of voices out in the living room, she stilled. She picked out Dominic’s voice first, followed by Nikhiv, and Bastian. Mira sat up, and crept toward the cracked doorway.
“…other two smoke demons were also single,” Bastian was saying. “That must be why they were specifically sought out to manipulate.”
“It’s the only explanation that makes sense,” Nikhiv said. “I was unmated when under the Councilman’s control. I’ve since claimed Phoebe, and Cooper couldn’t touch me. I suppose there’s much we still don’t understand about how mating changes us.”
Mira pulled the bedroom door wide. All three men turned to look at her.
“Mated demons can’t be controlled by air demons?”
At her question, their faces grew guarded.
Dominic hesitated, then ran his hands along her shoulders. “You don’t need to worry about this today. We’ll find a solution. But not tonight.”
She searched his face. He was still afraid to directly touch her, she realized.
“I’m deeply sorry about your friend, Mira,” Nikhiv told her. “From speaking with Dominic, it appears his death was in retaliation for me killing Cooper’s friend.”
She nodded quickly, her eyes blurring. “That was self-defense. I was there, remember?” A pained laugh escaped her. “I also shot you.”
“That you did.” Nikhiv cleared his throat. “It’s time for me to return to Phoebe. I’ve been gone far too long.”
“Don’t tell her,” Mira blurted. “Not about… not about Max. She never met him, and it’ll just make her worry. She doesn’t need to stress like that. Not with the baby.”
Dominic’s face blanked with shock. He and Bastian looked at Nikhiv.
“Phoebe’s pregnant?” they both echoed.
Nikhiv’s small smile was secretive. “We only learned a few days ago. Quite by accident.”
Bastian grinned. “Since Le Prestige is closed for the week, you can enjoy some much-needed time with her. With your family.”
“Indeed,” Nikhiv replied softly.
The news only filled Mira with dismay.
“I’m sorry about Le Prestige.”
Their smiles faded.
Daunted, she forged ahead. “Thing shouldn’t have gotten so out of hand. We just wanted to send a message. A big one, about how the Council selectively enforces demon laws.”
Nikhiv nodded tightly. He walked to the door, but stopped, and faced her once more.
“If you want to fight in the name of the oppressed,” he told her, “you have to give them a choice. You can’t fight on their behalf while granting them no agency.”
Stricken, Mira bit her lip, and glanced down at the floor.
“Demons aren’t a part of the Demon Freedom Coalition. We never were. We’re just its mascot.”