Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Dom stared at the parchment floating in front of him. He wondered if he’d see Dojin or if he’d been assigned a new mage to threaten him into submission. On the kitchen table rested a pair of gold scissors. The Fates had also summoned him, specifically Atropos.
He rubbed his index finger over his front teeth as he stared at both summonses. Both would want to discuss the same topic. Her.
The right thing would be to exit Evie’s life once and for all. That’s what he told her today. He meant it, right?
His palm tinged for the second time since arriving here. He held it up for inspection. Energy stirred into a glowing, concentrated globe a few millimeters above his skin. He jolted away from it so hard that he fell out of his chair. The orb disappeared.
“What the hell?”
He held out his hand palm up. The energy ball didn’t burn or freeze his skin.
He didn’t detect foreign magic as if a demon or other entity was trying to possess him.
It source seemed to be from inside him. Had he somehow achieved third level energy?
Ninety-nine percent of living mages couldn’t do this.
Sure, he’d read about this. Perhaps, he’d even tried it a time or two and failed.
As most mages of his advanced age could do, before today he could manipulate all the elements by thought alone, move using the in-between, heal living beings, and even deep-read or future-read almost any being.
But never gather raw magic power in his hand in a way that suggested he could direct it.
With this pure energy, he could do things often not accessible to magi their entire lives—slice water, bend light, perhaps even bend time.
He wiggled his fingers and rotated the ball of blue light energy in his hand.
This seemed stable. He wondered if this meant he was on his way to becoming an archmagi.
That status involved controlling inconceivable magic, changing reality.
No mage alive today had achieved it. The few who had tried centuries ago to bend reality ended up having the paradox kick their ass.
At least, that’s what he’d read in his library of long-forgotten history of magic books. With little else to do in his solitude between times he hunted evils for the Fates, he exercised, meditated, and studied.
He sensed himself being watched and quickly closed his palm. The magic disappeared.
That Evie had disregarded his request to stay away should piss him off. Instead, excitement blasted through him.
The scissors shook on the table.
He could pretend he didn’t detect her, but he didn’t have time to play games tonight.
“It’s been barely a day since I saw you,” he said out loud. He stood and rotated toward her, but stumbled. Holy shit.
In the past, she’d been a shimmery ghost-like entity with nebulous form. Now, she looked almost solid. The mhis must’ve suppressed this ability like everything else.
“Did you mean it when you said you never wanted to see me again?” She crossed her arms and looked irritated as if she expected him not to hear him.
He could hear her.
Wow. He could hear her!
Excitement slid through him. In the past, he’d detected her presence and maybe sensed a laugh, but never heard her voice. This opened a world of possibilities. The wall of his forced solitude cracked to let in a blazing light of hope.
“I said it, didn’t I? You being anywhere near me is dangerous for both of us.”
“You heard me?” She grinned. “You heard me!” She did a little jig then stopped abruptly to point at him.
“You can smile.” With a hand against her chest, she laughed loud and free.
“This is incredible.” She frowned. “Wait. Were you always able to hear me and see me? You simply ignored me in the past?”
He shook his head. “This is new. As is me seeing you as if you’re solid and hearing you speak.”
She ran over to a small mirror and pointed. “I can see myself, whereas before I never could.”
He cleared his throat in an attempt to get control of the situation. “This dream walking is a skill like any other. You need to practice.”
“You can hear me and see me. I think I’m already a hundred times better.” Her smug grin almost drew a laugh from him. When was the last time anything made him laugh?
“Speaking is okay. You should progress to being able to manipulate things in the place you’re visiting. Try touching me.” He held out his hand.
Her hand went through his when she tried. All he detected was a whisper of wind.
After twenty-something more attempts resulted only in failure, he dropped his hand. “Go away. I have things to do that threaten you if you’re found here.”
“You’re alone. Why is it dangerous?”
He turned away from her to sit back at the table and stare at the summonses.
“Have you done something terrible, and this is your prison? Looks gloomy enough.”
“This is my lot. I must remain alone.” Utterly alone.
“Oh, Dom.” She was close. He felt the whisper again as if she attempted to touch him. “You’re not alone. I’m here. You’re the only person I can visit like this. Maybe I have this ability so that you don’t have to be alone.”
Something warm touched his cheek. He jumped. “What did you do?”
She was right next to him. “I kissed your cheek. I can’t touch you with my hand, so I thought I’d…”
“No. Nope.” He put his hand over where she’d kissed him, stood while shaking his head. He backed away. “We’re not doing this. If they sense you here, they’ll hunt you down. Even I’m not sure I can protect you from them.”
“Who exactly forced you to be alone?”
The scissors rattled on the table.
He saw her reach for them.
“No!” he shouted. “Don’t touch those or the parchment. Those are for me. If you get sucked into either summons, you’ll die.”
She jumped back. “I don’t understand.”
“I know.” He combed a hand through his hair. “Go home. I have to deal with these.”
“Why are you trapped in a place like this, alone, and receiving summons from beings that sound like they are threatening you?”
“It’s complicated. My future is considered dangerous, so they monitor me.” He tugged at the obsidian ring, but as usual, found no weakness in its grip around his finger.
“I’ll go, but will you let me come back another day? I’d like to learn how to get better at dream walking.”
He shouldn’t encourage her to return, but he liked her here. He liked a witness to his life, even if only small bits of it. Hell, he liked the thought of company. “I will help you, but if you visit again, there will be rules.”
“What kind of rules?”
“No kissing me. No affection. You will leave at exactly the moment I tell you.”
She crossed her arms and rocked her head. “I’ll leave when you say. I agree not to cross the line in this form.”
The words were carefully chosen. He respected that.
“I’ll leave now, but… Dom, all those years ago, did you warn me not to get caged because you know what it’s like to be trapped?” She waved around them.
He couldn’t look at her. She was too close to the truth.
Her brows dropped low. “Who do I need to eliminate to set you free?”
You’d do that for me? “This isn’t your fight.”
“It could be.” She didn’t speak further until he met her gaze. “When you’re ready, tell me who and I’ll go after them.” Then she was gone.
He remained motionless for endless minutes to ensure she didn’t return. This was what it felt like to have someone on his side. There’d never been anyone who offered to help him without wanting something in return.
He touched both summonses at once. This ought to be interesting.
A whoosh into a dark space compressed him until he landed so hard on a road that he ricocheted into a brick building, knocking his head. Pain rocked through his skull as he stood. He needed the pain gone to get through this.
The air smelled salty and humid.
Dojin waved at him from an outdoor café chair across the street. The mage lowered his sunglasses when he got close. “Took you long enough. I was about to get sunburnt.”
He felt Atropos before he saw her. The deity stood across the street.
She’d taken the form of a woman with dark skin and black hair intricately woven into braids that cascaded down her back.
Colorful beaded jewelry adorned her neck and wrists.
A loose orange and green dress covered her to her ankles where she worse beaded sandals.
“You’re going to have to wait, Dojin.” He dismissed the other mage, turning to walk away.
“Who is that?” A tinge of fear laced the mage’s tone. “Is that one of them?”
Dojin didn’t deserve an answer if he couldn’t figure it out for himself.
Dom gave a slight nod of his head in deference. “Atropos. To what do I owe the honor of a personal visit?”
Her long, delicate fingers waved toward Dojin as she turned to walk up the dirt street, away from the café. “We should discuss it in private. I understand you’ve unlocked some of your power today.”
How would you know that?
“You’re welcome. Use it to put up a shield,” she ordered.
“I’m not sure I want to reveal this new development.”
“Do it. Now.”
“How?”
She cast her eyes heavenward. “Focus on what you want. Grow the energy from there with intent.”
He turned his back to Dojin t concentrate on enlarging the bubble in his hand into an invisible barrier with intent to contain sound and blur their actions to outside observers. “Done, I think.”
“It’s acceptable, but needs practice. I’ll augment it this once.” She motioned for him to walk slowly with her away from Dojin. “Today, when that mage asks you to kill a specific human, you will refuse.”
“Rather explicit direction, but I’m okay not being forced to assassinate someone.”
“It’s not a business for you to become involved in.” She paused but didn’t poof away as she normally did.
“There’s more?”
Her gaze gleamed with tension when she made eye contact with him. “You will protect her.”
No question which “her” she referred to. “I already do.”
“You half-ass it at best.” Her lips pressed into a grimace. “Make her your priority.”
“I have to be discreet to avoid detection.”
“It’s critical.”