Chapter 23
Chapter Twenty-Three
The Present
“I figured your idiocy would land on my doorstep eventually.” Cora Roales crossed her arms, pressed her dark-pink lips together, and narrowed her black-lined and mascaraed eyes.
Her white-blonde hair with purple highlights had been pulled into a messy bun, but wind battered her where she blocked her front door from entry.
The witch came off deceivingly chaotic. She was the most organized and formidable witch Dom knew.
She seemed to be the only one in Evie’s sphere of people on whom the Sol Opal’s magic hadn’t worked.
Although it should annoy him that she remained immune, he found some relief that someone remembered his shared past with Evie.
Cora’s niece mated Evie’s son, Shane, and helped them break the curse that bound them to the monarchy.
When he didn’t say anything, she snapped, “Why are you here?”
“Consultation.” Movement to Dom’s left pulled his attention.
A miniature donkey shuffled up to the fence near the house.
Animals of all types populated Cora’s sprawling Spanish estate—goats, a few miniature horses, cows, cats, and parrots who talked.
Dom even glimpsed a hedgehog scurrying across the floor of the hallway behind Cora.
He’d never sought out Cora on purpose. Once, long ago, they’d fought together against a necromancer who had captured her sister. Eliminating the death summoner led to her sister’s death. That hadn’t been his finest moment, nor one that endeared her to him.
“I have a few house rules you must agree to before you enter. You will not use your magic here. You will not deep read me. You won’t hurt any of my animals.”
“Anything else?”
“Don’t be an asshole.” Cora waved him inside.
Today, he’d take Cora’s hate. He needed one person with a shared history who had genuine feelings for him, even if they were negative.
Time to figure out how to reverse the amnesia spell. Since it wasn’t mage magic, he needed a witch’s help.
She removed a whistling teapot from its burner and poured the water into two waiting cups with teabags. When he moved into the kitchen, she pointed at a chair across from her at the round table.
“Admit you made a mistake when you cast the forget spell.” Cora slid a teacup in front of him.
“No.” He eyed the cup. Potions could be hidden too easily inside the hot brew.
“Why did you do it?”
“I had no choice.”
“You had no choice?” Her brows dropped low.
“The great mage who outwitted elves and is legendary for outmaneuvering an irate Greek god had no choice? You survived two interspecies wars and designed a way to maintain the veil between the creatures of hell’s world and ours.
Your brilliant reason for executing one of the most diabolical and selfish acts of your life is to lie to me and say you had no choice? ”
He blew out a long sigh and dropped his chin. “I did it to protect her…all of them—including your niece—from the Mage Conclave.”
For a moment, her eyebrows pressed together. “What possessed them to think themselves clever by erasing your existence from her and everyone around her?”
“They’re obsessed with the prophecy about me. When they detected I had a connection with Evie, they sought to eliminate her. Either I did this spell, or they released the Sutana Vase on her.”
She fisted her hand and waved it in the air. “Stupid, stupid, selfish mages. Did they consider the ripple effects of the Lanzos forgetting you? You’re interwoven into all their lives. By erasing yourself, you broke the web of time.”
“They didn’t know how interwoven I was. I kept it secret to keep them all safe.” He pushed himself away from the table and leaned forward. “The Fates told me I had to choose the path that involved the least death.” He flexed and relaxed his left hand, staring where the black ring banded his finger.
She waved a hand in the air to halt his next words.
“The witch who spun words about some child of yours causing the destruction of a world hated you. We were at war. Of course, she was going to concoct something to shackle your desire to make more little mages. None of us wanted more of you running around in the world. I still don’t.
The Conclave rules with an arrogance that suggests all their decisions are irrefutable truth. You mages lack humility.”
“Me included?”
“You especially.”
“The witch seemed to be in a legit trance at the time she told me the words.”
“Do you have a living child whom you think is on the path to end the world?”
“No.” He’d been careful, except with Evie, but she’d said she couldn’t have more children. And lycan biology had meant conception was only possible when a female was in heat.
Cora made an odd noise before she put on her reading glasses and shuffled her tarot cards. “What happens when you have this prophetic child?”
He pointed at the cards. “Don’t throw for me.”
With a smirk, she shuffled the cards. “So, what happens when this child is born? What if Evie gives you a son or a daughter? Someone who’s as determined as her but as powerful as you? What will you do?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Would you destroy the child moments after its first breath?” She kept her attention focused on the cards. “Would you murder Evie, or maybe kill the child before it entered the world?”
His shoulders dropped, and he shook his head. “How can we know if it would be destructive or turn to evil?”
She stilled, staring at him as if to gauge his sincerity. “The witch said…what? Remind me of her exact words.”
“The child borne of great love, forgotten but never gone, will be the destruction of the world you know.”
“That’s clear as pond scum. The child will destroy the world you know. What exactly does that mean?”
“Do you know?”
“Nope. It’s your silly prophecy. You’ve had centuries to mull over its meaning.
” She placed the cards on the table. “Are you sure you didn’t cast the amnesia spell to get rid of Evie so you could plow through women?
And now you suddenly realized you forgot condoms and need to take a stroll through several years of stupid decisions? ”
He blinked at her. He hadn’t been with anyone since Evie.
“Then what’re you stressed about?” Cora seemed relieved. “Are all children from you supposed to be problematic, or just one?”
“I never wanted children.” The desire wasn’t borne from the prophecy. The power that increased while a mage’s seemingly never-ending life droned onward was a curse. He never wanted to put that on another.
“Uh-huh.”
He stared again at his finger where the ring sat. “Do you think Evie and her sons, with the help of your niece, are strong enough to face off with a few powerful mages?”
“Between you and them…and me…” She slowly smiled.
Hope bloomed furious in his chest. Cora hadn’t committed to a fight in centuries.
“We know a hell of a lot more about magic than any one of those sanctimonious mules took the time to learn.” She winked at him.
What the hell did that mean? “They sit in that marble palace they label a temple trying to control destinies when that’s not their place in the world.
Do the Fates still ask you to do things? ”
“Sometimes.” From his jacket, he removed the Sol Opal and rested it on the table. “The Conclave forced me to use this to cast the amnesia spell. Can it be reversed?”
A procession of expressions played across Cora’s face as she stared at the opal. “You have all been very bad.” She clucked. “Mages should never play with this kind of magic. That looks like an item off the dark market.”
“It’s worse. It’s a relic.” That meant it had existed since the inception of their species.
“There’s a reason you mages are supposed to stay in your corner with elemental magic.
Conjure up your fires and winds, or even wormholes in time or space.
Leave the spells, relics, and potions to us witches.
” She hovered a hand a few inches away from the gem as if absorbing its power.
“This is tainted with…” Her eyes widened for a moment.
“Why do you think it’s a good thing to break the spell now?
Evie has moved on. She has a life. A good one, from what my niece—who mated her youngest, Shane—told me. In case you forgot.”
I didn’t forget. “Ian,” he muttered under his breath.
She compressed her lips as if suppressing a smile.
“An alpha female like Evie needs someone to rev the engine from time to time. Full moons are hard on her kind. Maybe it’s Ian in her bed.
Maybe it’s someone else.” With a shrug, she took a sip of tea.
“You’re not around to do it. Did you think she was going to pine away for someone she can’t remember? ”
He set his teacup down too hard. Liquid sloshed everywhere, but he didn’t care to clean it up. “I’m not talking about some lover to alleviate moon lust. Ian Lanzo appeared in her life. That’s a big problem.”
“Other than you having your balls in a wad, what’s the issue? So she’s got some new lycan rocking her in the bedroom.”
“I killed Ian Lanzo. He’s been deader than this table for almost four decades.”
She pulled her head back. “Why would someone impersonate him to her?”
“To threaten her. To taunt me. I don’t know. It puts her and everyone around her at risk. I need them all to remember the past as fast as possible. We have to get ahead of whatever this creature may be.”
They stared at each other for several long moments. If the threat from Ian might affect her niece, then Cora might help him.
She cut the card deck and put it in front of him. “Pull three if you dare. I need to do some research on this relic.” With a grunt, she left the room.
In awkward silence, he sipped the remaining tea, which tasted too minty for him. He expected her to return, but she didn’t. An orange cat wove between his legs, demanding a head pat. He rested his hand on the feline’s proud head. “Do you think she’s coming back, or that’s all I get from her today?”
Out of boredom, he turned over the top tarot card. The Eight of Swords.
A chill swept down his back. The first card thrown was “the problem.” This picture showed a blindfolded woman who was bound and held in thrall by crows. If she could remove the blindfold, she would see that her imprisonment was one she could easily break free from.
He hated cards, but he’d taken the time to learn them. This Eight of Swords signified a feeling of hopelessness, of breaking free of his current bond, or of feeling victimized.
The front door opened and shut. Cora wasn’t coming back.
Out of curiosity, he drew a second card. The Moon.
The second card was “the solution.” Why was he torturing himself with this?
The card depicted a woman under water and a large moon above the water. On either side of the moon was a howling wolf, each a mirror of the other. The card suggested two possible paths, one of good and one of evil. It alluded to the difficulty in telling the difference between the two.
He wasn’t drawing the third card, “the outcome.” I won’t do it.
But he did.
The card he pulled was a demon surrounded by flames with a human on either side of him.
Technically, the card was called the Devil.
Many who read tarot feared pulling this card.
It reflected the chains that bound two people to the Devil’s throne, representing how people could be caught up in their own toxic patterns of behavior.
But maybe this card was meant to be more literal than the implied feelings of helplessness or bondage. Devil magic. Demon magic.
Ian Lanzo alive…
“Now, that, Domini, is the question.”
He jumped to his feet and spun to find the source of the voice, which wasn’t Cora.
Atropos had taken on her form with ebony skin and long braids.
“You can appear in Cora’s house?”
With a slow smile, Atropos took the few steps to close their distance. She took his left hand in hers and removed the black obsidian ring. “It’s time.” Next, she removed the ankle band.
“I’m free? I thought you couldn’t undo magic.
” With the bindings off, a light-headed vertigo wobbled the world around him.
He gripped the table for stability. No longer was there a baseline buzz from the binders.
All he sensed was quiet. He hadn’t realized the hum of energy the bands emitted had been so strong.
“Magic of poor purpose we can undo at the right time.”
Power rushed through his body, energizing him. Those two items had dampened him.
“Demon magic?” Atropos said the words slowly in a way to suggest he had hit upon the answer to a question he hadn’t asked. She rolled the ankle band in her hand, looked at it, looked up at Dom, and back at the band. “What are these markings?” She pointed and allowed him to see.
Those were demon marks. “How is that possible?”
Who put the band on his ankle? He hadn’t seen.
With a finger snap, the band disappeared.
The Fate clasped her hands together in front of her as if praising him.
“You are not evil, nor have you ever been destined for that. Don’t fear yourself now that you are free.
We’ve watched you be unnecessarily punished.
You surprised us with your humility and resilience.
You were chosen to help us because we needed to protect you.
” She slowly grinned. “You didn’t know it was you who needed protection.
Then you exceeded our expectations in fulfilling the tasks we asked of you.
You impressed us. That’s nearly impossible. ”
He lowered his head. “I will continue to do whatever you need if it protects those who need it.” The exorcisms are horrendous, though.
“We know. I’m not here to sever our relationship. We ask you to undertake your most dangerous mission. You must eliminate the evil that threatens both you and the lycan destined to walk life with you. Help is there, if you ask.”
His knees gave out, and he dropped to the ground. Goose bumps prickled his skin. “We are truly meant to be together?”
“Has she not been the key to unlock your powers and sustain you in a world trying to destroy you?” She glanced out the window and smiled at a miniature horse walking by.
“You refuse to see the obvious. That which threatens both of you wants her far more than you realize. It doesn’t want to outright kill her, but to hurt you and the others that seek to destroy it.
Surprisingly, it has no idea what protects her. ”
He didn’t understand. “I don’t like riddles. My task is to figure out what threatens all of us and eliminate it. What if the Conclave comes after me?”
She put a hand over her mouth in feigned shock. “What if they do?” She threw her head back and laughed. “Evil runs amok with envy and will find you. You don’t need to hunt it this time. When your world implodes, listen to what your heart advises. Second, believe in family.” She disappeared.