Chapter 17
Chapter seventeen
Dominick
It was far too early. The sun had barely risen, coloring the clouds a violet gray. The angle of the sun, the hue of the clouds: It was unnatural, all of it. But here he was, witnessing the Citadel waking, when he should be fast asleep. The things he did for his friends.
Dominick propped himself up against one of the pillars outside the grand pool to wait for Theo.
Last night, after their date at Radost, he’d been enlightened, to say the least. It turned out that Theodore Sano wasn’t as shy as he’d made himself out to be, and even though they hadn’t made it all the way, they’d both finished the evening satisfied.
He’d tried being his smooth self but couldn’t help the grin that crept across his face. Not only on the walk over, but also now. A job well done, if he dared say so.
Theo had been in the pool, pulling, for half an hour, according to the sundial perched in front of the Ogdelo.
It was a fickle business. Dominick had watched countless oracles complete the ritual during his three years here.
Not every pull was successful, especially if the oracle had no ties to the person they were pulling.
It took decades of practice. As far as he knew, Theo didn’t know Nora from any other witch in the coven.
Yet a creeping thought kept slithering into his mind, saying that maybe Theo was avoiding him. Maybe it was because Nora couldn’t be found. Dom jerked his shoulders, shaking the thought away.
Instead, he wondered what kind of kiss-ass oracles even came in this early. No one loved their occupation this much.
Dominick lifted the back of his hand to hide his yawn, wondering if he could make it to a bakery before he was due back to check on the future squash harvest. He’d never been so grateful to stop staring at beans.
The sound of quick steps on marble had him turning. Theo’s brows were creased. He was frowning and walking too quickly, as if he were…
No.
This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t be dead. How was he going to tell Sera? Did Lavinia know? If Lavinia knew, he was pretty sure she would have found a way to burn down the Council chambers with the chairs inside. Poor Nora. Moons, Sera was going to kill him.
Theo finally met his eyes. “No, no, it’s all right. She’s all right.”
“Oh, thank Shadow.” Dominick breathed and curled forward, but there was still a frown on Theo’s face.
“Her threads are strong, which means she’s not even badly injured. I almost can’t believe it.”
Neither could Dom. Who knew that Nora could survive being captured? “You’re the fucking best.” Finally, he could relax, or at the very least be relieved that he didn’t have to break the news to Sera that something terrible had happened to her sister. He’d thank Shadow for that later.
Theo rubbed his eyes, still frowning.
“What else is wrong?” Dominick asked.
“Nothing. Lifeline business.” Theo glanced back at the pool.
“All right, spill it.”
Theodore sighed, his gray robes rustling in the breeze as he turned toward the entrance.
Dominick followed him, assessing his tight shoulders and brisk pace, wondering what could be so troublesome that they needed to leave the building.
When they rounded the corner and were hidden in the shadow of the Ogdelo, Theo finally stopped.
“Is there a reason we need to be sharing secrets in the shadows?” Dominick asked.
“You know when you’re pulling what you have in your mind’s eye?”
Dominick nodded. An oracle envisioned what they wanted to come forward.
For him, working in weather and crops, he just had to think of the day.
A thread would shoot out of the water, and he’d pull it and view what he needed.
He assumed the same system worked for lifelines.
You envisioned the name or the person, and they just popped forward.
“I searched for Nora for a while. She was hazy at first. Then I started to search through those who encountered demons recently, and there were many.”
Dom’s heart dropped. “Do I want to know what they were wearing?”
Theo bit the pad of his thumb. “If you thought a Legion uniform, you’d be right.”
Shit. He still hadn’t heard back from Colton, and if there had been a skirmish… Dominick itched below his ear. “Any fatalities?”
“That wasn’t what I was searching for, but I assume so. I’m only telling you this to warn your friend.”
Sera had already mentioned a demon lord. It was possible that a squad had gotten into a skirmish with him. It was on the tip of Dominick’s tongue to ask, but he paused. Was this even something he wanted to know?
Determined to push that feeling down, Dominick did a quick scan of the area before grabbing the front of Theo’s robes and kissing him.
The warlock’s sea-green eyes lit up for a second before closing.
Dom didn’t typically participate in public displays of affection; honestly, the thought of being caught made his skin crawl.
But he’d been thinking of the way Theo tasted on his lips ever since they left his apartment that morning.
Dominick broke their kiss and observed the oracle before him.
All oracles had light hair and eyes. They were linked to the recessive trait needed to view the threads in the water—at least that’s what the Council said.
Having them almost guaranteed your placement as long as you had the power within you to manipulate the threads.
But Theo’s tanned skin, sun-kissed against the blond of his hair, made him look otherworldly.
“I’ve got to tell Sera. Meet me for dinner? I want to know what you find out.”
Theo smiled. “Wouldn’t miss it.”