Chapter 34
Chapter thirty-four
Dominick
Dominick paced in a grief-stricken daze outside the arched doorway to the lifelines pool. He should already have reported to his post, but Theo had promised he would pull Sera’s thread first thing this morning, and that he’d try to find Colton’s.
He couldn’t believe it, wouldn’t, until either Colton’s remains arrived to be burned or Theo confirmed it. He’d been up all night tossing and turning, keeping Theo up with him.
A squeeze on his shoulder had him jumping. “Shadow, you scared me. Did you find her? Colton?”
Theo rubbed his brow. “Not exactly.”
“Theo, I can’t do this right now. Tell me… Is she dead?” Nausea rolled up his gut.
“She’s definitely alive, but… Dom, did you know she’s golden?”
“Are you sure you searched for the right one?” Dominick asked. Those with golden threads could be pulled only by masters of the art. Some spell to keep others from spying on the Council members.
“Positive… I picked her out of one of yours.”
Despite the relief he felt, knowing that Sera was at least alive, he couldn’t help the blush that crept across his cheeks. Shadow only knew what event in Dominick’s past Theo had viewed in order to find Sera. “Sera basically has zero magic. Why would she be blocked?”
Theo glanced around the main entrance of the Ogdelo. Dominick followed his gaze and noticed for the first time that morning that those winged beings, with their golden armor and giant swords, were all over the place.
“Come on.” Theo grabbed his hand and all but dragged him out to the side garden.
“I don’t know who did it or why, but your friend has been blocked.
No one can pull her strands. They’re still present, so she’s alive, but I can’t see where she is or what she’s doing.
Have you ever had anyone pull her before? ”
Dominick rubbed the heels of his palms against his eyes. The sky was annoyingly bright and chipper for how on edge he felt this morning. Even the birds chirping in the topiary were making him jump.
“No, she’s never had to be pulled. Sera’s always been here with me.”
“Someone is protecting her, then, or at the very least, they don’t want someone knowing whatever she may have done in her past.”
“Lavinia…” Dom said. He couldn’t think about this right now. His head was beginning to pound, and those damn birds wouldn’t shut up. “What about Colton?”
Theo shook his head. His eyes were already bloodshot. “I… Dom, I’m sorry.”
A sob broke from Dominick. He sank to the ground.
“Shh, I know.” Theo sat beside him and threw an arm around his shoulders.
He was really gone. Colton. Out of the two of them, how could he be the one to go first? Colton had always followed the rules, covered his ass. He was powerful, deadly with a weapon. How could this have happened? And worse… oh, Shadow… how was Dom going to watch his brother burn?
“Dom, listen, I know this is hard, but I’m going to need you to get yourself together.” The words were harsher than the sympathetic look Theo was giving him.
“How do you expect me to just pull myself together? My brother is dead, Theo… Sera hasn’t responded in days… just… fuck!” Dominick’s robes were rough against his cheeks and nose. Shadow, it hurt. It hurt so fucking much.
“Dom, this war is going to get a lot worse. More threads are being cut every day, and every cut we must report directly to the master. At first I thought it was because of the battle… but the threads, they’re still not matching the casualty reports.”
“Still more?” Dominick dared to ask.
“More. A lot more.”
The skin prickled on the back of his neck and up his scalp.
He tried to wrap his head around it. The aliato in Lavinia’s house.
Their constant presence throughout the Citadel.
Sera’s lack of response. More threads being cut than reported to the coven populace.
Colton dead… it was too much for him to make the connections.
“We can’t tell anyone,” Theo continued. “Have you noticed the extra Legion members standing guard?”
Dominick shook his head. “I guess I haven’t been paying attention. I’m sorry.”
“It’s been a lot. Don’t worry about it.”
“How can you be so understanding?”
Theo crouched before him and looked him in the eye. “Shouldn’t a warlock be understanding of his lover?”
“I feel like I used you,” Dominick answered. “I seduced you into helping me.” Moons, it was good to get that off his chest. He couldn’t deny that his feelings for Theo were growing stronger than with any other tryst he’d had.
Theo gave him a soft smile and wiped away a few tears. “You think I was so taken by your good looks that you conned me into helping you?”
“I don’t know what I think anymore.”
“You’re not the first warlock to ask me for a favor.”
Dominick sighed and grabbed Theo’s outstretched hand. “I’m a fool,” he said and kissed Theo under the sun. “Thank you,” he whispered. “For everything.”
“Always.”
“Will you come with me… to Colton’s burning?” Dominick held his breath. This would be too much. He was asking too much of Theo.
“You want me there?”
All he could do was nod.
“I would be honored.”
Dominick looked at this beautiful warlock in front of him. He was unsure of how he would tell his parents about it or what his father would do, but trying to navigate the burning without Theodore would be impossible.
“We’ve got to get to our posts. I’ll meet you at your flat after?”
Dominick nodded, and the two oracles climbed the white marble steps back into the pool house.