Page 14 of A Touch of Brimstone

“As far as her role in the Perils being compromised, she is,” confirmed a deep, rich, commanding voice.

“Dominic.” Madeline’s eyes snapped in the direction of the voice, as did mine and everyone else’s. The vampire’s lips furled, displaying fangs.

“You can put those away because you’re definitely not going to use them on me,” Dominic told him, as he and the two people who were with him at the coffee shop moved toward the table. Speckles of blood stained the sleeves and front of Dominic’s white shirt that clung to the muscles of his chest and arms.

The man whose face I hadn’t been able to see at the coffee shop was in full view. Fawn-color complexion; I guessed Middle Eastern descent. His light-hazel eyes appeared to have undertones of green. The angles of his face were diamond sharp and he had a strong, well-defined jaw and cheeks. The roil of danger that came off him made holding his gaze hard. Initially distracted by the sword secured against his back, I eventually let my eyes trail to the scar that ran across his cheek.

As they moved farther into the room, two things became overwhelmingly apparent. The cadre behind the table didn’t like Dominic, and he was wholly unconcerned by that.

“You have no reason to be here,” Madeline asserted through clenched teeth.

A smirk flitted along Dominic’s lips as he cocked a brow. “Yet here I am.” Once standing next to me, he fixed Madeline with a hard look. There was a fine line between admirable confidence and unrepentant jackass, and from the cocksure look on his face, he precariously straddled that line.

“Were the sentries to entertain me or stop me?” he asked with a darkly amused smirk.

Anger swept over Madeline’s face. “Are they alive?”

“If that was a concern of yours, you shouldn’t have ordered them to stop me,” he countered, returning her glare.

I took that as confirmation that I needed to get away from him and this hot mess as soon as possible, but curiosity had me too intrigued to run at that moment. Desperately needing to find out what was going on and how I had mistakenly been pulled into it, I remained for an explanation.

Madeline stood, leaning into the table. The magic roiling off her changed the pressure in the room, stifling the air with minacious energy.

“You tell us that the Perils has been compromised, the prisoners escaped, and the worst of our kind are at large, and you expect us to do what? Sit around and wait for them to exact their revenge on us—the people who allowed them to be incarcerated there?” she barked. “Our seer confirmed that she is involved.”

“I expected you to take the necessary precautions for you and yours to stay safe. To lie low and not impede me while I remedy the situation. And I damn sure didn’t expect you to try to stop me from attending meetings. Tell me, what are your plans for this human?”

Not loving the wording of that comment, but I’d ignore it if it got me out of there.

Madeline’s jaw set as they held each other’s gaze. I was wrong; they didn’t dislike him. They hated him with a fiery passion that was amply displayed on all their faces but more profoundly on Madeline’s.

“The seer informed us that she’s the one involved. We plan to handle the matter.”

Before Dominic could respond with something that I guessed would further agitate Madeline, Dominic’s violet-eyed companion directed a question to the man whose eyes resembled hers.

“What did you see, Callum?”

His gaze slid to me. “Her, empty cells and…” He picked up the phone, unlocked it, then turned the screen to her. I moved with her to get a glimpse.

Damn. It was so similar to the markings on my finger. I was thankful that they were hidden by the ring. Not similar. Exactly the same. My breath hitched.

“You plan to kill her?” Dominic concluded.

“That’s the spell that freed them. Obviously, you weren’t able to break it or you wouldn’t have been placed in the position of telling us our lives are in danger. We’re being proactive. Defending ourselves. Kill the caster, break the spell. She is the caster.”

Murder is proactive?

“Ah,” Dominic mused, a little too casually for a discussion of murder, in my opinion. “She’s not a witch. We can all see she doesn’t possess any magic. I can assure you not one time were you at the forefront of this matter. I’ve met Luna twice before.” He waved a dismissive hand in my direction while I made an attempt to hide my finger without looking suspicious. “Nailah”—I assumed he was referring to the woman with the odd violet eyes—“was presented with the same. I performed an ostendo spell on Luna to disarm any cloaking spells and she is not a witch and does not have the ability to cast such a spell.”

My heart raced. Technically he was right but… I was involved. However, in a room full of people whose game plan was to kill me, I wasn’t going to disclose that. Taking slow easy breaths, I waited for things to unfold.

“Madeline,” Dominic drawled. “Do you still plan to kill her?”

Stop suggesting that. It’s not an option. What about: Hey, she’s innocent, let her go? Has that not crossed your mind?

“Situation like this, it is best to err on the side of caution.”

It was irritating how casually they were discussing my murder, like they were deciding whether to sprinkle a little salt on their avocado toast.

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