Page 41 of A Touch of Brimstone

“And witches, what chance do you think humans have against them?” he queried, stopping in his tracks in anticipation of an answer that I couldn’t give.

“They must have a weakness. Vampires can be staked and silver affects shifters. You’re telling me that witches don’t have an Achilles heel?”

“Ah, they do. Iridium metal prevents them from performing magic. It needs to be a cuff at least three inches wide. Anything smaller weakens them but doesn’t inhibit their magic. There are some archaic spells that can obstruct it and weaken them. But good luck finding the spellbooks that contain those spells. Witches have spent much of their lives and resources wiping them from existence.”

“But you have some.”

I took his sly smirk as an admission. “Witches have no need to align with humans to protect themselves. Of the supernaturals, they are the most adaptive. Before technology, there was no such thing as techno-magic. Now there are witches who are experts at it. What controls your planes, missiles, bombs, and communication? Technology. Witches have the ability to control weather, time travel, and perform strong defensive magic. Seers are loosely aligned to witches, which gives them a prescient advantage. You are under the naïve illusion that humans would be a match against us. It wouldn’t even be close. It wouldn’t be humans against a few supernaturals, it would be against all of them. Alliances would form against the common enemy. Humans.”

His hand pressed gently against my back, guiding me along another path, toward the patio. The curtains of the pergola were tied back, revealing a large round stone table with a marble top and a centerpiece of rose petals floating in a low bowl, illuminated by candles. A meal of glazed chicken, salad, roasted carrots, and an assortment of breads was laid out, along with two bottles of wine. I had no intention of drinking any more, but I’d probably get a chocolate high from gorging on the platter of decadent-looking chocolates. Forgoing the plate Dominic placed in front of me, I ate two chocolates and knew the platter was coming with me. I sipped on water between bites of food. Dominic took more sips from his glass of wine than he took bites of food.

“Do you not need to eat?” I finally asked.

“I eat.”

The vagueness of his answer made me wonder if this was another thing he had in common with vampires.

“I eat food,” he offered, amusement flickering across his face. He read me too well, and that was going to be a problem. Although Dominic was content with the ensuing silence, I wasn’t. I hoped the two glasses of wine he’d drunk meant he’d be even more free with information, although I suspected alcohol didn’t affect him the way it did humans. Perhaps it was just an indulgence that he thoroughly enjoyed.

With each sip, he made the wine seem even more enticing. I took a small sip from the glass he’d poured for me.

That pleased him.

“I’m glad you tried it. No need to be so guarded with me, Luna. As you said, we don’t need to be adversarial. Our interests align, despite our motives being different.”

“Exactly.” I raised my glass to him, took another small sip, and set it on the table. “But you have to understand my lack of knowledge makes me a weakness, not an asset.”

“Of course, Luna,” he said in a cool, husky voice. Despite schooling all emotions from my face, his expression held a knowing look. He seemed unconvinced that my interest was solely in order to be a better asset. Suspicion existed between us and complicated our tenuous alliance.

“How can I make this better for you?” Dominic asked.

The BS between us was stacked high and reeked. But we ignored it and continued with our faux pleasantries, aware that the only thing that aligned us was mutual distrust and strategic maneuvering for the advantage.

“What troubles you, Luna?”

His question snapped the tendril that was holding things together for me.

“All of it, Dominic! Four days ago, I was the weird one because of my odd reading choices. I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that anything in The Discovery of Magic was remotely true.”

“Most of what’s in The Discovery of Magic isn’t remotely true,” he said drily.

“I know, but the factual information about supernaturals is even more difficult to process. The most complex thing about all the new information is you.”

Amusement flashed. “Me?”

“Yep. I need to know about your magic as it relates to other supernaturals. How similar is it? You can go between here and my world, a version of what vampires can do. You can do spells, control elements, and…” Helena could grow claws and slice and dice people like a well-dressed wolverine. What she did wasn’t exactly shifter-ish, but it was an aspect of it. Dominic traveled through the worlds with ease, and he possessed strong magical abilities. “Helena has claws. Do you? Can you shift like the shifters? One minute, will I be standing in front of you, a man—or whatever you are—and the next I need to give you a raw steak or doggie treat to distract you from attacking?”

His lips twitched but he didn’t give in to the smile. He put down his glass. His eyes remained trained on me as he pushed from his chair and walked to me. His eyes locked with mine as his index finger elongated and the nail extended into a gruesome and scary-looking claw.

A sharp breath caught in my throat when he ran it along my neck with so much control that it was a feather touch grazing over my skin. A shiver ran through me when he leaned in closer.

“I can’t shift into an animal, so no treats necessary,” he whispered, his warm breath teasing my bottom lip. The solitary claw vanished as quickly as it had appeared. Once he had eased away, I grabbed another chocolate from the platter, slowly unwrapping it from the gold paper, and popped it in my mouth. He wouldn’t get the satisfaction of either my fear or my intrigue.

“Continue,” I told him. “I don’t need the watered-down version.”

He didn’t immediately speak. Perhaps he was debating how much to share with me. I forced a look of impassivity and waited patiently.

“Unlike the shifters, silver doesn’t bother me. My magic is strong, comparable to a Strata Three witch, but I can’t control the weather and I don’t possess any techno-magical abilities. I don’t have seer abilities, either, which is why we employ Nailah… who seems to have a soft spot for you.” His eyes sharpened on me, his lips pulling into a thin, tight line. Nailah’s information sharing hadn’t gone unnoticed. “I’m skilled at spell casting and weaving, but to the witches’ disappointment, I do not share their weakness to iridium.”

---