Page 190 of Magic of the Damned

“Tomorrow. He has a house where he will live. I’ll take that time to reestablish the rules with the Conventicle and make sure they are acting as one. I won’t intervene with how they handle the Awakeners.” A hint of sadness moved over his face so quickly, I would have missed it if I hadn’t been fixed on the most minute changes in him. The barrier he erected to do his job objectively was sliding in and out of place to speak with me and deal with everything that was going on.

I turned, following Dominic who kept a careful eye on his sister as she approached. A sullen expression was on her face and her hands were balled into fists as if she needed that reminder not to bare her claws. Her energy hummed with restrained anger. I suspected she had just been informed by Ileana that she would be returning to the Vita with her.

“You’re banishing me, too?!”

When Dominic didn’t immediately answer, she made another demand. His cool silence pushed her into fits of anger and creative uses of “fucker” and other four-letter words that wouldn’t curry any favor or encourage him to reconsider. Dominic displayed a cool amusement at her tantrum and display of rage that in the past were given a pass or coddled.

Now it was met with no reaction except Dominic’s low modulated response. “Bye, Helena. I hope we do see each other. But for now, I don’t want to see your face. You have your magic, and I promise not to take that from you if you honor my wishes for you to leave. In time, I hope my trust in you can be restored.”

I understood her fledgling look of hopelessness and ire. In her place, I would have felt similar emotions because Dominic’s interaction reeked of indifference. She wanted more—any display of emotion—because I figured she knew, like most, that the opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference.

In an effort to control her anger, she took several slow measured breaths. With each one, her pinched expression eased. “I hope in time it can be restored, as well. If you tell me what I can do to make that happen, I’ll do it.” She pushed the words out through tightly pressed lips. I had to give her credit at the effort she made to sound sincere.

He nodded, accepting what appeared to be a tacit apology. “Leaving is a start.” Slowly turning, she came face to face with Ileana, whose appearance surprised me although it was obvious Helena and Dominic were not surprised.

“We’ll leave together,” Ileana instructed in a tone that gave me the impression that despite her unwavering support and allegiance to her daughter, Helena would have to endure the consequences of her actions.

“May we talk?” Her gaze bobbed between the two of us, leaving me unsure.

“Meet me in my office.”

At a loss, I glanced at Dominic who gave me a wayward grin. “She would like to speak to you and then me.”

How did he get that from her statement?

Her approach seemed more like a stalk. A predator to prey. I rooted my feet in place because it was the only thing that would keep me there. Ileana’s slow advance didn’t lead to confidence. I stood taller at her intrusive gaze that bored into me.

She nodded. “You are lovely and kind. An unremarkable human,” she said decisively.

“Uh, thank you?” Is it really a compliment when the insult outweighs it?

“It is not meant as an insult. You don’t have the ability to remove empathy as a matter of recourse.”

“I don’t have the ability to be cruel,” I surmised.

She nodded as if that was a flaw and I’d accepted it. I pushed down the desire to debate the issue because I would never change her mind.

“Now, do you crave power on any level?” She considered that statement. “I guess you’re not quite human. Dominic tells me you never inquired about your magic being returned. He would have done what it took to do that and yet, it wasn’t important to you.”

“He’s important to me, not the magic. I don’t want that or—” Catching what was going to be an insulting response, I modified my words. “I just want my old life back. I liked it.”

“You realize he can’t abandon who he is?”

“I know. I’d never ask him to. But we’ll make it work. I know we can.”

She looked around the garden and over the estate, her brows netting together. I knew she was aware of me declining to stay with Dominic in the Underworld.

Her assessing gaze left me feeling bare and vulnerable. Me gawking at her disarming smile was weird. It bloomed effortlessly over her face and radiated a warmth and genuineness that I’d never seen in her. Sharp eyes softened, and peeks of the compassion that moments ago she attributed to my flaws, glimmered in her eyes.

“Do not be his fall, okay?”

I nodded when the words didn’t come. Although there was kindness in her words, I heard the undertone of threat.

But even without the subtle threat, that wasn’t my intention.

CHAPTER 19

We lay in bed, Dominic’s adept fingers moving languidly over my body. I relaxed as he lay nestled between my legs, where he’d moved after we woke. We’d managed to get in a shower and brush our teeth before breakfast, although we never got to breakfast; we knew it was a bad idea to shower together. Spent from the shower sex, we sank back into the soft sheets. It was hard to separate and do something as mundane as eating when it might be a few days before we’d see each other again. He had to take care of the business waiting for him, and I needed to reassemble my shattered life.

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