Page 70 of Magic of the Damned

Magic cracked into my back, sending me sprawling. Pain, awful pain, seared through me. Relief flooded me when I wiggled my feet and they moved. I scrambled back up and saw the magic thrower on the ground, fending off something I couldn’t see. Zareb.

I ran for the car, opening the back passenger door.

“Come on, Zareb!” I screamed. He waited until the attacker had stopped moving. The man was still breathing, but he hadn’t come out on the winning end. His shirt was shredded, blood trailed from bite marks, and he was curled in a protective ball, his hands covering his face.

The hound brushed past my leg as he jumped into the car, making his body visible once in. I rushed to the driver’s side and we fled.

There was no way I was going to where Dominic had instructed me. After I was far enough away that I couldn’t see the bar, I pulled over. Taking out my phone, I searched for hotels. I’d stay at one for a few days and figure the rest out later.

Zareb’s warm breath, grunts, and chuffing made ignoring him hard.

“Go home,” I told him. Hard, primal eyes leveled on me before his nose nudged my shoulder.

“No,” I told him. “Go home,” I repeated.

He pulled back his lips, exposing razor-sharp teeth. My eyes slid to the wrench on the driver’s side. I didn’t want to hurt a dog, no matter how menacing he looked. And he really looked menacing. His powerful build, the amber glow of his eyes, and the ferocity of his stare made him look absolutely like a hound of the Underworld.

“Are you going to eat me if I don’t do what Dominic said?” I asked in a half-hearted tease.

He showed teeth again and nudged me harder. Apparently, I hadn’t moved fast enough, because his mouth covered my arm, his teeth exerting enough pressure to demonstrate how quickly and easily he could get to me and the damage he could cause.

“Point made.”

Taking out the paper, I put the address in the navigation and drove. Zareb settled back. In the rearview mirror, I saw the attentive eyes on me.

“I’m going,” I ground out. I wasn’t going to get magic from Emmanuel, and I had no idea what the next step was.

CHAPTER 21

The home leaned into the modern farmhouse design, unlike their apartment. The apartment was him. Sleek lines, modern décor, and a tad pretentious. This was homey, nice, and simplistic. A beige, oversized sofa that looked like a cloud. Blankets peeked out from a soft woven basket. A double fireplace separated the living room from the kitchen.

The kitchen had simple white appliances, light wood cabinets, and a large island in the middle. Light hardwood floors and a round table completed the room. Large sliding doors looked out to acres of land. Whereas the other homes we’d passed had cattle and corn and soybeans, here there was just verdant grass. The scent of pine wafted throughout the house.

The hellhound plopped in front of the door leading to the garage, where the car was parked. “I don’t plan on leaving,” I said, rolling my eyes.

For an hour, I sat in the same place on the sofa, staring at my phone. I texted with Emoni, who was home; nothing about our interaction suggested she’d remembered anything from earlier. I was grateful for that, but knowing the reason still left the heavy weight of guilt.

Dominic walked in with the same wrathfulness in his eyes. “Make yourself at home, I’ll be back.” His eyes moved away from me and he disappeared down the hall.

Initially, I didn’t move. I just wanted to figure out the plan. But, restlessness getting the best of me, I started roaming, starting in the opposite direction Dominic had gone. Nothing was exceptional about the four-bedroom farmhouse. A small sitting area, a library with a few books on the shelves, a small office with an open laptop. The last door was where the house deviated from anything I’d seen. My breath caught at the sight of chains affixed to a rune-covered wall. Swords and blades hung on the opposite side of the room. In the corner was a massive cage.

“Don’t make yourself at home there,” he said from behind me. “Close the door, Luna.”

Startled, I turned to find Dominic wearing just a pair of sweatpants, all his ink on display, inching over his shoulder, the left side of his chest, and twining around his arm, ending at his wrist. The scent of his woodsy soap. Disheveled hair, misted skin, devoid of the savagery that I witnessed, although it lingered in his eyes, posture, and tense muscles. When I didn’t move to close the door, he did. His lips lifted into a lazy smile, which took a lot of effort.

I still eased away from him. He didn’t have to worry about me making myself at home anywhere there was a room that clearly was designed for torture.

His forehead creased. “What were you planning to do with the road flares?”

“Save you?” I squared my shoulders and stood taller.

Amusement curled his lips and lit his eyes. “How?”

I shrugged. “I had flares and a wrench. There wasn’t time to coordinate a proper extraction rescue—so I had to keep the plan simple. I just knew something or someone was going to get hit or burned.”

His lips twitched. He was fighting a laugh. “That doesn’t seem like a viable plan at all.”

“Fire and metal? Did I really need an elaborate plan? Burn and hit. No one’s thinking I’m innocuous with those things at my disposal,” I shot back. And that wrench helped me. Definitely a confidence booster.

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