Page 110 of Magic of the Damned

“Better?” he asked softly. Relaxed and sated, the tension had left my body, but my mind couldn’t ignore all the occurrences of the day.

“A little.”

He waited for me to elaborate. Searching for the words that didn’t come easily, I finally said. “Your father? I need to know what happened to him.”

“He’s alive,” he whispered.

“Barely?”

“His magic is gone but I healed him enough that he shouldn’t be in a lot of pain, nor should he succumb to his injuries.” ‘For now’ lingered in the heaviness of the room. “I was not kind to him after you left.”

Please don’t go into detail, I pleaded silently. I couldn’t stop the cruelty and violence, but I didn’t have to be given explicit details of it, either.

As if he heard my silent entreaty, he left it at that. “It will be my sister’s hand to determine if he lives. If she doesn’t continue to heal him, then eventually he will die.”

It was more complex than that. Dominic was testing loyalties.

Dominic and I showered separately and dressed. As we made our way to the office, the acute pain from my previous injuries gave me an appreciation for its absence. I renewed my focus on the problem at hand and not Dominic’s touch in his bedroom. When faced with his raw intensity, muscled contours, and erotic touch, it was easy to forget the perilous state we were in and become dismissive, if not accepting, of his propensity for violence, and his willful—no, his proud acceptance of being an asshole.

He had become a physical weakness for me, and I didn’t like that. Entering his office, the reality hit me that if I didn’t put some distance between us, I would be forever linked to this world, the magic, and everything it embodied. I was determined to keep my involvement with the Prince of the Underworld exactly where it belonged—in the underworld. Once I was home, it and he would have to be a thing of the past. I just had to figure out a way to do it. What I did know was that we had to get rid of the one person who knew what I was.

With purpose, I breezed past Anand seated on the sofa and went to the orb and knife.

“We need the spell book,” I told Dominic. Dark amusement moved over his face as he sauntered to the desk and whispered a spell to reveal the book, which had been on the desk the entire time. The markings around it illuminated a hazy bronze before pulling from the table and disappearing into the ether. His command of magic was remarkable, or maybe it was just exceptional to a person who didn’t possess such skills. Anand seemed unimpressed by the display, but that was probably a result of having been exposed to it all his life. It was imprinted into his existence.

“We’re going to do the spell to completion,” I instructed Dominic. I turned my attention to Anand who was looking down at his hand, his dark curtain of hair covering his face. He lifted it to peer at me when I called his name, his hair moving from his face as if it had been instructed to do so. If magical hair was a thing, I was going to ignore it. His brows hitched up.

“No matter what happens to me during the spell, it must continue,” I directed. Dominic had stopped the spell before, and he couldn’t be allowed to do it again.

Their lips pinched. They were two people used to giving orders rather than receiving them. Their expressions demonstrated that their compliance was clearly by choice and that they were finding entertainment in being on the receiving end of my directives. They gave me a look they might give a child discovering the world and trying to take command of the decision-making process with their limited knowledge and experience.

It earned them both a glare as they approached me, the humor still playing in their faces.

“Of course. The spell will continue to completion, as commanded by Luna,” Anand piped in.

“Then what happens, Luna?” Dominic asked. His question lacked true curiosity.

“I go back to my normal life, and you handle Peter.” Inhaling a deep breath, I closed my eyes for a moment before blowing out. “And deal with him.” I gave in to the unavoidable fact that Peter needed to be handled. He was a menace, and any order and rule enforcement in the supernatural world was predicated on Peter not being there to cause havoc. I held on to the hope that with the magic removed from me, I would be of no use to him, and freed. I could then proceed with repairing the damage of my tattered life.

Dominic looked pensive as he gave me a tight half smile. Breaks of worry shone in his eyes. I knew it was because he hadn’t confirmed if I existed only because of the magic. He didn’t function well in the unknown. Once it was removed, would I cease to exist? It was a risk I had to take because it was highly unlikely I’d continue to survive in the underworld. With Areleus still alive, given enough time he could convince Helena to finish what was started. If he fully healed, it wouldn’t be his last attempt on my life.

We hadn’t found any other option, and based on before, it was just painful. I could handle the pain if it meant I’d be free.

Dominic took my hand and brought the tips of my fingers to his lips. His warm breath breezed over my fingertips. He nipped at one of the fingers, sending a shiver through me and sparking a devilish glint in his eyes.

“Stop,” I whispered. “I will not conflate the two.”

But it was hard not to blend the splendor of his powerful and dark magical abilities and the allure of his raw primal sexuality. They merged into the essence of Dominic. Undeniably Dominic. Those qualities consumed my thoughts as he pierced my finger and handed me the orb to hold. I secured the magical object to me while Dominic read the spell. Magic curled around me, painful but bearable. It quickly augmented, violently ravaging through me, yanking and tugging as it stripped the magic from me. Tears welled in my eyes, the pain siphoning all my energy away until I collapsed to the floor, curled into a ball and gripping the orb to me, refusing to let it be taken from me or to roll away. I’d come too far, endured too much to let it end… Each moment became more of a challenge to hold on to it. I gulped down the shriek of agony as magic pierced every aspect of my being, pulling the dark magic that shouldn’t be in me. Becoming light-headed as the minutes ticked by, I felt like I was being ripped in two.

The darkness was a welcome escape.

CHAPTER 13

Soft melon-color light eked through the closed slits of the blinds as my eyes fluttered open. Acutely aware that the sheets weren’t as soft and luxurious as the ones I’d slept on over the past few days, I stretched out on the bed, which wasn’t the soft sturdiness of Dominic’s bed.

I was home. In my bed.

It worked.

---