Page 152 of Magic of the Damned

“Babysitters. That’s what we’ve been reduced to!” she shouted after him.

Unmoved by her outburst, he continued to the bedroom we’d slept in. Once we were in the room, he devoured the small space between us, walking me back until my back pressed against the wall. His hand placed above my head as he leaned into me.

His head dropped and the tension became unbearable. He lifted his head, drawing his eyes up to meet mine.

“Luna.” There was a tone of entreaty in his voice. He took a long, measured breath. “Be prepared for things not to go as you’d wish. Not everyone can or will be saved. I can’t accommodate your human sensibilities.” Were they attributes that only humans felt? Causing the least amount of harm seemed like a basic tenet of existence. Apparently, I was wrong. After a long pause, he added, “I doubt they’ll go as I’d hope, as well.”

Hearing the resignation in his voice, I knew he was preparing me for the worst, but I had no idea what that looked like. I was sure humans would be affected and undoubtedly a number of supernaturals as well.

This was a mess caused by one person.

Helena’s and Areleus’s expressions were placid while Dominic instructed them to deal with the Conventicle, New Conventicle, and Awakeners and to assure formation of the alliance.

“If the Awakeners don’t readily comply they will need to be dealt with swiftly and efficiently,” Areleus said. His words cemented my growing apprehension about him and Helena being involved in any of it.

Dominic’s flat expression remained. He’d conceded to the reality that Areleus had lost any semblance of civility and that every decision Areleus made was about the acquisition of power and diminishing the strength and abilities of anyone who would oppose him, including Dominic.

“What will you be doing during our tedious work?” Helena asked.

Not fully trusting his father and sister with information, he gave a tepid smile. “I’m going to find a secure place for Luna, deal with the shades, and handle the Dark Caster.”

Areleus sneered. “An ambitious goal. Why do I suspect you have plans that you’re not sharing with us?” A slow grin quirked his lips. “Will the Book of Umbra be used?” A covetous expression cast a dark look over his face. Dominic was the person standing between him acquiring a book with dangerous spells and even worse consequences for the invoker of the spells.

Dominic’s eyes were amber fire although the fury never showed on his expressionless face. “I trust that you will handle your tasks,” he said. With that, he walked away with me next to him.

“Where are we going?” I whispered as we approached the entrance to Vita.

“You’re going home where you’ll be safe behind a ward. I need to visit Peter.”

“I should go with you,” I suggested. The proposal caused him to stop mid-step.

“What?”

“You’ll get more out of him with me by your side. Your history with him won’t do you any favors. My history with him might,” I said, hoping that explanation would be enough and I wouldn’t have to bring up that Dominic would never curry favor with a person whose kind he’d hunted and killed. Peter’s mere presence seemed to strain Dominic’s patience.

He studied me for a moment. “Afterward, you’ll agree to go home?”

I nodded. Without magic, I would be more of a hindrance than an asset. Perhaps I could use that time to repair my tattered life.

The travel from Vita to the Underworld and then to mine left me slightly disoriented by the time we arrived in the parking lot of the condo Dominic shared with his sister. We headed straight to his SUV. A companionable silence lingered, with Dominic intermittently taking hold of my hand to deliver a kiss to it. Once he nipped at the skin, distracting me from any thought other than the previous night and this morning and how, no matter how chaste the intention of his touch, my mind always went straight to sex and magic. They were so entwined for me, I doubted they’d ever unravel.

“He’s still dangerous to you,” he reminded me as we pulled up at Peter’s home. Peter was magicless and probably blaming me for it, so I was prepared for him to be hostile and erratic. After several minutes of knocking, we were greeted with a beleaguered and disheveled Peter. He was unrecognizable as the feared wielder of dark and powerful magic with plans to overtake and subjugate the supernaturals.

Without us having to request entrance, Peter moved aside to let us in. He appeared to have lost any instinct to protect himself. Live or die, he didn’t care. His studious good looks were hidden behind a straggly short beard. He wasn’t wearing his glasses, and his eyes looked unfocused. He was dressed in jeans and a wrinkled t-shirt that hung off him, but not in the casual aloof way as before.

“What?” he croaked, turning away from us and returning to his spot on the sofa. Books, loose papers with scribbling on them, and broken objects destroyed by him either in fits of anger or failed attempts of magic. Sigils on the walls and floor along with the burns in the hardwood made his living room look like the work of a desperate novice.

“Did your magic return?” Dominic asked, stepping in front of me and blocking my advance toward Peter.

“No,” he hissed, looking down at the marking along his arm that appeared to have been drawn with black powder from the jar on the table. “Communication was severed, too. There’s nothing.” He lifted his eyes from his arm, a shadow of the person he was before.

“You were in communication with the person who took our magic?” I asked. This made the situation worse. Peter had thought he had an ally, only to be betrayed by them. It showed in the hollowness of his eyes.

He glared at Dominic with fiery anger that he’d have loved to act on if he had magic. For some reason Peter had assigned blame to him.

“You were just a pawn,” Dominic asserted.

“I wasn’t a pawn! I was the main part of the plan. I got into your world. I just—” He swallowed the rest, his lips pressing into a rigid line.

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