Page 155 of Magic of the Damned

“Our way was the right way,” the impertinent acolyte snapped. “But she didn’t want that. It wasn’t just your death that she wanted but that of anyone who didn’t comply with her demands. There wasn’t any reasoning or compromising with her. It was either her way or death.” He swallowed hard. “She’s powerful.” Terror eclipsed his eyes and a frown marred his features. “It makes her bold in her demands and intention. You aren’t a match for her. We managed to escape, but many of us are here because we don’t want to die.” The small group tightened their circle in a show of solidarity. “Your way is not what we wanted.” He directed his eyes to the Conventicles. “We’ve chosen the lesser of two evils.”

The Dark Caster’s plans and tactics were making the case that Dominic’s decision to rid the world of all of them wasn’t as ruthless as it first appeared.

A woman stepped forward from the Conventicle’s side of the room, moving with the effortless grace I’d attributed to vampires. “How did the prisoners escape again?” Her gaze immediately drifted in my direction. I knew I’d been assigned blame for this situation because I had been the beginning of it all. They didn’t have irrefutable evidence, but nor did they need it. Their Seer, Callum, had implicated me and that was evidence enough. No one believed it was coincidence.

“We released them,” Areleus admitted.

A harsh quiet fell over the room.

“Our problems weren’t great enough that you deemed it necessary to release the people who want us dead? Your reason behind such a poor decision? Explain yourselves.” Madeline, the self-appointed leader of the Conventicle, directed the question to the trio of royals.

“No.” Areleus would never have to wonder why they hated him. He provided plenty of reasons while simultaneously making Dominic the more palatable of the two. “The only thing you need to know is once this is over, there will be requirements, of you all. Ones you will follow.”

Dissension and anger swept through the room, and I felt the brewing of more violence. The room came to a halt when the other Seer’s voice rose over the grumbles.

“It doesn’t matter what we agree to because you will fail. You and the human will die first,” the Conventicle’s tattooed Seer offered to Dominic. There was never warmness to his sights, just apathy and arid reporting. “Then you two next. The cruel one first and the other will follow.”

The Seer’s cryptic “cruel one” descriptor left me wondering if he was referring to Helena or Areleus. Taking the sneer that melded over his lips when he looked in Helena’s direction, I figured it was her.

“That is what you see now. The end isn’t definitive,” Anand asserted as he entered the room. A confidence in his stride added a level of reassurance to his words.

Dominic stood taller at the appearance of his friend, and I wrestled with the urge to give Anand an overenthusiastic wave or a hug that he’d surely reject or that would make him downright uncomfortable. I didn’t manage the same discipline when Nailah appeared next to him. Rushing to her, I pulled her into a hug. She stiffened but eventually relaxed into it, returning it with a warmth that I desperately needed. I didn’t know if she was happy to see me, but she had to recognize the intention of the others and knew I needed an ally. With the exception of Dominic and Anand, I was in a room full of people who had wanted me dead at one point, still did, and were waiting for the opportunity to act on their wishes. I needed another person there who didn’t want me dead and wanted to protect life as much as I did.

“You will be fine,” she whispered. Her assurance should have eased my concerns, but it didn’t. Absent from her prediction was the tell-tale violet glow of her eyes that indicated she was using her Seer gift. This was consolation and platitudes. Not the most practical thing but definitely what I needed.

“I hope you are right,” the tattooed Seer countered without putting any effort into trying to sound sincere.

“Roman has been returned to the Perils,” Anand announced, a disapproving frown bracketing his mouth when he looked at the ones who’d released him.

“And Celeste?” Madeline rushed out, making a noticeable effort to mask her panic. She didn’t care about the fate of Roman or Vadim. Their lives meant nothing to her. Celeste had guaranteed that she wouldn’t be the only person invested in her survival by magically linking her life to her bloodline. If she died, so did they. No one had been able to undo the spell.

Anand shook his head. “I can’t find her.”

“How do you plan to take care of this mess you created?” Madeline demanded of Areleus.

“It will be handled,” Areleus offered with a level of unsubstantiated confidence that covered him like a bloom of fragrance and left me awestruck. “But I have requirements of you. Of all of you.” His comfortably arrogant gaze roved slowly around the room, commanding their attention.

Madeline scoffed. “You make a mess and have requirements of us? We should be the ones demanding requirements.”

“Perhaps you don’t value your lives as much as you led me to believe.” Areleus turned to leave, Helena close behind him. Dominic studied the collective panic surging over most of their faces. He charged at the door in a blur of movement, passing his father and sister and grabbing the figure beyond the door, pulling him into the room. He tossed the body across the room, sending the person crashing into the reinforced wall. Plaster fell but the wall stood. It was the vampire from the Perils. His graceful, liquid movements created shadows as he dodged Dominic’s second strike, moving just out of reach. The stranger’s movements were so swift I could only steal glimpses of his ash, low-shorn hair. From the reaction of the people in the room, I gathered who he was. Vadim. His parchment-color skin had a vibrant peachy undertone, presumably from a recent feeding.

Recovering from the attack, he moved with an intensity and blur of motion that I hadn’t seen from other vampires. I didn’t know if it was because he possessed different magic than typical vampires or because of his recent feeding, which gave me the eerie feeling that his victim hadn’t been left alive. His preternatural speed made him flashes of movement. Tearing my eyes from useless attempts to track him, I searched the cluster of bodies that had moved away from the door until I found Nailah. I made my way to her while dividing my attention between Dominic and the others, who still viewed me as some variation of an enemy.

As I neared her, her violet eyes glowed briefly before fading to their gentle brown hue.

“Has he fed?” I asked.

She nodded.

“How many?”

“A lot. He’s always possessed the adroit ability to cause the most damage in the shortest amount of time. Taking lives with the most amount of savagery.” Her response was heavily laced with sorrow that leveled me with sadness and empathy and the wish that I could take some of the burden away.

Her frown deepened. “I couldn’t see anything until we neared one of his victims. We weren’t able to save them, and he fled. Anand spent too much time trying to save the person’s life. It wouldn’t have mattered. His determination to get the person he wants to harm the most meant I doubted even Anand could stop him.”

No elaboration needed. Dominic had captured and imprisoned him. Apparently the only one who could. Vadim’s vendetta was against the only person who could stop him.

He intended to exact his revenge and prevent it happening again. With a vicious throaty rumble that sounded more feral than anything a human could produce, Vadim leapt into the air with shadowy movement, descending on Dominic with his outstretched poisonous claw-like nails ready to rip and tear into Dominic, rendering him magicless for as long as it remained in his system.

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