Page 166 of Magic of the Damned

“She tried to come to me. Sabin reported seeing an apparition of her. She hasn’t reappeared. I suspect her magic is being restricted because she was unable to speak. And because Dominic has you secured behind this ward, he’s protecting you. What happened?”

Her concern made me push aside the fact that she was often the one who provided counterproductive suggestions, such as letting chaos ensue, killing a bunch of people, or causing a catastrophe and seeing who survived.

Emoni went to the kitchen and returned with a glass of water that she handed to Ileana. Taking a small drink from it, Ileana returned her attention to me. “She is in trouble?”

I nodded. “They’re looking for her now.”

She narrowed her gaze on me. “Who is looking for her?”

“Everyone available.” I considered embellishing that finding her was top priority. It was top priority for Dominic, Anand, and Areleus. I wasn’t convinced that Helena’s return was at all important to any of the others. I doubted they cared about protecting the realms of the Underworld and the beings who dwelled there.

“Take me to the place she was taken from,” Ileana demanded, placing the water on the table and leaving the apartment without awaiting a response.

When we didn’t follow, she turned, piercing me with her icy glare. A shiver of fear ran through me, but it wasn’t greater than my desire to avoid returning to the site of the violence, the people who saw me as a problem, and where I had nearly been abducted also.

I couldn’t shake the discomfort of the Dark Caster’s loss of interest in me once she had her sights on Helena. Finding Helena had to outweigh my fear.

I nodded. Emoni cuffed my arm, giving me a look that told me she wasn’t going to leave me alone.

Ileana scowled her disapproval. “I am responsible for two lives,” she complained.

At least she’d accepted our safety as her responsibility, albeit reluctantly. It was still some protection. I’d take it any way I could get it, although my confidence in the lengths she’d go to honor it was questionable. Before heading out, I marched over to Emoni’s arsenal and grabbed the pepper spray I’d seen. Emoni grinned and revealed a stun gun. My friend wasn’t the vigilante of justice she wanted to be, but at least she was prepared.

Emoni offered to drive. My preference would have been to borrow the car and leave her behind, but the look she cast in my direction discouraged any such suggestion.

Ileana sneered at Dominic’s vehicle at the warehouse, as well as at the occupants. I’d assumed they would have left if they’d declined to join the search, because they remained targets if the Dark Caster returned. If Dominic was there, so were Areleus and Anand. Speculation ran rampant through my mind about what could have happened in the past few hours. Had they searched and failed? Had there been another attack before they could look for Helena? Had Areleus’s inability to show any form of humility caused an eruption of violence rather than offers of assistance? Not knowing bothered me, but I remained steadfast next to Ileana while she examined the building and the property next to it and did a cursory scan before she made rote movements while making her way around the building and surrounding areas. Lingering illuminations of gold and amber from her magic whirled in the air and faded. It would have been a beautiful spectacle if I didn’t know that one was more than likely a compulsion spell to prevent anyone coming near the area, and I had no idea what the second one was. But the effortless way she laid down sigils and markings was similar to what she had done when she wanted to subdue someone she needed to question, which made me confident that she would be entering a building without the threat of magic being used against her.

Emoni and I trailed behind her while I explained to Emoni my hypothesis of what I suspected had just occurred. She stopped short of the entrance. “And you’re okay with this?”

“How could I stop her? No, I’m not okay with any of the things going on. I’ve been dragged into this, and my only goal is to limit the harm to humans and the others. At this point we just have defensive measures.”

“Defensive measures against a woman who can create creatures, block magic, and who has a propensity for violence as her first tactic,” she grumbled. I pressed a finger to my lips, hoping she’d soften her voice as it was rising with each item she listed.

She nodded, ushering away fear and apprehension from her expression. “We’re going to be okay,” she whispered. Squaring her shoulders to stand taller, she displayed a bravado that her panting breaths betrayed. And her confidence disappeared completely when we were confronted with a group of shifters who had reverted to their human form. Their naked human form. With magic suspended, the witches couldn’t clothe them.

The naked shifters pinned Ileana with malicious sneers. With immunity to magic, they wore the shock of it being used against them with anger. I suspected Ileana’s link to animals played a part in that ability, but I wondered what her limitations were. They’d hate her for her power in the same manner they despised the royals.

Her appearance didn’t spark recognition in any of the faces in the room. She quickly found Dominic among the sea of people and fixed a cutting look in his direction. He returned it, before shifting a glare in my direction. Tension and anger bracketed his frown before it quickly fell away along with his attention that he redirected to Ileana.

“I have one question,” she said without an introduction or waiting for the commotion to die down from her magic-blocking spell. All eyes turned to her, commanding the room as she did with her unique presence that clearly wasn’t of this world. “Why hasn’t Helena been found?” she asked in a tone steeped with accusation.

“Mother, you’ve joined us.” Dominic’s attempt at diplomacy and to distinguish her as an ally not to be feared was lost on the group. She was a royal. A menacing entity with the ability to block their magic. An obvious threat. Ileana would never be considered an ally. And clearly had become an addition to the mounting problems.

I followed Ileana’s eyes as they glided across the space, taking in the aftermath of a brutal skirmish, the energy still present in the room and the reddish-brown stains that had sunk into the pores of the concrete floor.

“We’re discussing a strategy,” Dominic offered. It might have been his desire to do so, but the unyielding looks of defiance contradicted his statement.

Emoni forced her gaze to stay away from the stains in the concrete. The putrid and undeniable smell of sweat, fear, and aggression lingered. The air was oppressive with potential and past danger and dread. All her efforts to ignore it failed. As did mine.

“We must be in full agreement of a truce,” Dominic said. I couldn’t figure out what had occurred that would lead Dominic to believe he couldn’t trust the others. Although there would be limited trust when it was riddled with self-interest, the threat of betrayal, and tenuous loyalty because of a magical contract that they would surely circumvent if given the chance.

The set jaws and reluctant nods indicated the agreement was made under duress.

“If you aren’t confident in this agreement, I will find my sister. And only find her. The shades and the Dark Caster and her acolytes will be your problem. May your survival be in your favor.” If the last few hours had been spent negotiating with the group for their help, I could imagine Dominic was at the end of his patience. Areleus’s fist balled at his side indicated that he was restraining himself from responding in the way he did best: violently. His reluctant display of diplomacy pulled his face into a baleful grimace.

Piecing together bits of the murmurs I could make out, body language, and expressions, it seemed Dominic had to form a rescue party but also quell the dissension in the group. If Helena could be abducted, confidence in the royals had diminished. Were they arrogant or foolish enough to believe they’d have a chance? The losses they’d suffered would have been exceptional, if not cutting down their numbers so severely they wouldn’t stand a chance in hell of doing anything other than submitting. But unearned confidence often accompanied arrogance, and supernaturals had shown to have a disadvantageous amount of both.

“Just because we aren’t happy about this truce and have grievances with Helena doesn’t mean we don’t understand the significance,” Madeline provided. “If the Underworld is destroyed, the prisoners will be released, and I am not confident of our survival if Celeste isn’t in the Perils.” Her patronizing sneer vanished and was replaced by something I’d never seen on her. Gratitude? Humility? Or a mélange of both. “Thank you for returning Celeste to the Perils and preventing your sister killing her.”

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