Page 178 of Magic of the Damned

“And they continue to be allowed to live after forcing you into a magical castration?” she snapped. “Do you think they won’t become more of a nuisance? If you make that sacrifice, it should not be without some penalty other than just the loss of their magic.”

“They will be imprisoned. Living without their magic will be worse than death for them.”

“You’d do this to yourself for what?” she snapped again and lobbed a sharp glare in my direction.

Before I could point out that this was my first time hearing the plan, Dominic spoke. “Not for her. For peace. I won’t be without magic, but it will not be at the same level as before.”

“And you are okay with that?” Areleus asked in a heavy voice.

Dominic’s brand of casual arrogance reared. “I conceded not because I fear that I’d be weak but because it won’t be just my magic sacrificed. This will be as well.” He raised the book.

Areleus moved quickly. Claws exposed, he lunged for the Book of Umbra. The book disappeared from Dominic’s hand.

“Stop,” Ileana demanded. Standing, she snatched up the obsidian knife and pricked her finger. After whispering a few words, her long fingers caressed the air, creating a diaphanous map with illuminated gold plots over it. Closing her eyes, she moved over each inch of it, her breathing becoming increasingly rapid with her agitation.

She struck the map away.

“Do you think I didn’t try a location spell to find her?” Areleus asked.

“It was worth another attempt,” she retorted.

A flicker of tenderness softened Dominic’s expression. In that moment, Ileana’s profound sense of helplessness washed over the room, an emotion he likely hadn’t witnessed before in her. A raw fragility that made me sideline all her past transgressions and violent suggestions. Power was more than just lust and a drive for more. It wrapped them in security that left them ill prepared for upheavals that were beyond their control.

“You’re sure this will work?” she asked. “There is no room for error or speculation.”

“I’m sure it will, but you will need to do the spell.”

Opening his hand, the Book of Umbra materialized. He opened it to a particular page before handing it to her. Rooted in place, a range of anger and frustration flashed over Areleus’s face.

“You must do this spell quickly. If they manage to get the orb before it is destroyed, they’ll have access to my magic and theirs. You know how nebulous magic can be. Sometimes it can create things we haven’t seen before.”

Anand came to my mind.

She nodded absently, pulled into her thoughts.

“If that happens, they may gain the ability to navigate through our realm unchecked. After this spell, the Dark Casters will be as vulnerable as humans. They will live the remainder of their lives in the Perils without magic,” Dominic asserted.

“The remaining shades, will they be returned?” Areleus asked with the guise of restoring order when we all knew he wanted to be the one to control the shades. With the Book of Umbra destroyed, he was less likely to get that wish, but I doubted he’d give up trying to find a way. If the Book of Umbra existed, I suspected there was something equally terrible that just hadn’t been discovered yet.

Dominic considered his question. “There is a way to subdue and control them. After this, I won’t have the power to do so.”

“Then destroy them now,” Ileana said. “Be done with the issue or the prospect of another escape. Celeste is still alive because you’ve remained persistent in honoring your agreement with the witches. I assure you, her demise would make things easier. It is the most pragmatic thing to do. The strongest witches will no longer be of concern. The others…” She waved her hand, dismissing the other magic wielders with the same derision and disregard she held for humans. “I still don’t understand why you negotiate with them. This mutual regard is off-putting.”

Ileana’s eyes briefly slipped to the door, where Emoni had meandered in without being stopped by Anand. Probably considered more of an annoyance than a threat, she had more freedom than the guards.

Catching the tail end of Ileana’s comment, Emoni’s face scrunched into an expression of irritation.

She inched toward Ileana, but Anand fisted her shirt, limiting her movement.

“Why are you like this? In fact, why are any of you like this?” She asked the question with deep-seated curiosity. She’d heard more than I’d thought. There seemed to be a desperate need to discover the psychosis or trauma that led these people to be this way. As if being who they were was unacceptable to her. The spark of curiosity demanded answers.

When it was left unanswered, she repeated the question. “Why?” Her head snapped in Dominic’s direction. “Not you. You’re not totally terrible. But you two”—she stabbed a finger at Areleus and Ileana—“you two are…” She huffed, seemingly searching for the right word. “Your beliefs are unconscionable. Stop letting annihilation be the answer to everything. You don’t seem to consider the long-term consequences. You’re not hated because of the power you wield. It’s because of your abuse of that power.”

Neither one seemed at all moved by the pitiful human’s outburst. There appeared to be mutual amusement that eventually led to them dismissing her question with a smirk.

“Is there a spell to take away magic from everyone? It seems like it’s more trouble than it is helpful?” Emoni asked Dominic. He looked entertained rather than irritated.

“Magic will always exist in some form,” he answered. “It can’t be wiped away, which is why the magic must be transferred to a magical object capable of holding it, and then destroyed. There’s nothing that could remove all the magic from the world because there are so many varying types. There’s not a spell to stop vampirism. You can kill vampires on sight with a spell, but not everyone has the magical ability to do so. I’ve never tried it. I’ve always preferred a more direct way of handling them.”

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