Page 37 of Magic of the Damned

“Am I going to survive this?” I rushed out before I lost the courage to ask.

She responded with a weak smile.

“Please tell me.”

“There’s merit and comfort in having the future be a mystery.”

“There has to be some merit and comfort in knowing as well.”

She nodded and closed her eyes, then opened them to reveal her peculiar illuminated violet eyes, which bored into me with such severity it felt like she was pulling the details of my life from me and taking part of me with it. Her body shuddered slightly and then she slumped against the chair. Minutes burned away without her speaking.

“Will you tell me how you got involved?” she asked.

It wasn’t that I didn’t want to retell the story, but I was sure Dominic had already discussed it with her. This was a distraction tactic. I gave her the unabridged version since Reginald’s involvement was already known.

Her lips pressed into a tight straight line. “I couldn’t see any of that,” she admitted, shifting her gaze to my marked finger. “You were unwittingly pulled in—a victim of circumstances.”

“And my curiosity,” I provided with a wry smile. How different things would have been if I had left the ring or the book. Or both.

The sympathy on her face made me question if I could rely on anything she told me regarding her prophecy. “It’s the burden of my magic. We can’t lie about our visions. Even if I wanted to, it’s not possible.”

I really needed to work on keeping my thoughts from showing on my face.

Her adherence to truth was the reason she was delaying answering me.

Damn. I’m going to die.

CHAPTER 12

No, death would not be the end of this journey. I refused to accept that fate. But Nailah wasn’t going to give me a definite answer and seemed content with us remaining silent. I’d change whatever was necessary to give myself a new fate. I returned to my task of going through the books with a renewed determination and had finished all but three books by the time Dominic quietly returned.

Sliding into the chair next to me, he had a hard etch to his features. The deep brood in his eyes made holding his gaze much harder, and I was about to return to the books when I felt Nailah’s eyes boring into me. Even without seeing her do it, I would have known. The weight of it flowed over me like I was standing under a waterfall. It couldn’t be ignored. Her lips curved into a reassuring smile, uncoiling the tension in my chest at her evading my question.

“I don’t see your death,” she announced, standing. She and Dominic exchanged meaningful looks.

Even in my relief, I fixated on the ambiguity of her divination. She didn’t see my death today? Tomorrow? Seven days from now? What was the timeframe of this sight?

She gave Dominic’s arm a squeeze and exited before I could question her further. How did Dominic change my future?

“How far are you?” he asked.

“Just three more books.”

With quiet determination, he reviewed the spells I’d highlighted and transferred them to the notebook he’d used the other day. After he finished, he hastily scribbled spells on a separate page.

Ignoring me, he continued to work with the strained silence he exhibited earlier. He was focused, on a mission. An hour later he walked to the corner of the room, retrieved a cylindrical container, and opened it, spreading out an aged piece of vellum on the table.

“This will contain the spell here and hopefully direct me to its caster,” he told me.

Dominic had requested Nailah’s return after the second failed spell. Her presence did nothing to ease his tension or improve our success. By the fifteenth spell, Dominic was pushing the invocations out through clenched teeth.

“I’m about to do this spell,” he told her, pointing to a new spell.

“Like the other one, I don’t see anything.” She made another attempt to see the future success of the spell, then shook her head.

He nodded.

“I think there’s a protection spell entwined in the markings,” she informed him.

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