Page 41 of Magic of the Damned

The warm light from the lanterns made his eyes glint. Taking a small sip from my glass, I sorted through the many questions I had.

“The hardest part is I don’t know how far out of my depth I am. You have one faction that wants to reveal themselves to humans, another that will do anything to keep that from happening, and you’re keeping some horrible people alive because they might be needed in case of a war. It seems like it would be easier to just let them be discovered and let humans get involved. It would take away this burden. Supernaturals would have to fall in line or deal with humans and our military,” I said.

Being candid had its merits and left no room for ambiguity. I hoped he returned my candor and gave me straight answers.

He plucked a rose and handed it to me. I took it and inhaled its scent, using that time to recall what he’d done to me. I wouldn’t be lured into putting my guard down.

“A vampire can create a family of hundreds in a week. At ten days old, a well-fed vampire can move faster than your bullets, can compel anyone to fight on their behalf, and can kill before the victim can fully grasp that they’re about to die.”

Dominic studied my face. I wish I knew what he saw because it seemed quite amusing. I inhaled his distinctive scent. His proximity crowded out the redolence of the flowers around us.

Taking my hand that held the rose, he brought it to his nose and inhaled. Moving closer, he devoured any space between us. I was standing in a black-and-crimson garden, with an ocean breeze coming from who the hell knew where, and Dominic was telling me even more horrific things about supernaturals while his face rested just inches from mine.

Focus. I stepped back and took another small sip, teetering between wanting to stay sober through the information and the need to be numb enough to handle it. When he resumed walking, I sidled up next to him.

“Shifters love rules and order, which is why they form packs and thrive best in a hierarchal system.” His eyes continued to study my face. The smile still beveled his lips. “Don’t think for a minute they haven’t infiltrated your military, your police, your government. Although shifters are born and not created, there are more of them than you can imagine.” With a sidelong look, he added, “If discord arises between shifters and humans, shifter loyalty will always be to shifters. You already know how hard it is to kill a shifter. Add their speed and strength and humans have no chance of survival against them.”

We changed direction, heading toward the patio. The food beckoned me, but I continued to focus on him. I needed this information.

“And witches, what chance do you think humans have against them?” he queried, stopping in his tracks in anticipation of an answer that I couldn’t give.

“They must have a weakness. Vampires can be staked and silver affects shifters. You’re telling me that witches don’t have an Achilles heel?”

“Ah, they do. Iridium metal prevents them from performing magic. It needs to be a cuff at least three inches wide. Anything smaller weakens them but doesn’t inhibit their magic. There are some archaic spells that can obstruct it and weaken them. But good luck finding the spellbooks that contain those spells. Witches have spent much of their lives and resources wiping them from existence.”

“But you have some.”

I took his sly smirk as an admission. “Witches have no need to align with humans to protect themselves. Of the supernaturals, they are the most adaptive. Before technology, there was no such thing as techno-magic. Now there are witches who are experts at it. What controls your planes, missiles, bombs, and communication? Technology. Witches have the ability to control weather, time travel, and perform strong defensive magic. Seers are loosely aligned to witches, which gives them a prescient advantage. You are under the naïve illusion that humans would be a match against us. It wouldn’t even be close. It wouldn’t be humans against a few supernaturals, it would be against all of them. Alliances would form against the common enemy. Humans.”

His hand pressed gently against my back, guiding me along another path, toward the patio. The curtains of the pergola were tied back, revealing a large round stone table with a marble top and a centerpiece of rose petals floating in a low bowl, illuminated by candles. A meal of glazed chicken, salad, roasted carrots, and an assortment of breads was laid out, along with two bottles of wine. I had no intention of drinking any more, but I’d probably get a chocolate high from gorging on the platter of decadent-looking chocolates. Forgoing the plate Dominic placed in front of me, I ate two chocolates and knew the platter was coming with me. I sipped on water between bites of food. Dominic took more sips from his glass of wine than he took bites of food.

“Do you not need to eat?” I finally asked.

“I eat.”

The vagueness of his answer made me wonder if this was another thing he had in common with vampires.

“I eat food,” he offered, amusement flickering across his face. He read me too well, and that was going to be a problem. Although Dominic was content with the ensuing silence, I wasn’t. I hoped the two glasses of wine he’d drunk meant he’d be even more free with information, although I suspected alcohol didn’t affect him the way it did humans. Perhaps it was just an indulgence that he thoroughly enjoyed.

With each sip, he made the wine seem even more enticing. I took a small sip from the glass he’d poured for me.

That pleased him.

“I’m glad you tried it. No need to be so guarded with me, Luna. As you said, we don’t need to be adversarial. Our interests align, despite our motives being different.”

“Exactly.” I raised my glass to him, took another small sip, and set it on the table. “But you have to understand my lack of knowledge makes me a weakness, not an asset.”

“Of course, Luna,” he said in a cool, husky voice. Despite schooling all emotions from my face, his expression held a knowing look. He seemed unconvinced that my interest was solely in order to be a better asset. Suspicion existed between us and complicated our tenuous alliance.

“How can I make this better for you?” Dominic asked.

The BS between us was stacked high and reeked. But we ignored it and continued with our faux pleasantries, aware that the only thing that aligned us was mutual distrust and strategic maneuvering for the advantage.

“What troubles you, Luna?”

His question snapped the tendril that was holding things together for me.

“All of it, Dominic! Four days ago, I was the weird one because of my odd reading choices. I wouldn’t have guessed in a million years that anything in The Discovery of Magic was remotely true.”

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