Page 14 of The Aether

Hurt and betrayal flashed in her eyes, and the brilliant silver-blue dulled to a murky gray. A witch’s tell was her iris color. The happier she or he was, the brighter the color. Vivian was thoroughly distraught.

“Josie would never—”

“Josiewouldanddid,” he snapped. “You know I never lie.Never.” He let his words sink in. “When I told you I loved you, I meant it. Yet you believed her over me. Every single time.”

“But you’re the Aether. If you gain Sabrina’s power…” She trailed off as the truth dawned.

Damian remained quiet as she answered her own silent questions.

“You never intended to steal our baby’s magic, did you?” she croaked.

“No.”

“But you told me you’re stronger with us by your side. I began to feel weaker by the day. If you weren’t siphoning off mine to feed yours, why was I experiencing such an epic drain of my power?”

“Love makes us strong, Viv. Not the other way around. It doesn’t cause the destruction of one another if it’s as true as ours was.” His words sank in, and tears flooded his wife’s devastated eyes. Then he hammered the nail in the coffin. “If you experienced the loss of power, you should look closer to home.” He didn’t blink as he let it sink in. “I’m taking my daughter where she’ll learn to be a proper witch.”

“But I’ve bound her. Only my death can free her.”

A half smile twisted his lips. She would find out soon enough that her binding was never going to hold Sabrina’s inner Aether for long. In the meantime, he couldn’t resist a parting jab. “It’s a good thing I built in a contingency with the spell to take your life.”

“I… was…dead?”

“As a doornail.” He walked to the exit and picked up Sabrina’s godawful lime-green suitcase. “Goodbye, Viv.”

“Damian, wait!”

Her cry went unheeded. With Sabrina held tightly in his arms, he folded back the veil separating Vivian’s home from his own estate, Ravenswood, four thousand miles away. Not sparing a backward glance, he stepped through the opening and sealed the rift behind him.

* * *

Vivian sat, shell-shocked, as she watched her husband and child disappear into the pulsing gold rift he’d created in space. Before she could force her body to respond to her mental commands, Damian was gone.

And Sabrina with him!

An anguished cry was torn from the deepest part of Vivian’s soul.

He would never let her close to Sabrina again. Not the way they had been. Never alone together without a guard. This much she knew about the Aether—he never made the same mistake twice.Which meant he’d never allow Vivian back into his life.

“Sister?” Josie’s cloying perfume preceded her into the room, and Vivian raised a hand to cover her nose and mouth. When had her sister started to wear such a gag-worthy scent?

“We thought you were dead!” Josie exclaimed as she moved to her side.

With an odd little jolt, Vivian recognized the calculating look in her sister’s cold eyes.

When had that happened?

When had Josie turned toward darkness? Was this a trick Damian was playing on her?

As soon as the thought flitted through her mind, Vivian dismissed it. The facts were much more brutal. The moment he’d kissed her, he cursed her with clarity. Now she’d be able to see the truth behind everyone’s actions, whether she wanted to or not.

Her stomach lurched.

“What have you done, Josie?” Vivian whispered achingly, fancying she could hear her heart as it cracked within her chest. “Why would you do this to me?”

Any pretense dropped away as her sister sneered. “All that incredible strength, that beautiful man, and you have no idea what to do with him. You areweak.”

Their sisters came in on Josie’s insult, and Vivian was somewhat mollified to see their surprise, followed by a severe disapproval, take hold.

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