Page 30 of The Aether

When his brows shot up, she snorted. “Okay, maybe not, but you’d have been well within your rights.”

His quicksilver grin took her out at the knees, and it was a damned good thing she was sitting down.

“It’ll be a feather in my cap as far as the Witches’ Council is concerned. Councilwoman Georgie Sipanil always believed Morcant had remained at large. He has a habit of staging his death, but turns up like a bad penny every decade or so despite claims of his demise.”

“Unless Humpty Dumpty has a resurrection spell and a damned good friend who can put him back together, I don’t think he’ll turn up again.”

“I’d have gone with a headless horseman comparison, myself.”

Vivian laughed. “Yours seems much more accurate.”

They drank in silence as they stared into the hearth. The snap and hiss of a fallen log was the only noise. The distance between them ate at her, and she longed to put to rights what had been broken. Only, she didn’t know how.

A side glance at Damian showed a self-contained man whose thoughts remained locked in the privacy of his mind, never to be shared. Did he feel remorse for the actions he’d been forced to take? Likely not if it meant keeping their beloved daughter from harm.

“You can ask me anything, Viv,” he said softly, keeping his focus on the flames.

The glow was reflected in his eyes and lent his visage a supernatural air.

“Does your job as Aether weigh you down?”

He did look up then. “At times.” After finishing his brandy in one gulp, he carefully set the tumbler on the coffee table and shifted closer, facing her. “Do I wish I was mortal? No. I’d miss the convenience of magic.” His lips curled into a half smile. “Do I sometimes wish I wasn’t saddled with the responsibility of being an Aether? Yes. But it comes with the Dethridge name.”

“I don’t know if I want that for Sabrina,” Vivian confessed. “The constant battle for supremacy. The fight to keep what’s hers. The fight for her very life.”

He watched her, waiting for her to continue.

“I fear for her, Damian. Every second of every day.”

“You knew what it meant when you married me, Viv. That any child of mine had the potential to be the future Aether.” Lacing his fingers through her hair, he tilted her head back. “I never made secret that marriage to me would be difficult or there would always be a threat. It’s too late to turn back.”

“Why? Why can’t we bind her powers?” Leaning her face into his hand, she beseeched him. “Please, Damian. I know you have it in you to remove them. To give her a normal shot at life.”

For one brief instant, she thought she’d swayed him, but his expression hardened, and he dropped his hand. “It’s too late for that.”

“It’s not!”

“I can’t win with you, can I?” Damian scoffed, rose to his feet, and crossed to the hearth. Resting a forearm on the head-height, twelve-inch-thick wooden mantle, he stared down into the crackling fire.

Charging after him, she gripped his wrist to gain his full attention. “What do you mean?”

“First, you think I’m a monster eager to steal my child’s Goddess-given gifts, then I’m a monster for bringing her home to train her so she can protect herself.Now,I’m a monster fornotremoving her magic.” Yanking away from her clutches, he cradled Vivian’s face between his palms, gentle enough that she could escape if she chose. “What’s it to be, my love? Pick one.”

“It’s not as cut and dry as all that. You know it’s not.”

“Isn’t it? Why can’t I simply be a man madly in love with his wife and child? One who’s willing to give his life to keep them safe and make them happy?”

“Because you’re so much more, Damian. It puts us at risk every single day.”

He dropped his hands, and her heart plummeted to her stomach at the sight of his wounded expression.

“I see.” Turning his back to her, he resumed his study of the flames. “You should go home, Vivian.”

She hated the coolness in his tone. Hated the immediate distance he’d created. When she placed her palm on his back, he twisted away, as if her touch burned.

“Damian, please. Let’s discuss this.”

“What’s to discuss? You want what I can’t give you. Normalcy.” With flat, expressionless eyes, he met her gaze. “Go, Vivian. Find your new normal. But my daughter stays here with me, where she is protected.”

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