Page 50 of The Aether

“Hit me.”

The bolt slammed into Trevor at roughly two million miles per hour and charged him with approximately one billion volts. His body jerked, but impossibly, he maintained his stance as he manipulated the energy to do whatever he needed it to.

As if coming up from a deep dive, Trevor and Josie gasped simultaneously, natural color returning to her cheeks. For a split second, the Death Dealer’s face assumed Josie’s sickly gray pallor before returning to normal.

Having expected it, Damian caught Trevor as his knees buckled, and eased him to the floor.

“I’ve got you, Blane. Take it easy,” he said soothingly.

“I’m good, Aether. How’s Josie?”

A glance showed her sitting up and feeling her stomach for the wound. “I’d say healed.”

“What happened?” Her amber gaze met his, and her unguarded expression was one of confusion.

“Mr. Blane brought you back from the brink of death.” There was no need to scare her with the entire truth, so he held back that particular tidbit of information. Damian perched on the edge of the mattress and clasped her hand. “How do you feel, my dear? Any pain?”

“I’m achy. Muscles, bones… hell, even my teeth.” She grimaced. “Did you happen to get the number of the truck that hit me?”

He snorted in the face of her dark humor. “It was going too fast for me to see a plate.”

“Isn’t that always my luck?” Groaning, she flopped back on the pillows. “I had the strangest dream. I was floating over my body, then I could see Morcant…” She shuddered. “Holy hellfire, he’s an ugly sonofabitch. Creepy as fuck.”

“You saw him? Where?”

“The northern boundary of Ravenswood, I think. There was an estate to the left, at the top of a hill.” Frowning, Josie met his steady gaze. “They were discussing it and pointing, but I couldn’t make out what they were saying. One of the men began walking in that direction, but Morcant struck him down.”

“Killed him?”

“No. Gashed his face, though.” She gestured along her cheek. “Pretty horrific cut, if you ask me.”

In a sharper-than-intended tone, he asked, “Where did they go? To the other estate?”

“No. Morcant wouldn’t take his eyes off the maze.”

“All right. Rest now.”

Josie gripped his wrist as he stood. “It wasn’t a dream, was it, Damian?”

“I don’t believe so, no.”

“Was I dead?”

Pressing his lips in a tight line, he nodded. “But you’re back with us, and you have my daughter and the Death Dealer to thank.”

“What happened to the angel?”

Lifting his brows in question, he smiled when she flushed.

“Castor, I think you called him.”

“The man is no angel, my dear. Closer to a wily devil, in my opinion.”

“Ouch, Dethridge. That stung.” Castor sauntered over to the bed and clapped him on the back. “Don’t think I don’t know that you purposely said it to hurt my feelings. You felt me behind you, didn’t you?”

“You’re a pain in my ass most days, Alex. How could I not feel the irritating prickle of your presence?” Damian replied dryly.

“You love me. Don’t deny it,” Alex said with the confidence of a best friend.

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