Page 100 of Enchant the Dawn

“I’m going home,” she said. “Alone.”

He didn’t argue, didn’t beg for her forgiveness or ask her to stay. He simply nodded. “I’ll have Ava take you.”

* * *

Silent tears tracked down Maddy’s cheeks as she watched Dominic leave the room. She felt numb inside, as if every emotion had been leeched from her soul, leaving nothing behind but an empty shell. She was part vampire. She needed blood or she would age more rapidly. If she abstained, she would die. The thought was terrifying.

She cried while she packed her few belongings. Cried for what Dominic had done to her. Cried because, in spite of everything, she was going to miss him. She told herself leaving was for the best. She didn’t really want to marry a vampire or be a witch. She just wanted to go home and forget any of this had happened, go back to her nice, quiet, safe life. Except she couldn’t. She would be reminded of what she’d become several times a year, when she would have a sudden craving for blood. And if she ignored it.... Suddenly chilled inside and out, she thrust the thought from her mind. If only she had stayed home where she belonged, none of this would have happened.

* * *

After asking his great-grandmother to see Maddy safely back to New Orleans, Dominic left the house. With no destination in mind, he wandered the streets of Portland, his thoughts as dismal as the gray clouds overhead. He had lost Maddy. He had killed the Elder Knight. Ava had given the Brotherhood a new goal. As for Jasper, no one knew—or cared—what had become of him.

All in all, he wished he had stayed in Hungary.

Chapter 40

“We need to go to New Orleans”

Quill Falconer stared across the dinner table at his wife. “Now?” They’d been living in Hungary ever since the birth of the twins.

“Dominic’s unhappy.”

“Well, who can blame him? He’s supposed to be hunting the Knights of the Dark Wood in New Orleans,” Quill said, and then shook his head. “Don’t tell me—there’s a girl involved.”

“Yes, and he’s deeply in love with her.”

“So, what’s the problem?”

“I can’t see everything clearly,” Callie said. “All I know is that it has something to do with him killing Gregory 73.”

Quill’s lips twitched in a wry grin. “Mission accomplished. Good for him.”

“Not so good. Somehow, killing the Knight brought out Dom’s bloodlust and he attacked the girl—Maddy, her name is. And then, because she was close to death, he panicked and gave her his blood. A lot of his blood.”

Understanding dawned in Quill’s eyes. “So, she’s not too happy about it.”

“Apparently not.”

“What do you know about the girl? Have they been intimate?”

“Only that she’s young. And yes,” she said with a sigh, “they’ve slept together.”

Quill grunted softly. “Sex always makes things more complicated.”

“Tell me about it,” she said with an impish grin. “Anyway, she doesn’t want any more to do with him. Oh! I almost forgot—it seems she has a bit of a talent for magic.”

“Nowhere as strong as yours, I’m guessing. How’s Ava?”

“Same as always. But she’s worried about Dom. He hasn’t been himself since the girl left him.”

“He’ll get over it.” But even as he said the words, Quill had his doubts. Had he lost Callie . . . He shook his head. It didn’t bear thinking about.

Reaching across the table, Callie took his hand in hers. “Will he?”

Quill stared out the dining room window. There was snow on the mountains, the sky dark with clouds and the promise of more rain before nightfall. “He’s a grown man,” he said, at last. “Do you think he’d appreciate us showing up?”

Callie pondered that for a moment. Dominic was much like his father—handsome, proud, and independent. Quill was right, as usual, but she wasn’t happy about it. No matter that Dom was his own man now.. He was still her little boy and always would be. But it would be wrong to go to him now. He wouldn’t like it at all.

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