At least she hasn’t used her “mom voice” yet.
“I know. It’s not ideal. Trust me, if there was any other way, I’d be doing it,” I say.
She stands up, shaking her head. “No, I should drive. You really shouldn’t be alone right now.”
My eyes widen at the prospect and I shake my head. “No, Mom. It’s fine—I’m fine. I need to take care of this on my own.”
“What about the Moirai? If they come for you while you’re separated—”
“Mom, this is Wade. It’s a risk I have to take.”
Her eyes narrow. “You’re pregnant, Autumn. It’s not just your life you’re putting in jeopardy.”
Again, I flinch at her words. She’s totally right, but I’m backed into a damn corner and I have to take control of something.
“I won’t be alone for long. When I get to Windhaven, I’m picking up Dominic. He’s going to help me figure out what’s happening to Wade,” I say, trying to sound reasonable.
“Dominic Crane?” she says, surprise flashing through her features.
I nod.
“He never could stay away from you,” she mutters, shaking her head. She watches me closely, but surprisingly, tips her head. “Go. I’ll stay and keep you posted if anything new happens.”
“Are you sure you want to stay? It might be a while and you don’t have a car here,” I say.
“I know just about every person in this town. If I need to, I can hitch a ride home. Now, go. But please, for the love of all that’s holy—be careful.” She reaches into her pocket, relinquishing the keys to Blue.
“Thanks, Mom,” I whisper, bending forward and kissing her on the cheek, taking the keys from her.
She wraps her arms around me, clutching me tightly for a long moment. When she lets go, I inhale deeply, stealing some courage in the air between us. Then, I straighten my shoulders and head for the door. I don’t even look back at the unhelpful woman behind the counter or the place where the ambulance vanished into the building.
Instead, I go straight for Blue and get inside. The hysteria that consumed me before has faded into a determination like I’ve never felt before.
I will find a way to save Wade. If it means going to Windhaven and helping Dominic, so be it.
The only saving grace in all of this is that I haven’t seen any red threads surrounding Wade or these events. Maybe it means this has nothing to do with the Moirai. Maybe it’s something else entirely—something that can be fixed, if we just know where to look.
I hold onto that thought as I pull out of the parking lot and put my foot to the gas. It should take me two hours to get to Windhaven from here, but I have every intention of making it there in an hour or less.
My thoughts span from doing everything I can to help Wade as quickly as possible, to organizing the logistics of how to flatline Dominic and bring him back. It’s the most ludicrous balancing act I’ve ever been put in charge of and the irony isn’t lost on me at all.
I mean, what if all of this is really pulling me away from Wade when I should be there with him? He’s no longer an Angel of Death—so that means if he dies, he’s…gone. No coming back and being born again as something else. At this point, even that would be better than this.
Suddenly, a horrible idea surfaces and I bite back my terror. Everything is stemming from his mark. The mark put there by his dad. What if he decided it was time to wipe the slate clean and kill Wade off? Would he do something like that knowing he’d be dead and gone?
Unless, of course, I was there to resurrect him. But as Dominic so aptly pointed out, I’m not necessarily the expert on it yet. I could end up making everything worse.
There’s also nothing to say that any of this will work with Dominic, either. But I guess I’m more okay with him being the guinea pig over Wade, as awful as that sounds.
I just hope that when I bring Dominic back, he’s still got his faculties and is able to do what I need him to. I mean, what if we mess with this bizarre idea of trying to trigger a metamorphosis to make him more powerful, and it backfires?
Chapter 13
Pity Party & Negotiations
The farther I get from Wade, the more my insides scream to turn back around. Instead, I push the panic aside, letting it fuel my foot as I press it to the pedal and drive as fast as I can to Windhaven.
When I reach Dominic’s house, I practically drift into his driveway, coming to a burnt halt. I honk the horn to signal I’m here, but when he doesn’t exit the building fast enough, I hop out of my vehicle and stomp up the steps to his front door.
As I lift my fist to pound on the door, it flies open. “That was fast,” Dominic says, bewilderment splattered across his face.
“I told you to be ready,” I grumble. “Let’s go.” I twist around, shoving both of my hands in the direction of Blue.
“Hang on,” Dominic says. “I have to do something quick.”
I release an exasperated sigh. “I practically broke the speed barrier to get here and now you wanna screw around?”
He shoots me an irritated glance but walks back inside anyway.
Clenching my fists, I scream internally, but follow him. Dusk has fallen and the house is dimly lit with only a couple of small lamps here and there. Dominic walks past the staircase on the right and continues his way down a hallway to what looks like a living room that’s been converted into a bedroom. There are stacks of books, magazines, and knickknacks smattered all over the room. There’s also a small dresser with drawers half open and clothing dangling out of each. The floor is a mess of plates, cups, and liquor bottles.
I step forward tentatively, eyeing the room with a new sense of suspicion. There’s a thick stench of vomit. What’s going on here?
Dominic holds his hand up as he walks over to the sofa and crouches down beside it. “Mom, I’m going to be out for a bit.”
A thin, white hand rises from behind the puffy flower-covered fabric of the sofa.
“Wheresyagoin?” Her response is slurred into a single word and it’s clear she’s the one who’s been drinking.
“Just over to Blackwood Manor for a little bit.” He shifts his gaze to me and swallows hard. “I won’t be gone long.”
“Whateryadoin o’er there?” she asks, clutching at his shoulder.
He pats her hand, removing its viselike grip and resting it with her. “I just need to help Autumn with something quick. I’ll be back before you know it,” he says, standing up and kissing her forehead. “Love you, Mom.”
She grumbles something that sounds like, “Yeah, you, too.”
He lingers there for a second longer, his face a mix of emotions. With a sharp nod, he turns on his heel and heads back over to where I stand gaping at him. I close my mouth, but his mortified expression tells me he’s not happy I followed him in.
“You coming or what?” he spits as he stalks past me.
Turning to walk out with him, I shoot one last glance over my shoulder at his mother. The last time I was there, I hadn’t noticed her. Then again, I can’t say we ventured this far into the house, either.
A pang of sympathy for Dominic stabs me in the gut. How long has he been dealing with this?
By the time I exit the front door, Dominic is already in the passenger seat and buckling himself in. I walk around my SUV with much less gusto than when I left it.
As I get into the driver’s seat and put Blue into drive, his eyes stare straight ahead of him.
“So, that was your mom, huh?” I say, finally breaking the silence.
“Yup,” he says, popping the P as a final punctuation.
I inhale sharply through my nose and exhale slowly, unsure what to say that would make things any easier for him.
“Don’t get your panties in a twist. This is nothing new,” he says, giving me the side eye. When I look at him, surprised, he adds, “Your thoughts are pretty damn loud.”
“Oh,” I mutter. “Right.”
We sit in tense silence as I drive toward my
house.
“She wasn’t always like this,” he mutters, shaking his head. “But when Dad left her a couple of years ago…” His words dwindle out and he turns to look out the passenger-side window.
I didn’t know any of this about him and I can’t help but feel absolutely terrible about that fact.
“Dominic,” I begin.
“If you’re gonna say you’re sorry for me, so help me, woman, I’ll throw myself out of this moving vehicle,” he mutters, still not removing his eyes from the passing scenery.
“Is this why you want to level up so bad?” I ask, clutching the steering wheel tighter.
He shrugs. “I can’t live my life for Mom. Hell, she’s not even willing to live it for herself.”
“Then why?”
“What else do I have? You’ve seen the state of my house. We’re one of the founding families here in Windhaven and we’re falling apart. Dead broke. The house is in shambles. Mom’s a drunk. Dad left… We’re probably going to be homeless soon. Hell, they took my fucking car,” he says, anger building in his tone.
Something in his pity party sparks the anger inside myself and I shake my head. “You’ve gotta be kidding me. As if your life is so bad. Sure, some shit sucks—but at least no one is actively dying. You’re not being stalked by the Moirai for something you didn’t even do. And if you don’t find a way to break the curse, your entire family tree is going to be wiped out.”
Dominic’s blue eyes widen and he turns to face me. “What?”
“Yeah, welcome to my life right now, Dom. I’m sorry, I’m a shitty friend. I get that. But your life isn’t as bad as you think it is. Does some of it suck? No question. But you still have a full life ahead of you. You can be anyone you want. Hell, be with anyone you want. I can’t even be afforded that luxury without the Angel of Death screwing things over,” I say, snorting to myself.
It feels good to voice my frustrations, even if they’re not actually meant for Dominic.
His eyebrows flick upward and he snickers. “Shit, we’re both a pair, aren’t we?”
“Yeah,” I mutter, turning down my driveway and hitting the gas.
In less than a minute, I traverse the rest of the drive and skid to a stop in the front loop of the house. I don’t say a word as I get out of the car and make my way to the front door.
Dominic follows a step or two behind me. I fling my keys on the entryway table and keep going until I reach my bedroom. As I step inside, I reach over, flipping the lights on. The room bursts with illumination as the lamps turn on in unison.
“I’d hate to be the one paying your electric bill,” Dominic mutters.
Allowing my anger to continue fueling me, I ignore his comment as I turn around and place my hands on my hips. “All right, I need you to help me figure out what’s happening with Wade. Then, as promised, I’ll help you level up.”
The words come out colder than I intended, and he cringes.
“No, we have to do the flatline first,” Dominic insists. “Before you got here, I tried to put some feelers out there, but was getting blocked. It’s like there are some magical wards up around him. Who knows, maybe it’s an angel thing. If I level up, I’ll have a better chance of understanding what’s what.”
I narrow my gaze and shake my head, almost a hundred percent sure he’s giving me a line of crap. Especially since Wade’s no longer on the list to become an angel.
“No dice,” I say. “What if you flatline and I can’t bring you back? Did you even think of that?”
“Why do you think I told my mom I loved her,” he fires back, jutting out his chin.
My mouth falls open as I pull up short. “Oh, I didn’t mean…” I say, backpedaling. I blink away my shock and drop my gaze to the floor. I glance up in time to see him roll his eyes and it sets me off again. My jaw hardens and nostrils flare. “Well, even if everything goes according to plan—and it should—I’ll still be a mess if I’m worrying about Wade the whole time. I’ll be no good to you. I still say we do this my way.”
Dominic makes a face, clearly fighting with himself. “Dammit, woman. Fine. Sit your ass down. Let’s see what we can dredge up on your boyfriend. But if I get nothing, we’re switching gears. Get it?”
“Fine,” I spit, plopping down right where I stand like a defiant child.
Dominic saunters over, taking a seat in the middle of the floor with me.
We sit cross-legged opposite each other, and he holds his hands out. I look down at them as if he’s lost his mind.
He glares at me. “Get over yourself. We need to create a circle so I can get a better read on him.”
Reluctantly, I reach out, placing my hands in his.
“All right, I need you to focus on your connection to Loverboy. Think about what’s happening, what you know, what you don’t know. All of it,” Dominic says, sitting up straighter and closing his eyes.
His face settles into a blank slate, clearing off any animosity or emotions from our exchange.
“Focus,” he whispers, tilting his head slightly.
My eyes flicker shut, and I do as I’m asked. I think about Wade…our connection, his birthright, the mark of expulsion, the infection as it took him over, the Moirai—all of it.
The events flicker behind my eyelids and I can tell the information is coming in strong for Dominic, too. He holds still, barely breathing as he consumes the information coming at him.
After a few moments, he says, “The mark—what did you think it was?”
“His father said it was the mark of expulsion. He’s no longer going to be an angel,” I whisper, opening my eyes.
Dominic’s eyes remain shut and his head is tilted, like he’s listening to something in the air.
“Hmmm,” he says, his forehead wrinkling in concentration.
“What? What do you see? What can we do?” I ask, gripping his hands tighter.
“There’s so much haze around it. It’s like it’s all wrapped up in a magical snowball. The Moirai are a part of this. The mark…“ he says, shaking his head. “There’s something off about the mark.”
“No shit. It’s infecting him. Whatever it is, it’s spread all over his torso. He said”—my voice cracks as I remember his last words—“he said he could smell burnt flesh and hair.”
“I don’t get it. Every time I try to understand this mark, it’s like it starts to get clear, then moves out of focus,” he says, shaking his head.
“What do you think that means?”
“I’m not…” he gapes at me, yanking his hands back. “Holy shit—you’re pregnant?”
“I don’t know that it’s any of your business,” I say, blinking hard at him.
Dominic scrambles to his feet. “Like hell. You wanted to know what’s happening—what’s coming. How am I supposed to be effective when I don’t have all the information?”
“You’re psychic. I figured you’d find the information that was relevant. It’s not like I was trying to hide anything. I just found out. He doesn’t even know. And besides, I’m not asking about being pregnant,” I say, blinking back tears. “I’m trying to save Wade.”
“Well, then things just got a helluva lot more complicated for you,” he snickers under his breath.
I gape at him, waiting for him to explain himself.
After a moment, he shakes his head and meets my gaze. “Look, I need more intel—the kind I can get when I level up. But I can tell you the Moirai aren’t just searching for a way to take you and Wade down. They’re coming for your baby, too.”
My heart races as I push myself to a stand. It’s not like I didn’t know this—the curse has damned us all. But it’s something entirely different to hear that it’s set in motion.
If they plan on taking out our child, the easiest way to do that would be to end his or her life before the baby has a chance of being born.
That means time’s almost up and I’m running out of options.
Chapter 14
An Insane Gamble
The room spins, and I walk over to the bed and take a seat.
For some reason I thought I’d have more time. If nothing else, the duration of the pregnancy, before shit hit the fan. But if they’re coming for all of us, all bets are off.
“When are they coming, Dominic? Has it started already? Is that what this is? They’re attacking Wade?” I ask, tears blurring my vision.
Dom shakes his head. “I don’t know. Like I said, the whole situation around him is weird—there’s so much interference.”
“Then make it clearer,” I spit at him.
“I can’t,” he says, throwing his hands in the air. “I’m not omnipotent, for fucksake. I’ve been trying to tell you, my abilities have limits.”
I narrow my gaze. “So, basically, you’re withholding information until you get what you want?”
“What?” he sputters, making a face. “No. That’s not what this is.”
“Maybe this was a mistake,” I say, dropping my gaze to the floor. The room still feels like it’s rotating and my stomach is precariously on the verge of pushing the contents back up.
I swallow hard, trying to ignore the pressure.
Dominic opens his mouth to say something, but my phone rings, cutting off whatever he planned on spouting out. I tug my phone from my pocket, and flip it over. It’s my mom.
For a second, my heart stops beating.
“Hey, Mom. Is Wade—” I sputter, trying not to panic.
“He’s stable for now and they’ve moved him from the ER to the ICU. Unfortunately, that’s as much as they can tell me at the moment, sweetie. How are you doing there? Did you make it okay?” she says, trying to keep her voice calm and even.
I shift my gaze to Dominic and nod. “Yeah, I made it okay. I’m with Dom now, but I’ll be back soon.”
“Okay, I’ll call if I hear anything else. Text when you’re on your way back, okay?” she says.
“Yeah, okay,” I say.
“Love you, Autumn.”
“Love you, too, Mom,” I say, hanging up the phone.
Cursed Legacy: The Windhaven Witches Series Page 9
