Reign of Mist: Book of Sindal Book Two

by D. G. Swank

  Donall laughed. “That body is no family member of yours.”

  “And is he yours?” I shot back. “If not, why do you care? You don’t seem like the nurturing type.”

  He laughed. “I heard you were full of yourself, but witches need to learn their place in the new world.”

  I snorted. “I know exactly where I belong. The question is, do you?”

  He walked closer, his long coat flapping behind him dramatically. “Oh yes, Rowan Whelan, I most certainly do, and you will learn your place. I plan to teach you that lesson myself.”

  A shiver of fear ran down my skin, but I hid my terror and shot him a look of defiance. “Godspeed to the man who tries to dominate me.”

  He laughed again, and his eyes darkened with promise. “I accept your challenge, but all in good time. Now tell me about the dead mage in your cemetery.”

  “Are you with the Protective Force now?”

  I never saw his backhand coming, but it dropped me to my knees.

  “All you need to know, my defiant Rowan, is that you will answer me when I speak to you.” He leaned over and tilted my face up to see his eyes, his touch deceptively gentle. “Is that clear?”

  “Fuck you, Donall.”

  He leaned closer, his face close enough to kiss me, and whispered, “As I said, all in good time, Rowan. Now answer the question at hand. What happened to the mage?”

  If he thought he was going to screw me, he had another think coming. I’d die first.

  His smile spread. “You will learn to be completely submissive, Rowan. In mind and spirit.”

  Oh. Fuck.

  Phoebe and Celeste had said Donall was a mind reader. How the holy hells had I forgotten that minor detail?

  “That’s right, Rowan,” he said as he rose to his full height over me. “I can read your thoughts.” Donall was no small man, and it was easy to see this was another attempt at domination.

  “Not an attempt,” he said offhandedly. “I am dominant over you. Now tell me what happened to the mage.”

  “If you’re a mind reader, you shouldn’t need me to tell you anything.”

  His face tightened with anger. “I can search your mind for what I want, but the more you try to hide the truth from me, the more painful it will be. And while that would be a great first lesson in obedience, I wish for us to start off on the right foot, considering that you and I will be working together. Now tell me.”

  Working together? But I didn’t have time to dwell on future nightmares when I was currently in the middle of one. I knew there was little point in fighting him on this—he’d get it from me anyway, but dammit, it went against everything inside me to give him what he wanted. “If you’re so fucking powerful, come in and get it.”

  He sighed as he lifted his hand to my cheek, and I was sure I saw a split second of genuine sorrow before a perverse glee filled his eyes. Donall was a dominant and he liked everyone around him to be willingly submissive. Especially his women.

  “That’s right, my little mongoose. And I love to break them too.” Suddenly, those pinpricks of energy I’d felt earlier clustered at my temple, and he burst into my head. I tried to put up a block, but he ran right through it as if it were made of tissue paper. As he sorted through my memories and thoughts like they were tag sale junk, it struck me that I’d made a crucial error. Donall could see everything. My jealousy of my sisters. The intense pain of losing my father. My guilt over not missing my mother as much as I missed Dad. My longing to be normal and to feel like I rightfully belonged somewhere.

  And he could see that I’d glamoured Logan and left him on the outer edge of the cemetery.

  Intense pain flooded my head, so blinding I lost track of what was happening around me. When he finally removed himself, I realized I was lying on the cold ground with a damp clump of grass pressed to one cheek and Donall’s lips pressing a soft kiss to the other. “I had hoped to start out easier, my love. Just remember you brought this on yourself.”

  My head was a jumbled mess of horror, pain, and worry about something…something to do with Logan.

  Logan! I’d left him bound and defenseless—a sitting duck for Donall.

  Donall gently stroked my hair as he addressed his men. “Find the police officer and kill him.”

  “No!” I cried out.

  Donall leaned over and whispered into my ear. “Heal yourself. Sleep.”

  And then everything faded to black.

  When I woke, my head felt like it was being steadily chipped at with an ice pick. I squinted my eyes open to see I was lying on a cot in a tiny room. The mattress was so thin my side was being poked with metal springs, and my head was on an even thinner pillow covered in rough cotton.

  I sat up, my head spinning, and the pain intensified. I vomited before I even realized what I was doing, getting it all over my legs and the floor. Any other day, that would have disgusted me enough to vomit again, but right now, I could barely process it.

  Where the hell was I and why was I here?

  “She’s awake,” I heard a woman say with relief, and the heavy wooden door across from me squeaked open to reveal a woman who looked only slightly younger than me. She was wearing light gray scrubs and her honey-blonde hair was pulled back into a low ponytail at the nape of her neck. A spark of magic told me she was a witch.

  “Rowan, how are you—” she started to say until she saw me. Then sympathy flooded her eyes. “Oh, honey. I’ll get you some new clothes and some water in a minute. Let me look at your pupils first.”

  She sat next to me and gently turned my head to face her.

  “What happened?” I asked, my voice sounding froggy.

  She shone a tiny flashlight into each of my eyes. “You don’t remember anything?”

  I started to shake my head but stopped as the pain came back. “No.”

  She patted my head and gave me a sympathetic smile. “It’s probably for the best. I’ll be back.”

  She got up and left, closing the door behind her, and I realized that she’d locked me inside.

  Where the hell am I? The woman looked like a nurse, but nurses didn’t typically lock their patients in their rooms—and no hospital I’d ever visited had looked this dumpy and uncleanly.

  The harder I tried to remember, the more my head hurt, but there was something urgent in the back of my mind that needed my attention. If only I could remember what it was.

  The door opened, and the young woman came in again, followed by a strange man who remained in the entrance to the room. He stood at attention, his back to the door and his hands behind his back. He might be wearing jeans and a long-sleeved black T-shirt, but he was clearly a guard.

  The woman held a bundle of clothes under her arm and a bowl with soapy water in her other hand. “We need to get you changed.”

  My mouth dropped open as I shot a look at the guard.

  “I’m sorry about him, but they’re being extra careful about you.”

  “Who is?” I asked.

  She gave me a tight smile and didn’t answer. “My name is Lisa. I’m a nurse. We need to get some food and water into you. You’re slightly dehydrated and I want you as strong as possible for your first session.”

  “What session?” I asked, feeling like I’d been dropped into an alternate universe.

  “With Donall,” she whispered. “And the book.”

  I studied her face so hard my head throbbed. “The book?”

  “Enough talking,” the guard grunted. “Get her changed and fed. Donall’s patience is wearing thin.”

  Bits and pieces were coming back to me. Something in the cemetery. Blue light. Flying dirt. My sisters and our broken coven.

  “Wait. Donall has the Book of Sindal?” I asked, incredulous.

  “Quiet!” the guard shouted.

  I flinched, not in fear but in pain. And then the rest of my memories came rushing back.

  Donall. The cemetery. Logan.

  Had they killed him? I couldn’t imagine how a human man
could escape from that many mages, even a man as capable as Logan…

  Tears burned my eyes, and I didn’t fight the woman as she reached for the hem of my soiled shirt and pulled it over my head, careful not to get puke in my hair. It was funny how I took note of a detail like that as I felt my world fall out from underneath me like a trapdoor.

  I didn’t have my sisters. I didn’t have Logan. I had absolutely nothing.

  The guard’s gaze lingered on my chest and bra, and I shot him a look of defiance.

  The nurse stepped in front of me, blocking his view. As she leaned over to help me put on my new T-shirt, she whispered, “Don’t antagonize them. It only makes things worse.”

  “Quiet!” the guard shouted again.

  I stared up at Lisa in disbelief. Did she expect me to be subservient to them? But that was the Dark Set’s ultimate plan, wasn’t it? Dominate witches, subjugating them to the mages’ will, then conquer the rest of the world. They’d just never gotten this far before. Score one for Donall.

  I nearly threw up again.

  “We need to get your jeans off,” Lisa said, glancing over at the guard. “You’ll have to stand.”

  She probably expected me to protest stripping in front of him, but it was nothing he wouldn’t see at a swimming pool. I stood and nearly tipped over, but she reached out and held me still. As soon as I got my jeans down to my knees, she guided me down to the cot and pulled them off the rest of the way. My jeans had received the worst of my puke, so she handed me a soapy rag to wash off my legs. When I finished, she took the rag and helped me put on a pair of yoga pants, but I remained barefooted.

  “I’m going to bring you some soup and bread. I’ll be right back.”

  The guard left with her, and as soon as the door closed, I got to my feet and crossed the room to look out the small rectangular window opposite the door. It was made of some kind of safety glass with a wire mesh inside, and I couldn’t help wondering how hard it would be to break. The window was narrow, but I’d fit through it—it was the drop that might deter me. We were at least two stories off the ground. A patch of grass lay beneath the window, and a stretch of woods was a few hundred feet away.

  Where were we?

  “Stretching your legs?” Lisa asked in a forced cheerful tone, making it clear she knew exactly what I was doing but hoped the guard who followed her didn’t.

  “Yeah,” I said, turning from the window and nearly falling over from a rush of dizziness. “How long was I out?”

  “Two days.”

  “What?”

  “I was worried you wouldn’t wake up. It’s happened before,” she said, leaning over and patting the bed. “Are you good to walk or do we need Patrick to help you?”

  I presumed Patrick was the guard and I didn’t want the asshole anywhere near me. “I can walk.”

  “Good girl,” she said. “Work on getting your strength up ASAP.”

  I couldn’t help wondering if she was trying to give me some kind of subliminal message. Get better so you can get out of here. What was Lisa’s story? Was she a prisoner, or did she really buy into their shit?

  I stumbled to the bed like a drunk person, but I did it of my own accord. Lisa insisted on feeding me the lukewarm broth and noodles, but she let me drink from the plastic water bottle on my own.

  I ate half the soup, then pushed the bowl away. “No more.”

  Lisa frowned but sat back. “How’s your headache?”

  “How’d you know I have a headache?”

  A shadow crossed her face. “It’s a common side effect.”

  So he’d done this before.

  She started to get up, but I grabbed her arm. “There was a man with me.”

  Lisa shot a worried glance to the guard then back to me. “I don’t know anything. I’m sorry.”

  I nodded. “My head feels better after the soup. Thank you.”

  “If you cooperate, he’ll let me take all of the pain away,” she said as she stood to leave. “That’s my gift. Healing.”

  “Thanks,” I mumbled, but I had no intention to cooperate. Donall would have to kill me before I’d help him.

  I sat back on the bed, pressing my back against the wall as I watched Lisa and the guard leave. I was tired, but I’d already slept for two days. Gods knew what I’d missed. I wasn’t sleeping through anything else.

  About ten minutes later, the door opened again. I expected to see Lisa, but a new guard filled the doorway.

  “Come with me.”

  I slowly got off the bed, my bare feet touching the concrete floor. I staggered. “Do I get any shoes?”

  “No,” he barked, flexing his hands as if he was hoping for an excuse to drag me out of the room.

  I stood up straight and shot him a glare. “Just tell me where to go.”

  He backed up and moved into a utilitarian hallway that looked like it hadn’t been used in twenty years. He gestured toward the end of the hall, and I started walking, focusing on putting one foot in front of the other even though the hallway was spinning. Donall had clearly done some major damage to my head. I wasn’t sure I could sustain another round of that, yet I couldn’t see myself bending to his will.

  How was I going to survive this?

  The obvious answer was that I likely wouldn’t.

  When we reached the end of the hall, the guard opened a door that led to a stairwell. I had serious doubt that I could navigate stairs, but the knowledge that the guard would likely carry me if I failed to walk gave me the strength to walk the three flights down. At the guard’s direction, I left the stairwell and entered another dark hallway, empty but for two guards stationed by a door. One of them pushed it in when he saw us and my escort shepherded me inside.

  Donall was standing next to a square wooden table, his dark gaze already on me. His face was expressionless, which scared me more than if he’d been pissed. I had no idea what to expect.

  “Rowan,” he said, a tiny smile lighting up his eyes. “Did you have a good rest?”

  “Is that what you call it?” I knew I needed to rein in my flippant attitude, but I’d been like this for twenty-seven years. Why change now? Especially when I knew I wouldn’t cooperate with him. Might as well get this whole death thing over with.

  To my surprise, he ignored me and motioned to the chair beside him.

  I wanted to ignore him, but I was about to fall over after my physical exertion. I might as well preserve some of my dignity.

  “What would you like me to do for you, Donall?” I asked, leaning my forearm on the table in an effort to hold myself up.

  “So cooperative, Rowan. I must say I’m surprised.”

  I gave him a fake smile. “I’m full of surprises.”

  His smile faded slightly. “I want you to open the Book of Sindal and read it to me.”

  “Like a bedtime story? Someone having a hard time falling asleep?”

  I wasn’t surprised when he slapped me, but nothing could prepare me for the shock wave to reverberate through my head. I leaned over and vomited the broth and noodles I’d just eaten onto the filthy concrete floor.

  “So much for cooperative,” he grunted, walking away from me as though he was worried he’d keep hitting me and never stop. He took several deep breaths before turning to face me, hatred filling his eyes. “There are ways to make you cooperate, Rowan. Don’t make me resort to either of them.”

  My sisters. And how easy if his own brother was currently guarding Phoebe. Even if Brandon wasn’t willingly cooperating, Donall clearly had some power over him.

  “Cut the niceties, Donall,” I spat and realized he’d cut my lip. “You could have gotten my blood at any point over the last two days. You don’t need my cooperation for that.”

  “But I need your blood every time I have to open it. Your sisters’ blood permeated the book. I’ve been adding yours a little at a time.”

  “How courteous of you.”

  “More like I can’t bleed you dry because the book says you’re the key
to reading it.”

  I blinked, sure my head injuries were giving me hallucinations now. “Excuse me?”

  His brow furrowed. “The book contains a note. To you. It says you’re the only one who can read it.”

  I shook my head. “That’s not true.”

  He cocked an eyebrow. “Have you ever read it?”

  I hesitated. My mother had opened it once so my sisters and I could see what we were guarding. But she hadn’t left it open long enough for us to really read it. “No.”

  “Celeste opened it for me.”

  My eyes widened in surprise.

  “Celeste opened the book?” I asked before I could stop myself.

  Donall looked satisfied that he’d gotten a real reaction out of me.

  “That’s where you got the sphere that sucks witches’ power,” I continued.

  “Not exactly.” His face twisted into a maddening little grin. “Celeste gave me that spell.”

  That shook me to my core. “You’re a liar, Donall Cassidy.”

  “I speak the truth. If you’d like to ask her yourself, I can bring her here.”

  No. I couldn’t let that happen and he knew it.

  “Then why am I here?” I asked. “If Celeste was cooperating, why didn’t you ask her for the other spells when you had her in Kansas? Hells, why didn’t you just steal them from her mind?” I knew he could.

  “Because the spells have two layers. One that everyone can read, and another that’s accessible only to you. You’re the key to using the Book of Sindal.”

  “I’m not sure what you read, but there’s no way I can help you, Donall.”

  “Let’s try it,” he said, then moved to the door and rapped three times. Seconds later, two guards walked in carrying the ornate wooden box that I’d last seen in the conference room in LeVeque Tower.

  Donall did have the book, not that I was overly surprised—Lucia had been usurped by a twerpy mage who’d exuded some serious dark energy, after all—but it struck me that one detail from the council meeting didn’t make sense. “Alfred said he was ripping it into three pieces.”

  “Alfred was drunk with power,” Donall sneered. “He has since learned his place.”

  After lowering the box to the table, the guards moved to the doors, standing at attention as though they expected me to scoop it up and rush out with it. If only.