I sighed when Dominic managed to burn himself again and swore loudly, throwing the wand to the ground in disgust.
“It hates me.”
“It doesn’t hate you, Dom. Pick it up and come here.”
He stood in the middle of the room, hunched beneath the harsh light of the single bare bulb that lit the space. His hands were curled into bone-like claws and I could almost see the frustration coiled tightly in his shoulders.
I approached him warily, pushing up from my perch on the lip of the tub. He didn’t turn to look at me. He barely acknowledged that I was there.
“Dom?”
Slowly, carefully, I put a hand on one side of his face. He flinched at the touch but didn’t draw away immediately. I decided to take that as a good sign.
“Dom, what’s wrong?”
He raised his dark eyes to mine. I hadn’t seen this much emotion in them since my trial, two years ago. It wasn’t hurt or betrayal shining in his eyes now. It was something much worse.
Fear. Helplessness.
My skin prickled and an icy finger of dread traced my every vertebrae. I’d seen Dominic afraid before. I’d seen how every single member of the Five had reacted under pressure. I’d been in war zones with them. We’d faced down the worst that human and demi-human kind had to offer. I knew that after a particularly bad time Cayman Bello, the most powerful shaman in the world to date, would lock himself in a room and speak to no one for days. Sienna Vogel, a witch and enchantress, would get the shakes. Dominic would bury himself in a book or a project, drowning the experience until it didn’t bother him quite so much. Only Ewan Saunders, an ex-cowboy and elemental manipulator, seemed to be entirely calm after a mission. And we all figured he was just too crazy to care about self-preservation. Who could have predicted he’d meet his death at my hands.
Never, in the nine years that I’d known him, had I seen Dom helpless.
“What’s wrong?” I repeated, sliding a hand into his hair. It was an automatic gesture. In years past, I would have pressed my body to his, coaxing the answer from him as I scraped my nails along his scalp.
I mustn’t have been the only one thinking about where that sort of thing led, because he shivered and his breath came out in a small gasp. The demon in me could almost hear his pulse spike as his heart began to beat faster.
“Nat, I don’t want to talk about it,” he murmured.
“Well, it looks like you need to. You’re not going to do any meaningful magic if you don’t.”
Dominic wound an arm around my waist, pulling me closer so that we stood chest to chest. His long-fingered hand slid along the skin of my arm, raising goosebumps in its wake. The touch was so achingly tender. His hand finally came to rest on my shoulder, his fingers curling around the nape of my neck.
We moved in tandem, without a word, without thought. His lips came down hard on mine and heat that had nothing to do with my infernal hitchhiker rose in my chest. Dominic strode forward, forcing me to retreat until my back hit the wall. His fumbling fingers sought the front of my shirt and I was forced to push him away.
Desire still beat a tattoo against the front of my brain. It was almost physically painful to stop him.
“Dom, we can’t.”
“Why the hell not?” he growled.
“Because fucking me is not going to solve your issues, and I won’t let you use me as a distraction, or an escape. Tell me what the hell is wrong with you.”
Dominic’s head nestled into the hollow of my throat. Warm breath fanned across my skin.
“You died,” he choked out. “It was hard enough to watch the first time, Nat. Impossible, really. I knew I’d have nightmares about it for the rest of my life. But then…”
His entire body was shaking. “It was nothing compared to what happened at the summit. I know you didn’t perceive anything after the headshot. But they didn’t stop there. You barely looked human anymore, Nat.”
I stroked a hand through his thick, soft hair, shushing him. “I’m here now.”
“For how much longer? I can’t watch you die again. But no matter how hard I try, I can’t make that damned thing work for me. I’m useless to you here.”
“You made it work on the beach,” I pointed out.
He snorted. “Yes, a patch of fog that was only a few yards wide. I didn’t even manage to fell all the wolves. And then your wand went back to being stubborn, as usual.”
“What did you do to make it work the first time?”
He was silent for so long that I was afraid that he might have gone to sleep right there on my shoulder. Finally, he spoke, though it was barely over a whisper.
“I thought of you,” he admitted. “I kept your face in my mind. I didn’t want you to die. But that’s not working when I try to enchant anything else.”
I pushed away from him and bent to retrieve my fallen wand. The toothbrush had been electric at some point, which made it thick enough to hold the wand and explain any random buzzing. The protective case was lined with faded Disney characters, now mostly just blobs of melted plastic.
“Think of me now,” I told him, taking one of his hands. It wrapped around mine, solid and sure. “I want this. And I want you. But first, you have to figure out how to use this wand, Dom. Without it, we’ll never get off this damned island. Got it?”
Dom furrowed his brow, desire and control wrestling for dominance. Magic was 99% confidence. Doubt destroyed everything. I pushed his hand down towards the tub. The tip of the wand touched the surface and the water began to swirl around it, forming a small whirlpool around the small length of wood. When the water settled it was as clear enough to see the bottom. Good enough for me.
I nudged him with my elbow. “See? That wasn’t so hard.”
He didn’t smile back, but at least the helplessness faded from his eyes. Scared I could handle. We were ass-deep in predatory wolves. It was the height of foolishness not to be scared at this point. But helpless? No. Helplessness was the sort of thing that made you eat the end of your pistol or offer yourself up as dog chow. That wasn’t going to happen to us. Not while I was still breathing. And I knew just the cure to bolster his ego.
I slipped off my shirt and glanced coyly over one shoulder. “Is this how you were thinking of me, Dom?”
His eyes darkened as he stared at me, taking in the pale expanse of my back and the flimsy bra, the only barrier that kept me from being completely topless.
“I am now,” he murmured.
And then his hands were on me, deftly unclasping the bra and tossing the offending garment into the shadowy recesses of the room.
“That’s the only one I have, you know. If I can’t find it later, I doubt I’ll be able to find a replacement in this godforsaken place.”
“Hm. What a tragedy,” he said, dipping his head to press urgent kisses against my collarbone.
“Incorrigible bastard,” I groaned as he pulled us into the jacuzzi and turned on the jets for good measure.
The water was warm and soothing, and Dom’s hands left trails of fire over my skin. And that was the last thing said between us for a very long time.
chapter
3
I TOWEL-DRIED MY HAIR in the lobby. A surprising number of the bedspreads and towels in the surrounding rooms had been left intact. I supposed when you were scavenging for survival gear, fluffy bath towels were going to be low on the priority list. Any sporting good stores or pharmacies on the island had probably been picked clean. It was literally dog eat dog out there, so weaponry was going to be scarce.
I pawed through the small pile of garments Dom had managed to find. It was either a painter’s overalls or a yellow miniskirt that looked like it belonged to a tennis instructor. I grumbled as I pulled it on, along with a pair of thick socks and my black boots. I changed the blood-stained bathrobe with a long wool jacket.
“I hate to put a damper on things,” I said, “but we need a plan.”
Domin
ic lazed on one of the dusty couches in the lobby, staring at the television situated against one wall as if he could somehow make it turn on through willpower alone. His eyes turned towards me and ran slowly down my bare thighs. For just a moment, I wondered if his mind had flitted back to the days before Cat’s incident. Before I’d become a vigilante. Before our differences had torn us apart.
The desire between us had been growing for a while, but I’d refused to acknowledge it. We were very different, he and I, but there was an undeniable spark between us. Physical chemistry that drew us together like fire and gasoline. When we were together, things progressed quickly. Things happened that shouldn’t. There was no reason in that kind of love. Just feeling and fighting and fucking. And for a long time, that had been good enough for me.
But now? I wasn’t sure.
There was no going back to those days. Cat, Dom, and me, together. The three of us, the way we’d always been. Dominic in my little brick house, a bustling force for cleanliness and order. He’d always counterbalanced my messy habits so that by the end of the day, the house only looked a little filthy.
Cat, sprawled on the couch, watching reruns of Bewitched and complaining about magical representation in media. Me, cleaning or enchanting guns at the table, with Halcyon curled up in my lap.
It had been a simpler time. Gods, did I miss it.
“What do you suggest?”
I gave my hair one final pat and then tossed the towel across the room, arranging my damp locks into long braid. It wasn’t pretty, wet and tangled as it was, but it would keep it out of my face and out of reach if we came across any wolves in human form.
For a man who’d just received some very steamy sex, he wasn’t acting particularly grateful.
“If I had a plan, I’d be telling you, wouldn’t I?” I snapped. “I’m not asking for anything monumental, Dom. Just give me a suggestion.”
“We need to get off the island. The beach is our best bet.”
I ground my teeth. Yes, he was being very helpful. What on earth had crawled up his ass and died in the ten minutes it had taken us to travel from the jacuzzi to the lobby? He was withholding information, and I felt like scrounging up a pair of pliers to pry it loose.
“The wolves are congregated on the beach. And if I know the bloodsuckers, they aren’t going to leave things to chance. They must have at least one ship patrolling the perimeter at all times. Even if we could make it out to one of them, and somehow get on board, we wouldn’t last long without weapons. Any other suggestions?”
Dominic flung his arm over his eyes and pursed his lips. “We find someplace with a working radio and try to signal for help.”
I barely even stopped to consider that. “I don’t think that’s a good idea either.”
“Why not?”
“Come on, Dom, use your brain. Don’t you remember what Ashby showed us before he shoved us ass first onto the beach? The news is reporting the debacle at the summit as a terrorist attack, instigated by us. We’re wanted murderers. What do you think is going to happen if we signal for help?”
Dominic shook his head slowly, mouth twisting like he tasted something sour. “I just don’t understand why the conditions here are so awful. One of the Trust’s subcommittees agreed to provide humanitarian aid to the wolves. The disease was beyond magical healing, but we were supposed to be making regular food drops and providing the wolves in the late stages pain relief.”
I wasn’t sure whether to pity him or smack him upside the head for his naivete. He’d been working with the Trust for longer than I had. After all we’d been through, how could he honestly still believe they protected the interests of the demi-humans?
“Anyone who wants resources from the Trust has to go through Niel Farrand. It doesn’t matter how many petitions they signed or sent his way. You know that old bastard isn’t going to approve aid to demi-humans, no matter how justified the cause is.”
I didn’t kill humans as a general rule. Elle Dawson, the scientist who’d engineered the wolf virus and was now working on a cure, was one of the exceptions I’d made in recent years, and that was just to save my sister. Farrand was probably the only other exception I’d make if I was forced to.
Niel’s attitude wasn’t just humans first. It was humans only. Though technically founded to protect the rights of all races, the Trust only allowed human witches and warlocks to participate in its peace-keeping mission. A small but vocal minority of the Trust believed no demi-human race deserved to exist alongside our own, and Niel was their spokesperson. He was part of the reason I’d been able to swallow the lie I’d been fed by the vampires; that the wolves were just the beginning, and that Elle was working on a super-virus to take out the other supernatural races as well. With someone like Niel in a position of power, it was easy enough to believe that the Trust could condone the destruction of more demi-human populations.
Dominic lapsed into silence, staring out the window to the foggy landscape beyond. In the distance, my keen vision could make out the silvery spike of a cell tower jutting out of the swirling vapor. I made a mental catalog of its position, just in case we needed to retreat to higher ground. Our opposition was fast and strong, but we had at least one advantage over the diseased wolves that stood between us and escape. We could always climb. A sad lack of opposable thumbs meant that a wolf would be unable to follow, though they’d surely keep us up there until we starved to death.
Dom got up and cut down the hall to a first-floor apartment. I followed him and crossed my arms, standing in the doorway. The weak light of the moon filtered through dust motes as Dom pulled a shirt from a nearly empty drawer.
“The fastest and most convenient way to travel would be teleportation.” Dom said, tearing open a tiny plastic bag with a pink razor and a bar of soap.
I snorted a laugh. “Well yes, thanks for stating the freaking obvious, Dom. It would be a lot easier if we could teleport out of here. Unfortunately, that’s not really your specialty is it?”
“It’s not one of my talents, no. But it might be one of yours.”
My brows ratcheted up a notch in a patented “the hell?” expression. Dominic must have recognized it too because his lips twitched into the ghost of a smile before he continued.
“The vampires said that the demon takes a greater hold on you every time you revive. The first time you received a pretty basic supernatural package. Strength, healing, and increased endurance.”
“And fire,” I reminded him.
No one knew quite why, but most creatures who strayed outside the human norm were much stronger and more capable. If it hadn’t been for iron, magic and our sheer numbers, the world would probably have been overrun with demi-humans long ago. As it was, we existed in a precarious balance. One that the vampires would tip if we didn’t stop them.
I nodded once, though I didn’t care for the direction he was going with this.
“We could find someplace on the island that’s isolated. The fairground maybe. You could test out your powers there.”
“No.”
“What?”
I pushed to my feet. “We’ll have to find another way off the island. I’m not testing my powers here.”
“Why not?” Dom asked.
I crossed my arms over my chest and stared at him. I wasn’t sure if he was looking past the glaringly obvious or if he really didn’t remember the conversation we’d had about this not long ago. I supposed I couldn’t blame him if he had. Shortly after telling him what House Lamonia had done to me, the safehouse we’d been sequestered in was promptly bombed by a vampire with a rocket launcher. It had been one hell of a day.
“We’d be playing right into the vampire’s hands. We are sitting on top of a giant dormant volcano, Dom. If I lose control of Valerius’ power for even a second…”
I trailed off, letting the sentence hang heavy in the air between us. The demon’s anticipation was a low hum in the back of my brain. Valerius was the desc
endant of the Aztec creature who had purportedly been slain to create the world. Now her son wanted revenge on anything and everything that lay inside of it.
Except, bizarrely, for me and Cat. The vampires had singled us out as one of the last remaining mages in an ancient bloodline. It made us the only suitable hosts for their weapon. But the vampires had overestimated their control over Valerius. They assumed because they put a muzzle on its human host, condemning me to death every three days unless I helped them, that they’d be able to control it.
They’d been wrong. Very wrong. I’d boiled a half dozen of them alive in the Everglades and burned half the face off of Lamonia’s lieutenant, a repugnant little asswipe that called himself Ashby.
Lines fanned out around Dom’s eyes as he flinched away from the image I’d provoked. In my mind’s eye, I could see the belly of the oceanic volcano that formed this atoll spark with new life in response to Valerius’ power. The magma would press upward, through the long-dormant shaft and explode in a deadly rain of molten earth, killing everything within its reach. Black smoke would belch out of the earth and subsume everything else.
That scene you always see in movies, where the characters outrun a cloud of billowing black dust? It’s bullshit. Anyone who’s ever taken a geology class can tell you that if the lava didn’t kill you, the pyroclastic flow would. It could move at 430 miles per hour, was shy of 2000 degrees Fahrenheit, and is full of volcanic debris, including microscopic bits of glass. If the initial explosion didn’t end all of us, we’d be so much cooked and shredded meat when the cloud had rolled past.
Dominic looked appropriately horrified by the thought. Unfortunately, there was a portion of me that felt giddy at the prospect. The demon’s joy was a heady thing, almost like drinking tequila straight. It gave one the impression that if you only let go, amazing and beautiful things could happen.
Agent of Magic Box Set Page 22
