Heart of Darkness

by Lauren Dane

  Her worried look faded with a smile. “Thank you for that.” She paused as she ate. Emotions chased over her features as he watched. As he tipped into something far deeper than a crush or a like.

  Finally her gaze locked with his again. “I’m trying to process it. Figure out all the angles. I need to understand how each variant will affect an outcome. And then I have to understand how to overcome any challenge to my clan on any front.”

  He waited, drinking in the sight of her there across from him. “You have doubts in your ability? Because, I’m not really seeing that. I looked you up today. I admit it. You’re an incredibly successful woman. You’re not the type who fails and you’re certainly not the type who quits.”

  She closed her eyes for a few long moments. He wanted to soothe her, but he sensed she didn’t need that and hoped he was right.

  “No, it’s not that. I don’t doubt my ability to protect them. This clan has deep roots here. Our base is secure.” She hesitated and he wondered what it was she wanted to add but felt conflicted over. “Suffice it to say, I can handle any sort of challenge. Just gets a little overwhelming at times. And while we’re good here, others aren’t. There are places where witches don’t even have an informal coven. They’re pretty much alone, which makes them a target. I … it’s more than about my clan, this is about all of us. Our whole race is at risk. We can’t let that happen.”

  He believed her claim of being able to handle whatever was thrown at her. Made him all hard at the gleam in her eye. Yes, she was a woman who could handle it. Powerful and ruthlessly competent. But she was so much more.

  He’d always imagined clan witches like Meriel to be coldhearted, ball-busting bitches who cared more about money and power than anything else. And he’d been so wrong.

  This was more for her than her own skin and her own base. The only person he’d ever met with her kind of integrity was Tom.

  “I’m crushing on you. So. Hard.” She made him goofy, sent him reeling. It wasn’t always comfortable, but he liked it just the same.

  Her confusion melted into amusement and then she blushed, clearly pleased with his words. She twisted her bracelet, a little habit of hers as she thought something over. Such a delicate wrist for a woman who was so tall.

  She was a mess of contradictions, which only made her more appealing. He found that juxtaposition irresistible. And he knew part of it was the bond-mate pull. But far, far more than that, he wanted Meriel Owen because she was the total package. If they’d been humans, or werewolves or whatever, they’d be hot for each other.

  Chapter 9

  “ENOUGH about me for a while.” She waved a fork his way. “I want to know more about you. What did you do before you came here to Seattle? From what Nell and I could divine, you just sort of popped into existence.”

  He allowed the topic to be dropped. She’d shared a lot and he’d be satisfied with that. For now.

  He grinned. “I have my skills.” He paused, wondering how he could make it sound less, um, criminal than it was. It was important to him, probably for the first time with anyone, that she not see him as a loser.

  “I’m looking forward to seeing just what those skills are.”

  “I keep attempting to show you but you keep telling me I have to wait.”

  She laughed. “Just make it really awesome when I finally give you the green light, then. How did you end up running a nightclub?”

  “I ended up in New York City with a friend. We’d spent some less-than-law-abiding years together and he’d pulled his act together and started a business. I joined him and he gave me a job. I was good at it.” He shrugged.

  “Good at what? I don’t doubt you doing a good job, but what is it that you were doing?”

  “I started with cleanup.” He snorted. “Took trash out during busy shifts. Kept the bars wiped down. Over time I learned how to do the books. How to get people paid. How to hire and fire staff. Marketing.” Evan had let him learn every part of the job until one day Dominic had realized he knew enough to do it on his own. Which knowing Evan had been the plan from day one.

  “So you came out here to steal from my font and set up your den of iniquity.”

  Not much sexier than a sense of humor in a woman.

  “I’m all on the up and up now, aren’t I? But yes, it was time for me to leave the East Coast and come back here. I stayed with Tom for a while as I searched for a good location and then eventually found the space. Simon and I had known each other awhile. He had some money and wanted to buy in. As it happened I needed both a partner and some more capital.”

  “Did you always know? That you were … different from the other kids in school?”

  “Tom started my training relatively early.” Some of his earliest memories were of being taught how to erect shields around his magick. “So I knew. But obviously there are gaps in my knowledge.” Which he tried not to let bug him and managed. Not entirely, but enough. “You obviously did. Growing up in a clan and all. What was that like?”

  “It was just how I grew up. I didn’t know how unusual it was until I went to college. I’m going to say it was the same as not growing up in a clan but you’re going to disbelieve that.” She grinned. “My parents had dinner parties and friends. Those friends had kids my age. We went on vacations together, when my mother actually let go for enough time to leave, that is. Some people are foodies. Some people like the beach. My family had one major thing in common with their friends, just like other groups of people have. It was just about magick instead of NASCAR.”

  “Did you go to public school?”

  She shook her head. “No. From kindergarten through high school graduation I attended a private school the clan runs.”

  “Ah, now I get the college comment. The first time you were confronted by non-magickal people?”

  She shook her head again. “No. While I didn’t go to school with anyone other than witches, we still had neighbors and went to the grocery store and that sort of thing. For the first time at college I had to hide what I was far more than I didn’t. But it was a good lesson.”

  “I haven’t yet been in a situation where I don’t have to hide what I am more than not. Even at the club I’m having to hide everyone from the outside world.”

  “Which is why you support coming out so strongly? You’re not in a clan; why haven’t you just told people if you’re bothered so much?”

  “I don’t think you know me well enough to say that.”

  “I didn’t say anything. I asked. Big difference. If you don’t want to say so, that’s fine too.”

  “I’m sorry for snapping. I support coming out because I think it’s time. I believe it will come out and soon. And I’d rather be in control from day one than have to clean up in the aftermath of someone else’s behavior.”

  She let him process without pushing herself into the conversation. He liked that too.

  “But I understand why, until now, things have been kept a secret. I get it. Which is why I respect the rules, even if I haven’t been in a clan. And I agree with the reasoning. I just don’t believe we have the luxury of secrecy in the age of instant information.”

  They continued to eat as he peppered her with questions about clan and magickal stuff. She seemed to possess an encyclopedic knowledge, which was really, really hot. Smart women really turned him on, he’d discovered, especially since Meriel Owen had swayed into his bar only the night before.

  “Feels like I’ve known you for years.” She spoke as if she’d been inside his head.

  “I was just thinking that.”

  “Do you like gelato?” she asked as he paid the bill.

  “Yes? I think. It’s ice cream, right?”

  She snorted. “No. It’s better. Come on. There’s a place near your club. I’ll treat you to some.” She held her hand out and he stood, bringing her with him.

  “Yeah? Are you offering me sweets? Do I need to protect my honor?” he murmured, bringing her close as they left.

 
; She laughed. “I’ll protect it for you. You can totally trust me with it.”

  It was his turn to laugh. What an unexpected pleasure she was.

  HE walked her out and she took in a deep breath once they’d reached the street. Just being able to unload her worries had made her feel a lot better. Good enough to truly enjoy this time with him.

  She liked this man. A great deal. He challenged her without being patronizing. Expected her to defend her ideas. She snuck a sideways look up at his face as he waited for the car to be brought around. In charge. Big. Masculine and protective. It was beyond ridiculously hot. He stepped closer, putting an arm around her shoulders and his warmth enveloped her. She must have sighed because he looked down at her, kissed her forehead and even managed a deft pass off of a tip when the car arrived.

  “Gelato first and then the club? We don’t have to stay long. I just like to be there and keep an eye on things.” He spoke as he weaved through Friday-night traffic on 2nd leading toward Heart of Darkness.

  “Sounds fine. I don’t have any plans other than this so I’m happy with whatever.” She just wanted to be with him, though she didn’t say it out loud.

  She pointed the gelateria she meant. “It’s close enough to Heart of Darkness and parking here is nuts. Why don’t you park at the club and we can walk?”

  He snorted. “I’m not going to make you walk. You’re in heels and it’s cold and raining.”

  “All right then.” She sat straighter and focused. “Give it one more pass.”

  “Why?”

  “Jeez, you argue over the dumbest things. I’m going to see if I can’t make a parking space happen, that’s why.”

  He made a left at a cross street and then a right to circle back. “You can do that?”

  “I can do lots of things, Dominic.” Pleased, she tried not to laugh.

  “Teach me.”

  “All right. But not while you’re driving.” She closed her eyes and used her othersight instead. Ebb and flow. Energy swirled and broke in waves against the buildings. She found the places where the energy was disturbed and honed in. In the should we leave now void Meriel found, she sent a whispered yes. And when they reached the gelateria again, a spot was just opening up where a car was pulling away.

  “Damn,” he muttered, making a very smooth parallel job into the vacated spot. “Don’t touch the door.” He got out and circled the car. He moved like a predator. Like a Were. She wondered if it had come from hanging out with Simon Leviathan or if it was just part of his makeup.

  “I can open a door. I’m not an idiot.” He helped her out and closed the door.

  “Can and should are different things. When you’re alone or with other people you can open your own door. When you’re with me, you’ll let me take care of you because I like it and because why shouldn’t you let me?”

  He was so incredibly arrogant. In any other man she’d have been inspired to slap his face and huff off.

  But Dominic wasn’t like any other man. On him, it totally worked.

  “Don’t be so bossy.” Still it wouldn’t do to let him get cocky or take it for granted that he’d be getting his way all the time.

  He laughed as he opened the door to the boutique gelateria she’d discovered just a few months prior. “Tom says it’s written into my genetic code. But you’re a big girl, you know how to tell me to back off if that’s what needs telling.”

  Utterly unconcerned with that possibility though, he walked them through the crowd to the counter. “What should I get?”

  “My favorite is pistachio. But it’s all really good.”

  “Meriel, it’s good to see you!”

  She laughed and looked up to Dominic. “My secret’s out. I come here so often they know me by sight.”

  He leaned down and brushed a kiss against her temple. “One look at you and who’s going to forget?”

  He was so good at that.

  Blushing, Meriel ordered some pistachio with some chocolate malt for herself and decided on chocolate flake and vanilla malt for Dominic. He reached for his wallet and she sent him a raised brow as she opened her bag. “My treat, remember?”

  He got the cutest furrow between his eyes when he was thwarted. But he shrugged. “Thank you. Will you share yours with me? Just … a lick or two?”

  The woman behind the counter choked a little as she handed the change back. Meriel laughed. “Yes, he’s really like this all the time. It’s why I keep him around.”

  Dominic laughed at that, hugging her closer to his side. “As if you could get rid of me.”

  They sat in his car and shared the gelato. It pleased her that he’d liked it so much. It was such a sweet, normal moment. Still, in the air between them their chemistry sizzled and she couldn’t help but imagine him naked. Ha, as if she wanted to stop that.

  “I can’t believe I’ve never had this before and it’s only a few blocks from my club.” He leaned in and licked her spoon, making her all dizzy and dry mouthed.

  He turned enough to meet her gaze and the smirk on his lips told her he knew just exactly what he was doing to her and her hormones.

  She had to swallow hard, but she did find her words enough to say, “You’re very naughty.”

  He sat back in his seat and turned the car back on and took them to his club. “I’m trying to show you just how much, but you keep making me work for it.”

  She snorted. “Please. When’s the last time you had to work to get a woman into bed?”

  Ignoring the line of cars, he drove straight to the front, got out after giving her a look daring her to open her door on her own. He opened it and helped her out, tossing the keys to the valet. “But you’re not some woman,” he murmured as he escorted her through a side entrance. The same one they’d gone out the night before.

  She paused in front of his office door.

  “What?” He put himself in between her and the door. Good gracious, when he did stuff like that it made her all trembly and swoony.

  “The warding here is off. Can I fix it?”

  He opened the door and ushered her in. “Only if I can watch and you’ll go slow enough so I can learn.”

  Dominic never failed to surprise her. Bold. Arrogant. Totally alpha-male material. But he wasn’t afraid to ask questions or to learn new things.

  So she walked him through the wards, showing him how to amp up the energy with some mini-feedback spells within it. “These little steps mean you won’t have to use nearly as much from the font. The spell perpetuates its own strength this way.”

  “Can’t believe I never thought of that.”

  Warmed by his praise, she moved through the rest of the ward, pointing out thin spots and minute errors in execution, which left the overall spell weaker and easier to pull apart.

  Despite that, she had to give him credit, the work was very, very good, and she told him so.

  “Thank you.”

  “Can I …” She wanted to show him how to use his othersight; it was clear he didn’t really access it very well, but she didn’t want to embarrass him either.

  He stood very close, taking her cheeks in his hands and tipping her face up to see it better. “You can. Anything. Just say it.”

  She swallowed, hard. “Can I give you some tips on how to open yourself up more fully to your othersight?”

  He paused and it made her nervous.

  “It’s just that you do it, but you’re not using it to its full potential. It’s a very powerful tool.”

  “This will make my spellwork stronger?”

  “Yes. Part of the way magick works when you spellcast is you use energy to form intent. If you use your othersight better, you can manipulate and direct the energy flow more efficiently. Then your spellwork is stronger. Plus, it’s a good tool in general.”

  “You use it all the time?”

  “Yes. Most witches do. I can show you how to blend it better with your regular consciousness so it’s not distracting.”

  “Show me. Tell me.”


  So she took his hands. “My mother’s bond-mate was my first real magickal teacher, but it’s really my father who taught me how to use my othersight effectively. He relates to his magick like it’s math. And since I hate math it took him a while to get to me. But I’m thickheaded.”

  Dominic grinned and ducked in to give her a quick kiss.

  “Essentially, your othersight is like radar. You open yourself to it, yes, but really it’s about using your magick to relate to all you see around you. If you use it while you do your spellwork, you’ll be better able to see the thin spots, where things are weak or the knot with another part of the spell needs to be tighter.”

  “But clearly you can work magick without it. I rarely use it.”

  “Sure you can. But an enterprising witch with a better handle on her othersight than the originator of the spell can spot all the weak points in a spell and unravel them.”

  “Oh. Good point.”

  “Your othersight is there, always. You don’t have to make it, or manage it. You just need to make opening yourself up to it part of how you work your magick until it’s second nature.”

  She walked him through it, pleased at his quick progress, delighted by his reaction to learning something new. The more he practiced, the better he’d be until it was second nature.

  When they finished, he pulled her into his arms, slowly, as if they were dancing. The kiss warmed up slowly. A brush of his lips and then another quick one.

  “Thank you for that. I can see exactly what you mean.”

  Dizzy with him, she managed a goofy smile, swallowing hard as she looked at that face of his. His eyes were her favorite feature. Thick, dark lashes framed the color, a very pale green, like spring. They were beautiful eyes. His nose was strong, not quite straight. She brushed her thumb from brow to tip.