Dominion 4 - Ascendance (20 page)
Read Dominion 4 - Ascendance Online
Authors: Lissa Kasey
“Says the guy who had his brains shot out.” I rubbed my eyes. “I’m fine. Alive and feel pretty good. How about you? Any lingering side effects? Headache? Memory loss?” He shook his head, eyes bright with unshed laughter. “Guess it pays to be a big bad vampire, eh?”
“Everyone is fine. Caleb, well he’s under Dominion lock and key. He probably will be executed.”
“He’s a witch? But I broke his neck, and he just kept going.”
“He’s someone’s focus,” Gabe said quietly.
“Don’t know. Galloway didn’t have one registered, and Caleb isn’t registered to anyone. Timothy said the guy did occasional yard work in the neighborhood before his dad died, but never anything that made him suspect he was a witch or a vampire focus. He’s not really Caleb anyway. The real Caleb Bentley was found dead in your cottage house less than a week ago.”
“So it’s an illusion?”
Gabe nodded. “One he seems unwilling to let go of.”
I sighed. Fire would be a sure way to destroy whatever he was, though I really didn’t like the idea of anyone dying by fire, deserved or not. There was always someone around to cause trouble so the old rules survived. Speaking of someones, where was Bryar?
The little red pulse of light left my side and flashed in front of the bed, turning into a human-sized version of Bryar. “You have need of me, Master?” He wouldn’t look Gabe or me in the eye.
“Not master. Seiran. And hey, I want you to do whatever you want.” I turned to Gabe, “This is Bryar. He helped out a lot.” Understatement of the year.
He flew across the bed and put his hands over my mouth. “No! Please.”
I pushed his hands down. “Okay, so then be normal. Do what you want. Live your life and be happy.”
“Kinda creepy, and stalkerish, but I think that’s normal for fairies, right?” I glanced at Gabe, who shrugged. “You can stick with me as long as you’re not spying on private moments like sex. I really just want you to be who you are, whatever that means. So tell me what you’d like to do. Have a garden? Become a chef? Be a beach bum?”
I blinked at him. “Like a guy who runs in burning buildings to save people?”
“Yes.” He smiled wide enough to make my face hurt.
“Okay, sure. Once we get home, we’ll see if we can find a department that is looking for help and offers training.” Who would have thought, a firefighting fairy?
Gabe got up from the bed and pulled some clothes out of my suitcase for me. He handed me a pair of soft trousers in gray and a beige cashmere sweater. Dressy for a normal evening.
I stopped. “But we were going to go home. I was going to invite everyone to a big meal that I made and give everyone Solstice wishes.”
Gabe helped me button my pants and tugged on my sweater. “You might want to comb that mossy mess of yours before we go down and meet everyone for dinner. I think there may just be enough time for you to make a Yule cake.”
Bryar looked away, popped into his tiny form, and flew back to curl up in the oversized collar of my sweater. “Mossy mess?” I asked and stomped to the bathroom. Flicking the light on, I had to rub away the brightness before finally seeing it. My scream echoed off the walls.
the time I descended the steps and found my way to the kitchen, Bryar had styled my dark-green—yes, dark-green— hair on top of my head and made it look fairly nice despite the color. I really hoped it wasn’t permanent. The other hair on my body was still black, so there was good reason to believe the odd color would fade. If not, there was always hair dye.
Jamie and Kelly were in the kitchen, both mixing and checking on things that would make up Solstice dinner. They held hands when they could, but both turned when I entered the room. In seconds I was engulfed in their embrace. Jamie stifled a sob and Kelly squeezed tighter than he normally did and petted my hair. “Green’s a good color for you.”
Jamie laughed. “Truly the GreenMan, fertility, earth, and life. If you really don’t like it, I know a really good colorist.”
I growled at him. He shook his head at me, not intimidated at all. Kelly separated us and took me to a corner of the counter that had been cleared. “We need a Yule cake, Sei. I was beginning to think I’d have to make one. You know what a disaster that would be.”
Somehow I didn’t think he’d do wrong with it at all. I checked all the ingredients and threw together a red velvet cake, cream cheese frosting, and a chocolate ganache layer for the top. Gabe found me there and wrapped his arms around me from behind, moving to a tune I couldn’t hear. We danced together slowly while the Yule cake baked. Hanna, Ally, Sam, and Timothy appeared in the kitchen just as Jamie was taking the turkey and honey-glazed ham from the ovens. Both smelled amazing.
A murmured assent rumbled through the room. Kelly spoke first. “My wish is for you all to have peace and strength of heart for the new season and beyond.”
“Okay.” He sighed heavily and thought for a moment. “I wish for good friends for everyone for the new season and beyond?” He looked at Gabe, who nodded his approval.
Bryar told me, making me laugh. I shared the joke with them.
“For myself I have no wishes, because I am forever grateful for the amazing family and friends I have. For all of you, however, I wish for the protection of the earth to guide you each day for the new season and beyond,” I told them all.
Now can we eat?
I laughed.
Everyone began talking: Kelly and Jamie discussing ideas on how to make the house a retreat for young witches; Timothy about how Lily would be arriving for dinner and probably grilling me for the interview afterward; Hanna and Ally rambling about the babies and their new house. Sam had broken away, pushing himself into a corner of the room, where it seemed like he was part of the group, but not. We couldn’t have that now, could we?
I tugged him to me, and he reluctantly followed me back to the counter, where I was working on the cake. “Help me get the frosting in so I can roll it, okay?”
“Wouldn’t matter if you did, we’d all still eat it, but it’s pretty easy. Just spread the frosting across here.” I dumped all the white mix out in a big glob onto the cake and handed him the spatula. He took on the task with laser-focused concentration.
Gabe snagged my hand and pulled me into his embrace. “I was going to wait until Christmas, but I can’t wait another moment.”
“For what?” We were in a room full of people. Did he think we could just run away and do the funky monkey without anyone noticing?
He kissed me, his tongue plunging inside my mouth with the skill of a deep-sea diver. His body pressed to mine, waves of power naturally flowing through us, and my heartbeat against his couldn’t have been more perfect. He finally let me go and stepped away to hold a small box out to me. I blinked at it a few times, knowing it was a jewelry box, but it was the wrong size for earrings, which were the only jewelry I wore. It was even too small for nipple rings. I’d left the only pair I had of those at home in my rush to escape my personal demons.
Gabe released me and dropped to his knees as he opened the box. The room fell deadly silent, but he didn’t hesitate. “Seiran Rou, will you marry me?”
I gulped. The room spun for a second or two. I actually felt Bryar shift into his other form to hold me up. My vision narrowed down to Gabe’s face and the ring, which was white gold with an onyx stone set in the middle and a crescent moon made out of tiny diamonds. It was like looking at the midnight sky just days before the new moon.
When I found my voice it came out as a croak at first, and I had to say it three times before it came out understandable. “Yes.”
The smile that lit up Gabe’s face reminded me so much of the first smile that drew me to him that I threw myself into his arms and covered his faces with kisses. We were already as bonded as two people could ever be. This, however, would display our love to the world. He really wanted to keep me, forever keep me.
“Did someone say something about a wedding?” Lily appeared in the doorway to the kitchen from the foyer. “I would love to plan a wedding.”
Epilogue
’
S
first day at work should be walking into the
bowels of a Dominion prison. My actual job description of Magic Investigations Research Analyst mentioned nothing about interviewing prisoners, but Caleb Bentley, or whoever was impersonating the dead man, vowed to speak only to me.
The witches who acted as guards barely spared me a glance while they opened doors for me. Gray brick walls settled deep within the earth enhanced the gloomy atmosphere. The titanium bars with nullification artifacts embedded dampened even my power. If Caleb tried something, most witches would be powerless to stop him.
However, in the past three weeks Kelly had intensified my defensive training. He praised me for how easily I picked up all the moves and flowed with them. I would never mention to him that I spent hours practicing with Bryar or Gabe just to keep my mind and body in fluid motion. The new control infiltrated every aspect of my life, my magic, my anxiety, and even my cooking.
Gabe and I set aside time each night just to talk about whatever we were feeling or worried us. At first it was awkward; now I looked forward to getting all that crap off my chest and hearing about my lover’s insecurities. Knowing his troubles actually helped me sort through mine faster. Unfortunately, he couldn’t come with me today, as vampires were not allowed inside the prison.
The final door loomed before me to a small, secure conference room where Caleb would be waiting. The guard at the door gave me a ghost of a smile. “We’ll be watching, so if he tries anything we’ll be in there in seconds. Don’t worry.”
The room looked like a hospital and a TV cop-show interrogation room had a baby: sterile, barren, with black glass surrounding all sides except the door. Caleb sat chained to the wall, on a bench made of steel. His jumpsuit was a calming but ugly shade of seafoam green. The dark bags surrounding his eyes and gaunt slant to his cheeks made him look starved.
I sat down in the chair behind a table across the room, both also steel and bolted to the floor. The room felt like a dead zone, strong with nullification power. “Hello, Caleb,” I whispered, not really sure what to say. “Don’t suppose you’ll tell me your real name?”
“Whose god?” I waited for a few seconds, but he didn’t reply. “I want to help you. Do you know the Dominion has sentenced you to death? By fire?” The mere idea of it made me shudder. I’d been asked to attend and refused. “Don’t you have family you want to speak to? Someone who will miss you? I can get a message to them. Bring them before….”
He laughed. “I’ve been around for seven centuries, Rou. Family is all dead. You’ll understand soon enough since you’re bound to Santini. That burly brother of yours, those babies on the way, they’ll all be dead before you realize it. It will hurt less if you let them go now.”
I swallowed back a reply. Gabe and I had spoken about what the bond truly meant, why Caleb hadn’t died, and how long I would likely live. The decision we’d come up with was that we would love our family as long and as much as we could until they were gone. Beyond that, we would only learn with time. “Is that why you attacked me? Destroyed the tree? Why would you need all that power?”
He wouldn’t look at me, but his grief was tangible. We both sat in silence for a minute or two. I drew a breath in, channeling the earth. Despite the nullification, it came so easily. The power rolled to the surface of me, making my skin glow and hair curl in bright-green waves. I crossed the room, caressing his pain away with gentle non-corporal fingers.
Jonahs McLaurien
.
“Hello, Jonahs.” I paced the room slowly. Flowers and grass bloomed around my feet as I moved, leaving a trail of green wherever I walked. Since the other question had caused him pain, I decided to rephrase what the Dominion wanted me to ask. “Who is your lover?”
I ran my fingers down his cheek, adding to the subtle magic touch that revived him a little. After all, earth was life and death in one beautiful package. “Companion? Best friend? What is he to you now? Simply a master?”