Dominion 4 - Ascendance (21 page)

I felt awful but wanted him to have some closure before he was put to death. How would I feel sitting there? Would I die protecting Gabe? The answer was an instant yes. “Will you tell me why?”

“He doesn’t know.”

I didn’t try to ask who again. “What do you want me to tell him?”
“I’m sorry I failed. I wanted to give him all he wanted.” Jonahs glared at the wall. “I thought I could get him back if I gave him the power he craved. Even if it was the last thing I did.”

“You were going to give all the power to him? From the tree and from those who died at the ring?” Sacrifice his own life to direct the power to someone else, his master, who obviously craved it.

“Yes.” He finally looked back at me, his eyes meeting mine, and the flood of knowledge poured into me. I saw Jonahs, the man he called master, and others, many others I didn’t recognize, and a few I did, like Max and Tresler. Jonahs had been impersonating a member of the Ascendance Council to learn how to use the ring, only to find out they hesitated to use it after Andrew Roman died. I’d have to notify Luca that someone was missing.

Jonahs’s master was a fond memory for him. Friends first, then lovers, he treasured the times they spent together. As time progressed, his master began to pull away, which confused and angered Jonahs. I watched the memories replay and ached for all the times they had together in sweet romance, only to lose it over passing years.

The vampire had beautiful blond hair and pale-green eyes, a lot like Gabe, but the recollections of him were nothing like my man. Jonahs’s vampire had lost the light in his eyes, choosing instead to fade into the darkness, a skeleton of fear, pain, and loneliness. The image of him deteriorating from lack of will had me anxious to get this terrible interview over and back to Gabe. Was this what Gabe would have become if he hadn’t met me? Sweet Gaea!

“It’s better that I go before him. Prepare for him,” Jonahs said quietly.

 

“The earth will make a home for both of you.”

He looked up at me, the image of Caleb fading away to reveal a young man who wasn’t all that different from myself. His history had been just as jaded, life tainted by people who only sought to hurt him. He’d survived clinging to his master, and now that his master had lost his will to live, so had Jonahs.

“Destroy him,” he whispered. “So he can follow me. Please?”

 

“If it’s what he wants.”

 

Jonahs closed his eyes and relaxed against the wall. “Thanks, Rou. Blessed be to you and all of yours.”

I nodded to his words and reined my power back in, restoring the room to what it was meant to be. Reeling in the power was so much easier now that I had control of it. Would the Dominion fear the power I had? Likely if they had just watched the display I’d offered them, but they could only dream of coming against me and mine.

I left Jonahs with a final breezy touch and whispered a spell to release his spirit back to the earth from which it came. He could let go of his body whenever he was ready, before or after they killed him. I needed to go home and spend time with my family.

The guards walked me out, keeping a more than polite distance between me and them, likely out of fear of what they’d seen in the interview room. What they thought of me mattered little.

In the parking lot, Gabe’s black sedan idled in the noparking zone. I opened the door and then slid into the passenger seat. He leaned over and kissed me lightly, likely tasting the tears I finally set free to drip down my cheeks. I didn’t want Jonahs McLaurien’s memories, even if they might hold future truths. I just wanted to discover what Gabe and I had together one day at a time.

“Nicholas Galloway isn’t dead yet,” I told the love of my life.
Gabe gripped my hand, sharing the memories with me. “He won’t survive the death of his focus. He should have held on with everything he had.”
I couldn’t have agreed more.

About the Author
L
ISSA
K
ASEY
lives in St. Paul, MN, has a bachelor’s degree

in creative writing, and collects Asian ball joint dolls that look like her characters. She has two cats who enjoy waking her up an hour before her alarm every morning and sitting on her lap to help her write. She can often be found at anime conventions masquerading as random characters when she’s not writing about boy romance.
Visit Lissa at her web site: http://lissakasey.com

Twitter: http://twitter.com/#!/parisbvamp

 

Goodreads: http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4904 483.Lissa_Kasey

 

as well as Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php? id=1186894710

 

and her blog: http://lissakasey.blogspot.com/.
T
HE DOMINION SERIES by Lissa Kasey
http://www.dreamspinnerpress.com