Chapter 119

I must’ve drifted off again, because when I woke up, my mouth tasted like cotton and my limbs were heavy as stone, but I was warm still. The scent of lavender, cinnamon, and something else filled my nose. It was warm and familiar. For a moment, I couldn't quite place where I was. Then I registered the weight around my waist, the strong arm curled possessively over my ribs, the heat of his chest pressed against my back. Dominic.

My heart fluttered.

I shifted, trying to sit up, but the arm around me tightened like a vice.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Dominic’s voice rumbled. It had that low, warning tone that sent a thrill down my spine. "You're on bed rest," he growled into my neck, voice gravel-thick and not fully awake. "Try that again and I'll tie you to the mattress."

I stiffened. "Dominic—"

“Bed rest,” he said firmly. “Doctor’s orders."

"But I ---"

"Neil already left," he muttered, pulling me even closer.

That stopped me.

I sat back against the pillows. “He left?”

There was a pause. Then the sound of the front door closing and a car starting outside answered the question for me. I frowned, guilt nudging at the edge of my heart. Had I really scared him?

I’d gasped. That was true. But I hadn’t meant it in fear, not really, not of him, exactly.

"I think I---"

"Whatever it is, it can wait." Dominic squeezed me closer. “He just needed to clear his head. Don’t take it personally.”

I let my body relax back into Dominic's arms, nestling into the warmth and safety of him. His breath was already slowing again, slipping back toward sleep. I closed my eyes and let myself drift too.

My last thought was of Neil’s red-glowing eyes and the resignation on his face.

Neil

I hadn’t meant to run.

But I needed out of the house to collect my thoughts. A small misunderstanding was better than the much larger one that could have come if I had stayed. Still, I shouldn't have left like that.

I knew better than most that Renee was prone to overthinking, but what else could I do?

Mom had asked me to drop off some potions at a friend’s place in the city and run a few other errands. She must have noticed that I needed it, and I was grateful that she didn't ask questions or push, just gave me something to do with all this energy.

Sure, it wasn't casting gigantic spells or anything like that, but it wasn't that kind of energy that I needed to burn.

I walked into the apothecary and started filling my cart. Herbs. Powdered starroot. A few potion vials. Collecting the list kept my hands busy while the images of Renee in bed with Dominic's flats in my mind. Singing them both in my bed hadn't bothered me. I have been more than tempted to climb alongside Renee. And doze off with them. I thought about it too, but the moment Renee had gasped at the sight of me, at the mark on my back, something in me had cracked. I'd felt it deep in my ribcage. A dagger tearing through my insides.

It wasn’t just the magic. It was me. It was the part of me I usually kept buried.

And she saw it.

Now I was standing in the middle of a witch park, the kind that buzzed with raw spellwork, surrounded by warded punching bags, sand pits for dueling, and elemental totems. My hands were clenched at my sides, magic coiling under my skin like a storm.

I picked a target and flung a bolt of raw, red energy at it. It exploded into sparks.

"That looked like overkill."

I turned sharply.

Arielle stood at the edge of the dueling pit in jeans and a cropped tank, her hair pulled into a high ponytail, her aura glowing with that same confident dominance she always sported. She walked closer, casually stepping over a shattered ward stone I'd broken.

"You shouldn’t sneak up on me," I muttered.

"You shouldn’t be sulking like a rejected teenager," she replied, folding her arms. "Why aren’t you curled up with Renee right now?"

I stiffened. "That’s none of your—"

Arielle moved faster than anyone her size had a right to. One moment she was ten feet away, the next I was airborne, tumbling through the air, flipping to catch myself with a twist of wind magic before I could slam into a totem.

"What the hell?" I shouted, bracing.

She cracked her neck. “I asked you a question. And if you can't tell, I'm pissed off enough that my usual amount of patience is gone.”

"I didn’t think you were serious," I said, trying to keep my voice calm. "You just threw me across the damn park."

"And I’ll do it again if you keep not answering me."

The ground under her pulsed with magic as she lunged again. This time, I was ready. I pivoted to avoid her, sending a stun pulse beneath her feet, but she dodged it like it was child’s play, flipped, and landed right on my back. I knew she wasn't that heavy, I could lift and toss her easily, and yet my legs caved.

I hit the ground with a grunt, and before I could roll, she was straddling my back, pinning me flat. I was immobilized.

Stunned that my magic seemed contained in my body, unable to lash out or control anything.

How was she doing that? How was it possible? As terrible as it might have seemed to someone else of ray of hope filled my heart.

She leaned down, her voice low and calm.

"Skill beats brute force every time, Blackfang. You think being born with power makes you untouchable. It doesn’t. Now tell me the truth. Why are you out here?"

I laughed, chuckled, not mocking, but relieved. My whole like reveolved around the fact that I knew I could defeat anyone. Even without all the skill that I had now, all the training, all the raw power that I had and was still gaining was enough to subdue anyone.

It was why I was so careful, why my mother trained me so much to control my emotions, to manage that darkness I'd inherited.

Yet here I was, pinned flat and certain that even if I tried I wouldn't be able to get out of it.

"I don’t trust myself," I said through clenched teeth. "Renee saw me. Saw the mark. And she gasped, and I…"

Ran.

"You think that means she’s scared of you?"

My silence must have said enough.

Arielle sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. "You’re ridiculous. She’s probably more turned on than terrified. The girl’s got more repression bottled in her than a priest at a strip club."

"Arielle."

"Don’t ‘Arielle’ me," she snapped. "If I had your kind of power and your kind of mate, I’d be tangled up with her like a pretzel by now… figuratively speaking. Women don't do it for me."

I swallowed thickly, pulse hammering in my throat. It wasn't that simple.

"I’m not like my grandfather," I said. "I’ve worked my whole life to not be like him. And when she looked at me... it wasn’t just surprise. It was hesitation. It was fear. Whether it was conscious enough, and I reacted to that."

My face burned at the memory. The way my cock had twitched with interest, her fear had been arousing, and it had made me ill just thinking about how twisted that feeling could turn.

"So you're a little bit of a sadist."

"If I can’t guarantee her safety, I’m not putting her through that."

Arielle went still for a long moment. Then she lifted herself off of me and crouched beside me instead, her hands loose between her knees.

"You think you scared her," she said. "Maybe you did. But you also stopped her pain, carried her through her first shift, and let her curl up to you like she belonged there. You think some glowing mark is going to undo that?"

"It's not--- you didn't see---"

"I see you right now. Saw you before. From where I'm looking, you’re the one who’s scared. Not her."

I looked at her, jaw tight.

She smirked. "If you’re so scared she’s going to be hurt, then get yourself some better chains and tell her how to use them."

I bit my lip. "Could you teach her how to do that?"

She cocked her eyebrow. "No."

I swallowed.

"You could teach her to."

I glanced up at her, pushing up as she stood. "And perhaps trust yourself a little more. If you're serious about her… and you are, aren't you?"

"Yes."

Arielle’s face softened just a fraction, then hardened again as she shoved her hand out to help me up.

"Then stop moping. I happen to like you, so you can start with why Renee would need to learn a magical suppression spell of that caliber."