Chapter 134

Renee

The ride to the office should’ve been peaceful. But instead, it was tense. Charged.

I sat between Neil and Dominic in the backseat of Dominic's car, trying not to replay last night over and over again in my head. Dominic was staring out the window, arms crossed like he wasn’t thinking about the mark glowing on my hand just hours earlier. Neil was humming like a devil in disguise, full of energy despite apparently not sleeping.

I cleared my throat. “So, you two going to actually explain things today? ”

Neil glanced down at my hand and smirked. “I’d say it's pretty well explained already."

I glowered at him.

Dominic sighed. “Maybe we should wait until… later.”

“Just wait,” I muttered. " One day I'm not going to just sit here and take that for an answer."

"Feisty."

We pulled up to the building just as I was ready to snap. Before I could open the door, Neil caught my wrist.

“Hold on.”

He reached into the pocket of his coat and pulled out a small palm-sized crystal. It was probably from the bag Arielle had tossed at him last night. With a quiet hum, magic shimmered across the surface like sunlight rippling over water. The crystal melted in his palm.

“What are you—”

“Camouflage,” he said. “Until we know what’s going on with the marks, probably best you don’t glow like a holy relic in public.”

The crystal pulsed, and then he pressed it lightly against my marked hand. I expected it to be hot, but it wasn't. The glowing crescent faded from view, hidden beneath a shimmer of illusion. But in its place, a delicate silver ring appeared around my finger, it looked delicate, the threads of silver were so fine I thought they might snap.

It was beautiful.

My breath caught. “What is this?”

Neil smiled faintly. “A cover. For now.”

He turned to Dominic and held his hand. “Your turn.”

Dominic raised an eyebrow. “You’re giving me jewelry?”

Neil shrugged. “I think I'm supposed to be the protector in this whole thing, and my instincts say the mark needs to be covered hand out. I promise to make it masculine."

He hesitated.

"Don't you wanna match her?" Neil teased.

Dominic sighed, but held out his hand the moment Neil took his hand. He flinched. Another piece of crystal melted around his finger. The starting of the marks vanished underneath a wave of magic in its place. A ring appeared, this one with a Brightclaw Crest in it. It looked nice on his hand, like it always belonged there.

As we stepped out of the car, I couldn’t stop staring at the simple band wrapped around my finger. It wasn’t a real ring. But my hand still tingled where Neil’s magic had touched it.

“One day,” Neil murmured as we crossed the lobby, “I’d like to put a different kind of ring on your hand.”

I nearly tripped.

Dominic chuckled behind me and whispered, “Good luck being around him all day.”

I elbowed him lightly. “Don’t act like you’re not smug when you flirt.”

He just winked and peeled off toward the elevators for the upper-level offices, leaving me and Neil to walk toward our shared department.

The entire time we moved through the hallway, I could feel Neil’s presence like electricity skating over my skin.

I couldn't help but smile. I could feel how happy he was just to be there. It was a buzzing sort of happiness. Infectious. It almost made me giggly. How could he stand there with just a straight face like that? Was this what he usually felt like?

Dominic

I got to my office trying not to think too hard about it, but the ring felt heavy and kept drawing my attention. I sat in my seat. And stared. I stared at the ring on my hand until I was sure it would melt off under my gaze, but it held there. Glowing, that brilliant silver like it was freshly polished, the crust winking back at me. It reminded me of a ring from a portrait of one of my ancestors. That ring had been lost a long time ago. But I was starting to wonder if it had ever really been in existence. Maybe that ring too had just been conjured by the Bearer of Wrath of his time.

It shouldn’t have meant anything. It was an illusion—well, it anchored an illusion. But somehow, it felt heavier than any ring I’d ever worn. A placeholder. A possibility. I felt ridiculous.

I leaned back in my seat, scrubbing my hand over my face. I couldn't concentrate like this. Though I did note that the pain that had been in my hand from the night before was gone and my shoulder was better. Despite having slept at an awkward angle on that couch, I felt rested. Maybe this was the magic channeling at work.

I sat at my desk, staring out at the window and waiting for my phone to buzz.

Sure enough, it vibrated thirty minutes after I sat down.

Renee: I don’t know what to do about him. He's like a torch.

I typed back slowly.

Me: Are you a moth?

Renee: Maybe.

Me: You and me both. How are you holding up? He seems... energized.

I could practically hear her groan through the screen. I couldn't imagine what it would be like to be sitting in the same room with him. Not with him still riding high. Maybe I should call his mother and ask her if this is normal. If it was normal, I should definitely ask her what we should do.

Renee: He is, but… he seems mostly normal again except this ring is really distracting.

I leaned back in my chair, rubbing the bridge of my nose. Energized didn’t even begin to cover it. He was like a new man, dropping a mask I hadn't even known was there.

How long had he been wearing it? How long had it been since he last dropped his guard? What more was there to uncover? It was kind of unnerving to think about, if this is what he was like with just one night of freedom.

Vivian

The numbers on my banking app made me smile for the first time in weeks.

Twenty-five thousand dollars. Transferred directly from the account of one of his friends. Just for one night.

I stretched in my apartment and pulled on my tightest pencil skirt. Suckers.

It was exhilarating how much power I still had. Easier learning to think how much more power I would have soon enough. Did I really need to go back to work? No, I had to. I still had a body and a face worth paying for. And men, especially old ones with more money than morals, always paid.

But they couldn't give me the rest of what I wanted.

I didn’t want to go to work for the money, but I had to keep an eye on Renee. She still worked there. Still had Neil wrapped around her little finger. I had. In between them somehow and the other way I could do that was being in the same place they were.

And I had a few more favors to cash in. If I played my cards right, I’d be back on top by the end of the month. The potion was still fizzling in my blood, giving me this lingering high that I really did need.

I walked into the office with a smirk and my ID badge clipped to my skirt. The receptionist looked like she wanted to say something, but I flashed my brightest smile and kept walking.

The elevator dinged. And then I saw him.

Neil was coming out of the elevator, carring drink holders full of coffee cups.

God, even just his presence set my skin buzzing. He was walking down the hallway alone, that slow, predator gait that made him one of the sexiest men I'd ever seen.

Perfect.

I quickened my pace and lifted a hand. “Neil!”

He didn’t stop. But he turned, and he smiled.

It was beautiful. I knew he'd warm up to me. I knew eventually my charms would certainly get to him. It must have been the skirt.

Then, as he passed, that smile widened just slightly, and I tripped on nothing.

Air. I tripped on air.

I stumbled forward. I tried to catch myself, but my other foot was unbalanced. Maybe I just wasn't used to walking in heels, having not been wearing them recently, but I crashed to the floor. I turned back, expecting him to help me and watched as he walked away without so much as a glance back. He was actually whistling. He clearly didn't care that I tripped. Or maybe he was just playing it off, so I said I wouldn't be embarrassed. Neil was a gentleman. But I was embarrassed. This was not exactly how I expected to start today.