Page 30 of The Fate of Black Hearts

“No!” he shouted. “Don’t touch those or the parchment. Those are for me. If you get sucked into either summons, you’ll die.”

She jumped back. “I don’t understand.”

“I know.” He combed a hand through his hair. “Go home. I have to deal with these.”

“Why are you trapped in a place like this, alone, and receiving summons from beings that sound like they are threatening you?”

“It’s complicated. My future is considered dangerous, so they monitor me.” He tugged at the obsidian ring, but as usual, found no weakness in its grip around his finger.

“I’ll go, but will you let me come back another day? I’d like to learn how to get better at dream walking.”

He shouldn’t encourage her to return, but he liked her here. He liked a witness to his life, even if only small bits of it. Hell, he liked the thought of company. “I will help you, but if you visit again, there will be rules.”

“What kind of rules?”

“No kissing me. No affection. You will leave at exactly the moment I tell you.”

She crossed her arms and rocked her head. “I’ll leave when you say. I agree not to cross the line in this form.”

The words were carefully chosen. He respected that.

“I’ll leave now, but… Dom, all those years ago, did you warn me not to get caged because you know what it’s like to be trapped?” She waved around them.

He couldn’t look at her. She was too close to the truth.

Her brows dropped low. “Who do I need to eliminate to set you free?”

You’d do that for me?“This isn’t your fight.”

“It could be.” She didn’t speak further until he met her gaze. “When you’re ready, tell me who and I’ll go after them.” Then she was gone.

He remained motionless for endless minutes to ensure she didn’t return. This was what it felt like to have someone on his side. There’d never been anyone who offered to help him without wanting something in return.

He touched both summonses at once. This ought to be interesting.

A whoosh into a dark space compressed him until he landed so hard on a road that he ricocheted into a brick building, knocking his head. Pain rocked through his skull as he stood. He needed the pain gone to get through this.

The air smelled salty and humid.

Dojin waved at him from an outdoor café chair across the street. The mage lowered his sunglasses when he got close. “Took you long enough. I was about to get sunburnt.”

He felt Atropos before he saw her. The deity stood across the street. She’d taken the form of a woman with dark skin and black hair intricately woven into braids that cascaded down her back. Colorful beaded jewelry adorned her neck and wrists. A loose orange and green dress covered her to her ankles where she worse beaded sandals.

“You’re going to have to wait, Dojin.” He dismissed the other mage, turning to walk away.

“Who is that?” A tinge of fear laced the mage’s tone. “Is that one of them?”

Dojin didn’t deserve an answer if he couldn’t figure it out for himself.

Dom gave a slight nod of his head in deference. “Atropos. To what do I owe the honor of a personal visit?”

Her long, delicate fingers waved toward Dojin as she turned to walk up the dirt street, away from the café. “We should discuss it in private. I understand you’ve unlocked some of your power today.”

How would you know that?

“You’re welcome. Use it to put up a shield,” she ordered.

“I’m not sure I want to reveal this new development.”