Page 67 of The Fate of Black Hearts

“Enough!” Marik yelled. “How did you get out of confinement the last time we put you there?”

That was a long time ago. Why wait until now toask?

Dom glanced around to meet the gazes of the other mages at the table. “Clotho, the life giver of the Fates, released me.”

“Why?”

“I don’t fully comprehend the Fates’ reasons for anything they do. They view the web of time and adjust as they deem necessary. Apparently, it was necessary I not be there at that moment.”

Marik covered his face and muttered, “Why won’t you die?”

That suggested Marik had done things to try to kill him. Maybe that time at the Seine hadn’t been as random as it felt? Dom never could figure out how those mid-level witches knew enough about him to pull off capturing him and conjuring a type of demon that could almost kill him.

Dom said, “The Fates informed me they weren’t ready for Death to have me when they released me.”

“Why not?”

“They like me to contend with nonhumans who threaten the ones they oversee.”

“You kill our kind?”

“I have never eliminated a mage. Most of the targets have been witches or the demons they conjure. I had a few necromancers. There was one vampire who bit the shit out of my arm. There was a six-headed dev that a witch put a spell on to make it lose its mind. I had to eliminate the poor creature before it decimated Rome. Have any of you tried to fight a multi-headed monster that shoots spikes and fire? The worst, though, are the exorcisms. I would be relieved to never do another of those. The vomit, theblood…you have to do it fast, or the demon will turn the human inside out. Explodes, you know. Disgusting business.”

Dom got wide-eyedyou’re nutsstares from those around the table—except for Marik, who rolled his eyes. Maybe everyone other than Marik was impressed. Dom didn’t care. It didn’t look like he had any takers to step in for him as the Fates’ errand boy if Marik ended him.

“I don’t recommend any of it,” he continued. “It’s been one nightmare after another ever since she freed me. Do you think I wanted to do their bidding? Sometimes I wish I was still at the bottom of that windowless well you threw me into for twenty years. At least nothing there hurt as much as any of these creatures I’ve had to deal with.” He stood straight. “If you’ve decided it’s time to eliminate me to circumvent something a nutty old witch said, then someone else is going to need to take on this work for the Fates.”

“What do you get in return for thisworkyou do for them?” Marik asked.

He chuckled and shook his head. “Not a damn thing. I live by the Code, Marik. It means I volunteer. This is how I chose to direct my abilities in a way to positively influence the world. Isn’t that what all of us spent our youths learning? Or have the teachings changed? How have you forgotten?”

“You are a threat now that you have entangled yourself with her.”

Brik, a mage a few years older than Marik, stood from the table. Dom and Brik had studied as novices long ago under the same master. An eccentric whopreferred to live deep in the jungles of the world immersed in nature, Brik led a principled life Dom respected. “I’m not in favor of any sort of destruction or death over this unclear prophecy spewed forth by a witch who conveniently died. The fact the Fates chose him to do these things suggests Dom has a purpose in our world. Perhaps we are yet to understand the words of the prophetic witch. I’ve said this before. Our way has never been to disrupt the order of things or lay a path of devastation. We monitor. We protect. We shield. If we seek to avert or delay the future, then we do so gently. What is intended to happen will come to pass no matter what we do.”

“Enough.” Marik’s voice rang out across the room. The four younger mages beside Marik cowered.

Dom met Brik’s gaze across the table. In silence, they agreed such pussies didn’t deserve a seat at the Conclave table.

“In order to preserve the Code and the safety of the world, we have concluded there are only two choices.” Marik waved around the table and signaled for Brik to sit. “Either you destroy her or…”

Anger surged.Do your breathing. Don’t let anger best you.

A mage to the right of Marik opened a felt pouch and removed a large opal that he laid on the table.

Marik said, “You use the power of the Sol Opal to erase the memory of you from her and from everyone around her who might know anything about you.”

Erase? Forever?

He’d do no such thing. Make her forget his existence?

He stared at the golfball sized gem on the the table. “What kind of magic is that?”

“Relic witch magic,” Marik said.

Dom exchanged glances with Brik. Since when did mages employ witch magic? It was dangerous for their kind to mess with the type of magic that wasn’t theirs. They had little hope of controlling it.

Marik grabbed the stone and returned it to it’s pouch. “Since some of us think destruction is not a part of our Code, we will not jump to that at first. Rest assured it is the second step if the first doesn’t dissolve your attachment.” He looked pointedly at Brik. “He must use the opal.”