Page 68 of The Fate of Black Hearts

Dom quirked an eyebrow in silent question of what the consequences were if he refused.

“Should you not do this, we will return you to your prison. For her…it has come to my attention she has the Sutana Vase in her possession. A small accident will put her at the mercy of the Sutana.”

His blood ran cold. What the hell was she doing with that vase? Maybe she didn’t have it, but Marik would give it to her or make sure it came into her possession. It didn’t matter. The vase housed the spirit of a malicious mage. The few times something had let him escape his confinement, he took pleasure in viciously torturing all beings in his path.

“If the opal fails, we will be forced to put her entire family in the path of the Sutana.”I’ll scorch her blood from the Earth.

He’d picked up Marik’s thoughts as if they’d been directed at him. This felt personal. This wasn’tabout altruistic protection of the world. Marik wanted to hurt her and him.

“If I use the Sol Opal, then what? Do you demand I stop helping the Fates or suggest an alternative mage to them since you deem me unworthy? Are you going to lock me up again?”

Marik stood. “Once you cast the Sol Opal spell, you will stay away from her for the rest of your natural existence. To ensure you stay away from her, we’ll cast an alert binding on you. If you touch her, we will know. If you touch her, you will be giving us permission to eliminate her.” He glanced around. “Dojin will visit you daily for the next two years. You will also wear the ankle band to further bind your ability to feel anything for a female.”

“I don’t want to visit him that often,” Dojin said. “He doesn’t like to cook, and his house smells like mushrooms. I also refuse to have anything to do with the things he fights. No thank you.”

“My house does not smell like mushrooms. When have you been inside it?”

“Enough. We will vote,” Marik said. “All those in favor of this plan, put their right hand on the table.”

Everyone but Brik voted “yes”. Dojin wasn’t allowed to vote, nor were any of the other novices around the edge of the room.

“Then, let it be done.” Marik’s voice was tinged with triumph.Now you will be too weak to avoid death.

Did his brother know Evie made him stronger? As the Fate had said, she fortified his soul.

As interwoven as he was into the lycan family’s lives, Dom tried to imagine what it’d be like for theLanzo family if he simply erased his memory from them. Evie might think she had a brain tumor to lose so much cohesion in her history.Theirhistory. To rip himself out of her life?

He would lose the family he’d found even if in doing so he’d keep them safe. Or would Marik unload the vase on them anyway?

“I will agree only if Marik and every mage at the table puts their hand into the Source water and swears on their eternal souls they will never target Evie Lanzo or any member of her family so long as I keep my part of the bargain. If you do that, I will use the Sol Opal. If anyone here targets her, anyone who makes the oath, our agreement is void. I will know and I will kill the offenders.”

“What if she’s pregnant?” Marik asked. “The child must be eliminated.”

“She’s not. It’s impossible.”

“Then so be it.”

Chapter Twenty-Two

Still six years ago…

Bad plan to arrive at the mage’s house uninvited. Even worse, the nine tequila shots Evie drank an hour ago, which were intended to drown out the hormones pounding through her body, had done little more than lower her already minimal inhibitions.

A wave of lust at the mere thought of Dom compressed her middle with a wave of longing to the point she almost fell to her knees, but she’d never do that. As a tough-ass lycan who still took occasional hit contracts when the Madonna gave her the go-ahead, she would control this hormonal overload. However, the full moon about to crest in the sky posed a big problem.

Standing on his doorstep, finger outstretched toward the doorbell of his fairytale-esque stone chateau in the middle of acres of unused farmland south of Krakow, she didn’t push it. The house was a newer property for him. She’d found the address while dream walking last night.

She should be strong enough to drug herself into oblivion and wake up a day from now. Then this painful drive for sex would be done.I don’t need him.

I can’t resist him.

Bitter wind whipped up her skirt and shifted thefabric against the bare skin of her legs. She’d chosen not to wear leggings. The mere touch of anything to her skin, even the dress, hurt with the heat hormones spiking everything to super sensitive levels. Tight leggings made the drive to mate twenty times worse. She caught the skirt against the wind, not that she cared if she flashed her nakedness to the world.

Go back to the rental car. Drive the mile down the dirt road back to the highway.

The door flew open.

Too late.