Page 72 of The Fate of Black Hearts

The Present

“I figured your idiocy would land on my doorstep eventually.” Cora Roales crossed her arms, pressed her dark-pink lips together, and narrowed her black-lined and mascaraed eyes. Her white-blonde hair with purple highlights had been pulled into a messy bun, but wind battered her where she blocked her front door from entry. The witch came off deceivingly chaotic. She was the most organized and formidable witch Dom knew. She seemed to be the only one in Evie’s sphere of people on whom the Sol Opal’s magic hadn’t worked. Although it should annoy him that she remained immune, he found some relief that someone remembered his shared past with Evie. Cora’s niece mated Evie’s son, Shane, and helped them break the curse that bound them to the monarchy.

When he didn’t say anything, she snapped, “Why are you here?”

“Consultation.” Movement to Dom’s left pulled his attention. A miniature donkey shuffled up to the fence near the house. Animals of all types populated Cora’s sprawling Spanish estate—goats, a few miniature horses, cows, cats, and parrots who talked.Dom even glimpsed a hedgehog scurrying across the floor of the hallway behind Cora.

He’d never sought out Cora on purpose. Once, long ago, they’d fought together against a necromancer who had captured her sister. Eliminating the death summoner led to her sister’s death. That hadn’t been his finest moment, nor one that endeared her to him.

“I have a few house rules you must agree to before you enter. You will not use your magic here. You will not deep read me. You won’t hurt any of my animals.”

“Anything else?”

“Don’t be an asshole.” Cora waved him inside.

Today, he’d take Cora’s hate. He needed one person with a shared history who had genuine feelings for him, even if they were negative.

Time to figure out how to reverse the amnesia spell. Since it wasn’t mage magic, he needed a witch’s help.

She removed a whistling teapot from its burner and poured the water into two waiting cups with teabags. When he moved into the kitchen, she pointed at a chair across from her at the round table.

“Admit you made a mistake when you cast the forget spell.” Cora slid a teacup in front of him.

“No.” He eyed the cup. Potions could be hidden too easily inside the hot brew.

“Why did you do it?”

“I had no choice.”

“Youhad no choice?” Her brows dropped low. “The great mage who outwitted elves and is legendary for outmaneuvering an irate Greek godhadno choice? You survived two interspecies wars and designed a way to maintain the veil between the creatures of hell’s world and ours. Your brilliant reason for executing one of the most diabolical and selfish acts of your life is to lie to me and sayyou had no choice?”

He blew out a long sigh and dropped his chin. “I did it to protect her…all of them—including your niece—from the Mage Conclave.”

For a moment, her eyebrows pressed together. “What possessed them to think themselves clever by erasing your existence from her and everyone around her?”

“They’re obsessed with the prophecy about me. When they detected I had a connection with Evie, they sought to eliminate her. Either I did this spell, or they released the Sutana Vase on her.”

She fisted her hand and waved it in the air. “Stupid, stupid, selfish mages. Did they consider the ripple effects of the Lanzos forgetting you? You’re interwoven into all their lives. By erasing yourself, you broke the web of time.”

“They didn’t know how interwoven I was. I kept it secret to keep them all safe.” He pushed himself away from the table and leaned forward. “The Fates told me I had to choose the path that involved the least death.” He flexed and relaxed his left hand, staring where the black ring banded his finger.

She waved a hand in the air to halt his next words. “The witch who spun words about some child of yours causing the destruction of a world hated you. We were at war. Of course, she was going to concoct something to shackle your desire to make more littlemages. None of us wanted more of you running around in the world. I still don’t. The Conclave rules with an arrogance that suggests all their decisions are irrefutable truth. You mages lack humility.”

“Me included?”

“You especially.”

“The witch seemed to be in a legit trance at the time she told me the words.”

“Do you have a living child whom you think is on the path to end the world?”

“No.” He’d been careful, except with Evie, but she’d said she couldn’t have more children. And lycan biology had meant conception was only possible when a female was in heat.

Cora made an odd noise before she put on her reading glasses and shuffled her tarot cards. “What happens when you have this prophetic child?”

He pointed at the cards. “Don’t throw for me.”

With a smirk, she shuffled the cards. “So, what happens when this child is born? What if Evie gives you a son or a daughter? Someone who’s as determined as her but as powerful as you? What will you do?”