Page 77 of The Fate of Black Hearts

Not her.

Not a mage.

His visitor could pound all he wanted. No one could enter unless he let them in, which he wouldn’t.

It still rained outside.

Boom. Boom. Boom.“I know you’re in there. I can sense you. Answer the door, you sonofabitch, and tell me what you did to all of us.”

“Go away,” he whispered, putting a mental push into the words. He’d expended too much energy last night to make the push effective, though.

“I’m not going away,” Roman yelled through thedoor.Boom. Boom. Boom.“Youwilltalk to me!”Boom. Boom. Boom.

He stared at the ceiling, evaluating his options. He could incinerate Roman without moving from here. On the positive side, the noise would stop. Negative aspect was Evie would never forgive him for killing her eldest. Afterward, an angel might be pissed he’d killed one of God’s precious chosen warriors.

Boom. Boom. Boom.

Dom staggered upright. He caught himself from falling by leaning into the wall. He stood there until the world righted itself. He needed another day of rest. And food. He couldn’t remember how long it’d been since he’d eaten.

The pounding on the door continued.

He stumbled to the door and yanked it open. To keep from careening over, he gripped the doorframe.

Frustrated, and wet from the spitting rain, the lycan appeared to be alone. He bet Evie didn’t know Roman was here. She’d be cranky about it. The thought almost made him crack a smile.

Roman might be tall and unquestionably fierce from fighting all manner of monsters, but Dom had him beat him in height by a few inches.

“I guessed you’d be here since we were less than an hour from here last night. What the fuck were you doing there? Why do I suddenly remember you?”

He glared, but said nothing while Roman ranted on and on in English. When Dom’s headache eased, he picked up the lycan’s words. English wasn’t his first language.

“…last night there was a light. What were you doing there? Why the hell were you shooting a demon? How is it that I forgot you, but now I remember? What the hell is going on? What did you do?”

He ignored Roman to stare into the gray dawn, relieved to see the rain pick up in tandem with Roman resuming his speech. A burst of clean, cool air blew onto his face along with a misting of rain.

When Roman stopped vomiting words, Dom still didn’t speak. Water droplets trickled down Roman’s face.

Roman opened his mouth to continue, but Dom held up a hand to silence him. He reached forward and did something he’d never done with Roman. He pulled him into a tight, one-armed hug and held him until the lycan relaxed. “You’re a pain in the ass, but I’m bloody relieved you remember me.” He pushed him away but kept a hand on Roman’s shoulders. “You forgetting me was the only way I could protect all of you from mages hellbent on controlling the future. All of us are in danger. We have to figure out why, and from what.” Dom pushed Roman toward the walkway. “Get to Evie as fast as you can. Don’t trust anyone outside of family.” He rubbed his head, which did nothing to alleviate the pounding in his left temple. “I can’t sort this right now. If you pound a single time more on my door, I’ll burn off your fingers.” To punctuate the words, he directed a lightning bolt to strike a nearby tree.

Roman startled.

Dom slammed the door.

Chapter Twenty-Six

An hour later…

Evie jerked up in bed. Pain detonated in her head, acute and crushing. She fell back to wait until it passed. This wasn’t the normal headache after dream walking into something more powerful than expected. This was…

Oh. Dear. Lord.

She remembered.

Every. Freaking. Thing.

Dom. Domini Tavlin. That night he decided she needed to forget him played like a bad drama rerun in her head.

Centuries of memories crashed back in a rush. She gripped her head and moaned.