Page 94 of The Fate of Black Hearts

Cora’s gaze bounced to Madeline. “As I was saying, if there’s another page and you get all of you in one place with Madeline, he might be able to force her to enact it. Then all of you would be bound—but to who, or what? To him? That sounds super stupid. Second, Baku is a liability. He might be her familiar and loyal only to her, but he is a dragondemon.What happens if a prince of demons asks Baku to do something? I vote no. Madeline stays here with Baku. I also recommend Vivi stay. I’ll go.”

“Maybe I should stay,” Ky frowned. To Cora, he whispered, “Do you suspect demons will come here if Vivi stays?”

“We’ve got this. She will be safe here. I promise.” Cora patted him on the arm.

“What do you think, Madeline?” Dom asked her.

Madeline twirled a runaway lock of red hair in a finger. “Cora might be right. I don’t know what Baku would do if ordered by a higher up demon to act. I think you four should go. We’ll go somewhere safer.” She stepped forward to hug Shane. “You tell Jeremiel he better bring you back to me. Even an angel isn’t safe from a witch’s wrath.”

Dom noticed Efrem whispered something to Nova and Vivi, who both looked inside. The girls looked at Madeline and all three disappeared inside quickly.

Dom asked, “What was that about?”

“Um…house minutia. We’re packing up to move.” Efrem made eye contact with Roman as if warning him about something. Something was going on that they didn’t want him knowing about. He didn’t have the energy to mind read. Later, he’d tease out what was going on.

Efrem asked, “Where are we headed?”

Cora closed her eyes. “They’re close. I sense a very old church north of town.”

“I know that place,” Roman said. “It’s about an hour from here.”

“We’ll take two cars,” Efrem announced. “Dom, are you going your weird popping-through-time way or with us?”

“I’ll meet you there.” He would always find Evie, no matter where she may be in the world.

Cora started walking away. Cora called out, “I’ll meet you there. Remember, if there’s a new witch there, they might be luring you there for a new blood curse. Watch out. If it happens, Dom, you have to trust your family. All of us.”

Chapter Thirty

Evie stretchedher neck and arched her back where she was stiff from sitting for so long with her hands tied behind her. A thick leather belt held her in place to the chair. She’d struggled long enough with the bindings to make her wrists sore and bloody. The “decline” hadn’t made her strength wane. These were magical bindings resistant to her kind of brute strength.

Light crept through the small gap under the door to illuminate a hollow room populated only by her and the metal chair bolted to the floor in which she sat. Wrapped in her own thoughts, time crawled on. She dozed, but her dreams were confused and disturbing.

Maybe it wasn’t Dom who pushed them apart. Maybe it had been her.

She’d been afraid he’d disappear. So, she forced him to do just that.

She was done waiting for Dom. Done in the sense she was going to make him a part of her life. He needed her as much as she needed him.

Whatever kidnapped her wasn’t going to stop her from finally righting her life.

She tried to remain alert but eventually slept, even if uneasily, until something touched her arm. She awoke with a start.

Her pulse hammered in her ears, like a maddened drumbeat. “I’ll never tell you whatever it is you want to know.”

Ian’s lips pulled off his teeth in what should be a grin of excitement, but it came off unhinged. He had shaved since their last meeting, retaining only a closely trimmed dark beard. He wore a tailored black dress jacket over a black shirt and supported himself with a cane. This time, he wore gloves. No weapon seemed apparent, but if he could nab her and move her with magic, weapons may be unnecessary.

A slow, deep chuckle filled the room around her. “I didn’t bring you here because I seek information. There’s nothing you can say that I don’t already know. I know of your five sons. Of the one I killed and the other four who escaped the curse I cast to bind them. I remember how many of my demons all of you have destroyed. Those murderers should be here soon.” He clenched and unclenched his hands as if he couldn’t contain his eagerness.

“Why do you need me if they’re your targets?”

He smirked.

“Did you have something to do with the mages who imprisoned Dom?”

“I watched Dom murder my demons for centuries. When I finally had him beaten down to the point he was ready to give up and I told those idiotic witches how to kill him, you appeared and convinced him to live. You have remained a distracting annoyance ever since. He fixated on you to the point of obsession when I needed him to weaken again. Just when I finally got you out of his life for sure and he showed vulnerability, your pesky offspring colludedwith angels to hunt my demons.” He leered at her. “You are the queen of that whole endeavor now, aren’t you?”

The timeline didn’t work in her head nor the “collusion” part, but she didn’t want to argue with him. This was the super demon she’d been searching to find for a long time. This was the one who’d tortured Dom and her family. “Why not kill me?”