Was I about to leave my club in someone else’s hands on reopening night? Granted, it was Axel who was no stranger to how things worked, but still… I took in Dathal where he stood, tension gripping his body. His shirt pulled tight across his shoulders, the sheer material teasing lean muscle underneath and tattoos I wanted to trace with my tongue.
But I was getting ahead of myself.
Tossing my keys to Axel, I held out my hand to Dathal. “Come home with me.”
He hesitated.
“Please.” I held my breath, heart pounding behind my rib cage, my pulse only slowing as he reached out and slotted his fingers with mine.
“Yes.”
DATHAL
I was goingto kill Axel. A slow, torturous death involving my daggers and whatever else I could get my hands on. What had possessed him?
Sitting in the passenger seat of Nick’s car, I had to wonder what had possessedme. Seeing Axel all over him, even though I knew what he was up to, had sparked a fierce rage that I hadn’t been prepared for. I was thankful the club had that arch dampening my magic, because I’d felt out of control in a way I rarely experienced.
Even so, I’d had every intention of refusing Nick’s offer to go back to his house andtalk. Fuck Axel and his suggestions. And fuck Nick for usingplease.
Something in his voice, in his eyes, had caught my attention and I’d agreed without realising.
And now here we were, on the way back to wherever he lived.
And I had absolutely no doubts that the very last thing we were about to do was talk. We hadn’t said one word to each other since we’d got into the car.
The atmosphere was charged rather than awkward.
The steering wheel creaked from the tight grip Nick had on it. His left thigh jiggled up and down every time we came to a stop.
I could practically taste the tension in the air, but no part of me was tempted to break the silence. Not when I couldn’t look him in the eye or touch him. I didn’t fully understand how witches used their magic, but I knew they harnessed it with spells or runes or whatever it was that Nick had tattooed over his body—because I knew those markings weren’t only decorative. His magic might be locked down tight, but I felt its presence.
Would I feel it on his skin if I touched him?
The temptation to reach over and test out my theory pulled at me, but I didn’t move. Didn’t want to distract him while his eyes were on the road, and besides, I kept going over in my head what Axel had told me before we left for the club.
He has a secret.
I stood by my decision. Axel couldn’t help the way he’d uncovered it, but telling anyone else was a breach of Nick’s privacy, and no matter how curious I was, that was a line I refused to cross.
One Axel couldn’t afford to cross either.
But as I watched Nick drive us to his house, strong forearms, capable hands, I couldn’t help but wonder what he was hiding.
The fields on either side of us gave way to trees up ahead, spreading into the distance. Another forest. This area was full of them.
I felt it immediately. Like passing through an invisible barrier, magic skated over my skin like delicate fingers, and I shivered. Nothing had changed visually. We were still driving down the same road, trees on either side, but… “You live with your coven?”
Nick glanced at me, forehead furrowed. “Yeah.” He studied me for a moment. “Why do you ask?”
“I canfeelit.” As soon as we’d left the club, I could finally breathe again, the absence of the magical inhibitor like a weight lifted from my entire body. This, though not as heavy as at the club, was just as palpable. Magical energy surrounded us, yet none of it seemed to be coming from Nick.
Either his shielding was next-level powerful or… I wasn’t entirely sure. Did witches lose their magic? I shuddered at the thought. As a fae, magic was life. We didn’t use it; it was part of us. Having magic was as natural as breathing. I couldn’t imagine that being stripped away. Didn’t want to.
No one had mentioned anything, though. Not Axel, Max, or Gabriel. Would that information be pertinent, considering I’d asked for him to sit in on our interview with Zane?
But then it wasn’t like he’d needed to use it, just to understand the magicZanehad used.
“Dathal?”
