Another step through the darkness and bright sunlight greeted me, the scent of Khala flowers bringing a smile to my face.
Home.
NICK
I metDavid at the same pub as before, but this time he was alone. Nodding in greeting to Solomon, I headed to the meeting room at the back.
“Do we need privacy?” David asked as I walked through the door. He sat perched on the edge of the table, phone in hand.
“Yes, please.”
He closed his eyes, skating his fingers over the mark on his forearm, and I felt the brush of a silencing spell whisper over my skin.
That was new.
I hadn’t been able to feel it like that since they gave me my mark.
David smiled. “That should do it. Now, what did you want to talk to me about?”
Figuring it was easier to show him, I pulled my sleeve back and turned my wrist so he could see it clearly.
He stared at it, frowning. It took him a second or two, but I saw the exact moment it dawned on him what the problem was.
“How the fuck did that happen?” He looked up at me, eyes wide.
I rubbed a hand over the back of my neck. “Well… funny you should ask.”
There was no easy or delicate way to explain how having sex with Dathal had shaved a year off the magical sentence the council had given me.
So I told him the truth.
He stayed silent as I spoke, expression unreadable, but his gaze kept dipping to the mark on my wrist.
“Fuck.” David rubbed his jaw. “You’ve lost a whole year off it?”
I shrugged. “I assume so.”
“Who else knows?”
“Dathal, obviously. And Gabriel. I asked them both not to tell anyone else. I wanted to talk to you first.”
He nodded. “Good.”
“That’s not all,” I added. “When you cast your privacy ward, I felt it.” His eyebrows rose as the significance of that statement sank in. “As inreallyfelt it. Like I haven’t since they gave me this.” I nodded at my wrist.
He blew out a breath and I held mine.
David was my coven leader. Now I’d brought it to his attention, whatever he decided was the best course of action, I’d have to go along with it. Or come up with a very convincing argument against it. “What do I do?”
It took him longer than I liked to answer. “Nothing.”
“Nothing?”
He held out his hands. “You’ve done nothing wrong, Nick. You had sex with a fae.” He gestured to my mark. “One who’s magic reacted to yours, reawakened it, maybe. I’m not sure how the fuck that happened, but it’s not your fault.”
“Will the council see it that way?”
He see-sawed his hand. “I don’t know. But they used a particular kind of magic to give you that mark. As far as I’m aware, there was no way to break it by anyone else other than them. The fact that Dathal’s magic did this is nothing short of amazing.” He crossed his arms. “I always thought they were too harsh when they gave you that sentence. Maybe this is nature’s way of rectifying that.”
