“You think of my apartment a lot?” I asked. “I thought you basically said it was a cesspit.”
His eyes locked with mine for a split second. “All the time. And I didn’t say that.”
My forehead creased as I looked away. This wasn’t why he was here either, and it certainly wasn’t what I was sitting here, awake for. “Look. Focus.”
“At nearly one in the morning, you ask a lot, Ana Whelan.”
I ignored him. “We’re going to figure this out—I will figure this out.”
“You said that earlier.”
“Before you yelled at me and wanted me to sign the confession papers.”
“So, you’re ready to finally admit that you might have had something to do with the unfortunate string of bad luck I’ve been having?”
“You actually need me to say it?” I asked.
I basically had at least five times by now. He was still here and not being committed, wasn’t he?
Still, he nodded. “I do.”
Fine.
“I might have possibly had something to do with the bad luck you’ve been having, which you’ve also apparently brought with you.” I stopped my speed-walking back and forth, setting my hands on my hips. “I thought you didn’t believe in magic anyway, Mr. Tall, Dark, and Boring?”
It was quiet. It was always so quiet at night, waiting for someone to break through and shine some light.
He pursed his lips, nodding.
“What? What else would you like me to say? That I messed up?” Because I had. Though, in the back of my mind, I was still reeling with a silent cheerleader, screaming with delight. Out of all the spells and incantations I had tried in my life, this one had worked. It had somehow worked.
I had done this. All on my own.
“Sure.” He seemed appeased with that.
“I messed up. Happy?”
Dom smirked smugly. “That’s definitely a start since, once more, you seem to have no care for anyone else’s life other than your own.”
“Well, that’s all you’re going to get after what you did. And ditto on that account, Dominic Rovnik.” I sneered at his name.
He opened his mouth, as if to argue, before nodding, hearing whatever new curse I’d put on his name hanging in the air. “Fair.”
“It’d better be,” I said.
He stared at me, eyes softening as he assessed me again, as if searching for something he couldn’t quite put his finger on. He could keep looking. I was looking anywhere else now, needing to keep on task here.
“I’m going to figure whatever is going on. I’ll look through myBook of Shadowsand also online in one of my forums to see if anyone else has messed up as bad as this.”
“Witches have online chat groups?” Dom almost sounded more amused than before with those eyes managing to remain ever so serious.
“Don’t act so surprised. And this hasn’t been a picnic for me either, in case you were wondering.”
“I wasn’t. Not until now anyway. You said that before. Are you telling me that you’ve been suffering or something?”
“Whether you believe in it or not, in the witchcraft world, there is a thing called the Rule of Three. Basically, if you screw up, it comes back to haunt you three times over.” And I’d done just that.
“Karma times three.”
