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“You know where I stand, but you also know I disagree with you.” Raf shoved past him and was out the door.
“Well, that went fucking swell.” Dominic made himself another cup of coffee, leaning against the counter like his body suddenly weighed too much for him to hold up.
“You going to fill me in? Was this the ending we desired or not?” I couldn’t tell with Raf.
“He’ll stand with me. I knew he would, but he won’t be happy about it. I’m going to be on his shit list for the rest of my days. He thinks there isn’t a better option for the pack than me. He doesn’t want to do it.”
I nodded. Too many people enjoyed the idea of leading, but so few had the gumption to stand up and do it. They preferred judging from the sidelines while not taking any of the responsibility.
“What did you give to the witch?” I asked after a long pause. There was no avoiding the question. I had to know.
“We don’t need to get into this.” He rubbed his fingers over his brow. “I’ll tell you what I told Raf. It’s done. There is nothing we can do about it.”
I slammed my fist down on the counter. “Goddamn it, Dominic. It’s not done. He may be ignorant of the real consequences, but I’m not. You can keep things from your brothers, but we are equals in this.”
“I knew what I was getting myself into. It wasn’t the first time, and I don’t think it will be the last. I told you I will not allow the quickening to take.” His words hit like a physical blow.
“You didn’t convey the gravity of giving a piece of yourself to a fucking witch.”
“I didn’t lie to you. It’s not my fault you didn’t listen to me.”
“You cannot do that again.”
“What are you going to do?” he asked, almost daring me to forbid him.
“I’ll go with you.”
He winced like I’d smacked him. “If you think I didn’t know you’ve had me followed, I don’t know how stupid you think I am, but my kind has a way of getting around such things as much as yours does. You cannot prevent me from going again if I want to.”
I cursed. There was no way to keep an eye on him at all times, and he was right. Both of our kinds had tricks. “How many times?”
“Too many. I tried to get through it once after we met but I couldn’t do it again and remember. It was awful.”
“All for the quickening?”
He shook his head. “She told me she could the first time I required her services, and it sat in my mind like the brick until I broke and went to her to prevent any child from taking root.”
“What did she give you?”
“I didn’t ask. I told her I wanted to make sure I didn’t have offspring and I didn’t want to remember.”
I tried to quell the rage boiling over inside me. The pain and fire would not be extinguished. “Why?”
“Don’t ask me that. Do you think my reasons have changed? Do you think because the price was higher, there is more to it? You know why. And I will do it again.”
I pressed my eyes closed, squeezing my hand into a fist until my nails punctured the skin.
He was silent for a long time, holding shame in the admittance of what he’d done for me. “We need to get ready, so if you’re not going to stand by me for this, I need to know now.”
I forced my eyes open, not trying to hide my hurt. “Yes, we do. But we will have to deal with this later as well.”
“I know.” He offered his hand.
“Dominic?” I slipped my hand into his.
“Yes?”
“Are you going to mark me?” I asked.
