Chapter 11

CHAPTERELEVEN

Stella spent the following morning trying to catch up on the publishing house’s accounts and tidying all the various half-finished projects she had scattered about her room.

She had been so busy in the days leading up to her father’s departure, especially with Claudia’s disappearance, that she hadn’t had time to organize herself.

She hated having to put her search on hold, but she could do nothing else but read through her research and wait for Luna to contact her. Dom seemed confident that Arkon would produce something useful, but there had been no word yet.

From her balcony door, Stella watched the shadows of the nearby buildings move across Dom’s palazzo behind the San Samuele dock.

I can’t go back to sleep, Stella. You make me feel alive…

Santa Maria, how could she respond to something like that? She was at a complete loss.

Last night she had decided that maybe she could work with Dom after all, as long as he didn’t give her any of his alpha dick attitude.

By the time Dom had left, he had managed to wring a promise out of her to not chase any leads without him. When she had finally huffed out, "I promise," Dom had taken her hand and kissed it, thanking her for dinner and disappearing into the night.

He hadn’t sent her a message all day.

To be fair, Stella hadn’t sent a message to Dom either. She had been busy, and it wasn’t like Dom didn’t have his own responsibilities to take care of. She didn’t want to imagine the kind of pressure he was under.

As Stella had worked to clean up her life, she had also started a new painting. It began with a wing here and a sword there until the whole border was a flurry of black and gold wings.

If anyone asks, I’ll tell them it’s a commission.She needed something to explain Dom’s visits, and it seemed like a natural cover. If they lived through the next couple of months, Stella might even give it to him as a present.

The painting helped her process all her troubling thoughts and feelings. She was doing everything she could not to worry about Claudia.

Her friend was no pushover. Claudia would be smart and would exploit any weakness her captors had. If anyone could start a rebellion with other prisoners and overthrow their guards, it would be her.

If she’s not already dead at the bottom of the lagoon.

Stella put down her brush and took a few deep breaths, swallowing back tears. She couldn’t allow that thought to grow, and she’d never believe her friend was gone unless she saw a body.

You’re not doing this alone. Dom and Luca have your back. Stella made a sound between a sob and a laugh.

Last night she had felt something shift between them over pasta, and she finally believed Dom wasn’t going to turn her in. Stella had learned to trust her gut and her heart, and both said that Dom was her ally. That they were truly on the same team now.

She didn’t know if that made her the biggest fool in all of the Republic.

Stella went to her balcony again and stared across the water. The curtains on the upper levels of his building were open, but she couldn’t see anyone moving about.

Not that she thought Dom would be silly enough to walk around naked, but a girl could dream.

She had been so ridiculously close to kissing him last night, and she was now grateful that common sense had prevailed. It was bad enough being friends with him, let alone wanting to be his lover.

Males like him only took mistresses from her side of the Canal. They never became more than that, and for Stella being a mistress would never be enough.

It was one of the many reasons she had dropped her very expensive phone into the canal.

"Stop thinking about it," she muttered to herself. She had to get out of the house. Her stomach grumbled, and she remembered her empty fridge.

No wonder you’re obsessing, you haven’t eaten all day.

It was market day, so Stella threw on a coat and grabbed her bag. A walk always helped her think, and as she stepped out onto the street, she took a deep cleansing breath of salty air.

As the main Coin’s district, the doors and shops she passed were decorated with a variety of patere, insignias and flags for the House of Earth.

She passed Lorenzo Tera’s palazzo and looked up at it enviously. The Council representative for Coins had the most beautiful garden in his courtyard, and it’s lush vines spilled out over the trellises.

Even though he had made his fortune balancing the salt and mineral levels in what little earth Venice had, he’d remained in Dorsoduro rather than moving to any of the richer sestieri.

Stella was told that the call of the earth was the strongest there because unlike a lot of Venice, Dorsoduro was built on a solid island, and was consequently the best place for earth mages to practice their magic.

The streets around the Campo Santa Margarita were always busy on market day, and Stella was looking forward to getting lost in the crowd as much as she could. When she arrived however, there wasn’t the crowd she was expecting.

Inquisitors were keeping people back from the center of the square.

"What’s happened?" Stella asked a woman standing near a temporary barrier. She was crossing herself over and over again.

"They found a dead woman this morning in the water under the bridge on the Calle del Forno. A few men fished her out and called the inquisitors. God rest her soul," she replied, crossing herself again.

Fear and panic shot through Stella.

Claudia.

She fought her way through the crowd, impervious to the sharp retorts of onlookers.

"Please I need to see. I could know her!" Stella said to the closest inquisitor.

"Stay back. Evidence has been tampered with enough thanks to the men who dragged her out of the canal," he replied.

"And they were supposed to just leave her there?" Stella snapped, trying to look around him.

She ducked and as he went to grab her, she saw through the tight group of inquisitors. The woman was pale and bloated…and blonde.

It’s not her.

"Get back or I’ll arrest you," the inquisitor warned.

She held up her hands. "Apologies, signore."

Stella turned on her heel and ran before anyone could see the tears streaking down her face. She dry heaved twice but managed to keep her stomach down, and by the time she got home, she felt like she could breathe again.

"Are you okay, Stella?" Luisa asked as she came through the doors. Stella waved her off.

"Fine. Just a bit of an upset stomach." She didn’t stay to chat, taking the stairs two at a time before she got back to her room.

"It wasn’t her. Just breathe," Stella told herself as she sank down onto the couch.

She sniffed back fresh tears as her hand rested on the thick folder of information Claudia had collected.

The inquisitors knew about the disappearances and were doing nothing about it. They probably hadn’t even batted an eyelid in the beginning when it meant a few less homeless people and pickpockets off the streets. No doubt they would also discount the woman they’d pulled from the canal as well.

Stella’s magic flared under her skin, reacting to her rising anger, and she shook the small sparks out of her hands.

"Shit. Stop it." Magic was the last thing she needed.

Stella never could get her abilities confirmed for an area where she excelled, but she figured her magic had something to do with power and being able to transfer and manipulate it.

She could short circuit lighting, suck out the artificer power that made them burn. She had learned to steal the charge out of some magical wards in order to break them, and shock someone unconscious like she had done to Dom.

Most of what she’d learned was self-defense or party tricks. Maybe her magical affinity to power was why being around Dom sometimes felt like a smack in the face, and why lightning raced under her skin when they touched.

Just how high was his alpha level?It was usually measured between one and five, with five being the highest. Anything higher was exceptionally rare.

Stella had known where Dom was standing all night at Silver Doves as if she’d had a tracking beacon on him. It was the same magnetic pull that had drawn her to him the night they had first met, as strong and undeniable as gravity.

She didn’t know how much she believed in Fate, but maybe they had been thrown together to find out what was happening with all of the Republic’s vanishing citizens.

Stella looked back at the folder on the table. Dom did say that they were meant to be partners, and she needed someone to help her go through it all.

Two sets of eyes would be better than one. Maybe he could see a pattern that she failed to. She couldn’t stay in the house, replaying the panic in the square over and over again.

She needed to feel productive and wanted to know if Arkon had found anything. Stella checked the small clock on her desk.

The Council would be in session until at least three p.m. As a thrill of mischief and recklessness ran through her, her anxiety receded a little.

Stella smiled. She had warned Dom that she might break into his house, and it wasn’t like she didn’t owe him a visit. He had a habit of showing up unannounced.

God, he had flown straight through her window last night. Really, he shouldn’t be surprised if she returned the favor.

Did she dare break into the palazzo of a Council Member? Stella choked back a laugh. Honestly, it was like he had dared her to try.

Stella was about to head out when a silver dove flew through her window and dropped a letter before vanishing in a shower of glitter. Stella let out a groan at the sight of her ruined floor.

"This is why I shouldn’t clean," she cursed and tore the envelope open. Her hopeful heart skipped a beat. There was no letter inside, only a list of names.

Luna had kept her word.