Chapter 27

CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN

Blinding pain streaked through Stella as she fought to get air back into her lungs.

Dom was going crazy, roaring and slashing, trying to get Rodrigo off her. His wings were snapping in and out impatiently.

Through the pain, Stella felt his magic, a sharp shock of power that caused a small spark amidst the gold of his feathers.

Rodrigo was shouting something, but all Stella could hear was Dom’s deep voice in the back of her mind.

In the ancient shedu stories, the alphas were so strong that when they flew, lightning crackled along their wings.

Rodrigo hauled Stella up to her knees. "Who did you tell about the ship?"

"I really need to know something first," Stella croaked. "Does that pick-up line you used the other night ever work for you? A night at the Danieli and a hundred gold soldi, are you serious? Or do they take you up on it because you’re the closest thing they will ever get to fucking Dom, the real Aladoro?"

Stella’s nose broke with a sickening crack as Rodrigo punched her hard in the face.

Blood poured from her mouth as she collapsed onto the dirty floor. Her ears were ringing, and her eyes were running, but through her tears, she saw Dom’s wings as he roared out his fury.

A brighter spark crackled along his feathers, and with everything she had left, Stella pulled all of his alpha energy to her. The force of it slammed into her, her magic shuddering to contain it.

"What the—" Rodrigo stepped away from her but not fast enough.

Stella thrust out her hands, and power streaked out of her in bolts of lightning. The energy bolt hit Rodrigo in the stomach and chest, the force of it driving him backward.

Stella raised her hands to give him another blast when large golden paws grabbed him around the shoulders, and a lioness’s jaws closed around his neck.

Rodrigo screamed, trying to buck Carmella off, but her claws held on. Her jaw locked down tight as he punched at her face. Blood gushed out all over his front as he stopped flailing and sank to the ground.

There was a flash of light and a cry of pain, and then Carmella was back in her human form, legs still locked around him. Bones were sticking out of her left arm, but she held him tight.

"You were right. Domenico was never yours. I’d never let your inferior seed take root in me," she spat, blood dripping from her mouth. "I married you to protect my name and to ensure Dom wasn’t a bastard. Die, knowing that he will be a better male than you ever were."

Rodrigo garbled incoherent words as Carmella dug her good hand into the hole in his throat and tore it wider.

Stella leaned over onto her hands and knees, fighting not to throw up at the gory sight.

Magic charged the air in the cellar, and suddenly Zahir, Arkon, and another man were standing in front of her. The man was tall with curly dark hair that was graying at the sides. The moment of shocked silence was broken by Carmella.

"Gio," she sobbed, and Stella almost passed out as the Doge of Venice dragged Rodrigo’s corpse off Carmella.

"It’s okay, I’m here," he said, as he put his coat around her to cover up the tattered remains of her dress.

"It would seem we missed all the excitement, Arkon," said Zahir, and looked at Dom. "I thought I told you to look after your mate."

"Even you knew about that?" Stella demanded, holding her bloody nose. She rounded on Dom. "You are in so much trouble."

"Arkon. Get here now and fix Carmella’s arm!" Gio commanded.

"Duty calls," Arkon said and cast a look at an irate Dom. "You can unleash the beast, Zahir."

"Ladies first." Zahir knelt down beside Stella and touched her manacles.

They popped open, and she scrambled across the floor to wrap her arms around Dom’s neck and bury her bloody face in his mane. Dom, Dom, Dom.

Power rolled through the air as he shifted back into a human. Dom dragged her onto his lap and pressed his face into her neck.

No matter how furious she was, she needed to feel him alive and breathing to reassure herself that he was okay.

He’s your mate, and he never told you. Stella still couldn’t believe it, and once her shock had worn off, she was going to shake the truth of it out of him. At that moment, she was too scared to let him go.

"I’m so mad at you," she mumbled into his shoulder.

Dom buried his hands in her hair. "I know. I promise I’ll explain everything later, and you can yell at me as much as you like."

"Excuse me, if you two will detangle for a moment, I can get Dom out of those chains," Zahir interrupted.

Dom didn’t loosen his grip but held out his feet. They were covered in blood from where he had cut up his ankles straining against the shackles.

"Look at this mess," Zahir complained, and the manacles unlocked.

"How did you find us?" Carmella asked.

Zahir held out Dom’s golden Aladoro signet ring. "A very loud-mouthed boy named Luca wouldn’t shut up until I saw him. I was at dinner with Arkon and Gio, and they insisted on coming. This was not what we were expecting to walk into."

Zahir tapped Stella’s nose, and she yelped as it instantly healed. Dom growled, holding Stella tighter, but Zahir only laughed and helped them to their feet.

"Settle that temper. I’m helping, and Gio isn’t going to wait for an explanation about what happened tonight."

Stella drew in a tight, wet breath as her dream about being hung by the Doge suddenly felt closer than ever, making her more afraid of Gio than she had been of Rodrigo.

"No, I’m not going to wait," the Doge said as he joined them. He was carrying Carmella in his arms. "Everyone upstairs now. Domenico, get the door." He strode away, wearing an expression that was a familiar mix of worry and fury.

Dom hurried to open the doors and check on his mother. Stella momentarily forgot her fear as she stared at the three of them together, realization hitting her. Arkon’s hand quickly came up under Stella’s chin, shutting her open mouth.

"Whatever thought you might have just had in that head of yours, you are to forget it at once for your own safety," the sorcerer whispered sternly. Stella nodded quickly, her tongue sticking to the roof of her mouth. "Good."

"Stop threatening the poor woman when she’s had a traumatic night." Zahir took Stella’s arm. "Come, habibi, let’s get you cleaned up to talk to the Doge."

* * *

Gio Loredan was nota man to be kept waiting. Stella was given a damp cloth for her face and a glass of scotch for her nerves before being made to sit on a couch in a library.

Carmella was given the time to check that Caesar was still alive and came back with the news that he was still sleeping peacefully. She washed the blood off her face but was still wearing Gio’s gold and black coat of office.

Stella hadn’t gotten a chance to speak with Dom, but she held onto his hand as he sat beside her. She needed to be touching him, and he seemed to feel the same way. Arkon and Zahir were seated on chairs opposite them, both looking serious for once.

"Your name?" Gio asked.

"Stella Vianello," she answered.

Gio frowned. "The publishers?"

"Yes."

"Your relationship to Domenico?"

"She is my mate," Dom replied, his hand tightening. "Though it isn’t something that has been made official."

"You can be quiet now, Domenico. Stella, tell me what has been going on, and do not leave anything out for your own good," Gio said in a tone that would’ve had her trembling if she wasn’t so tired.

Stella decided that she would probably end up being executed anyway, so she told the Doge everything, starting from Claudia’s disappearance, all the way to the moment she pulled Dom’s storm power from his wings and hit Rodrigo with it.

Gio’s brows drew together in a tight frown. "Your family is known for its cards, and yet you are an unregistered magic user?"

"I swear I never used it to make cards. I couldn’t. It’s not that kind of magic," Stella hurried to explain.

"And the reason you were never tested?"

"I was. It was negative, so I was never registered."

Arkon cleared his throat. "Magic is strange sometimes, my Doge. It can remain dormant until it’s triggered by extreme stress. Stella is also telling the truth about never using magic to paint cards. All her cards go through magical tampering tests like all tarot manufactures, and also, she is a fulmian mage. If she tried to use magic to infuse cards, all they would do is burst into flames."

Fulmian mage. The words rattled through Stella’s skull. A mage who could manipulate power...and lightning.

"It still doesn’t explain why she never bothered to register once the magic manifested itself," Gio said sternly.

Zahir burst out laughing, making everyone jump. "Oh, Arkon, your Ravens get prettier and prettier every year! No wonder she’s not registered. None of your sneaky little spies are."

Arkon lifted his hands and made an exasperated sound. "Well, thanks for outing her, you ass!"

Gio’s expression turned glacial. "Stella is one of your Ravens?"

"She was until this giggling idiot ruined her cover," Arkon snapped. "Forgive the deception, Gio. Stella was on a mission to look into the disappearances after so many letters were sent to me on the matter. I had no idea she was going to get tangled up with Domenico in the process, and I sure as hell didn’t know she was his mate."

Gio didn’t look like he really believed any of them but didn’t seem to want to argue about it.

Stella looked at Dom. What is happening?

He squeezed her hand tighter. Don’t say a word.

"What about me? I killed Rodrigo," Carmella said in a small voice, drawing the Doge’s gaze. Gio looked over her pale face, her still-healing arm, and his coat around her. His gaze softened, but his tone did not.

"As far as I am concerned, it was self-defense," he said finally, hands gripping the arms of his chair. "In a month’s time we will put out an official statement saying that Rodrigo died carrying out a mission for me in Croatia. I won’t have the Aladoro named dragged through the mud because of him. Domenico will take his chair on the Council, and you, Carmella, will have the other one. It’s time that a real Aladoro sits in the ancestral seat. I told you when you gave it to Rodrigo that he wouldn’t be worthy of it.

"As for you, Stella Vianello, you will never paint another tarot deck again, or your life is forfeit. You will also complete the mission that Arkon assigned to you with Domenico’s assistance. Find out where the fuck my citizens have been taken to. I want to know what the damn Varangians want magical people for."

Stella couldn’t speak, so she nodded instead. She was going to live.

"There is also the matter of the Princess of Zadar and whatever it was hauling. According to my sources, the ship left before midnight, and if they have decent weather mages on board, they will be halfway to Croatia by now," Zahir said.

"We need to stop it." Stella shot to her feet, albeit unsteadily. "Claudia could be on that ship."

"Tell me what you need from me to complete your mission," Gio said.

Dom stood next to Stella. "I’m going to need Nico D’Argento."

"Done. Now, all of you get the hell out of my sight," Gio commanded. "Carmella and I need a private word."

Outside in the halls, Dom pulled Stella to him and held her tight. She could feel him shaking the same as her, though he hid it better.

Stella breathed in his cedar scent and tried to steady her heartbeat. How had they both just walked away from that?

"I think I’ll come with you to Croatia. Nico might have the best ship in the fleet, but you will need real magic to get that thing going, and Gio isn’t about to let Arkon leave the city. I’ll meet you two at the Arsenale in an hour," Zahir said, and then added, "And consider my debt to you paid." The djinn smiled and disappeared with a flash of light.

"Well, mine isn’t," Arkon grumbled. He stared at them, and Stella felt the geyser of magic roiling inside of him. "One day, Domenico Aladoro, I am going to ask you for a terrifyingly large favor, and you know what you are going to do?"

"Give you anything you want?" Dom guessed.

Arkon’s eyes twinkled. "Praise God, he’s cleverer than he looks. As for you, my supposed Raven; you will report to me as soon as this mess in Croatia is cleared up. I haven’t seen a fulmian mage before, and you are going to need some training."

"Yes, Grand Sorcerer," Stella said, her mouth dry.

"Good, now off you go to find Ciro." Arkon strode away but paused as he reached the front door. All the humor had fled his face. "Oh, and Dom? If you see the Wolf Mage on your adventures? Tear her throat out, will you?"