Chapter 6

CHAPTERSIX

Dom looked at the pile of messages and letters on his desk with trepidation.

What if people had been writing to him about the disappearances, and like Arkon and the others, he hadn’t bothered to reply?

There was only one way to find out. Anything was better than staring at the Vianello palazzo across the canal, his mind going over his meeting with Stella.

You know you will get thrown out of the Council if they find out you never reported her.

Rodrigo’s reaction would be apocalyptic, no doubt. Even if the elder Aladoro was serious about putting his family over his ambition, Dom protecting Stella would certainly put his love to the test.

Rodrigo’s voice of reason was the one he should listen to, but the thought of Stella getting dragged to the gallows because of him was unbearable.

His eyes drifted to the gold seal of his office on the desk next to his paper and wax, and he tried not to feel guilty.

Registering magic users had its uses. Testing helped sort out what House they belonged to and determined how powerful they had the potential to be.

The system had quite literally taken children out of the gutter to a place where their talents were nurtured, and they had a shot at a better life.

Dom couldn’t deny there were downsides too, as with all things, and certain constraints and labels also came with being registered.

Stella would have been tested as a child before she ever picked up a paintbrush, so how did she get past them and her father?

When they had first met at Carnevale in March, Stella had used her power to cause a blackout so they could get away from the men Rodrigo had sent to summon him.

They had run away and hid like naughty children, and it had been the most fun he’d had in years.

Dom had thought she was incredible then, and now he realized there was so much more to her than he ever imagined.

He grinned, knowing he was going to have a hell of a time finding out who she really was.

Dom had wanted to make Stella squirm, an act of petty revenge for the months of him wishing she would reach out. But her reaction to him admitting he had tried to call her was genuine. She obviously thought he never would.

Maybe because she knew you were on the Council, and she would be compromised, not because she didn’t want to.

He didn’t dare get his hopes up. Dom had known the moment he saw her that he wouldn’t turn her in. He hated the sharp citrus smell that came into her scent whenever she was afraid, and he never wanted to be the one to cause that even if she drove him crazy.

He had promised to meet her that night, so maybe he would get a chance to tell Stella how much he had hoped she would contact him.

Rifling through her friend’s things wasn’t his idea of a date, but it was better than nothing. A part of Dom had hoped Stella might throw herself into his arms with happiness to see him. He should’ve known better.

It didn’t matter that he had felt giddy as a cub seeing the challenge in her sharp green eyes. Stella was as unimpressed with him as ever.

Dom grinned and then quickly wiped it off his face. He had smiled more that morning than he had in the last six months. Even pissed off at him, Stella managed the impossible.

"Pull yourself together, idiota," he murmured, reaching for the first letter.

Two hours later, Dom had read through all of his correspondence, and there hadn’t been a single note about any missing citizens.

The folder in Stella’s possession was at least two inches thick, and he’d had no idea about any of it. He was tempted to ask Lorenzo, one of the Coins representatives, about the disappearances but didn’t want to alert him to his investigation in Coins territory.

All Houses were protective of their districts, and any sign of interference could be seen as overreaching at best, and hostile at worst.

Plus, if what Stella said was true, there was a possibility that whatever was going on, Lorenzo was in on the scheme. Dom had to consider that the inquisitors in the Coins districts were also being bribed or were scared enough to keep silent.

What have you got yourself caught up in?

The Council of Ten was meant to know Venice’s every trouble, but right now, it felt like he didn’t know a damn thing.

Antonio came in with fresh espresso as if he had sensed Dom’s growing frustration.

"Bad day?" he asked, looking disapprovingly at the letters that littered the floor around Dom’s desk.

"Confusing day," Dom replied, taking the coffee from him.

"And the visit to the publishers went well, I take it?"

Dom smiled over the rim of his mug. "It could have gone a lot worse."

"I see. You seem to be in an unusual mood, master, so I feel the need to remind you that you’re due at an event in Castello this evening."

"What event?" Dom asked as he tried to gather up the scattered letters.

"I believe it is for one of the charities Carmella supports. ’Widows of the Waves’ with the D’Argento’s."

"Can you give my mother my apologies and tell her that I am unwell? Nico will be there to do all the charming they need." Dom dumped the letters into the bin beside the desk.

Antonio frowned. "Are you unwell, master?"

Dom bit down a laugh. "No, but I might be a little insane."

* * *

Dom sat perchedon the roof of the Saint Barnabas Church overlooking the square beneath him. He had promised to meet Stella there at 7 p.m., but he wanted to make sure she wasn’t being watched or followed.

Hopefully, the shifters from the previous night were the only ones who knew about her. Otherwise, he would have to get a security team on her.

You should probably do it anyway.

"I don’t need you to lecture me, Luca. I’m more senior than you. I do the lecturing," Stella’s voice rose up from the street on his left.

Dom prowled over and watched her from above. She was on her phone, the hood up on her overcoat, but Dom’s sensitive shifter hearing picked up on her call anyway.

"You told Domenico Aladoro about your magic! How can I not lecture you?" Luca replied on the other end of the line.

"He already knew, Luca. I may have…met him before," Stella admitted hesitantly.

"When?!"

"Carnevale?"

"He was the hook up you could barely talk about without blushing! Gesu Cristo, you sure know how to pick them."

"Shut up. Nothing came of it, obviously. But I wasn’t thinking at the time, and I gave him my number."

There was a long silence as Stella approached the square and looked about.

"The day you exploded the newspaper with the picture of him and Bianca Rossi in it suddenly makes so much more sense. I honestly thought you had lost your mind when you tossed your phone into the canal after," Luca said and then burst out laughing. "Oh Stella, I needed this laugh so I could stop crying over Claudia."

"I hate you. I shouldn’t have told you."

"You shouldn’t have fucked a Council member! I’m glad he’s willing to help though, so try not to be hostile. He has the contacts we need to get to the bottom of this. He likes you, or he would have reported you, so play nice."

"Dom is doing this for his own reasons, not because he likes me. He’s playing an angle to get whatever he wants, like all men in his position."

"If that’s how you feel, then I still think I should come with you as back up. I can be there in ten minutes."

"No. If Claudia was snatched because someone found out she was looking into the disappearances, then they might know about you too."

"But Stella—"

"Look," Stella interrupted. "I’ll let you know if we find anything. Stay inside until you hear from me. I don’t want you getting taken."

"Fine, but you be careful," Luca replied, his voice serious again. "I can’t lose you as well."

"You won’t. Get some sleep."

Stella hung up the phone and huffed out a breath. Dom followed her, his wings twitching as the scent of her hit his nose.

She threw her phone in the canal over a photo of me and Bianca? That explains why the number was disconnected. One mystery solved, at least.

Stella had thought he had played her, and he could understand why she thought the worst. The tabloids had gotten one picture, taken weeks before Carnevale, and had tried to say that an engagement was imminent.

His alpha side puffed up a bit at the thought that Stella had been jealous enough to have such a tantrum.

"Come on, Dom," Stella muttered to herself. "Hurry up already."

Dom didn’t want to frighten her, so he bounded off the other side of the church and shifted.

He was prepared tonight and had worn his shifting clothes: a shirt and jacket with slits down the backs so his wings could get free. Back in his human form, he pulled the panels around and fastened them with buttons.

Dom walked up behind Stella. He’d just reached out to tap her on the shoulder when she turned, grabbed his arm, and pinned him up against the side of the church, her stiletto blade to his throat.

"Do you always greet people in this manner? Or am I just lucky?" he asked with a smile.

Her body pressed against his, and she softened fractionally when she realized who it was.

"God damn it, Dom, don’t sneak up on me," she said, releasing him and stepping back.

"I didn’t mean to, but I like that you are so vigilant."

Dom touched his throat, half expecting to find blood.

This woman. She was going to keep him on his toes, that was for sure.

She stood dressed in boots and dark clothes, a stiletto strapped to each thigh. He wondered what other weapons she had hidden if she wore those so openly.

Her braided hair hung down from the inside of her hood, and he fought the urge to reach out and touch it.

"You would be vigilant, too, if you’d had people jump you last night." Stella sheathed her stiletto and looked him over. "At least you dressed more appropriately this time around."

"I wanted to fly and not ruin another set of clothes if I have to defend your honor," Dom replied.

Stella rolled her eyes. "I can defend my own honor just fine, signore. Something you would have noticed the other night if you hadn’t felt the need to stick your big nose into my business."

"How could I resist when your company is always so charming?" Dom caught the flash of a smile under her hood. "Besides, my big nose might find something useful tonight that will help you find your friend."

Stella let out a sigh of resignation and started walking away. "Come on, Claudia’s place is this way."