Dana grit her teeth, striving for calm. “Someone like me? You don’t know anything about me.”
Mordecai shook his head, his top lip curling in disgust. “I don’t want to know anything about you. You conceived and gave birth to a child only to sacrifice it. You are a selfish, manipulative bitch.”
With every word he spoke, he took a step forward, forcing Dana to take a step back to maintain some space between them. A black cloud, speckled with gold, began to take shape around him and Dana knew he was losing control of his Death magic. To everyone else – including death wardens – the elemental magic felt cold, heavy and depressing. It was also painful and capable of tearing open old wounds and causing nightmares. Dana was only able to see the physical manifestation of Mordecai’s powers because she was – at its root – its maker. The magic would not hurt her, but it revealed just how emotional Mordecai was that he was losing control of it. Especially in such close proximity to Max and her family. Aiden, Tobias, Bastien, and Madigan swarmed around Mordecai, putting their hands on him and placing their bodies between him and her. Much to her surprise, Mordecai shook them off.
“How could you, Dana? Seriously, how could you sit behind your precious curtain and do nothing?” Mordecai asked, pain in every syllable. The black cloud was still present, but it was stationary.
“A curtain?” Dana choked out, furious herself now because Mordecai kept harping on about the veil and her apparent wilful idleness. “You ignorant fool, you have no idea –” she barely cut herself off before revealing too much.
“Veil, curtain, window – it doesn’t make any difference what you call it. The end result is the same; you sitting idly by and watching as your own daughter went through hell,” Mordecai interjected. He pulled himself up – and pulled his magic back – shoving past his paladins before stalking toward the door. Just as he reached it, he threw back over his shoulder, “Good chat.” And then he was gone, slamming the door and leaving a deafening silence. And an even greater gaping hole in their relationship. One Dana was sure she had no hope of repairing.
Chapter Three
Mordecai was so furious he was shaking. He hadn’t been at all prepared to come face to face with Dana. After hearing the teasing innuendo in the house, he had thought to beat some of the tension away. It was why, when he turned and saw Dana standing there looking gorgeous and soft and inviting, that he had immediately gone on the defensive. Nothing he had said was untrue, and he believed it was all warranted. But there was a sharp ache in his chest when he thought about the hurt on her face when he had flung his words at her. It felt almost like regret, and that was something he did not need more of. He had enough regret to last him a lifetime. Still, the more he paced back and forth along the shoreline of the now freezing cold ocean, the more he began to feel like shit. And the more something akin to panic began to set in. His chest began to feel tight, and his breath became hard to drag in. Clutching a hand to his throat, he began to hyperventilate.
“Hey, whoa there, bro. Take it easy,” Aiden’s voice reached his ears, and before he knew it, there were four pairs of hands touching him, rubbing his back, patting his chest and stroking his arms. Soothing words and logic met his ears in a steady stream until he was able to breathe normally again and the tightness receded from his chest.
“What the fuck was that?” Mordecai demanded.
“I would say that was one big panic attack,” Madigan offered.
Mordecai shook his head, “Impossible. I’ve never had a panic attack in my life.”
“Well, I guess you don’t consider wars, famines, nightmares, and deaths to be panic-worthy. But talking smack to Mother Nature and your baby-momma is a whole new level,” Bastien volunteered.
Mordecai refused to let that niggle of regret back in. “She deserved it,” he muttered.
“Maybe she did,” Aiden agreed. “And I have no doubt she would agree with you. Because that woman is carrying just as much guilt as you are. But I don’t think that’s the point.”
“No?” Mordecai challenged.
Aiden shook his head, “No. The point is, do you feel better after getting all that off your chest? You’ve been carrying that around