me loud and clear.
35. THE VIOLET HOUR
Lightening flashed outside the window as I curled up on Trace’s couch later that evening. Trace was stuck working the late shift at All Saints, which meant that I finally had a moment to think about my conversation with William earlier that day. Frankly, I wasn’t sure how I’d managed to make it through all my classes without having a full-on panic attack or major breakdown. Apparently, my powers of compartmentalization had saved the day yet again.
But alas, I was quickly running out of compartments, and time, and still had absolutely no idea how I was going to be able to make this monumental, life-altering decision.
A pro and con list seemed pointless, and I didn’t exactly have any parents or a best-friend I could turn to for guidance. Trace was the only one I could talk to about this, but I wasn’t even sure where to begin. I had yet to tell him about anything—about why the Horsemen were really here, about Nikki’s real baby daddy, and about what the Council wanted me to do; to become. I hadn’t even told him about what happened with Dominic in the woods the other night.
My heart sank as my mind segued to Dominic. The void left in my life by his absence was as wide and deep as the ocean. Lately, I couldn’t even bear to think about him for anything more than a passing moment.
What we used to be was so far removed from what he’d become, and what he tried to do to me, that I was no longer capable of wrapping my mind around it. He went from being my person—my everything—to hunting me down like it was open season for the thrill of it. But in my heart, I knew that it wasn’t the real Dominic doing these things to me. The man I knew him to be had loved me in the most intoxicating and freeing way one could love somebody. And so my love for him was ever present, even now, much like my love for Trace had been after his death.
There was no denying that I loved them both, deeply and completely, and that I was going to need to find a way to save them. Trace from his own mind and Dominic from the demon that had taken over.
And as if that wasn’t enough of a threat, I now had Mistress Nikki Parker on my ass, too.
The sound of the doorbell echoing through the empty house startled me from my reverie.
My heart pattered noisily as I cycled through the list of possible late-night visitors, though my mind went straight to my growing list of enemies. For one, I knew that Trace had a key and even if he had forgotten it, he wasn’t due back for at least another hour.
Grabbing my dagger off the coffee table, I made my way into the hallway toward the foyer, searching inwardly for that familiar feeling that usually told me when Dominic was near.
Feeling nothing, I sidled forward until I reached the window and peeked outside.
No fucking way!
Excitement burst out of me as I yanked open the door and all but launched myself at my sister Tessa.
“Oh, my god, Tess! What are you doing here?” I squealed as I pulled back to make sure she was actually standing there before throwing myself right back into her arms.
She laughed against my chest, but it was mostly muffled on account of how tightly I was squeezing her.
“How did you know I was here?” I asked as I pulled back to let her catch her breath.
“How else? I couldn’t find you at the Blackburn Estate, so I called Gabriel. He told me you were staying here,” she explained as I hauled her into the house by her jacket lapel. “The Council called me back,” she added pointedly.
Well, that sobered me right up. Locking the door behind us, I turned and faced her. “How much did they tell you?”
“Enough.” Draping her arm around my shoulder, she pulled me into a side hug and then walked us back into the living room, apparently knowing her way around well. “Why didn’t you call me?” she asked as we both sat down on the couch. She looked genuinely hurt that I hadn’t been the one to fill her in.
“You know why, Tessa.” There was once a time when I’d been offended by my sister’s lack of involvement in my life. When I assumed every missed phone call or unanswered