Mark of Damon by Eva Chase Page 0,17
I’m going to paint the whole thing,” he announced, his eyes already gleaming. “I’m figuring out the plan now—it’s going to look spectacular.”
“Of course it will.” I might not be an art connoisseur, but even I could tell that Jin brought a hell of a lot of skill and talent to everything he made. Between the two of them, I already knew there was no way Rose wouldn’t love this gift to pieces.
A jolt of prickling heat ran up my arm from my scar. The malicious side of the energy it seemed to contain wanted to smash the building before our consort ever got the chance to see it. Maybe some part of me had the urge to do that too. I shifted my weight on my feet, tucking my hand under the opposite elbow as I clenched it against the mark’s power. “How long do you figure it’ll take you to finish? Rose is supposed to be back this afternoon.”
“We’ll be done with construction before then,” Seth said. “Jin will sneak out to do the painting over the next few days. I’m counting on her not happening to wander to this exact spot in the meantime. That’s another reason it’s a good distance from the house.”
He’d thought it all the way through—that was for sure. The muscles in my hand flexed. My jaw twitched with a remark I swallowed before it could come out. I wasn’t even sure what I’d have said, only that the words would have had acid in them.
Get it together, Damon. I wanted Rose to be happy, in every way we could make her happy. Taking this offering away from her wouldn’t accomplish that. I was better than those feelings anyway, wasn’t I? What had all my best behavior over the past months been for if I wasn’t?
I could do better. I shouldn’t be standing around fuming about Seth’s ingenuity when I could be mining my own. He and Jin had their talents; I had outright magic at my disposal. I’d be damned if I couldn’t top their project one way or another.
“Good luck with it,” I said with a nod, impressed with the genuine benevolence I managed to bring to my voice, and left them to it.
I wandered in a random but determined path through the Hallowell woods, turning over the possibilities in my mind. What would bring that perfect beaming smile to Rose’s face—not just the smile, but make her glow with joy in that way that transformed her from beautiful into divine? I needed to pull that off, and I wanted to pull it off before Seth and Jin presented her with their surprise.
After a long ramble, my steps slowed. I’d come to the far edge of the woods where the wild trees thinned around me, and the scene ahead hit me with a perfect tingle of inspiration.
I’d reached the little apple orchard that bordered the forest near the old hunting lodge. The hunched fruit trees in their neat rows looked like midgets compared to the grander pines and elms around me. But this had been one of our favorite spots to roam around when we were kids. During apple season, I wasn’t sure a day had gone by when we hadn’t snuck into the orchard to grab a snack fresh off the boughs. In an instant, I could bring up the image of a younger Rose digging her teeth into the shiny red skin and letting her eyes roll back with satisfaction.
The apples should be in season within a few weeks. For now, the globes of fruit I could spot amid the leaves were small and green. My consort wasn’t going to get excited over those.
But what if I could speed things along a little? Bring some of that past pleasure back into our lives… as if by magic.
Walking up to one of the trees nearest the woods, I opened and closed my hand as if that would warm up the powers I wanted to draw on. Then I rested my hand on the rough bark. The mark was still prickling under my cuff with a destructive burn.
Smash, tear, destroy. But I’d turned that energy toward other purposes a few days ago. I had to be able to do it again. Show the demons I could take what I wanted rather than giving in to their demands.
I wet my lips and pressed my hand harder against the trunk. Closing my eyes, I trained my mind on an image of the immature