Dominion: Zoë Martinique Investigation, Book 6 (40 page)

"He's terrified of me." With that, I
held out the Command and Possession stones, closed my eyes, and
accepted, once again, who and what I am.

Light filled the world on the other
side of my lids as I felt confidence envelope my soul. For the
first time since this whole thing began, I had the most
overwhelming sense of purpose.

"That's not possible," Rhonda
whispered.

"It is," TC answered. "They were
stolen and separated. And now they're nearly whole."

I took in a deep breath and opened my
eyes. "TC, I'm probably about to do a serious fade-out. Can you
take Joe to a hospital?"

"I'd like to take him to the Society
House. As crazy as they are there, the infirmary is state of the
art. And I can watch over him."

"Thanks. After he's settled
in—"

"I'll be back for you, Luv." TC moved
past me, Dags, and Rhonda, and lifted Joe into his arms.

"No funny ideas," Joe mumbled before
he passed out again.

TC laughed and looked at me. "You know
what you have to do. Do it quickly."

I nodded as he vanished.

When I faced the others, Maureen
assumed a fighting position. "What did he mean? What do you have to
do?"

"Don't worry, Maureen. I
need you to take care of Dags a bit longer on your own. Can you get
him out of here before the Ethereals try to take him again? They
now have a means of doing serious damage to the
Grimoire
and I'd be happier if he was
safely back at the Society House."

"Yeah, but what are you
going to do
now
?"
She looked at me and then at Rhonda.

Before I could answer her, Gabriel
appeared in the small space between Maureen and Dags.

The Cherubim held the page in her
right hand. I reached out to Maureen, to warn her what was about to
happen.

Gabriel grabbed Dags's hair
and yanked him to her before she shoved the page into and
through
his chest.
Apparently the Cherubim didn't need anyone to open the book—or she
didn't care. Her only concern was getting that page in.

Maureen screamed just as a brilliant
light blotted out everything else. I heard Dags screaming as well
and I tried to get to him. I shouted for Gabriel to stop but I
couldn't move.

I couldn't see.

The light took everything away. I
closed my eyes tight, felt the magic as heat against my skin.
Rhonda was yelling as well and her panic was a palpable wave of
regret and fear. I knew she realized in that instant what Gabriel
was doing, but she didn't know about Inanna's spell.

When the light vanished Gabriel was
gone. So was Maureen. It was just me, Dags, and Rhonda.

He was on his knees, his face blank,
his eyes unfocused. Rhonda ran to him and put her hands on the
sides of his face. "Dags? Say something. Please…baby…look at
me."

Several seconds passed before he
focused on her. I didn't see recognition in his eyes. In fact, I
didn't see anything.

She was up and in my face in two
beats. "What did she do to him?" Rhonda demanded. "Tell
me!"

Truth was I didn't know. I knew what
spell Inanna wrote on the paper. And the date I'd given her when he
first told me he loved me, the first time he and I made love. He
should know Rhonda's face. He should know mine.

But he looked…blank.

Did the spell not work?

Zoë…it is possible Gabriel
rewrote it.

No…

And then as I held my breath he
refocused on me. His eyes widened and I thought I caught the hint
of a smile. "Zoë? Did…did we stop the Shadow People?"

The Shadow People.

That was last December. A year ago.
Daniel had been in the hospital when Dags contacted me through
email about Shadow People in the bar he worked in. That was how
we'd met.

The date was months before the one
Inanna wrote down, but it was enough.

It was enough.

"Yes Dags…" I smiled at him. "We got
them."

"I swear by your fucking mother's
grave I'll fix whatever it is that bitch did to him!" Rhonda's face
was red with anger, frustration. She put her finger in my face.
"You don't scare me, you damned freak."

I grabbed her wrist. "I should." When
she tried to pull free I didn't let go. In fact, I squeezed as hard
as I could until I heard bone crack.

She tried to run when I released her.
And I let her try, for a short second. I let her think she could
get away from me.

Until she rounded a corner and I was
there. I unfurled my wings as I reached out to her. "I banish your
magic, Rhonda Orly. For now and always."

Chapter Forty-Three

"You can't rush him, Zoë." Mom put her
hands on mine. Who knew this woman could look so commanding from a
hospital bed? We weren't in a state hospital, but the infirmary of
the Society of Ishmael. "The boy's had his life so scrambled since
that book was first opened by Maureen. I think it's reasonable to
honor this request."

If the whole thing wasn't so
intertwined with my heart I'd agree her, and with the Society
Elders. I'd been stupid to let my heart hope for just one second
that this whole mess—this disaster that bitch created—could be
fixed with just a simple spell.

Zoë
,
Inanna said gently.
We talked about this
.

I know.

Apparently you don't, and
you're not listening. I warned you. We had no idea what was already
on that page. And we don't know what Gabriel wrote.

I know. Mash all that up
and you get…

You get…a very confused young man with
a memory like Swiss Cheese.

Three weeks since that day and Dags
and I had spoken a handful of times. Most of those moments
consisted of him asking me about something, wanting to know if it
happened, and me telling him yes or no. My first impression had
been right. He'd been taken back to when we first met.

What I'd believed would be a triumph,
was still a failure. He remembered me, but only as an acquaintance.
I longed to see that look in his eyes—the one of adoration and
love. But this Dags didn't feel that for me. My plan had been to
take some time together. Maybe a trip somewhere in the Society's
RV. But when I suggested this to him he backed away from the idea.
He was polite. Always polite and well mannered.

But he didn't want to do that. So when
he took that idea to Nona and the Elders, the one of taking a
vehicle and spending time on his own for a while, I was surprised
they agreed.

Why surprised?

Because even though he had
a lot of holes in his memory—including those pertaining to
the
Grimoire
—the
book was still there. They'd tested him several times and his
subconscious had accessed those spells. Consciously, he had no idea
how.

Truth was they couldn't detain him.
Nor were they worried about any minions from the Ethereal Plane
swooping in and taking him. Gabriel had done something and dad said
the Seraphim was satisfied.

But neither he or I or anyone in the
Society knew what was on that page, or could hazard a guess at what
Gabriel did to him. Dags refused to allow anyone near him and
threatened to go to the press if they didn't let him
leave.

"What're you thinking?" Mom squeezed
my hand.

"Alice and Maureen." I chewed on my
lower lip. "The book rolled Dags's memories back, his experiences,
but it didn't change time. That much we all know. Maureen and Alice
did exist."

"Yes."

"So, where are they?"

I didn't like the look on her face. I
remembered where they'd been before Bonville pulled them into the
portals in Dags's palms. So when she didn't answer, I had to ask
because I'd been wondering it ever since. "They're still Shadow
People, aren't they?"

"We just don't know, Luv," TC said
from where he stood in the corner of the room.

Mom agreed. "They're not in the
Abysmal Plane, you haven't seen them in the Astral, and your dad
hasn't found them in the Ethereal."

"Then how can you believe they're
still Shadow People?"

Mom looked so sad. "Because the
alternative is that they don't exist at all. That, perhaps the
spells on that page, the ones Inanna couldn't see, were spells to
banish the Familiars. Something prevented them from manifesting
after Rhonda slipped that page in. When that page came out, Maureen
gained control." She pursed her lips. "We just don't really know,
Zoë."

I didn't say anything. I didn't know
how to make it better. She was right—I'd looked all over the
Astral. Called out to them back at the Livery where we'd first
found them. Dad assured me he'd tried to find them as
well.

Nothing.

Dags knew them only as a former
girlfriend and the wife of the Chief of Surgery. Nothing
more.

I checked my watch. "He's
late."

"You need to be good to
him."

"I want to. He just won't let me."
Nothing was the way I'd dreamed it would be.

Again.

But you know me–I still had hope.
Until this morning, when Joe told me Dags was going to leave today,
with no assurance of ever returning. I assumed I would have more
time to talk to him. I hoped…wished…he'd bring me with
him.

Someone knocked at the door to Mom's
room. When I turned, I expected to see Joe.

Dags stood in the doorframe, the
telltale strap of a backpack on his shoulder. He looked—incredible.
His hair was shorter and he'd dressed in jeans, tee-shirt and denim
jacket.

My heart ached.

"Hello, Darren. Are you ready?" Mom
greeted.

He nodded and slung the backpack to
the floor before he went to her and gave her a long, tight hug. She
kissed his forehead before he pulled back, and they held hands.
"Thanks for everything, Nona."

"I would do anything for you, Darren.
You're like the son I never had."

He smiled but didn't respond. Instead,
he turned to face TC. The two shook hands. "Thanks,
Azrael."

"Be careful, book-boy," the Phantasm
said. "You know how to call me. But don't, if you can help it. I
got more than I can handle these days."

Dags smiled.

And then he faced me.

I froze in place. Deer in the
headlights.

"Can we go some place to
talk?"

He wanted to talk to me in private. My
heart thundered against my chest.

I'd wanted to talk to him privately
for a week, but someone was always around. To calm my anxiety I
took small jobs here and there. Read more of Domas's Dioscuri
Files. And I had a long talk with my father after Mom was
completely out of danger. I'd even had a few meetings with Geist to
answer questions about the union between Inanna and me. I was more
than Wraith now, and more than what many denizens of the Abysmal
and Ethereal planes were comfortable with.

He was still waiting for my answer.
"Sure." I shrugged, trying to look all non-chalant, and followed
him out of Mom's room after he grabbed his backpack
again.

Dags led the way to the garage where
the Society cars were parked. A van, a limo, two SUVs, and an
ambulance. All here in this semi-underground hangar.

He would be taking one of the SUVs.
The back door was open to show some serious supplies. Brown bags
filled with groceries, cartons of water bottles, blankets, three
suitcases. He tossed his backpack in before he turned and sat on
the bumper. "I felt like I needed to air a few things."

"Sure." I stood with my hands in my
pockets. My heart continued pounding against my chest. It was so
loud I to strain to hear him. I wanted to grab him and make him
tell him he loved me, that he wanted to get married, that we were
perfect together.

Please…know me.

"I'm sure you know that between
Azrael, Joe, Jason, Nick, and Geist—so many—that I've gotten the
whole story about what happened. With Rhonda."

I nodded.

"First, I want to tell you I'm sorry
about what she did. She had no right to mess with our lives like
that. It's despicable, and I honestly hope to never see her
again."

"Yeah, well, I doubt any of us will
ever see her again." Since I'd taken away her magic, I hadn't seen
her. Neither had Mom or the Society. Her apartment was cleaned out;
her rather large bank account and her car were gone.

"Zoë, what did you do. To Rhonda? No
one will tell me."

"I—took away the one thing she loved
above everything else. Just like she did to me."

He looked down at his hands. "You mean
me."

"Us."

"So she's alive."

"As far as I know. Alive
and very, very normal. She won't be able to open up the
Grimoire
again."