“How could he do a temporalibus with you? He’d need to use a body conduit.”
“Body conduit?”
“Blood, hair, intimate clothing item.”
Suddenly in need of support, I stepped back until I felt the hard, cool glass of the cell against my back. He had it. When we got entangled during Wine-Down Thursday. What I’d thought was an accident had been a carefully orchestrated plan.
“He had it,” I admitted and told them what led to him having both a dab of blood and my hair.
“There’s no need to keep him alive,” Dominic asserted angrily. “No information I can get from him is worth it. He’s too dangerous.”
Helena hadn’t taken her appraising gaze off me. I had the distinct feeling that she considered me a co-conspirator rather than an unknowing accomplice.
“Luna, I think you should stay here for a few days. Call out sick or whatever you need to do. I don’t want you to be placed at risk of any harm,” Dominic said.
Any more harm. Peter had found a way to have me replace him in the Perils—how much more harmed could I get? If he’d done this with such ease, there was more danger out there.
“Let’s get a few of your things and come back here, okay?”
Words didn’t come easy; things had just devolved to me nodding. When he extended his hand, I took it, finding comfort in its warmth.
Dominic’s traveling from the Underworld was always done with such ease. If it took effort, it never showed on his face. This time, there was a slow migration of confusion, concern, and then outrage. He couldn’t leave. Dominic looked at Anand.
Anand attempted to travel from the Underworld. His irritation gave way to fear. His breathing hastened, and it seemed like he was about to have a panic attack. Then they looked at me. Helena couldn’t be tested. Still wearing the marks of her magical restrictions, she no longer had the ability to travel from the Underworld.
Helena’s gaze went to me, slid along the cells in the dungeon, and to her brother. Her eyes were deep with thought. “Every time you encountered a Tenebras Obducit, you returned exhausted and often injured, but not this time,” she pointed out, speculative. “This time was different.”
Dominic frowned. “He was distracted and in the middle of performing a spell.”
“Without putting up a protective field, a trigger to notify him of trespassers, or a magical minefield? A practitioner of his status wouldn’t be so careless. You even admitted his capture was easier than expected,” she said.
Dominic’s teeth gripped his lips. I figured he was either taking in his sister’s observation or reviewing Peter’s capture because he released his hold on his lips. “He’s arrogant,” he offered in explanation. “It caused him to be overconfident and careless.”
Helena shook her head. “I don’t think so. You’re arrogant and often overconfident but never careless. I suspect the same is true for him. I do believe you’ve met your match, brother. I don’t think it was ever about the prisoners,” Helena said thoughtfully, her hard gaze on me. “It was about her. He used your human to release the prisoners. Now he’s used her to escape and imprison us here. The most pressing question is why. Why Luna?”
Good question. Now we were the prisoners in the Underworld.
