Shaken…
That’s what Dominic was.
“Now, to deal with the person making it rain.”
Adrian looked at the sky.
I hadn’t even noticed that the rain wasn’t touching him.
Dominic sensed the resonance from the rain dissipate almost immediately.
“Pity,” Adrian muttered.
“They ran away…
At least they know ball.”
Dominic stared at the woman on the floor, his blood running cold.
“Did you kill her?” he asked.
Adrian looked at him.
“Why are you asking?”
Dominic felt a wave of nervousness.
Why am I nervous?
“I don’t know, it feels weird knowing that she may be dead,” he replied.
Adrian hummed in response.
“Do you feel like I shouldn’t have done that?” he asked.
Dominic didn’t answer.
Of course, he could always go for the moral high ground and tell Adrian his actions were wrong, even though she attacked first and his actions were in self-defence.
But he’s far more powerful than she is, especially with how easily he stopped her.
“You don’t have to answer,” Adrian replied.
A pause.
“I merely incapacitated her,” he said, lightly.
“A slight fracture to her oesophagus.
I protected her airway, so she should live.”
Dominic had a look of disbelief.
He’s crazy…
The woman floated in the air and pulled towards them.
“Shall we?”
Dominic was in the infirmary, and Jason was patching him up.
“I’m surprised you weren’t killed,” he said.
“Same…” Dominic replied, wincing as Jason cleaned his wounds.
“Gentler,” he groaned.
“It would have been pretty easy to be killed…
They hired a person with a water resonance, opposite to your fire resonance, and it seems they are a master too,” Jason said as he softened how he dressed his wound.
“Yet, they didn’t kill you…”
“Maybe I’m lucky,” Dominic joked.
Jason looked at him with an eyebrow raised.
“No one is ever that lucky,” he said.
“Whoever hired them didn’t want you killed…”
Dominic frowned, looking at Jason, questions flooding his mind.
“That doesn’t make sense,” he said.
“What does anyone want from me?”
“Good question,” Jason replied.
“I hope you have good pain tolerance…
This is going to feel like getting stitches…” Get faster updates on g.com.
“Aren’t I going to have something to make it not hurt a lot…” Dominic asked.
“No,” Jason replied plainly.
Without warning, Dominic felt his skin pull back together.
It stung a lot, but it was not as painful as Jason described.
But his bruised bones were a different story.
He hissed in pain.
“Isn’t healing supposed to be painless?” he asked through clenched teeth.
“Don’t be unrealistic,” Jason replied.
“That only happens in fantasy movies…”
Dominic breathed in, trying to hold back the tears of pain.
“You okay?”
“Mm-hm…
Yeah…” Dominic replied.
“And done,” Jason said, after a few more minutes.
“Now, be careful moving,” he said.
“It may look healed, but your skin is as tender as a newborn baby’s.”
“Wow,” Dominic said, raising his arm to examine it.
It looked a bit red, but other than that, there was no scarring or signs of injury.
“What’s your resonance?” Dominic asked.
“Body manipulation and mild sound manipulation…”
Dominic raised an eyebrow.
“You have two contracts?” he asked in confusion.
“Two bloodline contracts…
My mother’s ancestors made a contract with a river spirit and were granted the ability to control sound…
the other is complicated…” Jason explained.
“Okay,” Dominic replied, nodding.
Maybe it’s a sensitive topic to talk about…
The door burst open, and Saron stepped in.
“I heard from Adrian about the attack,” Saron said calmly.
“My deepest apologies for not being there to help you in your time of need…
I was dealing with a few mercenaries sent to distract me…”
“I understand,” Dominic replied, nodding.
It’s weird though…
It sounds like an excuse.
But who am I to speak on it?
“I hope you recover soon,” she said, about to turn to leave.
“Wait…” Dominic called back.
She stopped in her tracks.
“Who’s targeting me?” he asked.
“I know you know–I need to understand…
Also, could you not put it in riddles…
I need straight answers, not something that would keep me up at 4 A.M.”
Saron turned to face him.
She didn’t respond, but rather stared at him.
“You don’t have to answer…” Dominic said, backtracking.
“It’s fine,” Saron said sharply.
“You are not a something fragile…”
Okay…
Must have ticked her off a bit.
“The people behind the attack are from your mother’s family.
The Hellbournes,” she started.
“They are among the most influential and powerful people our community has to offer.
“Why would they be after me?
We don’t know each other…
This is the first time I’m hearing of them.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you why, as that is confidential information…
But I can tell you it has to do with your mother.”
Dominic frowned in confusion.
“Wait!” he called back as Saron turned back around to leave.
“Are you sure you can’t tell me any more?
I promise I won’t tell.”
“I wish I could tell, but I am bound by contract to keep this information confidential…
If I could tell their goal, then I’d tell you…”
“Oh…” Dominic said in disappointment.
“Take care…
Adrian would come to get you.
You’ll be living with him until we’ve acquired a safe space for you.”
Dominic understood why he couldn’t live in his old place.
Does it have to be Adrian though…
I mean, sure, he did save my life, but I don’t like him; he creeps me out a bit.
“Okay,” he replied, begrudgingly.
The door was shut, and Jason looked at Dominic.
“Lucky you,” he said in a dry tone.
“Fuck you…” Dominic said in annoyance.
“I feel like I’m being treated like–I don’t know…”
“Like you wouldn’t get it?” Jason replied.
“No,” Dominic replied.
“Like I’m a liability.”
“Ah…” Jason said, nodding.
“Don’t worry, there’s a chance it might get better.”
“You know you’re bad at making people better about themselves.”
“I wasn’t trying to make you feel better,” Jason replied, holding back a smile.
“I’m simply being realistic…
Trying not to raise your hopes because there’s a high chance things would get worse before it gets better.”
“Wow…
That isn’t reassuring,” Dominic muttered.
How bad could things get?