Page 31 of Where He Ended

- Chapter 12 -

Dominic

The gold dress lieson the floor mat of my car. It looks like a pile of shed snakeskin. Sequins scattered all over, sticking to the leather interior in a way that Iknowwill be a pain in the ass to clean.Even if it's all removed,I think, resting my elbow on the roof of the car,the memory of it will be glued inside of me.

Watching Laiken tear the dress apart was otherworldly.

I debate calling one of the maids to clean this up. But it feels wrong to have someone else see the aftermath of what Laiken and I did. It's private. Special. The way everything I do with her is becoming.

It's barely sun-up. No one sees me grab a dustpan and bag from a hallway closet. December has arrived and it’s brought winter in its arms. I'm grateful for the fact that Laiken returned my jacket last night. It smells like her. That's a nice bonus.

I work quickly, managing to get most of the sequins into the bag. The black plastic is stuffed full thanks to the gown inside of it. It hangs loosely from my fingers, but when I hear someone walking towards me on the cement, I coil my hand into a fist and straighten. Over the top of my car, I stare at Kara.

She's wearing a knee-length coat buttoned to her throat. It's pale, like her skin. The breeze shuffles her short hair around; it keeps flipping into her eyes, but she ignores it, as if she doesn't even feel it. “We need to talk,” she says.

Shutting the door, I walk around until I'm in front of her. “We do. I need to thank you for warning me about Laiken yesterday.”

Kara steals a look at the bag in my hand. If she can't see the dress inside, she can sure see the golden sequins sticking to my knuckles. “I don't want your thanks. I want you to stop leading her on.”

A brittle, harsh laugh explodes from me, ruining the peaceful morning air. “You think I'mplayingwith her? This isn't a game, Kara. I'm not fucking around. Laiken knows I want her. I've made it clear.”

Her face falls. There's so much despair written on her down-turned lips. “How can you be so cruel?”

“Excuse me?”

“You've got her wrapped around your little finger, Dominic. She's head over heels for you.”

“I'm not seeing the problem.”

She bristles, regaining some of her backbone. “You're so fucking selfish. I think you always were. It just took me a long time to realize it. Dominic!” she slices my name in two with her teeth. “Can't you see where this is leading?”

My head lowers. I feel like a bull, ready to charge her. Would she dodge, or stand her ground? “You made your point weeks ago. You want me to keep away from her, yeah? Well I'm not. You can call it greed, I don't give a shit.”

“Of course you don't care.” Her eyes move to the ground, like she can't handle looking at me. “Laiken is too kind. Too forgiving. She deserves someone worth all her sacrifices.”

“And that's not me?” I ask narrowing my eyes. And I wish I hadn't asked. I already know the answer.

Kara's stare is undeniably calculating. “No onedeserves you,Dominic.”

It's a gut punch.

More wind tosses her hair, and she reaches up, capturing pieces of it between her fingers. “You steal every good thing from my life,” she whispers. Kara reminds me of a sandcastle as the ocean surges forward. She's on the verge of being torn down right in front of me, no longer hiding the pain, the sorrow, that she's suffered this past year.

She blames me for all of it. I always knew she did.

Barely an hour after I'd told my uncle that Bernard's death was on my hands, I'd gotten a call from Vahn's phone. I'd answered, thinking it was him reaching out for more information. I can still hear Kara's grief-torn voice. “Murderer!”she screeched. “Murderer, murderer, murderer!”

The strength goes out of my limbs. I drop the bag onto the driveway. “It doesn't have to be like this, Kara. Once upon a time, we were friends.”

God, it feels so long ago.

She considers me with a bittersweet smile. “Were we?” she muses. Her head shakes side to side. “If you keep this up, you're going to drag her down with you. She'll become a shell as she gives all she has to try and justify why it's okay for her to love a demon like you.”

Love?The word impacts me like a gunshot. It's a miracle I don't crash to my knees.

Kara starts to back up. “I don't think Laiken will ever let you out of her heart,” she says, eyeing me with disdain. “The kindest thing you can do is to remove her from yours.”

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