Page 53 of Enchant the Dawn

“Your blood! What have you done? It’s vile!”

Dominic stared at her. She had tasted the dark magic lingering in Maddy, he thought. And if Claret could taste it, it must be even stronger than he feared.

Before she could question him, he transported himself home.

He found Ava in the den, bent over her grimoire, her brow furrowed.

“Other than Maddy’s blood, I don’t know what the hell was in that potion you gave me, but there’s some sort of strange darkness lingering inside her. I want to know what it is, and why the hell she has only a hazy memory of what happened that night.”

Ava looked up, her eyes dark with guilt. “I’m trying to find out.”

“Yeah? Well, whatever the hell you concocted is affecting me, too.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean I gave Claret a taste of my blood, and she spat it out. Said it tasted vile.”

“You gave that vampire your blood? Willingly? Are you mad?”

“That’s not the problem.”

Ava took a step back and dropped into the easy chair in the corner. “I must have done something wrong,” she murmured. “But I don’t know what it could have been. I followed the steps in the grimoire exactly. Even if the potion affected your blood, it shouldn’t have affected Maddy the way it did. She never touched it or tasted it . . . but . . .”

Ava’s face paled suddenly. “After you drank the potion, you expelled something that looked like a thick black mist, which I assumed was the poison leaving your system. For a moment, it . . . it hung over Maddy.”

“What?”

“Only for a moment! But . . . I don’t know. Perhaps it affected her memory, although that makes absolutely no sense. As for your blood being bitter, I think that’s normal considering you drank poison. Maybe it’s a good thing,” she said. “Maybe Claret will leave you alone now.”

“It was dark magic you used, wasn’t it?”

Her gaze slid away from his as she nodded. “I looked in every book I have. It was the only spell that had the slightest chance of working. I thought it was worth the risk.”

“Did you?” he asked, his voice tight with suppressed anger. “I wonder if Maddy would agree.”

* * *

Maddy woke abruptly. Alarmed, she glanced around her room. She knew she was at home, in her bed, and yet it didn’t feel familiar. Her head ached, her eyes hurt, and she felt vaguely disoriented and a little dizzy.

Was she sick? She lifted a hand to her brow. It didn’t feel hot. Did she have a hangover? But that was impossible. She hadn’t been drinking. Had she?

The last thing she remembered was going to Ava’s house. Watching her work some kind of magic. A potion. She’d been making a potion for Dominic. Had it worked? It must have, she thought, because she had seen Dominic last night . . . had it been last night? Or the night before? Why couldn’t she remember?

Throwing the covers aside, she padded into the bathroom and washed her face. Feet dragging, she made her way to the kitchen for a much-needed cup of coffee.

Sitting at the table a short time later, Maddy stared into the steam rising from the mug, her thoughts on Dominic. Always Dominic . . . he was at home, asleep in his bed. A dark blue sheet covered him. . . .

Her head snapped up. How on earth could she possibly know that?

Engulfed by a sudden chill, she ran into her room, pulled on a pair of jeans, a thick sweater, and a pair of boots, and ran out to her car.

Five minutes after that, she was pounding on Ava’s front door.

If the witch was surprised to see her, it didn’t show on her face. “Maddy, what brings you here so early?”

“I want to know what’s going on. I can’t remember anything that happened after you made that potion and took my blood. And this morning, I was wondering about Dominic, and the next thing I knew, I saw him lying in bed, covered by a blue sheet.”

Ava stared at her, her expression one of pure astonishment. “How is that even possible?”

---