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T he room tilted. Dom grabbed onto Maddy’s chair to keep it from toppling to the floor as Michael rose to introduce his case. The Bearer of Death slammed his hands onto the table to steady himself. Even the OneCreator’s throne swayed along with other furniture in the room.

The OC clutched his temples with his palms and roared.

Dom didn’t miss his pained reaction. Nobody could deny the quake’s effect on the OC as he jumped to his feet, flinging out his arms. His voice traveled far beyond the walls of the throne room. “Cease!” he bellowed.

All ground movement stopped, but his face reddened, his eyes narrowing into angry slits and his lips curling into a snarl. In an unexpected rage, he flew across the room, grabbing Dom by the throat. “You have broken my law and brought this upon OneWorld.” He squeezed.

Dom gasped for air, only moments from extinction.

Maddy wrestled with the OneCreator’s arm. When she touched him, he cast a stunned look at her, seeming to notice her for the first time. “What...? What the hell...?” he spit out, backhanding her in his fit of temper, sending her across the room. At the last moment and with an obvious change of mind, he cradled her fall with a cushion of air.

Michael intervened, a blinding light streaming from his body. He tugged on the OC’s fingers to pry them loose from Dom’s neck.

The OneCreator glanced at his hands as if he were surprised by his anger and actions. He released Dom. Maddy sat up as though nothing had happened.

Rushing to Madeline, Dom crouched beside her to check for injuries. “Are you okay?”

“Yes. He didn’t hurt me. I think he actually softened my fall.”

The OC stormed toward the exit, pausing in the doorway to shout, “Court is in recess until we find out what the fuck is happening.” He pointed at Michael and the Feard. “You, you, you, and you, with me now.”

Assured Maddy was uninjured, Dom rubbed his throat, rasping to the OC, “I can help.”

The boss stared. The anger cleared from his eyes. “Okay. You, too. Outside.”

“Return to our room, Maddy. I’ll be back in a bit.” Dom lowered his voice. “Did you try what I think you tried with the OC?”

She chewed her lower lip. “I couldn’t help it. I thought he was going to kill you. Obviously, it didn’t work, but I think he realized what I was doing.”

“Not a smart move.”

“Excuse me! I was a little worried about you.”

Dom smiled and crushed his lips to hers. Breaking away unwillingly, he said, “I appreciate the gesture. Now, get going. I’ll catch you later. This earthquake was strong. It must have done a lot of damage.”

He was right. Outside the keep’s walls, homes had crumbled to the ground.

Displaced, frightened Immortals ran toward the snappish OneCreator. “Don’t bother me. I know nothing more than you do. But I will.”

He gathered the Feard and Michael around him. “Angor has storms and unpredictable weather. Vast has breezes and sun. But OneWorld does not have geological disruptions. We’ll each take different zones in Vast and fly above to assess the damage. Come back to report to me.”

The OC seemed perplexed, as if he didn’t understand what was going on. That was something for the tight-lipped bastard who claimed to be all-powerful. Though Dom was angry with the OneCreator, he acknowledged that his temper tantrum had been out of character.

The Feard, Michael, and the OC took off like six spokes of a wheel. Dom’s assignment took him over Contemplation Meadow and the Aeries Range. Maybe an eighth of the homes in the grassy meadow had tumbled down.

He dropped into the valley to chat with the Immortals gathered there. They were worried, clamoring for answers. The black-winged assassin had none.

He questioned a female who stood in the rubble of her home—fallen timbers, collapsed walls, cracked steps. Her wings flicked in and out. She was nervous.

“Sorry about your place,” said Dom.

“Do you know what happened?”

“No. Have you felt the other earthquakes before this one?”

Both turned toward a noise as another portion of her roof caved in. “Last week, the ground shook a little. I thought it was my imagination.”

Leaving her to mourn the destruction, Dom soared into the air again. After counting the collapsed homes in the meadow, he moved on to the Aeries Range. The area was expansive, and his flyover took some time. He saw no permanent damage. Of course, the Immortals who lived here resided in rocky but exquisite cave-like dwellings. They were intact, though the residents were shaken.

Once he finished with his grid search, Dom rejoined the others outside Sanctuary Keep. Only Remi reported widespread damage in the city of Farfield to the south. The bronze spike-winged assassin detailed the destruction. Whole neighborhoods collapsed. Immortals buried under wreckage. Others helping to dig them out.

The OneCreator listened, closed his eyes, and drew a deep breath. He held it for some time before he exhaled. “The buried are uncovered. The homes are restored.”

He leaned forward, his palms on his knees, as if he were wobbly. Dom had never known the OC to be exhausted. Or violent as earlier.

Straightening, the OneCreator tapped his ear, obviously carrying on a telepathic conversation. “Harmony needs help. Groups of Scourges are running amuck in Angor. It seems they had a similar quake. She’s got her hands full. Ely, Remi, Ohngel, rein them in.”

As if reading Dom’s mind, he said, “No. Return to Madeline. You must prepare for court tomorrow.” When all but Michael had flown off to assume their duties, the OC latched onto Dom’s shoulder. “You know what she can do?”

“She told me, showed me a bit, but I don’t know if I believe her.”

“Believe.”

“Did you give her these abilities?” asked Dom.

“I did not. And know that I would have destroyed her if I doubted her character, her propensity to do what is right. Still, time will tell if she can handle such power.”

“Can she extinct Immortals?”

The OC nodded.

Dom feared what the OC might be thinking. He added, “She can handle the gifts. Maddy’s strong.”

“She is.”

The OC released his grasp as Michael looked on, confused. Later, when the Bearer of Death confronted Dom, he learned Maddy’s secret.

****

T he last trial Dom had attended was Gareth’s. That hadn’t turned out well. He hoped he and Maddy fared better. His petition to accept full blame for the bloodtaking had been denied. His mate’s response had been a frosty night of silence. Now they were at the mercy of the OC, and the guy was behaving erratically.

Dom crossed his arms defiantly over his chest as today’s arguments proceeded. Michael called Maddy to testify.

He asked her to retell the story of how she came to OneWorld. Maddy captured the audience’s sympathy with her harrowing account of being kidnapped on a street in St. Louis and rescued by Dom.

When she finished, Michael faced the audience and raised his arms as if victorious. “So goes my first argument. A human forced to enter OneWorld is not under the OneCreator’s laws.”

The OC popped that optimistic balloon. “One could also argue that anybody in OneWorld, regardless of how they arrived, is under my law.”

Michael shrugged. “On to the next point. Madeline, when you were supposedly a Scourge, what did your wings look like?”

“Leathery primaries and secondaries layered with blonde feathers.”

“Hmm. Not typical. How about your fangs?”

“I was told they were smaller than usual.”

“Did you crave blood?”

Her gaze flicked to the floor as a blush creeped onto her cheeks. “Yes.”

“Anyone’s?”

She jerked her head up. “No. Just Dominion’s.”

“So your wings, fangs, and blood cravings were oddities. And though you couldn’t pass through the gateway out of Angor, you may never have been a typical Scourge.”

He asked Madeline to unfurl her wings. When she did, the audience gasped.

“Spectacular and strange, aren’t they,” said Michael. “A few leathery primaries but many blonde feathers now joined by ones similar to the black-winged assassin’s. Thanks, Madeline. Your fangs, please.”

She opened her mouth.

“As you can see, they are present but small. Quite unlike a Blood Leech.”

While Madeline stood silent, Michael continued, “So what do we know? Here is a human who resembles a Scourge. We don’t know why or how. We do know she isn’t conventional. And may I repeat, she was human—not an Immortal who could suffer a malady. Madeline, why is it you believe you are no longer a Scourge?”

“Mostly because I can fly through the passageway out of Angor. Well, that and the added color in my wings.”

Once she had answered, Michael said, “Whatever had affected her does no longer. Since drinking Dominion’s blood, Madeline is a strange blend, seeming Immortal as she had once seemed a Scourge.” He fixed his gaze on the OC, who leaned forward, listening intently. “Most importantly, if she never was a Scourge, never a true Leech, no law exists to prevent Dom from feeding her his blood.”

The OC’s only comment was “Hmm.”

“Thank you, Madeline. Please return to your seat.”

Michael stroked his jaw, appearing to contemplate his next move. Then he acted. “I have a question for the OneCreator. It pertains to my case.”

The OC nodded. “Unusual but granted.”

“Does Madeline have other abilities that make her unique in OneWorld?”

The OC squint-eyed him but answered. “She does.”

The Bearer of Death, the male standing between them and the OC’s judgment, glanced at Dom, who nodded his approval. Maddy, though, was pale and stunned by his question. “What are they?” asked Michael.

His expression neutral, the OC said, “She has the power to extinct and give life.”

The rumblings in the audience grew to a roar.

“Did you give her these powers?” asked Michael.

“No.”

“Do you know where she got them?”

“No.”

Michael clasped his hands behind his back. “So Maddy is truly not a typical Scourge. In fact, she is a unique creature in OneWorld.”

“She is a rare being whom I will keep a close eye on,” said the OC.

Michael’s cat-lapping-milk grin said he was happy with the direction of the proceedings. He called Indigo to testify. A good idea since she was a favorite of the OneCreator’s. A little brown-nosing never hurt.

Indigo toodled a wave at the OC as she approached his throne. “Hey, big guy. Nice to see ya.”

He grinned, looking instantly happy, adding for the audience’s benefit, “I will announce to all that I find favor with this Aeternal witch. She will in no way, however, sway my judgment.”

“Not fair.” Indigo turned toward Michael. “Okay, Bright Boy. Ask me about the sitch. I’m itching to tell everything I know. And,” she glanced at the OC, “it’s a hell of a lot. Very sway-worthy.”

“I’m sure,” said the OC.

“I’m digging the pants. New, big guy?” she asked.

He nodded.

“Well, on you they work.”

Tetrys jacked to his feet. “Can we get on with this?”

The asshole prosecutor lost points with the OC for that question.

Michael looked pleased, his lips curling. “The human Madeline had traits suggesting she was a Blood Leech.” He paused. “I have, however, shown she is not nor has ever been a Scourge. Tell us about the idea you proposed to curb her desire for blood.”

“No problemo. On Scath—that’s my realm—it is well-known that mated vampires don’t get the bludfrenzy as frequently as the general pop. The whole mate-to-mate thing tampers the craving.”

“So you proposed that Dom let Madeline drink from him?” asked Michael.

“I did. I thought, ‘Hey, Indigo, what works for vamps might work for Maddy.’ And it did.” She batted her lashes at the OC. “So kinda all my fault.” She waved her finger at him. “Just don’t get any crazy idea to punish me.”

“I wouldn’t think of it.”

Michael excused her.

“Anytime, Bright Boy. Ta-ta, big guy.”

Tetrys rose from his place behind the prosecution’s table, gripping the lapels of a long black robe. “Hold on, witch. Did you make Dom and Madeline do as you suggested? Did you cast a spell to force them?”

Indigo tapped a finger on her lips. “I could have. I can be a bit forgetful.”

“Did you?”

“Could have. I get brain farts. Once, I found my bra in the fridge.” She tucked a finger in the neck of her tee. With a glance down, she said, “Uh-oh. See?” She flicked a wrist. “Better.”

Indigo swaggered toward a seat beside Ohngel in the audience, the hem of her patterned skirt swishing on the floor, her bracelets tinkling as they bumped each other.

The OC cocked his head to the side. “Let me get this straight, Michael. If breaking one of my laws solves a problem, then disobeying me is okay? Is that the gist of your argument?”

“Not quite, since I’ve claimed the defendant is not and has not been a Scourge. But in part, yes. Be patient. I’m getting there.”

“Get there faster. The gods and goddesses are throwing a party tonight. I want to show up and bust a few dance moves.” The OneCreator shifted in his throne, looking recovered from his previous out-of-control behavior.

“I call Indigo’s brother, Alarik, to testify. He’s a mage mix with solid knowledge about bludfrenzy.”

Tetrys rose. “What is all this talk about bludfrenzy? The female on trial with Dom is not an Aeternal vampire.”

Michael twisted his body toward the prosecutor. “She also isn’t a Scourge.”

The OC waved his hand. “Okay. Enough drama. I’m interested, Tetrys. So, continue, Michael.”

Alarik strode into the court, quite official in a long dark robe. He nodded to the OC.

“Give us your credentials, please.” Michael stood beside his witness.

Alarik cleared his throat. “I am the director of the Ministry of Well Being on Scath. On my realm, I am an accredited healer.”

“Why, among vampires, does feeding from a mate alter blood cravings?” asked Michael.

“Scientists working for me have studied this effect. According to their research, the brains of mated vampires undergo a chemical change. That alteration moderates the violent desire for blood.”

Michael spoke directly to the OC. “That seems to be what happened to Madeline once she fed from Dominion, your black-winged assassin.” He glanced at Tetrys. “Even though she isn’t an Aeternal.”

“Alarik, have you examined the human?” asked the OC.

“Yes.”

“Did you find a chemical change?”

“My examination was inconclusive because I had not examined her prior to the bloodtaking.”

“So, Michael, Alarik’s testimony, though interesting, is meaningless. He cannot prove Madeline underwent a chemical change. Besides, once again, I ask if a positive outcome means my laws may be broken?”

“Bear with me. Alarik’s testimony will help build a foundation for my next argument.”

Like the audience, Dom was interested in where Michael was going. But his defense was interrupted when the OC recessed the proceedings for the day.