Page 44 of Sweets and Sycamores

“I’ll take that as a no.” Dom took another careful step forward, keeping Allie close to his side. Not behind him. Next to him.

Dominic’s eyes turned to slits and he snarled the words, “It was you.” The wind picked up around them, ruffling wild strands of hair around Sam’s face. Allie’s curls didn’t move. “You’re the one who put the seal on her.”

Allie stopped breathing.

For a long, slow moment that stretched around her like hot glue, she felt like she was underwater and could not breathe. Sam had… He had…

“What?” she mouthed, unsure if any sounds came out.

The man who she had loved with her entire heart, who she had trusted, who had allegedly loved her back—he was the reason she went through that hell. He was the reason she endangered the people she cared about, he was the reason she had suffered, he was the reason for her pain, he, he, he…

Warm, calloused skin closed tighter around her fingers as Dom tugged at her hand. He pulled insistently until her side was plastered to his, until her brown eyes met his greens, until he pulled her out of the water.

Allie found enough rage and strength steeped into his eyes that she could borrow some. With every breath, she was letting go of the shock that had taken hold of her. When she moved her eyes to Sam’s, he looked at her as if he was having a heart attack.

“Als—”

“How?” She didn’t stutter. “How?” Allie moved her thumb over Dom’s hand before letting it go, and took a step further. “You don’t have any magic.”

Sam looked anywhere but at her.

“I… I… I do have…magic,” he muttered, scratching his head and taking a step back. Allie took another step toward him.

She felt that power behind her chest rattle, as if it recognized the hand that had suppressed it.

It took half a thought for Allie to unspool that power and fill her hands with living fire.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Dom cross his arms across his chest, a wicked expression covering his face.

Sam’s eyes almost popped out of their sockets as he put more distance between them.

“Whoa whoa whoa, wait a minute, Als, let me—”

“What?” she shouted, walking to him, the comfortable fire crawling up her arms. “Let you what? Live?” That intrinsic Witch hate Allie had never known, that malice her sisters seemed to be born with, blossomed in her chest. For the first time, Allie felt like an authentic Witch. “Why should I?”

Sam walked backward until he tripped and fell at her feet.

“Please. I love you.” Allie scoffed. “I’m telling the truth. I did fall in love with you, and you were not like the other Witches, and I thought that maybe if you hadn’t manifested… Maybe you never would be like them.”

“Then why did you bother to seal my power?” she yelled.

“Because I was afraid! My father was poisoned by a Witch, and I…”

A dark laugh bubbled out of Allie’s throat. Not the first or last time she had been judged because of her kind. She stopped and looked at the pitiful man as he rose to his feet, conflict and bitterness filling his blue eyes.

Heavy steps crunched on the pavement behind her as Dom came to stand at her side. He was close enough to tell her he did not fear her fire.

“Do you want to fry him, or can I suffocate him?” he asked nonchalantly.

Allie wanted to give the thought more consideration, but that would just make her one of the Witches she strived to be different from. She sighed long and loud and called her fire back into its place.

“It would be a waste of magic either way,” Allie spit through her teeth.

“I don’t mind,” Dom said with a hint of irony that should have scared her. If anything, it thrilled her.

“Als…” Sam dared to reach for her again, but Dom stepped in his path, and the next thing she knew, Sam was back on his knees, clawing at his throat. Gasping for air.

“Stay away from my girl, you filthy piece of trash.”

“Samuel!” A shout, followed by rushed footsteps. Then a man knelt next to her struggling ex.

Jared Finn grabbed Sam by the elbow and helped him up as Dom released his magic hold on him. The mayor’s son threw them a reprimanding look that fell off his smug face once he met Dominic’s eyes.

“I guess scum sticks together,” Dom muttered. “If either of you come near her again, consider that your last moment on Earth.”

Then he draped his arm around Allie’s shoulders and guided her away. Away from her unfortunate past, from a man who had made her doubt her worth, and into the broad Maple Street that housed the bakery where she had found herself again.

Dominic’s blood boiled for the rest of the day.

He should have just murdered the moron who threw away the best thing that had ever happened to him.

The Diviners’ Order did not forbid Mages from committing such actions, although it was frowned upon and viewed as a power trip.

He couldn’t care less. Let every damn person in this world frown upon him.

As long as Allie smiled at him, he did not care.

Back at the bakery, Allie made coffee and sat him down.

“I owe you an explanation,” she said, hand wrapped around the hot mug.

“You don’t owe me anything,” Dom argued. But she countered that by saying she wanted to tell him, so he shut his mouth and listened.

At the end of her story, Dominic was pacing around the bakery, one step away from running out to find the scumbag and make him one with the ground.

“I can’t believe it was him,” Dom hissed.

“With every moment, I can believe it more and more.” Allie chuckled. But it was dark and oily, and he hated it.

Dominic sat back down and took her hand in his, holding her warm gaze. He said nothing more and let everything he felt pour out of his eyes. He knew Allie would get it. She could read him like an open book, no magic involved.

“Thanks,” she breathed. Dom nodded, pressing his lips together, grinding his jaw so hard his head hurt.

Allie let out a watery sigh. If she shed a single tear, he would kill him. Dominic allowed Allie a few moments to gather her thoughts, and no tears came into sight. Relief like never before overwhelmed him that she was not crying over that fucking clown.

“How did you know?”

“I Read him and recognized his magic, the one I found woven with the seal.” He explained to Allie that she hadn’t been able to Read her ex because he had a Mage place a shield around him.

This practice was borderline illegal, and he couldn’t wait to report it to the Order, so they could trace the Mage who had sullied their power with a lowlife like him.

“So he and Jared knew each other. Do you think he’s the one who told Sam I was here?”

“Probably.” Dom moved his thumb lazily over Allie’s knuckles. “The Witch Jared was dating was from Green Creek, and he spent a lot of time there.”

Fucking Jared. He’d find a way to run him out of town, back to whatever hole he’d crawled out of when he returned to Sycamore Falls.

He would run for mayor, and make Brandon run for mayor, too, and threaten the townsfolk to permanently close the bakery and stop the farm supplies if they dared vote for Jared.

As much as nepotism was a thing in small towns like Sycamore Falls, if Dom had put it in his mind to change that, he would.

Even if he had to reveal to the entire world that he was the Mage in charge of fixing the broken magic on the sycamores.