Page 54 of Reforging Onyx

“Pancakes,” Onyx requested, withdrawing from Dominic’s arm with a sigh of relief.

Dominic placed the breakfast order of pancakes for Onyx and eggs benedict for himself, then started to get ready for the day.

His thoughts kept circling around what had happened, and what he had come so close to doing. Things could have gone poorly. Very poorly.

He was usually able to channel that volatility into other outlets. That was part of the drive that had him seeking ways to play the games that he played with the Fates. Tempting them, taunting them. Challenging them to cut the thread of his life.

He hadn’t played those games elsewhere since acquiring Onyx, because Onyx had become that outlet, that ongoing temptation to the Fates. Or so he had believed, until he’d been forced to acknowledge that the Rayne witch had cracked in ways that he hadn’t been intending.

He would have to figure out what was needed to address the issue. It might simply be that Onyx was no longer providing sufficient focus; that was possible, though not probable. Or it might be that the disagreement from the prior night had caused an isolated incident that would not recur.

He wasn’t certain.

But he would have to figure it out.

Chapter 23

Onyx

Onyx paid attention to the sounds from the other room, keeping his head out from under the shower so he could listen even though he didn’t want to go back right away. It wasn’t until he heard breakfast arrive that he shut the water off, hurrying through drying off.

He didn’t want to piss Dominic off by taking too long; he’d already been punished too recently for his liking.

He stepped into the bedroom and got dressed before heading over to the desk, where a plate of pancakes awaited him. He had the crawling sensation on his skin again when he got too close to Dominic, the need for distance biting at him, but he didn’t know if he dared to try to get space again. So he sat down next to the other witch. “Thanks,” he said.

Dominic hummed noncommittally. “I have a couple of thoughts about tutors for you. Specifically with regard to magical tutoring, but it may take a few days to arrange it. What are you thinking about for a second subject?”

Onyx eyed Dominic, not wanting to talk about the tutors because it meant acknowledging what else came with the tutors. Sure, it would mean that he’d — temporarily — get the distance he so desperately craved, but that would come with having to wear a plug. Again. Around someone else.

In theory, they wouldn’t know. But Onyx would.

“Astronomy,” he said, more on a whim than anything. Though once he said it, it sounded interesting. He’d always liked watching the stars in the bayou, and he missed seeing the night sky.

Dominic arched an eyebrow at him. “Why astronomy?”

“Does there have to be a reason?” he retorted, feeling defensive about the thought, about the memories that it evoked. He focused on his breakfast, pouring syrup all over his pancakes, instead of looking at Dominic. “I like stars.”

Very few things were his own, but his memories still belonged to him. For all that Dominic was obsessed with him, he didn’t really ask questions about Onyx’s past much, and Onyx preferred to keep it that way.

Didn’t he?

“No, there doesn’t have to be a reason,” Dominic said. “It simply wasn’t a subject I had anticipated. Perhaps I shall have you study astronomy and astrology both: the stars and the myths around them.” He chuckled. “Would you like that?”

Onyx gave him an unimpressed look. “I agreed to two subjects. Not three,” he retorted in between bites of food. “Isn’t astrology just made-up shit? Like zodiac signs and whatever?”

Dominic chuckled again. “In most ways, yes,” he agreed. “Despite the humans’ insistence in the divination of the stars, little of it played out in the ways they believed. And divination as a magical craft does not typically involve the stars. However, there is much that is still beneficial in the knowledge of the stars. For centuries, humanity — and supes — looked to the sky and dreamed of the mysteries there. Whether it was to travel to distant planets and galaxies, or to name constellations of stars after heroes and gods, the sky is an inescapable part of wonder.”

Onyx listened to Dominic with some interest, even when he began doing that lecturing thing he did. Dominic did like hearing himself talk, Onyx had learned quickly, and that especially extended to things he liked. What did Dominic actually think of Onyx’s choice?

“It’s pretty,” Onyx offered.

And he’d been taught a few of those constellations by people who’d still dared to dream among the rebellion. Those had been quiet lessons, lessons he’d almost forgotten about until that moment, and his chest tightened strangely at the memory.

“It is,” Dominic said. He hummed thoughtfully after a moment, then with a few spoken words, the night sky spread as an illusion across the ceiling of the room, as clearly as if they had stepped outside at night.

Onyx stopped eating, looking at the representation of the sky on the ceiling. “Orion,” he whispered, pointing at one of the star formations. He didn’t know why he’d said it, didn’t know why he’d exposed that he knew anything about it at all. There was so much he didn’t know, and it felt like this was one of the things he needed to hold closer to his chest.

Dominic did not get to have those memories.