Page 57 of Reforging Onyx

“It’s not time for dinner just yet.” Dominic slowed a little. “Come.” He held out his hand to Onyx again.

“Where are we going?” Onyx took Dominic’s hand, looking curiously at him.

Dominic grinned. “It’s a surprise,” he stage-whispered before drawing Onyx in a different direction, through a part of the house that they didn’t frequently visit.

Onyx followed Dominic with a furrowed brow. Where were they going? This looked familiar, but he didn’t remember coming this way.

“All right, close your eyes,” Dominic told Onyx when they’d gotten to a large door.

Onyx closed his eyes, shaking his head slightly as the door opened with a soft sound. He felt warm, humid air against his skin, but he didn’t open his eyes until Dominic told him to. He remembered these gardens, with their stone pathways and grass spreading out behind the house.

He’d tried to kill Dominic out here.

Maybe this was fate’s way of saying he should try again.

Instead, Onyx looked around, stretching uncomfortably because he could almost feel the chains wrapped around his body again. But it was beautiful, he had to admit. “Why don’t you ever come out here?”

Dominic looked around, like he was seeing everything for the first time. “Too busy, usually,” he said. “But the reason that we’re out here…”

Onyx thought that wealth was wasted on Dominic. He had this beautiful garden but didn’t use it, and he kept himself too busy to enjoy himself.

With anything but Onyx, at least.

Dominic drew Onyx out onto the grass a ways, then turned them so that Onyx’s back was to his chest. It was later than he’d realized; the stars already shone bright overhead. The ambient light seemed to dissipate as Dominic cast some sort of spell.

Onyx’s breath caught as he stared at the night sky for the first time in months. Tears welled up in the corners of his eyes, though they didn’t fall. “It’s… amazing,” he whispered.

“It is,” Dominic agreed softly. He smiled as he pointed out one constellation after another.

They were even more beautiful now than they had been in the illusion, which was unsurprising. As wonderful as magic was, it often paled in comparison to reality.

Onyx rested against Dominic’s chest, unresisting, and unlike most other times, too distracted and spellbound to be tense. He was fully relaxed as he stared at the night sky while the insects sang and the breeze cooled his skin.

It was the closest thing he’d had to a perfect moment since being taken.

For a long moment, he lingered there, gazing at the sky. Then he took a step away, grabbing Dominic’s hand as he did, and dragged him in the direction of a patch of grass. He flopped down, lying down on his back so he could stare more easily at the sky. “It’s better like this."

Somewhat to Onyx’s surprise, Dominic lay down on the grass next to him so that they could stare up at the sky together. “Mmm, I agree."

Onyx breathed in deeply, then lay there quietly for several moments. If he pretended… he could almost imagine he was back in the bayou. For better or for worse.

“This was a nice surprise,” Onyx said softly after a little while. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” Dominic murmured. “I like giving you nice surprises.”

“This is a good one,” Onyx replied. He fell silent again, taking in another deep breath of fresh air. He knew Dominic would never allow him outside by himself, but he hadn’t realized how much he’d missed being outdoors until this moment.

Was this one of the things he could have, if he surrendered even more?

Probably.

But was the cost worth it?

That, he didn’t know.

Chapter 24

Dominic