Heart of Darkness by Lauren Dane Page A

door.
    “What?” He put himself in between her and the door. Good gracious, when he did stuff like that it made her all trembly and swoony.
    “The warding here is off. Can I fix it?”
    He opened the door and ushered her in. “Only if I can watch and you’ll go slow enough so I can learn.”
    Dominic never failed to surprise her. Bold. Arrogant. Totally alpha-male material. But he wasn’t afraid to ask questions or to learn new things.
    So she walked him through the wards, showing him how to amp up the energy with some mini-feedback spells within it. “These little steps mean you won’t have to use nearly as much from the font. The spell perpetuates its own strength this way.”
    “Can’t believe I never thought of that.”
    Warmed by his praise, she moved through the rest of the ward, pointing out thin spots and minute errors in execution, which left the overall spell weaker and easier to pull apart.
    Despite that, she had to give him credit, the work was very, very good, and she told him so.
    “Thank you.”
    “Can I …” She wanted to show him how to use his othersight; it was clear he didn’t really access it very well, but she didn’t want to embarrass him either.
    He stood very close, taking her cheeks in his hands and tipping her face up to see it better. “You can. Anything. Just say it.”
    She swallowed, hard. “Can I give you some tips on how to open yourself up more fully to your othersight?”
    He paused and it made her nervous.
    “It’s just that you do it, but you’re not using it to its full potential. It’s a very powerful tool.”
    “This will make my spellwork stronger?”
    “Yes. Part of the way magick works when you spellcast is you use energy to form intent. If you use your othersight better, you can manipulate and direct the energy flow more efficiently. Then your spellwork is stronger. Plus, it’s a good tool in general.”
    “You use it all the time?”
    “Yes. Most witches do. I can show you how to blend it better with your regular consciousness so it’s not distracting.”
    “Show me. Tell me.”
    So she took his hands. “My mother’s bond-mate was my first real magickal teacher, but it’s really my father who taught me how to use my othersight effectively. He relates to his magick like it’s math. And since I hate math it took him a while to get to me. But I’m thickheaded.”
    Dominic grinned and ducked in to give her a quick kiss.
    “Essentially, your othersight is like radar. You open yourself to it, yes, but really it’s about using your magick to relate to all you see around you. If you use it while you do your spellwork, you’ll be better able to see the thin spots, where things are weak or the knot with another part of the spell needs to be tighter.”
    “But clearly you can work magick without it. I rarely use it.”
    “Sure you can. But an enterprising witch with a better handle on her othersight than the originator of the spell can spot all the weak points in a spell and unravel them.”
    “Oh. Good point.”
    “Your othersight is there, always. You don’t have to make it, or manage it. You just need to make opening yourself up to it part of how you work your magick until it’s second nature.”
    She walked him through it, pleased at his quick progress, delighted by his reaction to learning something new. The more he practiced, the better he’d be until it was second nature.
    When they finished, he pulled her into his arms, slowly, as if they were dancing. The kiss warmed up slowly. A brush of his lips and then another quick one.
    “Thank you for that. I can see exactly what you mean.”
    Dizzy with him, she managed a goofy smile, swallowing hard as she looked at that face of his. His eyes were her favorite feature. Thick, dark lashes framed the color, a very pale green, like spring. They were beautiful eyes. His nose was strong, not quite straight. She brushed her thumb from brow to tip.
    “Broken. Three times.”
    She smiled and shook her