Dominion by Melanie Jackson

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Read a Sample Chapter

Dominion

Dorchester Publishing

All right reserved.

ISBN: 0-505-52512-7

Chapter One

"Domitien must complete the earthly cycle. He has to go back
to the human plain and fall in love," Enzo said flatly. "It is
the task of all souls and this time it must be done correctly.
The Great One is insisting on it. The pattern must be
modified, or it shall be discontinued, the threads snipped
off. And you know how the Great One hates a failure."

"But will it ever happen? After Isabella? You know that this
trinity of souls has never worked well together. The basic
design-scheme is flawed." Ilia said plaintively, his voice
nearly overshadowed by the sharp beat of agitated wings. "It
is all very well for the Great One to order this reunion, but
you know what will happen. It shall be the way it has always
been. Women demand nothing of him. He always wears some fair
face, and has all the flagrant trapping which charm them into
imbecility. I swear that Dominick could sleep while he made
love and none of the infatuated creatures would notice."

"You exaggerate-and don't use that name. You know that he
prefers Domitien or even Desiderio."

Ilia snorted.

"Very well, Domitien then. But don't evade mypoint. Do I
exaggerate? Have you truly forgotten all the hearts that lived
and died at his whim? He'd kneel for a time at some woman's
feet, pretending to worship at her shrine, but never did he
leave his heart as offering. Not once-not a single time-has he
ever felt anything more than superficial affection for any of
them! And it makes a horrible amount of work for us repairing
the damage he does to these other souls. Witness the fact that
he never sees them more than once. I don't know why the Great
One doesn't send Fate to handle this. She could compel him to
act as the Great One wishes."

"Free will, Ilia. You know the Great One believes strongly in
free will. And we must be patient. Sometimes Love is long in
choosing a mate, particularly after a severe trauma. And this
time I am confident of success. This woman is different," Enzo
said, his beautiful but inhuman voice almost passionate. "He
has never lost his love of beauty, and it is with this that he
may be redeemed."

Ilia snorted.

"Now, now!" Enzo chided. "I truly believe that she will be
able to mold his moods with her sweet murmurs, to shape his
thoughts with her song. Why I have heard her sigh and even
that simplest of noises is one long-spun note of purest music.
It is enough to make any flesh and blood man long for a love
larger than himself, to be the object of such a sigh."

Ilia snorted again.

"This one shall make him weave a garland of heart-felt vows
and wear the wreath of love willingly," Enzo insisted. "I have
never heard her like. The Great One has outdone himself."

"Love take from me both my sin and myself?" Ilia asked
incredulously.

"And leave no trace of my self in me. Yes, precisely!"

"All this with a voice?"

"Not with her voice alone, though it is truly an amazing
thing-and you know how he has always liked music. But she is
also most conveniently made in the image of the ones he most
greatly preferred."

"Made in the image perhaps, but it will be but a faint shade
of the viragos he was always attracted to. The Great One
simply does not make women like that any more. He took them
away when he put an end to sublime poetry and holy veneration
through art."

"True." Enzo nodded. "But then she must be made differently.
He did not fall in love with the titian-haired chanteuse. A
pity, for she would have been a fair match for him with that
fiery spirit, but she wasn't ready then to be anyone's great
love. Her soul required much reshaping before being returned
to earth, and is still imperfect."

"I recall her. Everywhere she went she left that horrid musky
perfume and scarred hearts bleeding behind her. She was as bad
as any plague-quite the worst of all females. But then, they
were all a bad idea from Eve onward. What was the Great One
thinking? What is he thinking now? He is always so secretive!"
There was a long rustle as Ilia refolded his limbs and a
single silvered feather drifted over to Domitien's feet. The
doves cooed sympathetically. "Still, if this is the Great
one's will ... I am not certain that beginning the weaving with
a newly modified soul is wise. They are so fragile when fresh
out of the mold. Someone with a little more experience of his
past and nature would do better."

"Never fear, this woman's soul is still at its core the one he
knew once before, and she did love him."

"Is it-?"

"No, not precisely. That would be asking too much of the three
parties involved. It is one of the other incarnations that has
been strengthened. She is much stronger."

Ilia digested this.

"And this time she starts with clean hands and a clear heart.
Hmph! Let me see this paragon. Whose form have you chosen?"

"There was only one choice. Hers."

Domitien peeped around the cooing bush and saw the silvered
Ilia and golden Enzo staring into the scrying glass in the
center of the courtyard.

"Ah. I see what you mean," Ilia's voice softened a shade and
his complexion turned less steely. "An interesting choice. And
she is lovely."

"Yes," Enzo sounded wistful. "If anyone can finally dissever
him from the wildness of careless youth, it is she."

"She is orphaned?"

"Yes, but not recently. She no longer struggles with grief."

"Perhaps not, but still-she looks too soft," Ilia complained.
"She is a trembling shade that commands delicacy. I doubt she
has the strength to move a cold, hard heart like Domitien's,
if he is of a mind to be stubborn-which he will be. And she
may very well be hurt by him. Again. Look at their history! We
spent nearly a century repairing the damage from their last
encounter, and it was not even a long-lasting relationship."

"Do not underestimate this bit of shade." Enzo sounded smug
and he ruffled at the neck and chest just slightly before
returning to his habitual golden sleekness. "And she will be
gifted before he arrives. We could not send her soul to quest
and face judgment if she was not prepared for the journey."

"If you say so. Great romances and their quests always were
more your field of interest. Will she remember him though?"

"Not yet. Her memory was cleansed at rebirth. But in time she
will recall. The Great One decreed it."

"It would perhaps be for the best if she did not remember. The
past can cast a long shadow when it does not end happily."

"She must remember for she, too, needs to be saved. Her soul
is part of this horrible tangle of Domitien's past life."

"And what of Domitien? Will he recall everything he has
learned while sojourning here? Is that not giving him an
unfair advantage on the earthly plain?"

"He needs every advantage. He will keep his memories-those he
has chosen to accept. And most of his seraphic powers."

Ilia cleared his throat and spit out a bit of grit.

"The Great One has already approved of sending him back with
his memory of The City intact? And with his powers? But ..."
His voice was appalled as he considered the implications.

"Yes, he returns as soon as his current task is completed."

"Domitien won't like it, being made an infant again.
Especially if he keeps his memories."

Enzo delivered another shock.

"He'll not have to be. He needs a grown body if he is to meet
this woman and the other in time. Conveniently, the soul in
Domitien's new body is about to be called back for other
tasks. He shall be given this man's body and life. It is even
the type Domitien prefers, the icy blond whippet. It has his
face and everything."

"What? Domitien's face was actually given to another?"

"The Great One allowed another to use Domitien's form since he
was not reincarnating. But now it shall be returned to its
rightful owner for Domitien's final visit." Enzo sighed. "Oh
dear! I must summon Death and see he makes special
arrangements for the soul-switch. He won't be pleased."

"Amazing. You shock me. This is unparalleled! The Great one
spoils him," Ilia sounded disapproving and spat more grit. "To
make Death wait on Domitien's love life-it's unprecedented. It
will make the creature angry."

"Yes, well, Domitien is amusing, and the Great One has a sense
of humor. Sometimes."

"I think this venture would meet with better success if he
were put into a somewhat less handsome form this time," Ilia
persisted. "A little human suffering and humiliation would do
him no harm."

"Perhaps. Though I believe he has suffered, being cut off from
the greatest of human experiences. Think of how every other
soul he has met has failed to leave an imprint upon him. Not
one of his lovers left so much as a smudge on his spirit.
There has been no bonding. No love with any being. Perhaps it
is unprecedented to send him back with memories intact ..."
Enzo fluttered once and then was still. He added to himself:
"But whatever we feel, these are the Great One's instructions.
Domitien is to be given this Edom's body, and this woman,
Laris, in this city by the water."

"Very well then. There is nothing more to say. Shall you tell
him the news, or must I?"

"I'll do it. You lack the proper enthusiasm for this task. I
wonder where best to start hunting for him. I had thought he
intended to visit here today ..."

Domitien stopped listening and backed away on silent feet.

So, the Great One was matchmaking again. He got this way every
century or so and then one of them would be sent back to earth
to fall in love ...

Well, he didn't mind going back to earth-briefly. It had been
quite some time since he had known the pleasures of the flesh.
The mention of love-and its long absent pastimes-quite
summoned to memory all the pleasant eras he had passed there.
And it sounded like the Great One had chosen the perfect
playmate for him.

Now who could it be? Someone whom he had met before in another
life. Someone who loved him.... well, they nearly all had
loved him, he admitted with a touch of complaisance. But if
she was titian-haired ...

It could be that minx, Julia. Domitien was sure that he might
have eventually fallen in sort of love with her if he hadn't
died in that stupid duel only a few days after seducing
her-there had been the promise of whole kingdoms in that
vixen's kisses. And he had certainly been a blond back when
the Virgin Queen was on the throne.

Or there was Lucrece. Sweet, naughty Lucrece had been a
redhead, and he was fairly certain that he had also been fair
during his life in Paris. And she had definitely come to a bad
end during the revolution-quite a fluke that, her falling off
the wall at the Bastille during the liberation celebrations.

But Enzo had said that she was a songstress. That probably
meant it wa-what was that ravishing creature's name? The one
in Italy with the temper but the angelic voice ...

Portia! That was who it must be.

Well now, Portia! This could be most amusing. Portia had been
a most adventuresome lover, quite the wildest he had ever
encountered. He recalled vividly her quivering coyness the
first time he had tasted her-and the wound she had left on his
back with her tiny dagger when she found him flirting with a
rival later that day.

Domitien exhaled slowly and shook himself free of the dizzying
vision.

Portia seemed rather an odd choice for the Great One to make.
He had been intrigued by her fiery sensuality-so rare in a
woman-but hardly even affectionate with her. It was hard to
feel any gentle emotions with one who was insanely jealous and
given to violent sentiments even at the breakfast table.

Still, Enzo said that she was less temperamental now. And this
woman had to be quite something if she made old Enzo sound
excited. He couldn't wait to get a look in that scrying glass,
even if it did only show him a faint, watery shade of her.

But, he worried suddenly, even if she had been remade in a
softer form, was she so wonderful that she could truly take
from him both self and sin?

Domitien frowned.

That was a tall order. No woman had ever so distracted him,
not since-

Domitien slammed the door on that thought and dropped a mental
brace against it. He never thought about her. She was from
before, the place of no memory.

Dom stood still, willing his breath to calm, his fists to
unclench. Slowly, the chaos of the stray thought subsided and
he was himself again, though less euphoric than he had been
only moments before.

It sounded as though the Great One meant business this time.
He must be in an awfully impatient mood to break the rule and
send him back in an adult body and not wait for the two of
them to meet up in the fullness of pre-ordained time. Souls of
lovers usually reincarnated together ...

Why He wasn't even going to take his memories before sending
him back ...

And then there was this talk of the other. It didn't make any
sense. Why would there be some other soul involved, if this
was about Dom finally falling in love with one woman? Surely
he wouldn't be asked to join souls with two beings? Was not
loving one person task enough? It had to be something less
important. The other was probably just some minor failure-

Unless it was Rychard?

But no! It couldn't be. The beast had had nothing to do with
Portia, had he? He couldn't recall the first time they had
actually met-perhaps in battle?-but it couldn't have been in
Venice.

Anyway, the seeds of madness had blossomed in that one long
ago. Surely the Great One had returned him to the clay where
failed souls were reworked into something better.

Dom shrugged uneasily, pushing away the thought of his old
rival, and began to wonder if he really could do what the
Great One wanted.

He wasn't like other souls. His flaws had not been smoothed
away in the forgetfulness between lives. For some reason, the
Great One had never reworked the clay of his spirit. He was as
he had always been-and that was a man who did not know how to
give or receive spiritual love. Ilia was right about that.
There had been no one who touched his soul-not friend, not
lover. Certainly not a wife or child. There had been no
constants-except the hated Rychard.

Dom looked into the distance with unseeing eyes until a small
swirl of feathers twined about his ankle.

He shook himself from the shadowy reverie.

Failure was not an option. Not this time. That being the case,
perhaps it would behoove him to help the situation along-just
a bit. He could use the power of the scrying glass to remind
Portia of some of the splendid times they had had together.
Once he began sending her memories in her dreams she would be
able to open her mind to the past and recall who he was.
Things might go a great deal more smoothly if he didn't have
to retake old ground....

Of course, it was cheating-meddling with Fate's sphere of
control and all. But it wasn't as though he was suborning the
Great One's will. Far from it! He would simply be expediting
matters a bit.

The first step was to get a look at the scrying glass and find
out which city by the water Portia was living in these days.
It would be entertaining to return to Venice....

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from Dominion
by Melanie Jackson
Copyright © 2002 by Melanie Jackson.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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