Cause & Effect | Ominis Gaunt Love Story

Chapter 36: She Made Me Do It

Stella felt Ominis' breath and lips both tickle the shell of her ear as he spoke quietly, "Samson's Ex-wife."

His ex? Then maybe it wasn't such an amicable divorce after all. Another lie on the report that would have led them completely astray.

Reaching forward, she tugged on his vest to make him lean down towards her as she whispered back, "If she came back, then maybe she missed something the first time."

Ominis didn't say anything to that and she wondered for a moment if she'd been wrong. The pair went up the stairs and he shifted momentarily before the door opened again. It was silent and if they hadn't been already looking at the door, then they would have missed the business suit wearing wizard enter in. He was likely in his thirties and if he didn't have such a cold look in his brown eyes, he might have been handsome.

Instead, he lifted his wand and casted anti-apparition jinxes that stretched along the first and second floor. Ominis tapped the ground almost silently, but the vibration was enough for Eden to come racing back. He knew something bad was about to happen as Eden curled around his arm and he pulled the both of them towards the far corner of the room; unable to Disapparate. She could feel both his arms encompassing her, palms flat on the wall above her shoulders.

"Eden get in between us." He snapped in a harsh whisper.

The stranger released a fire charm that lit a great fire, threatening to swallow the entire first and second floor. Stella's heart sank and she found one arm cradling Eden and the other clutching Ominis' vest in fear.

There were no windows in this office.

No way out.

Chapter 36: She Made Me Do It

OMINIS' POV

The fire had spread up the stairs and to the left side of the house. The office was safe for now and Ominis looked behind him to see Arthur Samson's Son-in-Law walking purposefully into the room. He started going through drawers, looking for something specific as the fire found the older couple upstairs.

Curses and screams thrashed together until they formed blood curling cries of agony. Stella was close enough to him that he felt her flinch at the noise. A strange desire to shield her from the horrors of death gripped him. How did that moronic man that couldn't run a business cast a fire spell resistant to water charms? The first thing the couple would have done was use aguamenti. His blood didn't call out to the flames; there was no dark magic. Which poised the question. Did someone with a talent for arithmancy create a spell specifically for him to use in this moment?

There were too many uncertainties and if he'd been alone with Eden; he'd have mitigated the risks. They were two halves that worked well together, but in the last few days-it felt as if he was cut into thirds instead. He needed to get her out. Them out.

But there was a case here. A suspect. A motive. He had all the pieces on the chessboard and he'd been winning, but now it felt like the queen had been checkmated. Was he willing to risk the game to save her? Or was he willing to sacrifice the king? How could he win this game and not lose any pieces?

Irritation coupled with that anxiety created a fresh dose of aggravation that shot into the dead, soulless thing in his chest. It became red and pounded; started to become alive again as Stella gripped his vest as her own fears nipped at her.