Sydney bit her lip, but knew she had to ask the question. "Is there any chance he feels this way because I wrote about him in that red book? Twice?"
Sabelle and Olivia both stilled.
"What did you write?" Olivia asked.
How to put this delicately without sounding s.e.x starved?
With a smile, Sabelle said, "Did you ask to be his mate forever or for the night?"
"Just the night," she a.s.sured.
"We really don"t know," Olivia finally said. "But probably not. Our theory is that the diary grants one"s true desire if you write it, and that you must have enough pa.s.sion and power to make it come true. But it"s only a theory."
She sniffed at her tears, wishing she had more answers. "Do you have a book that describes this mating ritual?"
"Absolutely. Feel free to take anything in the library you want. Bram and I have been adding to the family collection like mad of late. Fiction is in that corner." She pointed to the far left. "The rest is nonfiction.
Human history, science, technology, et cetera, on the near left. The right and back wall are all magical tomes. What you want will be there. Let me know if you need help." Sydney"s ears perked up. She"d wandered the library once, but the number of books had been overwhelming. She could arm herself with information and occupy her maudlin thoughts by tackling the article about magickind once it was safe-but more information would help.
"Bram will never let you print such an article," Sabelle vowed. "But as long as you"re going to stay among us, you should have more information." She rose to her feet and headed for the library door.
"Night."
She"d argue with Bram about the article later.
Olivia followed behind Sabelle, but paused in the doorway. "Marrok will likely be hours with Bram and Tynan. If you want someone to talk to, I"m here. I know what it"s like to be among all these guys and have no idea what"s going on. I"ve recently been through the mating thing, so . . ." She appreciated the other women, really. But she wanted to read up so she could verbally skewer Caden when he returned. She would also wait for Bram"s meeting to end so she could talk to him about transcasting. The issue of her article for Out of This Realm aside, magickind needed information. And dangerous or not, she was the woman to give it to them.
Sydney awoke suddenly, head tilted awkwardly onto the arm of the sofa, a book still open in her lap, a terrible cramp in her neck-and the magical Mating Call running through her head.
Noises sounded just outside the door. Loud ones. Shouting. Marching. Good G.o.d, what time was it?
Judging from the weakness of the sunlight outside the northern window, it was early.
With a frown and a pull at her sore neck, Sydney rose and approached the library door. Someone had closed it during the night. The voices streaming down the stairs and in the hall were slightly m.u.f.fled, but emphatic.
"You"re certain?" Bram asked in clipped, authoritative tones.
"Indeed. Saw him myself." Duke. No mistaking that quiet upper-crust speech. The man scarcely ever raised his voice; as if he expected his words to be obeyed, so didn"t bother shouting.
"Splendid. Shock returned five minutes ago. Let me see . . ." Bram"s voice trailed off. Pounding footsteps.
What the devil is going on?
Sydney opened the library door and peeked into the hall. There Duke stood, wearing chocolate trousers and a pristine white shirt, both meticulously pressed. He had wide shoulders and a perfect patrician profile. In a glance, she could see why he was one of England"s most eligible bachelors. Funny that few humans knew just how special he was.
A moment later, Bram emerged from his office, Shock in tow.
"Where is Zain?" the tough guy growled.
"Below," said the blond wizard. Despite his disheveled hair, rumpled striped shirt and designer jeans, he maintained that air of authority.
Now if she could just figure out what they were talking about, she"d be loads happier.
"Let me go down," Shock said.
Bram shook his head. "I want to hear where you"ve b.l.o.o.d.y been. And he shouldn"t see you here. Let Duke get him. We"ll need him upstairs anyway."
Shock ground his jaw and crossed his arms, looking quite bra.s.sed off. Sydney wondered why. He"d been absent of late. Was he angry that Bram had tracked him down? Or because the Doomsday Brethren"s leader demanded a command performance at some unG.o.dly hour of the morning?
After a quick gesture to Duke, who acknowledged with a nod, Bram turned back to Shock. "While we"re waiting, want to tell me where you"ve been these past days? b.l.o.o.d.y hard to plan an attack on the enemy when your only spy doesn"t see fit to appear." Sydney smothered a gasp with her hand. They were planning to attack Mathias? Sabelle said they had information that the evil wizard was weak now. It would make sense.
"You summoned me before the sun rose to interrogate me? I"m not at your beck and call." Bram crossed his arms over his chest. Though Shock was both taller and bigger, Bram carried a knowledge and a lethal aura that even Shock, with those dark sungla.s.ses, couldn"t miss.
"So you only answer to Mathias, then?"
"Do you doubt that I have to make my loyalty look real?" Shock tensed, then cursed. "I explained all this. Are you a simpleton?"
Tapping his toe, Bram paused for a long moment. "Simpleton, no. Suspicious, always. Your family reputation isn"t the best, Shock. Your parents were rabid Mathias supporters. Your brother still is. When you disappear for days at a time with no communication, I"d be a fool not to wonder if you were really spying on our side for Mathias, rather than the other way around." A double agent? Sydney"s eyes widened. She could completely understand Bram"s skepticism. He hardly struck her as Mr. Upstanding.
Suddenly, the object of her thoughts turned his head and looked in her direction. She suspected he was looking right at her, but with those sungla.s.ses, she couldn"t be certain. Still, a flush of embarra.s.sment crept up her body, to her face, heating her cheeks. b.u.g.g.e.r!
"I would hardly call you upstanding, either, considering you"re eavesdropping and have been since I joined this conversation."
"Shock, go to my office. Zain shouldn"t see you here now. We"ll finish this chat in a bit." As Shock groused, Bram turned to her with a scowl and a raised brow. "You"ve no need to know Doomsday Brethren business. It"s not for you to print in your newspaper. These warriors could die if you leak information."
She would never intentionally hurt anyone, but inadvertently she already had. Shame smote Sydney. She understood now how people could die. Bram had no reason to believe that she wanted to help them. But she had to try.
"I"m not listening so that I can steal information for my next story. I"m willing to put that aside and help.
When Mr. O"Shea arrived last night, I realized that magickind knows nothing about Mathias"s return. I want to help resolve that. I"m an experienced journalist. I"ve done more than work for a tabloid. I interned at the BBC for a summer, so I can-"
"This is the "nothing" Caden didn"t want me to discuss with you, I presume?"
"Precisely."
"Even if I believed you, it"s not that simple. The Council is against notifying the public." Suddenly, the front door slammed. Tynan O"Shea stood in front of the portal. "And people are dying for that stubborn stupidity. The Pullmans would still be a whole family today if someone had advised them that Mathias had come back with both barrels loaded and in search of Privileged families to destroy. The men killed, the women murdered or taken, the children sliced in two-all of it avoidable. Stop being a b.l.o.o.d.y coward. You joined that group of codgers on the Council to be its future. Start acting like it now."
"I started the Doomsday Brethren under the Council"s nose. If they so much as catch a breath of the fact I"ve begun an army to counter Mathias, do you think for an instant I"d retain my Council seat? Who would they replace me with? Someone whose mind is more like theirs. That would not benefit us or magickind. We must lay low and think smart until they"ll admit what"s in front of them." Magical politics? Fascinating. Sydney couldn"t take it in fast enough. How amazing to be one of the few humans to know about this world within a world. Even more amazing to be in a position to help, because despite what Bram said, she thought magickind deserved the truth.
"What about the next family that"s attacked?" she asked Bram. "And the one after that? If a few words via transcast might save them, then why not-"
"Who told you about that?"
"Doesn"t matter. I"m volunteering. Just show me what to do. No one has to know you"re involved. I want to do it."
Bram sent her an incredulous stare. "Do you understand the incredible danger you"ll be in? Mathias and every Anarki sc.u.m will hunt you until you"re caught. They are banking on the Council being useless and paralyzed by their fear."
"So if you want to win this war, why give them the very thing they need to flourish?"
"She has a point," Duke said, dragging a bedraggled figure behind him.
The tall figure had long hair and a T-shirt that said Do Not Disturb. I"m Disturbed Enough Already. His head popped back when Duke yanked on his hair. Zain!
Well, clearly the T-shirt was appropriate.
"We"ll talk about this later," Bram barked.
At least it isn"t a no. Close, but Sydney hoped he"d come around.
"Well, if it isn"t Privileged"s poster boy," Zain sneered at Bram.
"It"s better than raping women and killing children."
"Can I kill him?" Tynan asked.
"No. We need him at the moment." Then Bram turned to Zain, stepping closer. "You"re going to perform the helbresele spell."
That healing spell Sabelle had spoken of earlier?
If Zain hadn"t had his hands tied behind his back, he would have a.s.suredly crossed his arms over his chest in defiance. "If I expended the energy necessary to injure someone, why would I bother to bestow a healing spell on them?"
The sod"s flippant tone made Sydney furious.
"Because I said so," Bram snarled. "And if you don"t . . ." The wizard glanced toward the door, then smiled. "Do you remember Auropha MacKinnett?"
Nodding, Zain added, "I abducted her straight from her bed. The Privileged b.i.t.c.h gave Mathias enough power with her lovely screams to last days. But I can"t heal her now. Very dead. So sorry."
"b.a.s.t.a.r.d!" Tynan charged toward Zain.
Bram held up a hand. It wasn"t the gesture that stopped him as much as some invisible restraint. O"Shea snarled and scowled, but Bram didn"t budge. Zain, however, stared warily at the grieving man, who was more muscular and more enraged. Tynan"s gray eyes said he"d rip the man limb from limb, given half the chance.
"If you don"t cooperate," Bram began. "I"ll be happy to tie you down and let Auropha"s mate-to-be avenge her in any way he pleases. Don"t think anyone will mourn you, you sodding little s.h.i.t."
"How does threatening murder make you any better than Mathias?" Bram c.o.c.ked his head. "I view your extermination as preventive maintenance. If you choose not to cooperate, then I"ll make certain you can"t harm anyone else. We all know you attack those who can"t fight back, mostly women. If you want to fight a man your size or better, at least it"s fair. But a woman?
Is that what it takes for you to feel manly?"
"p.i.s.s off." Zain flushed an angry red.
Tynan charged toward Zain again, barely held in check by a force Sydney couldn"t see.
Over his shoulder, Zain stared at Tynan, who itched for the opportunity to inflict damage.
"Pick," Bram demanded. "Tynan O"Shea or the helbresele spell?"
"And that"s a healing spell?" she asked. "For Aquarius?"
"Yes," Duke answered softly. "Since he inflicted the damage, only he can repair it."
"And it will cost him a great deal of his energy," Bram explained with a smile. "Nearly everything he has." Aquarius! The man could heal her friend? Sydney wanted badly to plead with Zain to help. But she felt certain that her pleas would give him pleasure, especially when he denied them. She bit her lip and stayed mute.
"So," Bram said. "What"s it going to be? Healing and a new beginning? Or certain death? Choose wisely and choose now."
CHAPTER FIFTEEN.
SENSING THAT HE WAS both outnumbered and in danger, Zain agreed to heal Aquarius. Caden still wasn"t certain how such a thing worked. Everyday magic he"d been unable to avoid as a child, but this more complicated life-and-death magic was all new to him.
As they made their way upstairs, Bram and Duke prodded Zain. The new bloke, Tynan, growled threats behind him. Caden looked over at Sydney. She was pale but her dark eyes reflected her determination and optimism. He knew exactly how she felt, hoping the magical cure would work. For her sake, he prayed she got the happy ending for her friend that he hadn"t gotten for Westin and still needed for Lucan.
As they awaited Aquarius"s fate, Caden reached across the s.p.a.ce between them and took her hand.
They"d had their differences, but at this moment they didn"t matter.
Instantly, she whipped her gaze to him. Naked pain and uncertainty showed behind her calm facade, nearly undoing him. He wanted to hold her, bring her close, and a.s.sure her all would be well. But he wasn"t certain of that at all.
Instead, he murmured, "Squeeze my hand if you need me." With a shaky nod, she turned and followed the procession up the stairs to the bedroom in which Aquarius rested. Inside the cool, shadowed room, everyone fanned out around the bed where the little woman lay, still bloated and red, lips cracked. Sabelle had removed her clothes and dressed her in a feather-light cotton gown. Aquarius"s eyes remained closed, her breathing slightly labored.
Bram drew his wand and held it at Zain. "Go on."
Zain growled at them both, then caught Sydney"s gaze. Tears streamed down her face, and she clutched Caden"s hand. His heart lifted. She"d come to him for support, trusted him to care for her. Caressing the soft crown of her fiery hair, he squeezed her hand in return.
Behind her, Sabelle patted her shoulder. Standing beside Marrok on the opposite side of the bed, Olivia gave her a rea.s.suring smile.
Tynan shoved Zain closer to Aquarius.
"How does this work?" she whispered to Caden.
"I"ve never heard of it. But Bram made it sound common enough, so . . ." Sydney exhaled, clearly trying to calm herself. Caden wanted to rea.s.sure her that if Zain did anything more to hurt Aquarius, Bram would let Tynan at him. But he didn"t want to say it out loud and give the Denzell b.a.s.t.a.r.d any ideas.
Zain finally stepped forward, leaning over the bed, and reached for Aquarius.
With a ruthless grip on his arm, Bram stayed the other wizard.
"I have to hold her against me," Zain explained.
Bram released Zain slowly. "One wrong move, and I swear, I"ll have no compunction about making certain your family needs tweezers to pick up your remains." Sneering, Zain turned back to Aquarius. He sat on the bed beside her and pulled her awkwardly into his lap, bringing her small b.r.e.a.s.t.s against his chest. Her hair drifted down to his thighs. Her arms hung limply from her shoulders. Zain took in a deep breath and closed his eyes.
His arms tightened around her, then began to shake. He drew in a sharp breath, his eyes popping wide open as if stunned. Caden could see whites all around the dark irises.
Tighter and tighter, Sydney squeezed his hand. The air thickened with tension and fear. He could smell the worry pouring off Sydney and wished he could do more.