Too perceptive. It doesnt matter.
Would she refuse you?
Can we change the subject?
Talking about your problems gets my mind off my own. Lucan grabbed the whiskey off the nearby table and took another swig with a lopsided grin. Hed had just enough alcohol to numb his pain and enough mischief to exploit Cadens pity. Sod. Would she say no?
Shed accept.
You havent mated with her because . . . you want a witch?
Caden snorted. Lucan must know better than that. Of course not.
You dont love her?
I do.
Lucan stroked his chin as if perplexed. Shes against magic?
Quite the opposite. She persuaded Bram to allow her to transcast news of Mathiass return.
The Council agreed? Lucan looked genuinely shocked.
No. Bram finally agreed that distributing the information without their blessing was best.
There will be hell to pay. Good for him, doing the right thing. Sydney wants to help, then? Thats why shes transcasting, despite the danger?
Yes. Caden sighed, knowing where Lucans line of questioning was headed. Might as well beat him to the destination. And that is precisely why I havent spoken the Call. The more she involves herself in magickind, the higher up Mathias moves her name on his hit list.
You dont want to lose her the way you lost Westin. Or the way I lost Anka.
Either would devastate Caden. Something like that.
Lucan slammed his bottle down on the table and lunged in Cadens face, bracing his fists against the back of the sofa, effectively pinning Caden there. You stupid fuck! You have a woman who loves you and would accept your mating call. Yet youre willing to flush it down the toilet to avoid possible pain. He scoffed and backed away. You have no idea
I do! Caden shoved Lucan aside and jumped to his feet, anger roiling through his body. You werent there when Westin died. I was!
Lucan sighed. An accident.
That doesnt make him any less dead. And then youI saw you chained to a bed for weeks. I watched you with Sabelle. Lucan winced, but Caden pressed on. You nearly killed her for trying to save you. For as long as Anka stays in Shocks bed, there will be an infinitely deep hole in your heart. Why the hell would I sign up for that?
Because I wouldnt trade a moment of what Anka and I had together. For any reason. Its my own bloody fault for not protecting her, but I adore her. Love her. Id never known true happiness until I mated with her. Would I give up all that bliss because Im hurting now? Never. You have the advantage, idiot. I didnt find Anka until I was nearly three hundred. Youre only thirty. You and Sydney could have hundreds of years to enjoy each other.
Or she could goddamn die tomorrow. Caden shouted. She constantly puts herself in danger. I do everything in my power to keep her safe, but she doesnt want my protection. Shed rather make a difference for magickind. How can I protect her against a monster like Mathias? Magically, Im no match for him. Knowing my mate was in his clutches would kill me.
Im living proof that it wont. You dont want the pain or the mourning that goes with losing a mate, so youre going to toss her away now? Bloody stupid. Suddenly, Lucan growled and lifted him by his shirt. Love rarely comes more than once in a lifetime. If you piss her away, be prepared for centuries of emptiness. And without your longer lifespan, youll see her grow old and turn to dust so quickly your head will spin. Then youll stand alone, a young wizard on the outside, an old, withering man on the inside, wishing for just ten minutes with your one true love. And she will be gone. Ill be standing there to say I told you so. Because ten minutes with your beloved is better than a lifetime without her.
Like needles piercing her skin, her soul, Sydney felt the pain of Cadens departure. Inside, she achedeven while she wanted to throw half of Brams priceless knickknacks against his pristine wall. And yet . . . after the up-close view of what Lucan had become and hearing of Westins heartbreaking death, Sydney couldnt really blame Caden.
She wanted to be furious. Mostly, she was sad.
Maybe if she found some way to end this war sooner, take Mathias down now. . . . If the evil wizards threat against her ended, she and Caden could deal with the rest of their issues one by one. Likely, it would take time, but as long as they ended up together, she could learn patience.
Evening lengthened into night, then into early morning, and still Sydney paced her room, turning over ideas, rejecting them, starting over. After hours of filtering through ideas, two remained. First, she had to find that magical book and discern once and for all if the feelings they shared had originated from the book. If so, she had to undo the magic. And let the chips fall.
Second, she had to help magickind in a larger way. Transcasting Mathiass return was a start. Bram hadnt let her give details about the attacksyet. But if magickind knew what Mathias had done, what he planned to do, and got angry at the horrific violence Mathias was inflicting, magickind might band together. If so, Mathias didnt stand a chance. But they needed an advantage.
One sat languishing behind bars downstairs.
Sydney glanced at the clock. Nearly three in the morning. No time like the present.
Down the dark stairs she traveled, creeping into Brams office. In a secret compartment behind the sofa, she located the book. After theyd returned from attacking Mathiass warehouse, Bram had disclosed his hiding place to all the females in the house . . . just in case.
Extracting the little book, she lit a small desktop lamp and spread the pages open with a pen. Quickly, she leafed through the book, looking for her previous two entries. She couldnt find the first. Or the second. What the hell? Blasted book made no sense. Then again, it was magic.
With a sigh, Sydney stared at the blank pages. What to write?
Within a few minutes she crafted another message to her Magical Diary, wishing that she hated Caden and he loathed her as well. They would give each other coal for Christmas, dead roses for Valentines Day, and snarl like pit bulls every day in between. Then she stared at the page, waiting for the diarys inevitable message.
To wish for enmity, you are too late.
This fantasy cannot be your fate.
Because true love has claimed your
hearts, you two are sworn never to part.
True love? A smile burst across her face. Hearing that her fantasies hadnt incited false feelings was a huge reliefand made her all the more impatient to get on with task number two. The sooner she found a way to rally magickind around Bram, the sooner she and Caden could work through their differences. That meant trying to talk information out of Zain.
Though he was likely to be a hostile interview subject and it was the middle of the night, she wasnt waiting. Who knew whether Mathias could do extra damage to magickind while she waited for a more polite hour? Zain was behind bars, had no wand, and Bram had explained that only his houseguests could teleport in and out. The dungeon dampened magical ability, too. Shed be safe long enough to ask a few questions.
But how? Snark wouldnt serve her. Zains T-shirts suggested he would snark back, which would be counterproductive. Shed be better served using their previous work connection and playing the stupid human card.
Sydney grabbed Brams little video camera and made her way through the dark house, down to where Bram kept Zain locked away.
She eased the door open. It was pitch black inside. No windows, no lights. The room smelled like damp stones and despair. She shivered.
Why are you here, Sydney? Zain rasped out. He sounded weak.
How did you
Your scent.