“Thank you.”
“I want to take care of you. That is what a mate does. Remember, I will protect you from any threat.”
Including her father. Before she could respond, he laid a brief, fierce kiss on her lips, then took her hand, grabbed the Doomsday Diary, and led her from the bedroom.
They descended the stairs and drifted down the wide, airy hallway, made stunning by exquisite tile floors and rows of marble pillars flanking both sides.
As they approached the breakfast room, Olivia saw Bram awaiting them outside an open door to their left.
“Breakfast will be ready shortly. May I have a word with you first?” Bram asked Marrok. “Olivia, you’re welcome to come, if you like.”
Beside her, Marrok tensed, as if gearing up to be battle ready. “Rion, we appreciate the hospitality. We will not trouble you for long. I doubt you would stage an inquisition to ask about the length of our visit, so I will assume this involves the Book of Doomsday and decline your ‘gracious’ invitation.”
Olivia saw his hands tighten around the book. He would guard it with everything inside him. Would he go so far as to pretend devotion for her, too?
“Actually, it has little to do with the book and everything to do with this morning’s battle. Please.” Bram gestured into the sitting room again.
With a sigh, Marrok placed his hand at the small of Olivia’s back and led her into the room.
Room? It was like a museum. A gilt fireplace, heirloom rugs. Traditional mixed with modern to create an eclectic but expensive effect. And the art? She wanted to cry at how beautiful it was. As she studied each piece, she felt her jaw drop. Was that an original Pollock on his wall? Nearby was a statue that reminded her very much of a…
“Is that a Bernini?”
Bram frowned absently. “Art would be Sabelle’s department, but I believe so. Please sit.”
They dropped down onto a small velvet sofa facing a huge picture window that showed off the bright sun of a cheerful morning. Hard to believe that a mere two hours ago they’d been fighting for their lives.
She’d been so dazzled by the art, she hadn’t paid attention to the other four men in the room. Three she remembered from Bram’s party. One she didn’t know at all.
In the far corner, the marine/biker guy she recalled, Shock, was decked out in leather and badass, complete with sunglasses and killer attitude. Lucan all but growled at the man, a good indication that he had no problem challenging Shock, despite the fact he had four inches of height and forty pounds on Lucan. Near the door, the real-life duke hovered, shrewd, pedigreed, and gorgeous. His designer khakis, crisp shirt, and impeccably expressionless stare belonged in Bram’s palace.
But the unfamiliar man…He was a mountain, almost as tall as Marrok, but rather than being good-looking in a stark, masculine way, he was flat-out scary. His dark hair was merely stubble inching up from his scalp. Intense green eyes pinned her in place. A model’s cheekbones slashed across his strong face. Below the neck was all Conan the Barbarian-style: enormous shoulders, biceps, and pectorals. He wore a black T-shirt, camouflage pants, and dirt-crusted combat boots.
Beside her, Marrok clutched the diary in a death grip. “What the devil is this, an ambush? I will not surrender the diary.”
“Think of this as a mass plea.”
Olivia had seen the wizard teasing, calculating, but never quite this determined.
Pure fury narrowed Marrok’s eyes—and no surprise. Olivia was feeling a little ganged up on, too. “I will not give you the book.”
“I won’t ask for it. I know better. What we need now is your help.”
“My help?”
Bram nodded. “First, thank you for jumping into the battle today. If not for you, Lucan, Duke, and I would have been completely overrun by the Anarki.”
“Do not thank me for protecting my mate. It is her I sought to rescue, not you.”
“Of course. I’m sure, however, that you did not fail to notice that the rest of the Doomsday Brethren and I—”
“Doomsday Brethren?” Marrok cut in.
Bram nodded. “We’re wizards banding together to defeat Mathias and help you protect the book. Lucan and Duke, whom you met at my party, captured the Anarki in front of your house early this morning.” They nodded at Marrok. “Along with Shock, whom you also met at my party.” The dude in leather sneered. “And Ice, whom you did not.”
“Is five enough wizards to fight an army the size of Mathias’s?” Olivia asked.
“No, especially not after what we saw this morning. The Anarki is comprised of more former humans than wizards. Wizards we can fight with magic. The half-dead…” Bram shrugged. “They deflect magic. I’m not certain why, perhaps because they have no soul.”
She shivered. It sounded awful. They looked horrific. And she knew there were many more out there. “How do they come to be half-dead?”
“Dark magic. The soul cannot be removed from the body without the individual’s consent. He or she has to release it. After Mathias captures them, he uses his well-honed skills to make people beg. The promise to wipe away the shattering memories or unbearable pain will prompt virtually anyone to surrender their soul to him. Then, with a powerful bit of dark magic…Well, you saw.”
“How is it possible to fight someone so insane?”
Bram answered with a grim smile. “I believe it’s crucial to reduce the number of nonmagical Anarki. Mathias has made them impervious to magic, so the Doomsday Brethren cannot fight them.” Bram turned his solemn stare back to Marrok. “That is why we need you. We must learn human combat, what’s needed to dispense with the half-dead. You skewered several at once. I saw you punch them. Olivia shot two. These methods work. And we are clueless. Mathias will slaughter us unless we learn to fight as you do.”
Marrok sat back in his chair. “You want me to teach you guns, knives, fist fighting?”
“Yes. Anything that can be used against the human Anarki. Wands were useless against them. All the Doomsday Brethren are warriors to the core. I know casualties are a part of war, but I cannot abide sending them into battle unless they know how to defeat their opponents.”
Marrok said nothing into the long silence, and Olivia wondered what he was thinking.
Finally, Bram stepped into the quiet. “You are likely wondering what’s in it for you, why you should throw your lot in with us. In exchange for teaching us human combat, we vow to provide magical protection for the Doomsday Diary and your mate.”