Doomsday Brethren: Seduce Me In Shadow Part 27

Seconds dragged by, one after the other, and still Aquarius sagged against Zain, unmoving, seemingly not breathing. His whole body began to shake. Sweat rolled in fat drops down his forehead and temples. His face turned ghostly white.

Suddenly, he released Aquarius, collapsing back to the bed. Bram rushed forward. She fell face first in a heap across him. Sabelle elbowed her way between Tynan and Sydney, who let go of Caden's hand and tried to dart to the bed. He held her back.

"Let them," Caden whispered." Just in case it's a trick."

"She's my friend," she cried. "If anything happens . . ." Tears took over then, and Caden's heart broke for her. Since meeting her, he'd been dazzled by her beauty and smarts. Her moxie and dedication had impressed the h.e.l.l out of him as well, even if, at times, they scared him. For days, she'd been tending Aquarius's injuries. Sydney's incredible loyalty and love made him want her all the more. Magic aside, it was no wonder he was falling in love with her.

Caden closed his eyes. This wasn't the time or place- Sydney was hurting. But what a f.u.c.king cosmic joke that he should finally meet a woman he adored, only for her to become entangled in the very world he despised.

Gently, Bram rolled Aquarius over, easing her away from Zain. Neither stirred. "Aquarius?" Bram called.

"Can you hear me?"

Still nothing.

Sydney looked about her with a desperate glance. "Can anyone else help her? A bit of magic and-"

"Sorry." Bram's face was soft with regret. "Only the one who inflicted the hurt can heal her. Check him," Bram barked at Duke.

Hurstgrove leaned around Sabelle, who was gently brus.h.i.+ng Aquarius's hair from her face to reveal healed skin, but an unmoving form. He waved a hand across Zain's face.

"He's out," Duke declared, pulling him to the far edge of the bed.

"Oh G.o.d." Sydney's voice trembled.

All of Zain's energy hadn't been enough to bring Aquarius around. Caden squeezed Sydney tighter. He hated to see her pain, but a part of him hoped that she'd finally accept the danger she was courting. And this was just a sliver of the possibilities. The things he'd heard about Anarki attacks in Bram's meetings these past few weeks were bone chilling. He hated using Aquarius as an ill.u.s.tration for Sydney, but if it got her to forget the transcasting idea, then something good would come of this tragedy.

Suddenly, a woman groaned, then coughed. It wasn't Sydney or Sabelle. Caden glanced up and saw Olivia staring wide-eyed at Aquarius. Glancing past Sabelle's bent form, he studied the delicate woman.

Slowly, she opened her green eyes. Groggy, unfocused- but awake.

"What is it?" Sydney demanded, trying to peek around the blond witch. "Tell me!" Sabelle pulled back from Aquarius, and a last glance at the other woman's face showed her to be perfectly healthy, if still a bit red.

"See for yourself." Caden thrust Sydney toward her friend, as relief poured through him.

Sydney squealed and darted from his grasp, charging headlong toward her friend, arms open wide.

Bram thrust an arm between them, then admonished, "Gently." With a vigorous nod, Sydney leaned carefully toward her friend, brus.h.i.+ng her cheek. "How do you feel?"

"If I said terrible, you'd only cry more. I don't need the bad karma." Sydney gave a watery laugh. "You scared ten years off me!"

"Can't have that. Who else will put up with me at the office?" Aquarius groaned as she leaned toward Sydney. "Where am I?"

"My home. Where do you hurt?" Sabelle asked.

Aquarius sent Sydney a quizzical glance.

"That's Sabelle. You remember Bram from my flat? This is his sister."

"The c.o.c.ky one with the angry aura?"

Bram chuckled. "I bet if you look at me now, you'll find my aura much changed." With a slow turn of her head, Aquarius stared at Bram. "You've traded anger for stress. You should learn to meditate."

"She's better already," Sydney joked, wiping tears from her cheeks.

"Get some rest," Sabelle suggested to Aquarius.

Sydney patted Aquarius's shoulder, then urged her to sit back in the bed, against the pillows.

She touched her cracked lips. "I'm dry everywhere. Water?" Sabelle waved a hand, and instantly a cool gla.s.s of water appeared in a delicate crystal cup. "Drink." Aquarius didn't look very surprised. "Nice trick. Thank you." She tossed back the entire gla.s.s at once.

Once finished, she handed it back to Sabelle. "So what happened to me? To say I feel run over by a train is an understatement."

"What's the last thing you recall?"

Aquarius paused. "Coming by your flat to talk to you about-" She gasped. "Has anyone found Anka yet?"

Sydney looked back. Over her shoulder, she sent Caden a silent apology, then turned back to her friend.

"No. We're still looking."

"She was weak the morning she left. Talked about needing energy. I offered her green tea, but she wouldn't have it."

Caden froze. Of course, Anka had been weeks without contact from Lucan. As often as they'd tried to force feed Lucan energy, had Anka been without any contact that would build up her power? So who had she found to recharge her? Or had Mathias seized her again before she could take a lover?

Either possibility would kill his brother-if he ever emerged from this mourning.

After Sydney and Aquarius had hugged, cried, and rea.s.sured each other, Sydney listened to her friend's horrific description of Zain's torture. Seeing what Mathias and his henchmen had done to both Anka and Aquarius made Sydney more determined to help protect others. When she'd spoken to Bram earlier about transcasting, he hadn't said no. Now she was going to get a.s.sertive, Caden be d.a.m.ned. Why should anyone suffer because they were uninformed about the danger about to descend on their doorsteps?

Fire brewing in her belly, Sydney jogged down the stairs to find Bram. The Council was against spreading word of Mathias's return, but she knew that Bram wanted others to know. Was itching to tell them, in fact. She was going to help him do what he wanted to.

As soon as she entered the hallway, she heard raised voices to the left, behind closed doors. d.a.m.n and blast! They were all in Bram's office, except Caden, who'd departed with Sabelle to begin cleaning up Lucan's house.

Sydney approached the door and raised her hand to knock. Before she could, a voice boomed through the heavy wood separating her from the men, "Are you out of your b.l.o.o.d.y mind?" Ice. The warrior everyone else believed mad. The irony of his question wasn't lost on her.

"For the first time in nearly two hundred years, we agree on something," Bram quipped.

"Are any of you sods listening to me?" Shock growled. "What are your better ideas? I can't lead you to Mathias in his lair with your hands tied and your wands confiscated. Mathias fell for that trap once, and it led to his exile."

"Aye," Marrok agreed. "We may call the man many unpleasant things, but he has never shown himself to be stupid. We cannot underestimate him. We will get but one chance to undertake a surprise attack."

"Indeed," Duke added. "Besides, if you pretend to lead us to Mathias, then we unleash our fight, he'll be suspicious of you in the future, Shock. I'm not certain that serves our long-term interests."

"But a pair of us claiming to be traitors and offering to bring him the book?" Ice again, his tone saying all on its own that he thought the idea absurd. "Why can't we simply lure him out and whip his a.r.s.e?"

"That plan leaves him a base to run back to and regroup, should he escape the ambush," Bram said. "I want to destroy his home turf, disrupt his operations. And if Shock lured him out, again, Mathias would suspect him in the future."

"Here's another snag: if we want to be certain we can use the diary as bait, a woman must carry the book. After Caden tried to steal it from Sydney, we can't discount its rules." Sydney thought that line was as good a cue as any. With an a.s.sertive push on the double doors leading to Bram's office, she swept into the room, trying to quell her quaking.

"I'll take it to him."

Six pairs of male eyes all swiveled her way, expressions ranging from stunned to considering. Bram was the first to speak.

"You're not a witch."

A hot protest leapt to the tip of her tongue, but she had to play this smart. "I am female, but if you insist on someone magical, I suppose you'll use Sabelle."

Bram reared back. "Absolutely not!"

Ice glared at her from beneath heavy black brows.

Sydney laughed, as if she'd been incredibly daft. "Of course, you're taking Olivia. Married to the ultimate warrior, descendant of Morganna, she's likely a gifted witch." Marrok stepped forward, hand on the hilt of the ever-present sword at his side. "I know not what game you play, but my tender, untrained wife will be nowhere near this battle." Sydney feigned confusion. "But if you need a woman to pretend to deliver the book to Mathias in order to breach his defenses and you're against using Sabelle and Olivia, who did you have in mind?" Bram looked straight ahead, meeting no one's gaze. The others looked at him, then at one another.

Clearly, they hadn't gotten this far in their planning.

Sydney cleared her throat. "Might I suggest that I'm the perfect candidate. I loathe Mathias for what he's done to Anka and Aquarius, and I relish the opportunity to be a part of an attack that could destroy him."

With a furious scowl, Bram turned to her. "How do you know what we're about?"

"Your voices are louder than your doors are thick. I'm merely volunteering because I know you need the a.s.sistance and I'm not personally valuable to anyone here. Unless you prefer to try the trick that felled Mathias once before . . ." She tried to suppress a smile of triumph, but she had them by the b.a.l.l.s and they knew it.

"Caden would not think you expendable," Duke said from the far side of the room. "Quite the opposite."

"Since he hasn't seen fit to kiss me-ever-to ascertain pertinent facts or speak certain words . . ." Their jaws gaped. "Yes, I'm informed about your mating rituals. Given all that, if I have your blessing to a.s.sist, this decision is mine alone."

A long beat of silence pa.s.sed, and she waited it out.

"She makes excellent points," Ice conceded.

"She's got more gumption than half the men I know," Tynan admitted.

"Aye, a warrior spirit in a small body. You know if you attempt this, you risk grave danger?" Marrok asked.

Did he think she was a fool? "Of course. But just as you're willing to risk your very lives to stop terrible evil, so am I. I may not have the brawn or magical ability you possess, but my wit has saved me from a sc.r.a.pe more than once. I may be more helpful than you imagine."

"This isn't fodder for one of your stories," Bram growled.

"At the moment, my only thought is to help. We can negotiate the rest later."

"This isn't your fight," Bram pointed out.

"When that b.a.s.t.a.r.d hurts my friends, it is."

Bram tapped his toe against the expensive Persian rug and glanced at Duke. Hurstgrove shrugged.

"We need a woman to carry the book. Unless you know of a female warrior . . ." The jerky shake of Bram's head told Sydney she'd won. She pasted on a smile and couldn't resist fluttering her lashes. "Well?"

"You are a minx." Bram sighed.

His toe kept tapping, which told Sydney that his mind had already reached the right conclusion, but his pride simply wasn't allowing him to utter the words. Wisely, she stayed silent.

Finally, he conceded. "Very well. But there are rules."

"Indeed?"

"If you want to stay alive, you must behave as if you're delivering the book to him because as you researched your articles, you agreed with his message of equality."

"Easy enough." And most likely the only tactic that would allow her to escape in one piece.

"You don't go alone."

Sydney thrust a hand on her hip. "I'd prefer not to. But who can I take without arousing his suspicion?" A moment of silent thought pa.s.sed before all eyes in the room drifted to the warrior in leather with the very bad att.i.tude.

Shock bristled. "I'm not here to babysit."

"Too bad." Bram's tone was unequivocal. "You tell Mathias that you met her through Zain and that you persuaded her to come with you to give him the book. Tell him that you promised her protection in exchange for the diary and some positive press. This buys you credibility and Sydney's freedom. And a way to 'accidentally' leave the protections around his base open."

"You want me to escort her in, keep the trail to his compound cracked for you to enter, then leave?" Shock exploded.

"You want me to deliver the book into a madman's hands and walk away?" she asked.

"Yes and yes." Bram crossed his arms over his chest.

"I'll take Shock's protection. But your plan has two flaws: first, it keeps the book in Mathias's hands."

"Not at all. If you make him take it from you instead of handing it over, it will return to you. If you give the book to him, then it may remain. We don't know for certain. Simply use that wit of yours and make him filch it. As soon as you leave, so will the book." Clever. Quite clever. Bram was more intelligent than she'd thought. "Fine. But there's still flaw number two: I refuse to help you unless you allow me to capture video so I can later transcast proof of Mathias's return to magickind. Do you have a small camera?"

"Do you know what you're asking of me?"

"Indeed. You also know it's the right thing to do. Man up." Bram hesitated, then sighed. "Well, f.u.c.k. There goes my Council seat." The following morning as the sun rose, Caden burst into the bedroom Sabelle had a.s.signed Sydney and crossed his arms over his chest. "It's one thing to talk about transcasting, but to meet with Mathias? No.

You are not going."

The words rang with authority, but his gaze wandered. Good G.o.d, what was she wearing? Or rather, what wasn't she wearing? Having barged in before she was dressed, he stared at her body clad only in her bra and very tiny knickers. With effort, he dragged his stare to her face, squaring his shoulders with determination. He'd come to save her from a fatal mistake, not gawk.

But Sydney taunted him, making a great show of adjusting her bra, flas.h.i.+ng a bit of creamy breast. One strap fell off her shoulder, and she lifted it in place with a coy smile.

Caden swallowed. He would not let her lead him around by his c.o.c.k. He simply was not going to-b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l, her lacy knickers were actually a thong! When she bent over to don a pair of socks, the sight of her bare backside and graceful legs stopped all thought. Sydney followed up with a sly look over her shoulder.

"Actually, it's none of your business." She shoved her s.h.i.+rt over her head and reached for her jeans.

That snapped him out of his trance. "By G.o.d, woman, it is. Bram tasked me with returning the book to him and shutting you up. I've managed the first. And I will make good on the second today. No joining this attack and no transcasting."

"Bram and I have changed your plans." She shrugged. "Sorry." She fastened her jeans, grabbed her trainers, and tried to slide by him. Caden grabbed her and pulled her near. G.o.d, it felt good to hold her. She was addicting, especially when she glanced up at him, lips pursed and glossy and right there beneath him.

"Did you want something?"

To take that mouth and make it his in every way known to human and magickind. To make certain that she understood precisely who she belonged to.