Doomsday Brethren, Book 04: Entice Me at Twilight

by Shayla Black

  “And he wouldn’t go to a … surrogate?” The thought of enduring that again agonized her.

  “No. A mated wizard never chooses that option unless he must. Not only that, if you and Duke cemented your bond, you would be more prepared to work as a team through the danger. Ice and I had our share of troubles whilst running from Mathias with the diary. But now that we’ve completely bonded, I swear sometimes I know exactly what he’s feeling and thinking, though I can’t read him the way I can others.”

  Felicia believed that. Since exchanging vows with Hurstgrove, she’d felt an invisible thread tugging her insistently in his direction. Even now, she knew he prowled the perimeter of the caves, restless desire filling him. How was such knowledge possible?

  “Do mates usually … love each other, the words of the bond aside?”

  “Deeply. There are exceptions, but it’s rare.”

  Sabelle’s answer struck a chord of fear in her chest. Felicia had mated with Hurstgrove for a “rare” reason. Did that mean she might possibly be one of the exceptions to the whole love business? But was she willing to bet her heart on that? “Thank you. I must decide what to do quickly.”

  “Only you can.” Sabelle patted her shoulder. “I know you’ve only known me a handful of hours, but I’m here if you need to bend my ear some more.”

  “Thank you for everything.” Felicia bit her lip. “But I must ask for one more favor. Merlin’s books about Morganna’s tomb—”

  “I’m ahead of you. Whilst reading for anything about Untouchables, I’ve been skimming for mentions of the tomb. I’ve set aside a couple that I believe contain relevant passages. But they require closer scrutiny. He was brilliant but not orderly. I’ll continue searching, but if you’d like to start reading—”

  “I would. I need to see what I’m up against. Hurstgrove will try to stop me, no doubt, but I’m certain we won’t be able to avoid that tomb forever.”

  Sabelle nodded sagely and rose. “I’ll show you where to find them.”

  As she followed the witch back to the cave being used as an office, Sydney stood in the open door. “Where do you want this for safekeeping? And which of us will take it?”

  It was a book with a slightly battered red cover and yellowing pages. An intricate pattern of rubies adorned the cover, raised and dazzling. And worth a serious fortune.

  “What is that?” Felicia asked.

  “The Doomsday Diary.” Sydney held up the book.

  “Notice the symbol all decked out in rubies on the front?” Olivia pointed out. “The letter underneath is an M. The piece that locks it is the L. My great-great grandmother believed in bling.”

  Felicia felt her jaw drop. “Morganna le Fay was—”

  “Yep. Don’t I have a fun family tree?” Olivia quipped.

  Stepping closer to Sydney, Felicia reached for the book. Thinking better of it, she looked back at Olivia and Sabelle. “May I?”

  The two women glanced at each other and shrugged. “Have a look.”

  A sense of electricity overcame her when she grabbed it. Not that she felt magic from the book. But to think she was holding a piece of ancient history that most humans would never know of …

  “Why have you sacrificed everything to protect this book? Is it worth that much money?”

  “It’s more critical than mere money,” Sabelle said. “It grants wishes.”

  Felicia stared at her, then the book. “Wishes? Like click your heels together three times and … ?”

  “Not exactly, but not far off.” The gorgeous blonde cocked her head to one side with a considering look. “Open it. I’m curious what you’ll see.”

  Shrugging, Felicia gripped the binding and opened the front cover. Immediately, she saw a very bold script, old, angry. She skimmed the words. “A curse?”

  “You can read that?” Olivia’s mouth dropped open.

  “It’s right here.” Felicia pointed.

  “Not for us,” Marrok’s mate said. “Magic erases the ink from our view once the wish comes true. That curse was one Morganna put on Marrok a millennium and a half ago. Once it was broken, he could no longer see the words.”

  Felicia flipped ahead, skimming. “The curse’s end is visible on the following page.”

  “Um …” Sydney said. “Maybe you could skip a few pages there that I—”

  “Too late.” Felicia grinned. “You have quite the imagination.”

  Sydney flushed pink. “It worked.”

  “I can see why you caught your man. He must be quite happy.”

  The redhead laughed. “I like to think so.”

  Felicia turned another page and read again, before casting a gaze to Sabelle. “It truly must grant wishes. Ice is whole, alive, and with you.”

  The witch nodded. “I wrote in the diary when Mathias had captured Ice. I didn’t know what else to do. The moment Ice reappeared beside me was one of the happiest of my life.”

  “Why doesn’t someone just write in the book to bring Tynan back, if this grants wishes? Or kill Mathias. Clearly, I can’t, but …”

  Sabelle sighed. “It’s not that simple. The book has idiosyncrasies. One is that the person writing the wish must be female. It won’t respond to a man at all. Their ink simply disappears off the page.”

  “Believe me,” Olivia added. “Marrok tried.”

  Felicia winced. “I could tell.”

  Olivia snickered.

  “The second catch is that the wish must be the writer’s fondest, something she wants with all her heart,” Sabelle supplied. “A wish she somewhat hopes will come true won’t suffice.”

  “And saving Tynan is no one’s fondest wish?” Felicia grappled with the concept.

  “Oh, we very much like him,” Sabelle rushed to answer.

  “Absolutely,” Sydney added. “Tynan is smart and brave.”

  “Marrok says he’s a workhorse,” Olivia tossed in. “But the diary only works when you really, really care about the person in your wish.”

  “I see.” The book’s methodology dawned on Felicia. She felt sorry for Tynan. “Since the woman who loved him is gone …”

  “Mathias murdered Auropha,” Sabelle said. “The rest of us have spent enough time with the diary to know its limitations.”

  Kari sniffed. “It makes me so damn sad. Tynan has been a great friend to me. A shoulder to lean on. But as much as I care about him, when I tried to write in the book once for his happiness, my wish was ignored. I don’t think this time would be any different.”

  Amazing. Magic so vast and complex, reaching across the centuries and looking into a woman’s heart. Morganna le Fay might have been a total bitch, but she was clearly talented.

  “What about killing Mathias?”

  “I don’t think killing is in any of our hearts,” Sabelle said. “No matter how much we’d all like Mathias dead.”

  Which made complete sense.

  Flipping through the book a bit more, Felicia found page after blank yellowing page. Until near the end.

  She lifted her head to Sabelle. “Emma … isn’t she Bram’s missing mate?”

  Everyone froze. Bram’s sister stepped closer.

  “She is. Do you see something?”

  Felicia nodded and pointed to the page in front of her. “She wished for Bram to be unable to find her.”

  The women all looked at each other, stunned. Apparently this was news to them, and not of the good sort.

  “What exactly does it say?” Sabelle asked with a worried frown.

  Looking down at the page, Felicia recited, “‘I’ve made a terrible mistake. Bram Rion has captured my heart and will hate me once he learns what I’ve done. I will miss him always, but I can’t stand to see the betrayal in his eyes. Please make it impossible for him to find me, follow me, track me. If he tries to locate me, confuse him. Frustrate him. But don’t let him near me. I would rather him believe I left him than to know the truth.’”

  “Oh God,” Sabelle breathed.

  “That w
as her heart’s desire.” Sydney shook her head in disbelief. “He’ll be crushed.”

  Though Bram had been a thorn in her side, she felt somewhat sorry for him. “What did she do?”

  “Stole the diary from him.” Olivia shook her head. “The question is, why?”

  “And why did she then give it to my assistant?” Sydney mused aloud.

  “All good questions.” Kari sighed. “As often as I wanted to rip out Ronan’s eyeballs when we first met, the one thing I would never have wanted was to make it impossible for him to find me. He angered me, but I loved him too much to stay away.”

  Olivia nodded. “I think that’s true of all of us with our mates.”

  “And if you have even a hint of doubt, once those mating words are spoken …”

  “Like cement,” Kari agreed.

  Their words staggered Felicia. She, too, had been impacted by the Call and her own Binding. But that was magical, so how could it be possible? Or did the words merely reflect what was in her secret heart of hearts?

  “Do we tell Bram?” Sydney grimaced.

  Olivia wrung her hands. “I don’t know what passed between him and Emma in that one night, but—”

  “It was profound,” Sabelle finished. “I’ve never seen my brother like this. He was always snappy, on top of life, and happy for virtually any energy source. Now …”

  “Won’t he want to know that it’s her conscience, not her heart, keeping her from him?” Felicia asked.

  Sabelle hesitated, then nodded. “Knowing this will kill him, but I don’t think it would be fair to withhold the information. He should—”

  A series of gongs and bells interrupted Sabelle. The witch frowned. In fact, all the women did.

  “What is it?” Felicia asked, her senses on alert. “Trouble? Should we flee?”

  “No,” Sabelle was quick to assure her. “It’s Anka.”

  “Lucan’s former mate?” Felicia asked.

  “Precisely. She’d never come here unless something was terribly important.”

  The blond witch darted from the room and headed up the stairs. A few moments later, she appeared with another woman. Gorgeous. Centerfold dimensions. Pouting red mouth. Pale ringlets any red-blooded man would love to sink his hands into. Large breasts, tiny waist, lush hips, flawless golden skin. Felicia had always been termed classically pretty. This woman stopped traffic. If Anka hadn’t looked so anguished, Felicia would have hated her on sight.

  “Hello,” she addressed everyone nervously, her gaze skittering over the other women. Then Anka looked her way. “Oh. Oh my … Are you with Lucan?”

  Anka’s expression made it clear that even asking the question pained her. Felicia’s heart broke for the witch, who clearly had feelings for her former mate. So why was she with Shock?

  “No. I’m … um, mated with Hurstgrove.”

  “Who?” Lucan’s former mate asked.

  “Duke,” Sabelle supplied.

  “Indeed.” The relief on Anka’s face was palpable. Felicia wanted to tell the woman that Lucan still loved her. But clearly more stood between them than their feelings.

  Anka peered at the space around her. “You have no signature.”

  “Because I’m an—”

  “Is something troubling you, Anka?” Sabelle cut in, then sent Felicia a quick glare.

  Right, then. Sabelle wanted to keep the Untouchable thing mum.

  “No.” Anka shook her head. She appeared teary, disoriented. “Where is Bram?”

  Sabelle hesitated. “Out with all the others. Except Duke. He and Felicia mated earlier tonight.”

  Surprised skittered across Anka’s face. “He’s let you out of bed already? When Lucan and I mated, I don’t think I saw daylight for nearly a week.”

  Dear God. Surprise coiled through Felicia—along with a jolt of heat. Was that a figure of speech or did being magical give them … other abilities? That had never occurred to her. Thinking about it now made her blush twenty shades of red.

  “It’s been a hectic night,” Sabelle segued back to the subject at hand. “You know that Shock took Tynan to Mathias earlier this evening, yes? We’re desperately trying to rescue him.”

  “I didn’t know.” Anka spoke the truth. “Shock and I don’t talk much.”

  The women exchanged glances. Felicia could feel their surprise. After escaping Mathias, Anka had left Lucan for Shock. Did she now regret it?

  “Can I help you?” Sabelle asked.

  “Don’t shut me out and treat me like the enemy! I’m not. I know you don’t like Shock or trust him. He’s … not who you think. Living with him, I’ve come to see a different side. Something in him is broken. I can’t stay there anymore.”

  There was no hiding the surprise on Sabelle’s face. Or any of the other women’s. “You wish to stay here?”

  “Yes. And I want Marrok to train me. I want to fight.”

  Olivia gaped. “Mathias? You want to be a warrior?”

  Anka nodded before the question ended. “I want my revenge, and I won’t get it hiding behind Shock’s leathers. I need to do this.”

  Sabelle hesitated. “I’ll bring it up to Bram, but …”

  “Convince him. Please. Shock is on a bender. He’s totally drunk. It’s not the first time.” Fresh tears pooled in Anka’s amber eyes and she let out a shaky breath. “Or the tenth. I can’t stay there.”

  Sabelle’s eyes nearly popped from her head. Shock? Even Felicia was stunned. That didn’t fit with the sharp, sarcastic wizard she’d met earlier. But the woman wasn’t lying.

  “The war is tearing him up. He fights with his brother constantly. It’s vicious, and they’ve threatened to kill each other. He’s at Mathias’s beck and call. Sometimes, Shock returns looking shaken, and he doesn’t want to talk, just drink.” She bit her lip, then whispered, “We barely …”

  Upon closer inspection, Anka looked exhausted, and Felicia understood. Shock wasn’t spending much time between the sheets with this witch.

  “But that’s not my reason for leaving,” Anka explained. “I … I need to fight.”

  Dead silence. Felicia certainly didn’t know what to say. She tended to keep her feelings to herself, and yet Anka had poured everything out in minutes. The confusion and anguish in her voice … Felicia couldn’t fail to be moved by it.

  Olivia crossed the room and put an arm around Anka. “Why?”

  “I shouldn’t have hidden away after my rape. I was stunned. At the time, I wanted someone who would shelter me and wouldn’t demand much of me. Or so I thought. But I see now that I need to stand on my own. I won’t feel safe until I can defend myself. And I won’t be at peace until Mathias is dead.”

  Felicia understood and admired Anka for surviving the horror and emerging stronger—but she was worried that the woman pursued a path that would ultimately kill her.

  “I don’t know if Bram will allow a female warrior,” Sabelle admitted. “And Lucan will give him twenty kinds of hell if he lets you anywhere near Mathias.”

  Anka’s eyes slid shut. Regret etched deeply into her face. “Why should he care after what I’ve done? Hiding behind Shock like a scared girl and sleeping with the enemy …”

  Olivia drew closer. “Anka, you went through hell. No one blamed you for retreating into your shell. We just all assumed … Well, you and Lucan were always so in love that—”

  “You assumed I’d come back.” She sniffed back new tears. “I … can’t. I’m not the same woman. He wouldn’t want me if he knew the whole truth.”

  “I don’t think he expected you to be exactly the same. Everyone knows such an experience would change you,” Sabelle assured.

  Anka closed the subject with a tight smile. “Can I wait for Bram here?”

  Sabelle and the other women exchanged glances again. Personally, Felicia couldn’t imagine throwing this anguished woman out. “If I get a vote, it’s yes,” she offered. “Mathias is chasing me like mad, and I understand your need to fight.”

  Anka
approached her and smiled. It was sad, wobbly, not perfect. But it was genuine.

  “Thank you,” the witch whispered. “Duke is a good man. I wish you every happiness.”

  “It’s …” Temporary. Or was it? After this, could she leave Hurstgrove? Marry Mason?

  I won’t rest until your heart is mine.

  Her heart skipped a beat. If she stayed, how could she possibly insulate her feelings from a man like Hurstgrove? Two kisses and a few words, and she was falling under his spell. What would happen if she allowed him to take her to his bed?

  Felicia swallowed. “It’s … complicated.”

  Anka laughed. “He’s complicated, so that’s no surprise.”

  A sudden crash of the door against the wall, coupled with a feral growl, startled Felicia. Her blood froze and her heart flipped over. Fearing attack, she whirled.

  It wasn’t Mathias and the Anarki. Instead, she found danger of another kind.

  Hurstgrove. His hair was uncharacteristically mussed, as if he’d raked a hand through it over and over. His pupils were dilated. A flush darkened his bronzed face. His wide chest, visible beneath his half unbuttoned shirt, rose and fell with each agitated breath. Need jumped through her belly, then pulsed lower.

  “Felicia.” His normally cultured voice rattled across the room, echoing off the walls. Stark. Aggressive.

  Sexual.

  Oh dear God. His intent was unmistakable. He’d come to claim her.

  CHAPTER 11

  FELICIA BIT HER LIP as her gaze traveled down, over Hurstgrove’s hard abdominals and narrow hips to see— Bloody hell. He was aroused. Very.

  In response, her body throbbed, the ache deep, strong, demanding. She released a ragged breath, her yearning to touch him so deep, she clenched her fist to contain it.

  From the corner of her eye, she saw the other women exchange meaningful glances.

  Felicia frowned. “Hurstgrove, I—”

  “Damn it! My bloody name is Simon.” He charged across the room and clasped her in a feverishly tight grip. “You are my mate. Say my name.”

  She hesitated. If she did, would the added intimacy give him the green light to ravish her and draw her deeper under his spell? They should seal this union. But as desperately as she wanted him, how could sharing a bed with him not affect her heart?