"Your bloodline is both revered and feared, Felicia. Some of magickind dislike the fact that Untouchables are meant to ... balance us. They've been hunted for millennia.
If you hadn't stumbled onto magickind by meeting Duke, it's likely Mathias could have sought you yet failed to find you for years, perhaps for the rest of your life."
The witch's words sank in, and Felicia realized that she didn't regret her current path entirely. As appealing as peace and security sounded, if she had married Mason and settled into comfortable suburban life, did it follow that she would have been happy? If she hadn't come on this whirlwind journey, she would have never really known Hurstgrove. He might be too frightening to love ... but he was too fascinating to regret.
"Thank you for that."
Sabelle nodded. "I have more details about them, names, biographical history, locations of graves, if you ever want them."
In Felicia's estimation, the witch was part psychic, part angel. "I will. But right now, we must deal with the immediate issue. Hurstgrove's signature."
"Yes, of course. I can't honestly tell you if sex with Duke will make a difference in that respect. But I think it will in other ways. His ability to protect you increases when he has adequate energy, for instance."
"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.