“If you don’t wish to assist me openly, tell me the location of Mathias’s compound. I’ll go there myself and find some way to free Ice.”
The tight smile disappeared beneath an ominous scowl in seconds. “Don’t be stupid. You know the fate you’ll suffer. And if you’re not convinced it’s a terrible one, I’ll wake Anka so she can talk to you about the joys of Terriforz.”
Sabelle shuddered at the reminder of Mathias’s mentally controlled rape. Anka wasn’t the same witch she’d been before Mathias’s abduction and abuse. The strong, sparkling female who adored her mate had been replaced by an angry, skittish witch who had left Lucan in favor of the wizard before her. Anka hadn’t finished dealing with her experience, and Sabelle could only hope that her friend’s cohabitation with a wizard of Shock’s low caliber was somehow helpful and temporary.
“Low caliber? Tsk-tsk,” Shock mocked.
Damn it, she had to remember to bury her thoughts.
“That would help,” he added. “But the truth is, I’m not certain I can help you. I refuse to send you to Mathias. Alone, he would kill you like a pesky fly—quickly and mercilessly. And in case you’re securing the information of Mathias’s whereabouts for the rest of the warriors … well, I don’t think he would appreciate me giving away the location of his new lair.”
“Help me. Please.” She wasn’t above begging, and if it would help Ice, she would plead all night long.
“A Rion begging me. There’s a sight no one would believe.”
“What do you want from me?” she asked, wishing she could stare into his eyes and read his thoughts. But as always, those blasted sunglasses ensured she saw nothing. “Tell me what you wish for, and I will find some way to grant it if you will help Ice.”
“You have nothing I want. Not now . . .” He cocked his head. “The time may come, however. Or maybe not. Your three minutes are up. Go.”
oh God. Shock was going to throw her out, and she was no closer to securing his agreement to help. “Will you help me?”
Shock shrugged. “I see no reason for you to go near Mathias’s compound. Or for you to return here. So don’t.”
With a mental shove, Shock forced her out the door and back into the nearly frozen December air. On the surface, it seemed that Shock would not lift a finger to help her … but with Shock, one never knew. Would he assist Ice—or was she on her own?
Sabelle returned to Sterling’s estate, dejected. She really had believed that Shock was doing his part to assist the Doomsday Brethren, even if he didn’t come when called or like to admit that he was one of the good guys. He’d even explained his frequent absences to Bram a few weeks earlier as keeping up appearances for Mathias’s sake. But it seemed that, as soon as the warriors had shown Shock open doubt about his loyalties, his attitude had become less clandestine double agent and more “fuck off.”
Trying to block out the fact that Ice would likely die soon, she pushed open the door to the room she’d tucked Bram into shortly after arriving, the one beside hers. Olivia sat next to him, perched on the edge of the bed. Sydney sat in a nearby wing chair, a phone pressed to her ear.
“Thank God you’re back. What happened?” olivia asked, her dark hair hugging her shoulders, violet eyes bright with concern.
Nothing she wanted to discuss. She simply shook her head and mumbled, “Dead end. How is my brother?”
Sabelle could see for herself that Bram was unchanged, and the truth pierced her heart. Bram was slowly dying. If anything, his skin looked more gray today than yesterday, and she wondered what, if anything, would cure him. She performed a few quick spells to keep his body hydrated and functioning. But there was nothing more she could do.
With a glance at Sydney on the phone, Sabelle turned back to olivia. “Has she been able to locate the mysterious Emma yet?”
As soon as she finished speaking, Sydney rang off and put the phone down with a clatter of finality. “I spoke with Aquarius. Emma is, apparently, an old school chum of Aquarius’s. You’ll recall she received the Doomsday Diary from Emma just before giving it to me. After uni, Emma moved to Manchester. They lost touch. Emma turned up one night very nervous. Afraid. She shoved what she called a magical diary into Aquarius’s hands and said she should hide it. She seemed to think it had something to do with the series of articles I’d been writing for Out of This Realm. But Emma refused to say more.”
“Lovely history lesson,” Sabelle grated. “How do I find the woman now? Bram might recover if we could locate Emma.”
“Aquarius has been looking since the first time I called. But it’s as if Emma has disappeared. She used to work for a human who dealt in rare antiquities. But her attempts to reach him have been unsuccessful. She peeked into the store’s windows and saw only clutter and chaos. I wonder if Mathias found him whilst looking for the book?”
Yes, that was possible. Even probable, since Mathias had been following the little magical book closely. Could Emma be inside the shop? Possible, but if she was dead, Bram’s signature would reflect his loss, and so far, hints of Emma’s personality shone in earthy greens and browns inside the bold slashes of Bram’s magical signature.
The woman was alive somewhere, and Sabelle had to find her.
“I’m assuming Aquarius has tried to call Emma directly?”
“Oh, a hundred times. Number’s been disconnected.”
Of course.
Reality hit Sabelle square in the chest like a battering ram, and she caved into the pressure for a few precious moments. Bram’s unstoppable journey to an untimely death, Ice’s imminent peril, magickind’s danger—all because of Mathias. She hated that wizard for what he’d done to her family, her friends, her society. If, by some miracle, she managed to save everyone who mattered to her, she would hunt him down with every bit of her determination and do her best to slaughter the bastard.
“It’s all right.” olivia hooked an arm around her shoulder, and Sabelle realized only then that she’d begun crying.
She brushed her tears away with impatient fingers. “No time for this now. I have to keep searching, hoping, trying . . .”
“You need sleep. It’s nearly midnight.”
There was no possible way she would sleep, knowing that Ice was enduring hell—if he was still alive.
“I’m fine. I need coffee and to talk to Duke. Are they still belowstairs?”
Olivia looked like she wanted to argue, but nodded. “I’ll stay here with your brother. He was a good friend to me when I first moved to London. I miss his smart-ass remarks.”
Though Sabelle had often cursed them, she did as well. “Find me if there’s any change.”