Doomsday Brethren, Book 04: Entice Me at Twilight (41 page)

A smile played at her mouth. “Having Simon arrested was low.”

He winced. “Not one of my finest moments.”

“It’s not for me to forgive you. That’s between you and Simon.”

She hoped someday they would work out their differences, and that she wouldn’t be a constant reminder of the reason for their strife.

“Did you two talk?”

“We did.” Mason shrugged. “I never knew. A wizard. It boggles the mind, really.” He smiled wryly. “No dull family tree here. I don’t think Mum knows. She always said her first husband was extraordinary, but had a very secretive side. I suppose I now know why.”

Indeed. “I don’t want to come between you and Simon. I love him, and that will never change. I’m not certain his feelings for me are the same, but that’s neither here nor there. You’re brothers and—”

“Simon explained that you’re his lifelong mate and what that entails. I understand now that he never took you away simply to hurt me. After meeting Mathias, I certainly comprehend the danger he spoke of at our wedding. In fact, I understand everything, perhaps more than I’d like, at least where you’re concerned.” Mason sighed. “Neither of us would ever hurt you. I’m sorry I let my jealousy get the better of me. As for Simon’s feelings, you’ll have to discuss those with him.”

Yes, and that terrified her. But for him, she would. If he chose not to live with her as his mate and broke her heart, she’d earned it. And she’d live with it. It would hurt like hell for the rest of her years, but she would survive.

Felicia pasted on a smile and nodded. “I will later. At the moment, I’d like to return to work and—”

“Let’s talk about our future now.”

That
voice sent a shiver down her spine.

Simon.

She whirled around to find him standing a few meters away in an impeccable charcoal coat, black trousers, and a black shirt. He looked exhausted … but perfect.

Her heart froze, got stuck in her throat.

“You do love him,” Mason murmured in her ear.

She turned to Mason with a question in her eyes. What did she say? Do?

He just smiled. “Be happy. I’ll be around if he grates on your nerves, as he sometimes can, or to talk. I’ll be your friend. Always.”

As he gathered her up for a hug, she embraced him in
return, desperately aware of Simon’s gaze on her. After a long moment, Mason pulled back, kissed her forehead, and walked away. He paused to clap Simon on the shoulder before exiting the cemetery.

Leaving them alone.

“Are you saying good-bye to Deirdre?” Duke asked Felicia as he approached her in slow, measured steps.

She looked exhausted and as nervous as a cat in a room full of rockers.

“Good-bye … hello.” Her gaze never left him. “It was time I both accepted her death and voluntarily paid my respects.”

“Where have you been?”

“My flat, mostly. I thought it best if I left for a bit, especially since Bram didn’t seem pleased with what happened in the tomb.”

Duke didn’t remember anything after the ceiling began to cave in. According to Bram, he’d been making his way out when Felicia emerged from the tomb into an open cavern they’d never seen. Mason had carried him out, running at a mad pace. Bram joined in and helped. Shortly after they emerged into daylight, the doorway they’d exited from had disappeared.

After escaping to the little nearby pub, the next day was a blur of fever, dark visions … and Felicia’s sweet touch. Then healing sleep.

He’d awakened to Bram’s rantings. A long meeting ensued. Duke had finally found a few moments to see to some unfinished business and grease a few palms. Once he’d returned, Felicia had been gone. He ached to know why.

Softening his expression, he shook his head. “You couldn’t have known that Mathias may not die in the tomb and that he’s likely working hard to resurrect Morganna as we
speak—if he hasn’t already done so.”

“I pieced that together from Bram’s rantings, but I don’t understand how it’s possible. I know Mathias had the ingredients, but …” She looked confused and terrified at once. “I shot him.”

“The moment you left, he could magically heal his own wounds.”

She hung her head. “I’m sorry. I’d feared that, but I’d hoped he was already dead. The ceiling fell on his head. Between the bullet and the rocks …”

“Mathias can heal from most anything a human would consider fatal, with the possible exceptions of pulling out entrails, burning, and beheading. But even that may not be true. He was exiled once, and we thought he died. If so, he came back to life. Who knows what will be necessary to kill him now?”

“Oh. But … Mathias said he didn’t think he could leave the tomb without an Untouchable. So wouldn’t he be trapped forever?”

“Hard to say. If he could revive Morganna, they’d be able to leave quite easily. She was a very powerful witch, and certainly knew many ways to thwart Merlin’s magic. If not, we may catch him yet.”

She swallowed, looking sick to her stomach. “And you think he’s escaped now … with her?”

He shot her a grim stare. “Perhaps. Bram wants you and me to travel to the tomb again tomorrow so we’ll know for certain what we’re dealing with. So forgive him for being less than pleasant. And me for being tied up in discussions … and other necessary business.”

“I … of course.” She looked as if she wanted to say more, but didn’t. “What is the Doomsday Brethren’s next move?”

Duke shrugged. Their options were limited. “We must
try something totally different. If Mathias has, in fact, resurrected Morganna …”

There would be nothing but hell—and lots of it.

“Y-you’re very busy. I understand.”

He frowned, his internal alarms sounding. His insides jumped with anxiety. He’d loved Felicia for scarcely a week, and yet it felt like forever since he’d held her. “Why did you leave on Saturday?”

“I figured I’d give you some space to heal and …” Her breath caught on a sob, and she turned away.

“And what?” He approached silently and cupped her shoulders.

Felicia loved him, and he knew that. But damn it, would it always be hard for her to admit? He’d pursue her to the ends of the earth if necessary, but just once, he’d like the assurance of knowing that she came to him because she desired his company, trusted his counsel, wanted his nearness.

“I’ve been terrified that I waited too long to tell you that I love you and now …” She sobbed.

It hurt like hell to see her in pain.

Suddenly, Felicia flung herself into his arms. “I know you mated with me because you were compelled and you didn’t really know me and …” She hugged him tighter. “I love you. Let me prove that.”

“And you thought I was angry with you? That I no longer loved you?” He stared down into her miserable blue eyes and felt his heart catch.

“Yes.” Her sadness crested, then she shook her head. “You once loved me. I didn’t know if you still could. I
felt
it when you used your magic. You’ve been open almost from
the start about your feelings. I didn’t know how to be. I … don’t deserve you.”

He guided her away from the cemetery, toward the little park across the street. When they reached a quaint wrought iron bench, he sat Felicia down and glanced at her with reproach. “I hope you really don’t think that, or we’re doomed to a miserable life together.”

“I want to be with you. I’ll be here for you always. Give me a chance. Please. I’ll endeavor to deserve you.”

“You can do that …”—he pulled the small object from his suit coat and knelt at her feet—“by marrying me. The human way, in front of friends and family.”

Felicia gasped, staring at the ring. He’d purchased it during their stay at the Dorchester, hoping he’d have the opportunity to propose to her after the charity ball. Then she looked at his face, so full of hope and tenderness. The tears started again.

“I’ve arranged for a small ceremony on the beach in Barbados, if you say yes. But Sunshine, I want you to have the choice this time. Stay with me not because you’re compelled by magic or guilt. Stay because you love me.”

She blinked, fat tears spiking her dark lashes. Her eyes looked so achingly blue and happy. “Truly?”

“Always.”

A smile broke out across her face, with the beauty and promise of a new dawn. “Yes. Yes! A thousand times yes.”

He slid the ring on her finger, then lifted her chin until she met his gaze. “Why?”

“Because I love you, more than I ever thought I could ever
love anyone, Simon. Forever.”

He dropped a perfect, sweet kiss on her lips, ripe with the promise of years of happiness to come. “I’ll hold you to that. Because I love you forever, too.”

Turn the page
for a special look
at the next exciting Doomsday Brethren novel

EMBRACE ME AT DAWN

by
Shayla Black

Coming soon from Pocket Books

P
RESENT DAY
—E
NGLAND

A
NKA
M
AC
T
AVISH HELD HER
breath as the most beautiful man she’d ever seen stormed toward her, one heavy footstep after another. Lucan, her mate.

Former mate,
she reminded herself. He hated her now, with good reason. She had no one to blame but herself.

His full mouth thinned into a grim line, blue eyes narrowing, as he drew closer. At the sight of his obvious anger, she turned away, toward the surprising warmth of the January sun, praying the golden rays would chase away the perpetual chill that had plagued her these last four months.

It almost worked. Then Lucan seized her arm and spun her around to face him, dragging her close to the familiar heat of his body. Suddenly, she didn’t need the sun at all. Their gazes connected, and heat bled through her veins. Her heart lurched in her chest. She felt a jolt of connection all the way down to her soul.

As quickly as he’d grabbed her, Lucan yanked his hand back as if she’d burned him. Sadly, the connection she felt was all one-sided.

“Are you out of your mind?” he growled. “No. The answer is absolutely no.”

Anka let her lashes flutter down, breaking the pull of his furious stare, then forcing herself to step away from his beloved warmth. She didn’t pretend to misunderstand. “So Bram told you that I want to join the Doomsday Brethren.”

Admittedly, asking the leader of the warrior wizards dedicated to ridding magickind of the evil Mathias D’Arc to allow a witch to join their ranks had been a long shot. But damn it, she had a personal stake in this fight. Those who followed Bram into this terrible magical war all sought peace, to make magickind safe again. Admirable. Once upon a time, she’d wanted that, too.

Now, her heart stabbed her chest with every beat, wanting only revenge against the wizard who had destroyed her once-perfect life.

“Yes, he told me.” Lucan leaned into her personal space, his glare intimidating, as he no doubt meant it to be. “And it’s mad! I won’t have it.”

That familiar woodsy-musky scent of his hadn’t once failed to arouse her in the two hundred years they’d lived and loved together. Nor did it fail today.

Inching back, Anka sent Lucan a sad smile. Not for one second did she imagine that he loved her enough to be concerned for her safety. Four months ago, before her world had shattered around her, absolutely. No mate had been more protective than Lucan. Today? She winced. He rejected her now because he didn’t want to have to fight beside her. Bloody hell, he didn’t even want to see her. He’d made that painfully clear.

This was the longest they’d spoken in weeks, maybe even since Mathias had abducted her last September, before everything had changed. Before the terrible wizard had forced her to break her mate bond with Lucan and ravaged her until she barely knew her own name.

Even the thought of those harrowing days as the madman’s captive made her want to crumble. For a long time, she’d done nothing more than hide, fighting off one nightmare after another, licking her wounds.

No more.

Shoving aside both regret and tears, she tossed her head back and met Lucan’s damning stare. “It’s no longer your decision.”

Instantly, his jaw clenched, his nostrils flared. Those blue eyes of his could look so tender, but now they glowed with fury and condemnation. “You’re right; it’s not. And as much as I hate Shock, I know him. There’s no fucking way he’ll allow you to fight with us.”

Shock doesn’t care.
Anka kept the thought to herself. The last thing she wanted to discuss with her former mate was her current lover, his enemy, Shock Denzell. At least, Shock was her lover when he was sober. Lately, that was never. Which suited Anka. More and more, Shock had been escaping into the bottom of a bottle. Anka hadn’t tried to stop him.

Lucan didn’t care about her personal drama with Shock. The only thing that mattered to him was that she hadn’t returned home after escaping Mathias and his torture. In fact, Lucan probably thought she’d done her utmost to rub salt into his wound by giving herself into Shock’s protection. Never mind that breaking the mate bond had obliterated her memories of Lucan for weeks afterward. Never mind that she’d been barely alive and instinctively sought a safe haven, in case Mathias hunted her again. When she’d first reached Shock, she’d been dangerously low on energy. And he’d been more than happy to share hot exchanges of frequent, raw sex to repower her magic and keep her alive—at least at first. Her former mate didn’t know or care that Shock almost never touched her now, or that Anka no longer wanted him to.

Lucan only cared that she had betrayed him.

“Shock’s opinion on the matter shouldn’t concern you. I’ve offered to lend my wand to a fight that’s desperately outnumbered. The decision to accept or not is Bram’s. If you’re so against me joining, talk to him.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “The second Sabelle gave me the news, that went on my agenda.”

Anka pressed her lips together to hold in a curse. Of course, her old friend and Bram’s sister would spill the secret. Sabelle was worried about her and still believed that Lucan cared enough to stop Anka from endangering herself. Sabelle’s attempt was sweet in a fashion, if futile.

“Be my guest.” Anka gestured across the expanse of Bram’s winter-brown lawn, dormant roses swaying with the slight breeze. The Doomsday Brethren’s leader’s massive new house beckoned, workers in the distance adding finishing touches to the structure built directly over the site of the original estate, which Mathias had destroyed. “But you won’t stop me from trying to convince Bram that I can be an asset to your fight.”