Chapter 64
Chapter
Sixty-Four
Sydney
I tremble as Shock drags me by the elbow toward the middle of the house. “Where are you taking me?”
“Where Mathias asked me to.”
His complete lack of inflection, of guilt, incenses me. Rage bottles up inside me. Then I wonder why I’m keeping a cork in it. I’m going to die, regardless. Why not tell Shock what toilet scum I think he is?
“So you enjoy watching innocent people be tortured to death? Or you just don’t care?”
He glares down his shoulder at me, his expression unreadable. “You’re playing games you don’t understand.”
“You’re betraying people who count on you.”
“More than you know,” he mutters, then tugs on my elbow again.
As I fear, Shock lugs me back to the cold sitting room of black, glass, and chrome. There, Mathias sits, his expression cool but impatient. I have the distinct impression he’s concealing the depth of his rage. And it scares the hell out of me. The Doomsday Diary sits on the table in front of him. The half-dressed witch who took it from me sleeps in a corner. At least I hope the woman is asleep.
Shock shoves me into a chair across from Mathias.
“These meetings are too frequent, my dear,” he says. “Rhea is unable to use the book. Everything she writes disappears. I cannot see the words at all. Care to explain?”
I glance at Shock. As long as the traitor is here, I stand no chance of keeping my thoughts to myself. “I just wrote what I wanted in the book and…poof.”
“It came true immediately?”
“No. It took a few days.”
Mathias glances at Shock.
“She’s telling the truth as she knows it,” Shock supplies.
Mathias lounges against the back of the sofa. “It’s possible that larger magic takes time to organize.”
Shock nods. “She was looking only for a shag. Hardly difficult magic, but she’s not a witch…”
A feral grin stretches across the evil wizard’s mouth as he turns to me. “If you need a man in your bed, I’m more than happy to oblige.”
Ewww. “I don’t.”
“I can change your mind…whether you want it changed or not. Regardless of whether your new mate is languishing in the cell downstairs.”
How does he know?
“Your magical signature,” Shock says. “You now have one that brands you as Caden’s. Most anyone magical can see it.”
I like that idea and hope that I’ll have years and years with this signature—and a happy life to go with it. But I have to get out of here first.
Shock merely raises a brow at me, but thankfully keeps commentary to himself.
“You used the book twice with success. Rhea could not use it at all,” Mathias muses as if solving a puzzle aloud. “Of course, you’re a smart girl, and she’s a stupid slag. But she’s magical. You’re not. Puzzling, indeed. It must work for witches or Morgana le Fay would have never created it. There is something I’m missing.”
I’m not certain, but Sabelle and Olivia’s theory that the woman using the book must be wishing for her heart’s desire makes sense. I did when I wished for Caden. Who knows what Mathias’s witch wished for?
“She doesn’t know.” Shock’s tone is both annoyed and dismissive. “She’s human. She stumbled into magic and got lucky.”
I frown. If Shock can read my mind, why didn’t he regurgitate my every thought to Mathias?
“Any chance she’s able to mask her thoughts from you?”
Shock snorts in answer.
“Take her to my bed. I think I’ll enjoy finding out how much energy this feisty human can give me before she meets her sad and tragic end.”
As I zip my gaze to Shock’s face, my heart beats triple time. Bloody hell. The last thing in the world I want is Mathias’s touch. But to die in his bed… I shiver.
Shock is the only thing standing between me and death. His bland expression doesn’t give me much hope.
“In order to bed her, you’ll have to break her mate bond. That will likely kill her. Let me spend a little time with her. I have ways of getting deeper into a woman’s mind.”
“Unpleasant ones, I hope?” Mathias perks up.
“Absolutely.”
Mathias pauses, then smiles. “Take her, then. Don’t bring her back unless you’ve extracted everything from her mind—or she’s dead.”
Caden
The moment Shock magically seals me in the cell and drags Sydney away, ice floods my veins. Panic claws at my throat, threatening to choke me.
What the fuck do I do now? Shock’s magical seal might as well be Fort Knox, but I’ll be damned if I sit here while that traitor serves up my mate to Mathias like a sacrificial lamb. The thought alone makes me want to tear this place apart with my bare hands.
I unleash every martial arts move I know on the walls and bars, but it’s like punching smoke. No trap doors, no vents, no bloody way out. I’ll have to get creative with magic. The irony isn’t lost on me—after spending so long running from it, magic might be my only hope to save Sydney.
Swallowing my pride and fear, I force myself to focus. I must know something that can save her. Sitting here while my mate dies at Mathias’s hands is unthinkable. No. It’s not happening.
But I’ve never done big magic…except at transition.
Then it hits me: I have one special power Mathias doesn’t know a damn thing about.
Hope surges through me, but I temper it with cold logic. I was high on magic when I cloned myself, operating on pure instinct. Common wisdom says a wizard never reveals his special power unless it’s life or death.
This is beyond life or death. This is Sydney.
I sit on the cot where I so recently made love to her and squeeze my eyes shut. I clutch the bed frame. My arms shake. And I picture my clone separating from me, materializing outside these godforsaken bars. Every muscle in my body tenses as I pour everything I have into this one, desperate act.
Seconds stretch into eternity. Nothing happens. I curse, ready to scream in frustration.
Then I feel it—my insides being ripped apart.
The pain is excruciating, like someone is reaching into my chest and is slowly tearing me in two. I clench my jaw so hard I taste blood, fighting against the agony threatening to split me apart.
Suddenly, it stops. I slump against the wall, utterly drained, praying it wasn’t all for nothing.
“I’ll come back with help.” My own voice, yet not, echoes in the cell.
My eyes fly open, and there he is—me, but not me, standing on the other side of the bars. Relief crashes over me like a tidal wave.
“Save her,” I rasp, every word an effort.
My clone nods and vanishes. And now comes the hardest part of all—waiting, helpless, while a part of me races to save the woman who’s become my whole world.
Sydney
At Shock’s urging, I rise on wobbly legs. I knew he wasn’t a good guy, but now I’ll find out exactly how bad he is.
“Faster,” he snaps. “You’re keeping me from my fun, and Mathias from valuable information.”
His command enrages me. If I’m going to die, might as well let the bastard know how much I loathe him.
“How inconsiderate of me not to run to my death. Must be a real bitch for you.”
Mathias laughs, the sound scratching an icy path up my spine before his expression turns to pure menace. “You’ll give her extra pain for that, I hope?”
“With pleasure.”
“Wait!” Mathias barks. “A disturbance in the security. I think the Doomsday Brethren have arrived. With them out of the way, we won’t need this chit anymore. And if we kill all the warriors, Olivia Gray and Sabelle Rion will be alone and unprotected. Certainly one of them can be persuaded to help our cause.”
“Don’t touch my friends!” I scream.
“You’re in no position to issue orders,” Mathias snaps, then turns to Shock. “Why don’t you go greet our company? Take the Anarki with you. I’ll stay with our lovely guest.”
I swallow down my terror.
Worse, the Doomsday Brethren trust Shock—well, mostly Bram—for reasons I can’t fathom. I’m worried they’ll be easily duped—and quickly killed.
Magickind’s entire future rests on the whims of the big, bad wizard walking out the door.
I grab his leather-clad arm. “Please, no. Don’t do this!”
Shock glares at me as if I’m nothing but a pesky gnat. Then he shakes off my hold and strides out the door.
Caden
I shiver in the cold cell, shoving the discomfort aside to focus on the “movie” unspooling in my mind from my clone. He makes his way out of the basement, creeping up the stairs and around a corner to Mathias’s sitting room on the first floor.
A small lamp illuminates Sydney, huddled in an oversized black leather chair, pale and hugging her knees to her chest. Her eyes blaze with undisguised hatred as she stares at Mathias.
Relief floods through me—she’s alive.
For now.
Sunlight begins to creep through the east-facing windows above my clone. Time is running out. Soon, his hiding place will be compromised. We’ve got to move fast to get Sydney out and reclaim the Doomsday Diary. No way in hell am I leaving a weapon like that in Mathias’s hands.
We’ve got one shot to surprise this bastard. I don’t even know if my clone can wield magic except under pressure and panic. And even if I can channel energy to him, do I have enough left to take down Mathias?
As daylight invades the room and the sounds of battle erupt outside, it’s clear that it’s now or never. Either the Doomsday Brethren fight their way in and all hell breaks loose, or the Anarki swarm us and we’re all dead. If Sydney is going to make it out alive, we have to move now.
My clone crouches, ready to spring. Sydney spots him, stifling her surprise, but Mathias is too savvy. He whirls, wand at the ready. Acting on pure instinct, my clone throws out his hand, channeling everything into a fireball he hurls at the wizard.
Mathias can’t react fast enough. He leaps aside, but the blast still catches him in the gut. He doubles over, face contorted in agony, eyes blazing with hate.
“You’ll pay for that,” he snarls.
“Not today,” my clone retorts, yanking Sydney to her feet. “Grab the book and run. Stay in the shadows, head for the northeast side. The others are there. I’ll be right behind you.”
Sydney shakes her head, stubborn as ever. “I’m not leaving without you.”
My heart swells with love and pride, even as panic grips me. Locked in this cell, I can’t protect her, and we’re both running on fumes. “You and the book are all that matters. Go!”
“We go together!” She shoots a panicked glance at Mathias, who’s starting to recover. “Hit him again!”
I strain to channel more energy to my clone, but there’s nothing left. Replicating myself took so much that I’m empty, drained.
“Stupid neophyte,” Mathias sneers. “I’ll enjoy watching you die.”
With my magical energy tapped, I have to improvise. Time for some old-school ass-kicking.
My clone launches into a brutal roundhouse, catching Mathias square in the jaw. The wizard staggers, but his eyes gleam with malice.
“Think you’re clever? Your friends are coming,” he taunts. “Too bad they’ll be too late.”
In a blur of motion, Mathias’s wand flashes. The spell that hits my clone is devastating—molten lava and searing acid rolled together to burn flesh, tear through veins, and dissolve bone. I feel every excruciating moment as his organs shut down, our shared connection a conduit for unimaginable pain that threatens to fell me, too.
Sydney falls to her knees, clutching his hand. “No! You can’t… Caden, please!”
“Take the book,” my clone gasps with the last of his air. “Get out.”
The words are barely audible, but they carry the weight of a dying wish. As I feel my clone slipping away, one thought burns through the agony: I’ve failed her.
That pain eclipses everything else.