Page 34 of Possess Me at Midnight (Doomsday Brethren #4)

Chapter Twenty-Six

I teleport to Shock’s house. On a seedy London street close to Canary Wharf, it’s one of many nondescript brick buildings that have withstood wind, water, and war for centuries.

Renovations in the form of a new coat of paint or a window washing have done little to disguise the place’s less-than-distinguished feel.

With a shaking inhalation, I send out my personal ring, asking Shock for admittance.

I’d prefer him to be elsewhere so I can talk to Anka alone.

Since she escaped Mathias’s captivity, she’s proven far more loyal than Denzell.

If not for her well-timed warning the night the Anarki attacked Goldcroft Manor, I fear most of the Doomsday Brethren and I would already be dead.

But I don’t have the luxury of waiting. It’s entirely likely Mathias is torturing Ice for information.

I haven’t known Isdernus for long, but I’m convinced he’d give anything—even his life—to protect me.

So once that bravely protective wizard refuses to say anything except four-letter slurs, d’Arc and the Anarki will end him.

Even the possibility has tears threatening. But I can’t afford them, so I toss my head back and watch the opening door head on.

Luck isn’t on my side. Shock appears in the doorway wearing sunglasses, leather trousers, a glower—and nothing else.

The power of his half-bare body roars at me through the open portal.

Towering height, bulging shoulders, cabled biceps, ridged abdomen, well-muscled thighs.

He’s intentionally imposing. It’s his visual Keep Away sign.

“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he drawls. “Did your brother send you here in his place, like a servant, to deliver another of his inane messages? Does he imagine that I won’t kill the messenger if she’s pretty?”

If necessary, I can also play games, mince words, talk in half-truths, and refuse to reveal my purpose. But it’s a bloody waste of time. Shock likely knows where Ice is being held. If I play this right and if he chooses to help me, I can save Ice soon.

Big if, especially since Shock keeps me on his doorstep, shivering in the December chill. Snow has fallen in London, and the damp wind cuts through my clothes.

“No. I’m sure you know that when we freed Sydney from Mathias a few days past, he hit my brother with a spell none of us has ever seen or knows how to counter.

It’s slowly been killing him. I’ve merely been able to make my brother comfortable and hope his absent mate appears to help him. But that’s not?—”

Shock’s black brows descend to a harsh scowl. “What sort of spell?”

“If I knew, I would be healing him. It’s wrapped him in a dark cloud and nearly smothered him. But as trying as that may be, I’m here to discuss Ice.”

Shock stands stock-still. An expression crosses his face. Smugness. Awareness. He knows about Ice’s captivity.

“What about him?”

“You and I know he won’t make it through the night if you don’t help me reach him. Can I come in? It’s freezing.”

Shock hesitates, glancing over my head, to the left and right, as if searching for spies. Finally, he glowers again and steps aside. “Three minutes.”

I enter the surprisingly warm place. Shock’s décor—or lack thereof—doesn’t interest me, but every wall is white, every stick of furniture black. Scratched hardwood floors with threadbare rugs run in a mismatched scattering all over the unit.

“You want to compare living spaces or discuss Ice?”

I swallow back both annoyance and guilt. “Tell me where to find him.”

He shrugs, indicating that he really doesn’t care. “I expected Duke or your brother to appear on my doorstep, pleading Rykard’s case, not you.”

“As I’ve said, Bram can’t, and Duke is busy. I’m sure you’re aware that, after murdering MacKinnett, Mathias has been nominated for the empty Council seat.”

“Are you surprised? Look, little girl. Mathias has no use for any of the Council, your brother especially. What friends have they been to those like me? And if he tried to kill Bram with that black cloud and your brother is still alive, that’s a testament to his strength of will.

Something is keeping him alive. I wonder what. ”

I shrug. Revenge? Pure stubbornness? His mysterious missing mate?

Shock’s scowl deepens. “Do the rest of the Doomsday Brethren know you’re here?”

The truth might make me vulnerable, but Shock is clever. He’ll quickly ferret out my lie…and he won’t take the deception well. “No.”

“Duke should have come. Perhaps Marrok. You have no business dabbling in what you scarcely understand.”

I’m far beyond the point of dabbling, damn him. “I understand perfectly that this is very dangerous. None of them could come. They don’t trust you.”

“And you do?”

“No. But you don’t have a reason to dislike me or want Mathias to dispense his personal brand of rape on me.”

Shock paces, keeping me pinned in his cramped foyer. I can’t see his reaction behind his sunglasses. Is he annoyed? Repelled? Or does he simply not give a shit?

Finally, he retreats. I’m shocked to see a tattoo of an abstract Celtic knot surrounding a lightning bolt across his back, sprawling from shoulder to shoulder. Nothing but black ink, bronze skin, and the incredible pain he must have endured.

Then the wizard turns again. “I saw Ice. Mopped up the blood after his first…conversation with Mathias. I took him a bit of food. His signature has changed since I last saw him.”

I close my eyes, fighting a wave of nausea. The image of Ice bleeding, broken, maybe dying… I force myself to breathe. Thank goodness he’s still alive—or was recently. But I know where this line of questioning is headed, so I play along. “Yes, he Called to me.”

“But you didn’t Bind to him.” It isn’t a question; Shock can see that in my magical signature.

“I want to speak to my brother first.”

Shock bellows out an ugly laugh. “Slumming it, Princess Sabelle? Like Deprived cock in your Privileged pussy?”

It takes everything inside me not to scream in his face. “I’m not dignifying that with an answer.”

“If you ‘speak to your brother’ about Binding to Ice, you think either of them will live through that conversation?”

“What will it take for you to tell me where Ice is?”

“Do you have any interest in Binding to Rykard?”

This might stun Shock down to his big, hairy toes, but… “Yes.”

He laughs again. “Won’t that fuck with your brother’s mood?”

Yes, and I’m losing patience with his odd mind games. Shock is always unpredictable, but tonight I’m on edge, and I need his help. Not for anything will I tell him that. “Are you going to help me or not?”

“What do you expect me to do? And why do you think I would do it when none of the Doomsday Brethren trust me?”

“You answered my brother’s summons when he first formed the group. You threw your lot in with them and have assisted the cause…in your way. I like to think you give the appearance of helping both sides so you can eventually deal Mathias his death blow.”

Shock shrugs, the inky gloss of his straight black hair brushing his shoulders. “Anyone ever call you idealistic?”

“Probably, but it’s better than being called a dodgy prick.”

“It’s part of my charm.”

Personally, I’m certain the man has none, but since he has the ability to read minds, as I do, I bury that thought very deep.

“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 disappears 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 terrible, I’ll wake Anka so she can talk to you about the joys of Terriforz .”

I shudder at the reminder of Mathias’s mentally controlled violation.

Anka isn’t the same witch she was before Mathias’s abduction, before he ripped her from her century-long mating with Lucan.

The strong, sparkling female who adored her mate was replaced by an angry, skittish witch who left Lucan to shack up with Shock.

Anka hasn’t finished dealing with her ordeal, and I can only hope that my friend’s cohabitation with a wizard of Shock’s low caliber is somehow helpful and temporary.

“Low caliber? Tsk tsk,” Shock mocks.

Damn it, I have to remember to bury my thoughts.

“A wise choice,” he adds. “But the truth is, I’m not certain I can help you.

I won’t 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. ”

“Please.” I’m not above begging, and if it will free Ice, I will do whatever I must. “Help me.”

Shock cocks his head, his hair spilling over his shoulders like a black curtain. “A Rion begging me. There’s a sight no one would believe.”

“I’ll give you whatever you want,” I say recklessly, wishing I could stare into his eyes and read his thoughts. But as always, those ever-present sunglasses ensure I see nothing. “Tell me what it is, and I will find some way to grant it if you will help Ice.”

“You have nothing I want. Not now…” He looks me up and down. “The time may come, however. Or maybe not. Your three minutes are up. Go.”

Damn it all. Shock is going to throw me out, and I’m no closer to securing his help. “Will you tell me where to find Ice?”

“There’s no reason for you to go near Mathias’s compound. Or to return here. So don’t.”

With a mental shove, Shock forces me onto his chilly, snow-laden doorstep to shiver in the December air. On the surface, it’s clear Shock won’t lift a finger to help me. But with Shock, one never knows…

Will he assist Ice at all—or am I on my own?