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

Chapter Three

T hat makes my heart stop. “There are no open Council seats. There haven’t been for decades.”

Anka’s thoughts assail me, and the devious truth makes me gasp. I turn to look at Duke, who suddenly wears a grave expression.

I gape, ice freezing my veins. “He’s going to assassinate a Council member?”

“The plan is to start with one. But eventually…” Anka’s unfinished sentence hangs in the air like a death knell.

Mathias plots to kill them all. The realization hits me with the force of a physical blow. But how else would he gain complete control of magickind? That means if he hasn’t already targeted my brother, Bram is now on his hit list.

My stomach knots so tightly I can barely breathe. Dizziness assails me. These stunning revelations collide with my sleepless nights, skipped meals, and the inattention to my magical energy. Black edges my narrowing vision as I melt toward the ground.

Suddenly, I feel strong hands beneath me, lifting me into iron-band arms. I look at my rescuer, but already know I’ll find a bare stubble of black hair and vivid green eyes penetrating me all the way to my soul.

Gently, he sets me back in my chair. “You’re overdoing it. Enough.”

He’s wrong. I haven’t done anywhere near enough to save us. Bram isn’t improving, and Mathias is plotting to take down the Doomsday Brethren, steal the diary, and kill Council members.

“You’re certain?” I ask Anka, my voice weak.

Biting her lip, Lucan's former mate nods. “I ran here to tell you. I know you have no reason to trust me. My association with Shock in no way transfers to Mathias. After what he did to me, I hope he burns in hell, and I’ll do whatever I can to help, even pass on information.”

From her current lover to her previous one and his friends. A dangerous game of divided loyalties that could get her killed.

“We appreciate anything you can tell us,” I assure.

The suspicion leaves Duke’s expression, and his face softens. “Be careful.”

With a sad smile that tells me she no longer values her life and a lingering glance toward the hall where Lucan disappeared, Anka exits the house and teleports away.

I close the door, steel myself, then return to the table. “We need a plan. Immediately.”

Duke nods. “Everyone, pack your belongings. Caden, you and Sydney talk to Lucan. Tell him Anka has gone and calm him down. Ice, can you and Tynan secure our weapons cache? We can’t let them fall into Mathias’s hands.”

His air of authority clears the room quickly, though Ice lingers for a last look at me before he complies.

Once he’s gone, Duke guides me to the nearby library and shuts the door. “We need to move quickly. How soon can we secure the house with our magic?”

“Not soon enough. Bram’s magic is complicated—deliberately so.

He insists on having control, so his magical protections are layered and locked to prevent anyone else, even me, from modifying them.

I can allow friends in, like Anka. But unraveling his protections so we could add to them would take days, even as they weaken. ”

“And we have hours at best.” His jaw tightens. “We abandon the house, then.”

The finality in his voice makes my throat constrict. This is my home, not to mention Bram’s pride and joy. It’s filled with a lifetime of memories. Another thing Mathias will take from us. I swallow hard against the threat of tears. We don’t have time for them.

“I know this is a lot of responsibility for you," Duke murmurs, as if talking to a child.

“Don’t placate me.” Resolution and fury stiffen my spine as I point out, “The book must be protected at all costs.”

“Agreed. Since a female must possess the book to transport it, you, Olivia, or Sydney must carry it. If a man tries, its magic ensures that it will dissolve instantly and return to its last female owner or the resting place in which she put it. But if Mathias captures the woman carrying it…”

He doesn’t finish. He doesn’t need to. We both know what horrors await any woman Mathias claims.

“I’ll take it,” I volunteer.

“Sabelle—”

“Olivia hasn’t come into her power yet, and Marrok is both mortal and human. If Mathias’s minions killed him, Olivia would be virtually defenseless.”

Duke sighs heavily. “He’s a legendary warrior but still a human without magic. Mathias would delight in tearing him apart. And Sydney is thoroughly human as well.”

“Indeed.” Since becoming magickind’s news correspondent, Sydney is a very tempting target. Coupled with the fact that her mate, Caden, is newly transitioned and still grappling with his magic, giving them the book to safeguard isn’t wise.

From the look on Duke's face, he has similar thoughts. “I can’t send you alone.”

“Duke…”

“If you take the book, you need at least one warrior to protect you. I’ll take your brother and make certain he’s cared for.”

“No!” The thought of being away from Bram, not knowing if he lives or dies, fills me with panic. “He comes with me.”

“Be reasonable.”

“Be merciful. He’s practically my last living relative.” My absent, selfish mother doesn’t count.

Duke rubs his forehead with his hand. “You’re making this difficult.”

“Go with Caden and Sydney. Make certain her transcasts continue. Magickind needs the regular news she provides via their mirrors. Send Tynan with Marrok and Olivia for extra protection.”

“That leaves you with Lucan and Ice.”

I suck in a breath. Bloody hell, I’ve painted myself into a corner. Being alone with either man could be dangerous. I most trust Ice to protect me…but not myself to resist him. “I’ll take Lucan.”

“He’s admitted that his temper is uncertain. Given everything transpiring with Anka, he could quickly regress into a dangerous state. You’ve been granting him energy. If he turns feral again, he may refuse sex from anyone else and force the issue. We can’t risk that. Take Ice as well.”

As much as I want to be self-sufficient, imagining that I could, by myself, protect the book and care for my brother while dealing with a wizard who might slip back into uncontrollable mate mourning and fighting off pursuing Anarki seems foolish.

“Bram wants Ice nowhere near me.”

“He’d like you dying even less. Sabelle, the clock is ticking. We need to move now.”

Damn and blast! “I’ll take them both. But it will be your job to tell them to get along. I refuse to play referee.”

“Done.”

I sigh. “I’ll grab the book and a few items. Tell Lucan and Ice to bring Bram down and to meet me at the foot of the stairs in thirty minutes.”

Both incensed and horrified, I charge toward Bram’s office and approach the Doomsday Diary’s hiding place.

Bloody, high-maintenance men. How the devil am I to navigate the razor’s-edge tension between them while simultaneously preventing Lucan’s slips into feral behavior, deflecting Ice’s smoldering desire, and honoring Bram’s expectations?

Later. I can’t worry about that now.

I grab the book from my brother’s now-empty office, pausing to scan the familiar space. Will Bram ever sit behind this desk again, commanding his empire with that iron will sheathed in velvet charm that’s uniquely his?

Swallowing a lump of worry, I race toward the study doors, feeling the clock tick down to danger. The air suddenly feels thicker, charged. My magical senses prickle in warning seconds before the floor beneath me shudders.

A deafening blast drowns out my gasp, the sound so intense it feels like needles piercing my eardrums. The walls groan and buckle.

As I stumble into the corridor, acrid smoke billows everywhere, burning my throat and stinging my eyes.

Tears roll down my cheeks as I fall to my knees, clutching the diary against my chest.

Through watering eyes, I see Duke stagger to one of the front windows. The blood drains from his face as he turns back with horror. “Get out, everyone! We’re being attacked now!”