Page 52 of Possess Me at Midnight (Doomsday Brethren #4)

My stomach balls up. Be the first to apologize to the “friend” who slammed the door on my last hope of avenging my sister?

Who put me in my proper place with a few well-placed words centuries ago?

Then again when I Called to his sister? The wizard who, even now, is standing between me and happiness?

Sabelle asks much of me.

With a last beseeching glance, she and Lucan disappear, closing the door behind them.

The finality of the click resounds in the cavernous space between me and Bram.

I stare at my nemesis. What the hell can I say?

Virtually anything will be construed as a ploy to slither my way onto the Council or into Sabelle’s life. Both attempts will be spurned.

Bloody hell, I haven’t used my diplomatic skills in nearly two hundred years. Once, Bram said I had promise in politics. I excelled at speech-making. After Gailene’s murder, I let rage and hopelessness bury that promise. Now, as then, one wizard stands between me and salvation.

Fuck .

“This is bloody awkward,” I mutter.

Bram’s gaze zips in my direction. “I don’t like it.”

“Me, either. But your sister is very clever.”

For the first time since waking from Mathias’s spell, he laughs. “Truer words are rarely spoken.”

Silence ensues again, and my thoughts race. Once conversation between us was easy, friendly, full of joking gibes and pranks. Now? I’m not sure how to proceed.

“I…never thanked you for keeping my sister safe,” Bram says into the silence, sounding almost grateful.

Those were the last words I ever expected him to say. They nearly knock me over. “It was my privilege. Whatever you think of my feelings for your sister, they’re genuine. She is my heart. I would give my life for hers.”

Bram doesn’t look moved. “I would skin you alive for touching her, but she would flay me open with her sharp tongue. Besides, the issue now is MacKinnett’s open Council post.”

With a few words, Bram tells me he won’t entertain the notion of Sabelle Binding to my Call. Politics and necessity can blur lines of anger and enmity but not love.

God, will I finally have everything I’ve ever sought two hundred years ago, yet watch the mate who owns my heart slip through my grasp?

Fists clenched, I restrain the urge to shake some sense into Bram. But the more I rail, the more he’ll dig in his heels. And with this spell altering his temper and mood, he’s more unpredictable than usual.

Someday, Sabelle…I will find a way to you .

I’ve waited two hundred years to avenge Gailene. If I must, I’ll wait for another two hundred to have Sabelle as mine.

“It is,” I agree. “I want to be clear: I didn’t put your sister up to nominating me.”

“I’m aware this was all Sabelle. I know the little minx.” He rubs the back of his neck, then sighs as if he carries the weight of the world on his shoulders. “I should probably thank her. It’s a brilliant plan.”

Bram’s tone tells me the admission nearly killed him.

I repress a smile. “I find she’s quite full of those.”

“Always has been. From the time I met her, she was beyond mischievous. Had a way about her. Her siren beauty, maybe.”

Personally, I think it’s her inner light and goodness. “I’m certain that didn’t hurt.”

With methodical steps, Bram crosses the floor and sits on the sofa. “If I agree to nominate you, we must have an understanding in place.”

Of course. Bram’s terms and conditions. I swallow a fresh ball of rage. I shouldn’t expect the last few moments to have erased two centuries of distrust. “I’m listening.”

“I need your voting loyalty. Not on every issue. I’m not seeking a puppet, but on matters of Mathias and magickind’s safety…”

“Of course.” That agreement is easy; we share the same views. “Provided the votes are not used to continually suppress the Deprived. Change must occur.”

Bram hesitates, then nods. “You’re right.

By striking down the Social Order, we’ll not only make the system just again, but we’ll rob Mathias of his ‘cause’ and leave him without a group to manipulate for power.

And the Deprived will finally have a new leader in you, one who doesn’t feed off violence and death. ”

Crowning me as a new leader seems far-fetched, but for now I simply nod. “Then we’re agreed.”

“So far.”

I swallow. Not the hard part of the conversation. Please, don’t ask me to give up Sabelle .

“My sister… The issue of your Call must be addressed.”

“That’s between your sister and me.”

“I’m still her guardian,” Bram snarls. “And I’m convinced you’re the last wizard she should ever Bind to.”

Bastard. But I drag in a rough breath and tell myself to keep calm. “She’s a grown woman—a very bright one—as we’ve established. Allow her to know her own mind and heart.”

Bram shakes his head. “If she mates with you, I must still disclaim her. Sabelle can be mated elsewhere for better political advantage, a stronger voting bloc on the Council. I will continue negotiations with Kelmscott Spencer. His son, Rye, would make a good candidate?—"

“You son of a bitch!” I can’t stop myself from lashing out.

“You’re negotiating your sister’s destiny for your political advantage, without any regard for her happiness.

When you wrested her as a child from her mother because she was all but selling Sabelle’s future, you didn’t do it out of the goodness of your heart or concern for what would become her, did you?

You bought her from her greedy mother so you could use the fact Merlin’s blood runs in her veins to your greater advantage.

You’ve waited and bided your time for this day.

Her happiness doesn’t mean a fucking thing to you. ”

“I’m convinced you’re the last man in the world who could ever make her happy.”

I know I should shut up, stop arguing. But I can’t because I want Sabelle far more than a seat on the Council. Gailene, bless her, would have understood. “Because, in your mind, I was born to a lower class? Because I lack your connections?"

“What can you give her but misery?”

I clench my jaw so tightly, I fear it will snap. “I would always put her needs above my own, something you’ve clearly never done.”

“That’s my offer. Take it or leave it.”

“Rescind your threat to disclaim Sabelle. Then I’ll accept your nomination.”

Bram’s eyes narrow. “You’re in no position to negotiate.”

Oh, but I am. I see that now. “Really? Then find another Deprived you know will vote with you in the next few hours and nominate him. I’ll be with Sabelle, trying every way I can think of to convince her that I’ll make her sublimely happy.”

Bram lunges off the sofa at me. “You bastard!”

I wave a hand. A solid, frozen sheet of ice materializes between us. “Rescind it.”

A calculating light enters those sharp blue eyes. “If you’re elected, I will. That’s my best offer.”

Fuck all, I’ve negotiated with the devil. Bram will nominate me, and if the seat becomes mine, perhaps Sabelle and I can find a clear path to a happy future. Someday. Nothing is assured, but that’s more than I dared to hope for.

“Deal. Fair warning: If I am elected, I will pursue your sister relentlessly until she Binds to me.”

“Even if I don’t disclaim her, she’s loyal to me—the last of her family. Don’t be surprised if she remains so.”