Page 57 of Possess Me at Midnight (Doomsday Brethren #4)

Chapter Thirty-Eight

I tamp down my fresh fury. Mathias is still goading me.

He can see my magical signature, knows I Called to Sabelle.

Despite being a monster, he understands perfectly well how protective a wizard is of any female he considers his mate, whether she answers in kind or not.

I force myself not to rise to Mathias’s bait.

Camden waves an arm, and around the clear structure, plush chairs appear. Three on the east side, which he, Blackbourne, and Spencer each occupy, and four on the west, which Bram, Tynan, Sterling, and Sabelle take.

“Before we start, let’s review the few applicable rules,” Blackbourne says.

“The first, if anyone should wish to forfeit or withdraw their name from consideration, the challenge ends immediately. Any other spells cast by either nominee will be considered an act of aggression and treated accordingly. Also, should you believe that you have killed your opponent, you must signal me and pause the fight. I will establish the veracity of your claim. While I’m doing so, any spells cast will be treated as an act of aggression, as well.

If you are still fighting in four hours, you will be granted a rest period, during which you may reacquire power by any means at your disposal.

I see Mr. Rykard has brought Miss Rion. Mr. d’Arc? ”

“The fight won’t last that long, Carlisle,” Mathias drawls. “If it does, Rhea awaits me upstairs.”

The witch who placed the tracking spell on the Doomsday Diary?

Blackbourne nods. “The rest period is fifteen minutes.”

“Duly noted.” Mathias nods with the utmost civility.

Blackbourne continues. “Should the fight extend for another four hours, we will take a mandatory rest period for food and sleep. There is no limit to the sort or number of spells you may cast, except that the release of any corporeal form you create must be contained within your challenge zone. It cannot move outside or above these walls. No one can leave these grounds for any reason until the fight is over. I’ve locked them down; teleporting is impossible.

We will assume that any combatant who attempts such intends to cheat and will forfeit the challenge by default.

Last, we will declare a winner once someone forfeits or dies. Any questions?”

No one moves or speaks. I hear only the revving of my heart as I study Sabelle, who represents all I have to live for. Then I drag my gaze to Mathias, who stands for all the evil I’m determined to vanquish.

“Ready?” the Council elder asks.

I simply nod. It’s time.

Sabelle

Blackbourne signals, and the combatants on either side of the challenge ring drop into a ready stance. Both have stripped down to the waist, oblivious to the December chill. Ice rolls his shoulders, every muscle rippling with repressed action as he clutches his new wand. He wants this fight.

My fear for him is so thick, I want to vomit.

Lean as a whip, Mathias waits, looking as if he doesn’t have a care in the world.

God, if I had known when I suggested Ice for this Council post that it would place him in grave danger, I would never have mentioned his name.

“Stop blaming yourself,” Bram whispers beside me.

“Who else can I blame?”

“Ice could have declined. But he wants this…and perhaps I drove him to it. He’s long sought revenge against Mathias after Gailene’s murder.

When it first happened, I stopped him, you know.

He was too young to fight Mathias.” My brother sighs in seeming regret.

“In my attempt to protect him, I only made him more desperate.”

Bram’s words slide over me in an icy chill. More fear grips me. “I cannot simply sit here and watch him die.”

My brother looks as if something snarky jumps onto the tip of his tongue.

He swallows it, then whispers, his voice perfectly modulated, as if each carefully controlled word costs him effort.

‘“Then don’t. Pray. Send him your thoughts and good wishes. And don’t underestimate him.

When we were friends centuries ago, I saw huge promise in him, but I knew it would never be achieved until he curbed his temper.

He’s come a long way since then. Let’s hope it’s enough. ”

Ice and Mathias begin a slow circle, each sizing up the other. A glib smile plays across Mathias’s mouth, as if he mimics Ice merely to toy with him. Ice ignores the silent jibe.

Dread slides through me. My heart roars with disquiet. I fear nothing good will come of this challenge. Ice is everything I want in a mate. Sitting next to Bram and the others, watching Ice fight for his life, is eating at my composure.

Suddenly, Mathias raises his wand. I grip my brother’s hand, terror clutching my throat, as Mathias pools water at the bottom of the ring, quickly making it into something of a fishbowl. Around and around, he swirls the water at his feet, then sends a towering cascade of water Ice’s way.

Before it crashes over his head and swallows him whole, Ice freezes the wave with an absent wave of his hand.

Mathias laughs. “So you can fight. Maybe today won’t be deadly dull. How about this?”

With a flick of his wrist, Mathias blasts a wall of fire at the frozen wave. It crashes into the icy barrier with a hissing explosion and begins melting the ice. The resulting water rises to the ankle, then waist, again to the neck…and keeps rising.

Now treading water, Ice whooshes his wand in a circle. The water begins to dissipate, mist floating at the top of the challenge ring’s ceiling. It forms small clusters, then grows into big clouds in an angry gray. Finally, snow begins to fall, a light, harmless dusting of powdery brilliance.

Again, Mathias smiles. “Interesting. Now that we’ve discussed the weather, are you even going to try to kill me? Or are you too afraid?”

Ice says nothing, just stares, his concentration unwavering.

Mathias sighs, then hurls a fireball. Ice draws in a mighty breath and, waving his wand, blows snow directly into the flame’s path with a howling wind. The fiery projectile pops, sparks…fizzles.

“More childish games?” Mathias goads.

Sloshing in the dusting of remaining snow, Ice circles him. “Fuck off.”

They’ve been at this for hours now, each testing the other’s limits, and I can see fatigue beginning to creep into Ice’s movements.

“We’ve had this conversation before. I rather hoped you learned to be more eloquent since I introduced you to my friend with interesting toys. But alas…”

I shudder into Ice’s silence, horrified all over again about the whip Mathias flayed my beloved with so viciously. But Ice says nothing. Minutes slide by. Mathias puts out a hand, thumb and fingers curled toward Ice, who clutches his throat a moment later.

With his other hand, Ice sends a spell, full of spark and electricity, zinging in Mathias’s direction.

Mathias tries to sidestep it, but he’s preoccupied cutting off Ice’s windpipe, so he’s too late to avoid it.

The spell catches his arm just above his elbow.

He roars, his shoulder jerking with the effort to pull and tug at the muscle. It doesn’t move.

“Bloody bastard. Think you can temporarily paralyze me? Is that a fair fight?”

“Choking me is?” Ice counters.

Mathias rears back, then lashes out, free arm raised, fingers bared like claws. A twisting fireball makes its way toward Ice. Quickly, he throws a sheet of frozen water between them. The flames dissolve before reaching the ice. But I sense the spell isn’t broken.

A moment later, Ice clutches his eyes with a roar. “What the?—”

“Burns, doesn’t it?” Mathias sneers, trying to work his arm free of Ice’s temporary paralysis.

My throat threatens to close up in terror. How can Ice fend off Mathias if he can’t see?

With a gasp, I leap to my feet to run, intending to dash to Ice’s defense, consequences be damned. Bram and Tynan pull me back down. “Stop. We can only be impartial observers.”

My brother’s words punch me in the stomach. “You’re simply going to let him die?”

Bram grinds his jaw, visibly wrestling with darker impulses. “If you interfere, the challenge will be over. Ice will have to forfeit. Injury and death were the risks, and Ice knew it when he stepped into the ring.”

“Because he wants revenge so badly…” I gasp out, trying to hold still my trembling chin.

“And you,” Bram admits, knuckles white as his fingers grip the arms of the chair. “He made me promise…if he managed to win the Council seat that I would not disclaim you if you wished to mate with him.”

Fury and horror assail me. In that moment, I both love and hate my brother. He’s making Ice prove his worth and earn a prominent place in magickind before considering him as my mate. Granted, that’s a guardian’s task, but does he care so little for my heart? For his former friend?

Despite that, Ice is willing to fight the worst evil in a millennium, in part, simply for a chance to be with me. How stupid have I been not to Bind to him already? I put Bram’s blessing over Ice’s heart, and now… This can’t end soon enough. I have to talk to him.

“Bloody git!” Ice growls at Mathias.

Right now, I can say the same about my brother.

“I underestimated his love for you. Nor did I know you feel the same,” Bram murmurs. “It’s my duty to be certain he’s the best mate for you?—”

“Excuses!” I hiss. “And you know it. Ever since you awakened from that Devouring Shadow of Mathias’s, you’ve been calculating and scheming.

Cold. You cared far more that my mating would ally you with someone advantageous than whether it will make me happy.

That shadow inside you? It’s winning, Bram.

You rescued me from my selfish mother…and now you’re becoming just like her. ”

“Sabelle—”

“Shut up. I don’t care whether you disclaim me or not. Ice will be my mate. If you don’t approve, you can go to hell.” I leap up from my chair, relief and anxiety pouring from me. It’s done; I’m free of my brother’s expectations. I’ll mate with the man I love.

If he survives this battle.