Page 82 of Possess Me at Midnight

Thirty

Bram’s demand feels like a slap. The brother who rescued me as a child from a mother hellbent on selling me into a loveless mating is now demanding I enter one. With his best friend. To serve his ambitions. I’ve always known the union I entered into would be for magickind’s benefit, but Bram promised he would discuss any such political joining with me first. Now he’s all but forcing me with an insistence that feels cruel.

This isn’t my brother speaking. It can’t be.

I whirl on him. “Are you out of your bloody mind?”

“No. He’s merely stopped pretending he’s a good guy,” Ice drawls.

Bram raises a superior blond brow at him, jaw clenched. “Lucan is from a respected family. You know he makes a faithful, considerate mate. He cares for you. The union will increase stature for you both. His claim to MacKinnett’s seat will be stronger because of you. Mathias will have less opportunity to wage his war from the Council and destroy innocent lives in his lust for power. Why would you ever object?”

What Bram says is true, and yet…everything inside me rebels. Defying my beloved brother hurts…but this tyrant is nothing like the wizard who raised me. “Because my heart is engaged elsewhere.”

For a long moment, no one speaks. Tension bounces off the walls.

Bram’s gaze cuts a lethal glower at Ice. I hold my breath. I should explain—fast. But not with an audience.

I glance out the window at the foggy gray dawn, ignoring Ice and Lucan, both hovering nearby. “Could everyone leave us for a moment, please? I’d like to speak to my brother.”

Duke all but runs out of the room, clearly eager to avoid family drama. No surprise since he’s got a fair amount of his own. Lucan is slower to depart. He tries to catch my eye as he reaches for me. Resolutely, I avert my profile and tense against the touch I know is coming. Lucan sighs and wisely drops his hand before leaving. Now, Bram, Ice, and I remain.

“I have something to say as well.” Ice pins my brother with a glare that means business.

“Pleading your case to mate with my sister?” Bram’s expression says he finds even the notion ridiculous.

My heart threatens to beat out of my chest. Will Ice truly press his suit with Bram now? It seems ill-advised at best, a disaster in the making at worst.

“Wait, Ice. I?—”

“No,” he objects. “I intend to have my say before your brother shoves this fucking farce down your throat.”

“Farce, is it?” Bram huffs. “I rather look at it as protecting my sister and magickind all at once.”

“While you further your ambitions.” Ice clenches his fists, refusing to back down. “I would care for Sabelle always, putting her needs, wishes, and safety above my own.”

Bram scoffs. “Pretty words are easy. And I would expect no less of any wizard with whom she mates.”

“Lucan does not love her. I do.”

That admission melts my battered heart. Ice lays himself completely bare at my feet, despite the fact it makes him vulnerable before my brother.

Bram is hardly in the proper frame of mind to appreciate his declaration. “You presume to know what’s in Lucan’s heart?”

“As if it’s any fucking secret?” Ice snarls. “Next time he’s near Anka, watch him pine for her. Burn for her. Love her with every cell in his body. Unless you’ve turned blind in the face of your Council ambitions, you’ll see it. If Lucan loves Sabelle, it’s as a friend. He’s grateful for her care during his mate mourning, as he should be. But a mating between them would be wrong.”

“No, mating her with you would be wrong. Having Lucan beside her would be advantageous for most everyone, especially the innocents likely to be slaughtered should Mathias obtain the votes to fill MacKinnett’s seat. If Lucan does not yet love her, he will grow to in time.”

“Bram,” I cut in. “You always swore we would discuss my mating before I spoke the Binding to anyone. I’ve kept my end of the bargain, waiting after Ice Called so I can discuss my wishes with you now. I can’t deny that you saved me from my mother’s terrible plans, but?—”

“But nothing. I know what is best for you.”

That gets my back up. “I’m a full-grown witch. I’m capable of making my own decisions.”

Ice crosses his massive arms over his chest. “She’s more capable than you. How is your scheme any bloody better?”

My brother ignores him. “Lucan is your friend. You’ve known him for most of your life. You’ve become…familiar with his touch. Yet you dare insinuate that I’m whoring your freedom to a stranger?”

It’s as if he’s willfully misunderstanding. I take a deep breath and tell myself to tread carefully. This Bram, who’s been infected by Mathias’s evil spell, isn’t the same brother I know and love. His ambition to control the Council has always existed, but he was cautious. He checked it. Now?