AllFreeNovel
Share Us
So Bram and Duke and all the unmated guys are frequently hooking up with random women? “Oh. I—I thought…”
“That you and Marrok cornered the market on needing sex? No, you need it more often because you’re storing up energy for your coming transition. After you come into your powers, you still need to…um, be plugged in fairly often.”
“How much energy do you think Lucan has?”
Bram shrugs his massive shoulders, worry dragging at his noble features. “If he had a good charge recently, perhaps a few days, a week at most. But all this thrashing is expending energy, and the darkness inside him will drain him faster.”
“What if we can’t find Anka? Is there another way to give him juice?”
“If he engages in anything that brings extreme anger or joy or—”
“Fear?”
“That’s a possibility, too. I worry it won’t be enough, though. And nothing lasts as long as the sexual connection.” Bram sighs. “But if I can’t contact his next of kin in time, I’ll have to try something.”
“Is Lucan coming around?” Sabelle appears in the doorway.
Bram shakes his head. “I’m sending Duke with you to Lucan’s house. You two see if you can find anything that explains what happened with Anka.”
“Good idea, but I can manage alone.”
“No. It’s too—”
“Dangerous? That’s exactly why he needs to train with Marrok far more than I need him to babysit me. I’ll pop in and be back directly. I won’t take unnecessary risks.”
Bram sighs like he hates to admit that his sister is right. “Fine. While you’re there, search for a way to contact Lucan’s brother. His parents are too frail to handle this.”
Sabelle scowls. “Isn’t Caden quite young?”
“I don’t think he’s even reached transition. But he’ll be stronger than magic folks in their nine hundreds.”
“Can’t argue with that. I’ll return shortly.” On that grim note, Sabelle disappears.
I look at Lucan, still thrashing wildly on the bed.
“If we never find Anka, can he heal?”
Bram doesn’t answer for long moments. “With extreme will, perhaps. I have only theoretical knowledge of this. It happens so rarely. First, we have to stabilize his energy. Maybe I’ll contact a witch who can serve him and pray he doesn’t kill her.”
I blanch, very glad I won’t be that woman. “There are witches and wizards who sell energy exchanges? Like magical…prostitutes?”
Despite the grim situation, Bram smiles. “We think of them somewhat like nurses. In this case, such witches would tend him without intercourse. It’s what unmated men who have Called to another and have been rejected must do.”
“Why?” I’m completely lost. “If they’re rejected, they aren’t married.”
“Magic works differently. If a wizard Calls to a witch, he has mated in his heart, regardless of whether the vow is accepted. If he is refused, henceforth he must rely on alternate forms of energy to survive. Shock would know more about this than me.”
Because he Called to Anka, and she chose Lucan. Shock has been without sex all that time? He looks so capable, so virile—if scary as hell—that hardly computes.
Sabelle pops into the doorway again, interrupting my thoughts. She’s shockingly pale, and her hair is all askew, as if she survived a tornado. And she looks haunted. “Lucan’s house is utter destruction. Anka put up a valiant struggle.”
Bram closes his eyes. He’s probably wondering if her disappearance is literally going to kill his best friend. “Anarki?”
“I’m almost certain, yes.”
“Fuck. Find anything about Caden?”
“He’s untransitioned, as you suspected.”
