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The wizard narrowed his dark eyes at his little mate. “Felicia?”
“I wasn’t hungry.”
Duke sighed. “You need your strength.”
Felicia rolled her eyes, then turned her glare Lucan’s way. “Tattletale.”
Lucan smiled. “Guilty. Now eat.”
“Indeed. Lucan only has your best interests at heart.” Duke scolded. “I daresay he’s more concerned about your wellbeing than you are.”
Watching the two walk away, Lucan smiled wistfully. Would he and Anka fall into such a closely bonded relationship in the future? Could he recover from her perfidy and simply believe her again? Staying angry with her would be easy—and pointless. She’d been afraid and insecure. Neither of them had communicated well. Now they had to move forward, and he only had two choices: either be mad and walk away, miserable for an eternity, or try to understand her fears and help her, then see what the future brought them.
No contest. He wasn’t about to let her go. But one worry nagged at him. Would she ever open up to him fully and let him inside her head and heart?
Everyone around them had taken a break, it seemed. Caden sought Sydney, pulling her onto his lap to ask about her self-defense training. Sabelle stood between Ice and Shock, zapping them both until they broke apart with a curse. The twins were still fist-bumping and roughhousing in the corner, Kari looking on with a laugh. Bram sat with his back propped against the wall, eyes closed, stealing a quick nap.
A presence brushed behind him. A familiar scent. His heart raced.
“Sneaking up on me, Anka?”
“No, I…” She shook her head. “What did you say to Shock to rile him? He’s been trying to beat Ice to a bloody pulp, and Ice was having none of it.”
Of course not. “I made him admit that his love for you is one of friendship. Then I told him that I wouldn’t stand in the middle of that.”
“Oh, you tried to be the bigger man.” She smiled softly. “No doubt that truly annoyed him.”
“Precisely.”
He wrapped his arm around Anka, and she slid into his embrace, wishing desperately that they were alone. He ached to talk with her, reestablish some of their old intimacy. No way he’d turn down an opportunity to share pleasure and energy with her. He moaned, barely resisting the urge to rub up against her, his jog pants tighter than they had been a few minutes ago.
“Anka, I know this is terrible timing, but the past few months have taught me that there may never been a good time again. I won’t put off important discussions with you. Why haven’t you spoken the Binding to me?” Lucan wasn’t sure he wanted the answer. But he needed it.
Her smile fell. “We’ve had so little time to work everything out.”
“You could speak the words now, and we would have the rest of our centuries to do that.”
She swallowed. “You only Called to me again because you thought I was dying.”
“Is that what you think?” He shook his head. “I would have spoken those words anyway.”
“Even after everything? I wasn’t sure you still wanted me. I’ve been less than perfect—”
“I don’t need perfection, just honesty.”
“All right. Honestly, I’m concerned for two reasons: Having the mate bond blasting from both our signatures makes us a target again. Mathias and Morganna both will know where you’re vulnerable again. They may use it against you.”
Lucan shrugged. “It’s possible, but they already see my Call in my signature and my youngling in yours. Even without the complete circle of the mate bond, Mathias already knows that you’re my weakness. I don’t think keeping the words to yourself will make a bit of difference. What’s your other reservation? I know your heart has chosen me.”
Anka hesitated, obviously mulling over his question. Lucan felt as if he’d been holding his breath for hours, waiting for her to speak those precious words to him. And still, she remained mute. He sensed there was more to her reluctance.
“Anka, the truth. All of it.”
She sighed. “I can’t help but feel as if I’ll always be a disappointment. I’m a scarred banshee from a barely respectable family. You could do so much better.”
Hell, she still felt unworthy. They would work on that little by little, day by day. He could kick his own arse for correcting her through the century of their past mating, when he should have been telling her every day that she was wonderful exactly as she was.
Lucan cupped her face in his hands. “But I can’t. You are my mate, Anka. Always. I was falling apart without you. Your gentle spirit, your unexpected sense of humor, your kindness, and the way you think of others. Love, I’m brought back to you again and again because you’re you. You’re the woman I fell in love with. No time or distance or event is ever going to change that.”
She nodded, her amber eyes filling with tears as she flung herself into his arms. “You’re not angry anymore?”
“What good does being angry do me? Hanging onto it doesn’t get me what I want, which is you. But I expect absolute honesty in the future or there will be hell to pay. Am I clear?”
A sob escaped her. “Thank you. I will always try to be what you need. I’ll never keep secrets again, I swear.” She pulled back to caress his cheek, looking into his eyes. Love shined from her face. He’d seen this expression once before, radiant and hopeful. She wanted to speak the Binding.
“I’ve got it!” Bram leapt to his feet and shouted across the room suddenly, so loudly his words echoed around the big ballroom. “I’ve had a dream…a vision of the future. I see now. I know precisely where to find the potion. Everyone gather ‘round. Quickly! We haven’t much time.”
Chapter Seventeen
Within a few hours, every member of the Doomsday Brethren and their mates sat at Bram’s enormous dining room table. They’d all gone their separate ways to charge their energy, and Anka blushed remembering the thorough, toe-curling loving Lucan had given her. Every touch had been eager, grateful…and desperate. They both knew that if things went badly, this could be their last time.
In theory, tonight’s mission was simply to retrieve the potion, but Bram’s vision foretold of a battle where both Morganna and Mathias would be present and likely fighting against them. The wizard didn’t often have such premonitions, but when he did, they were spot on. She wished to hell Bram would have dreamed the outcome so she knew what to brace for.
When she and Lucan had retreated to the bedroom they’d shared as mates, Anka had yearned all the way down to her soul to Bind to him, but she’d waited. Now wasn’t the time to be impetuous or selfish. Mathias likely still had a malicious desire to weaken the Doomsday Brethren. If they managed to retrieve this potion and make Morganna drink it, Mathias would still be their enemy, while she and Lucan would be an even riper target now that she expected his youngling. If she spoke the Binding today, Anka couldn’t help but feel that, regardless of what Lucan thought, she’d be holding up a neon sign, advertising their vulnerabilities to Mathias.
Now the warriors had reconvened for dinner, knowing they must refine their plan. Shock was a no-show thus far. That worried Anka a bit. The others could say many things about Shock, and they might even be right at times. But when her safety was involved, Shock always put her first.
“I don’t like it,” Ice said. “None of the wizards are yet able to use magic around Felicia. I think she should stay behind.”
“I’m sorry,” the Untouchable murmured.
Felicia looked so miserably guilty. Anka’s heart went out to the woman.
“I’m not blaming you.” Ice tried to soften his expression, but it still looked like a cross between a scowl and a glower. “I’m simply stating fact.”
“Even if you can’t use your magic around Felicia, Anka and I can,” Sabelle pointed out. “And neither Morganna nor Mathias will be able to. We still have the upper hand.”
“It’s too dangerous.” This time, Ice didn’t bother to hide his snarl at all.
Sabelle raised a brow and looked ready to go toe-to-toe with him. “It’s as safe as a battle is going to get.”
Caden jumped in. “I agree with Ice. It’s too risky. That puts the onus of containing and killing Morganna, and possibly battling Mathias, too, on Sabelle and Anka. It’s better to leave Felicia at home and hope that our combined magic is strong enough. We’re warriors. We’ve trained for this for months. You’re talented witches, but you’re not prepared.”
“That’s crap!” Sabelle insisted. “You haven’t been able to trap Mathias since Zain brought him back, but you’re going to add Morganna to the mix and suddenly succeed?”
Marrok leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his massive chest. “If Morganna and Mathias have not their magic, then think on this: Neither is versed in the human ways of war. Between the magic of your females”—he addressed Ice and Lucan—“and all the combined fighting prowess in this room, ’tis likely we can force Morganna to drink the fatal potion. Then, mayhap, Ice can poison his sword with his blood and end Mathias.”
“I can help to trap him so you can stab him, Ice,” Anka suggested. She would offer herself as bait, if she must.
“You’re having a youngling,” Lucan thundered. “You promised to teleport away as soon as we obtain the potion. Have you forgotten that?”
“Of course not, but—”
“No buts.” Lucan shook his head. “If you’re no longer there, and none of the warriors can use magic, can we truly expect Sabelle’s magic alone to defeat both Morganna and Mathias?”
“Fuck, no!” Ice growled.
“Won’t they be much like humans without their magic?” Anka argued. “I know I promised to teleport away, but if they’re disabled…shouldn’t they be easy to defeat?”
“In theory,” Lucan pointed out. “Felicia disables Mathias’s magic. We know that from the night he attacked Duke’s ancestral home. But we don’t know for certain about Morganna’s. We’re assuming her Untouchable powers will work on that bitch, as well, but who knows?”
“I agree,” Duke seconded. “Too much is unpredictable. Anka, this fight is too dangerous for you and the youngling. And what’s to prevent Mathias from finding some way to kill Felicia? He must be within a hundred yards of her for her to disable his magic. He’s not stupid. He’ll have guessed we’ll have her near and be prepared with some human weapon, I suspect.”
Yes, there were risks, but these overprotective wizards weren’t seeing the bigger picture.
“Mathias is vain,” Anka argued. “He will never believe that anyone, least of all a group of females, can best him.”
“Possibly,” Lucan conceded. “But is getting your revenge worth risking your youngling?”
The question was a slap to Anka’s face. “We’ve been over this. Our daughter has no future if Mathias and Morganna are still here to wreak havoc.”
“Enough debate.” Bram stood, finally having enough of this argument. “Felicia, are you willing to come with us and continue trying to let these wizards through your Untouchable defenses? If they can use magic around you…Mathias might be expecting it, but he’ll still be powerless. And in case Shock is a spy, he’ll have reported back that we’ve been unsuccessful performing spells around Felicia thus far.”
“Then why not wait a day or two to see if we can, in fact, be successful?” Raiden asked.
“What if Morganna loses patience and does something to expose us to humankind again?” Bram challenged. “We’ll have a potential genocide on our hands, a twenty-first century witch hunt. I have no doubt she’ll soon seek out Anka, then threaten to kill all those we hold dear until we lead her to the potion. If we grab it first, maybe we have some prayer of stopping or killing her.”
“But if we know Mathias will grab it and use it to try to control her, why are we playing into his hands?” Lucan asked.
“If we do this as I’d like, Mathias will be dead and his plans won’t matter.” Bram turned to the Untouchable. “Felicia?”
She turned her blue eyes to Duke, then gave him an apologetic glance before facing Bram again. “Yes. I’ll keep trying. Always.”
“I believe in you,” Bram assured. “You came through for Duke at the last possible moment when you faced Mathias previously. I believe you’ll find the trust in time again.”
“You’re certain Morganna will be there?” Caden asked.
“She was in my vision. Either she’s figured out the location of the potion on her own or she’s watching our every move. I expect that she will make this plan somewhere between difficult and impossible. So we must be prepared for anything. As for Mathias, I’ve got another trick up my sleeve. This should be fun.”
