Doomsday Brethren, Book 04: Entice Me at Twilight (21 page)

“With your prized possessions?”

“Yes. Merlin’s tomes; Mathias’s mistress, Rhea, who is in our dungeon; and the Doomsday Diary.”

The dungeon? Then again, if this Rhea was Mathias’s mistress, she didn’t need to be with her master, wreaking havoc.

Felicia winced. “Will I have any effect on your dungeon? If I undo magic or—”

“No, she’s far down, and the cell should hold her without problem.”

She sighed with relief, then realized that Sabelle and the rest of these women had their hands full. Her requests would only take the witch from her duty. “I’ll leave you to it.”

In the background, the other women continued packing books and papers into boxes. Sabelle stepped closer. “Though I can’t read your mind, your expression is easy to decipher. Tell me what’s troubling you. I’ll help however I can.”

“I hate to interrupt you …” Felicia glanced at all the women working.

“You’re not.”

She bit her lip. “I’ll be brief. Can we talk somewhere quiet?”
Private
.

“Felicia and I will return,” Sabelle called to the others. “If
you’re not certain of something, set it aside.”

With nods and murmurs, the other women carried on, and Felicia followed Sabelle to the kitchen. They sat at a big wooden table carved with modern lines and a glossy polish. No way could they pack this. Would they simply leave it behind, along with everything else she’d seen here? Did they live in constant danger, looking over their shoulders?

Sabelle pulled out a chair, and Felicia did the same. “Coffee?”

“No thanks.” Felicia clasped her hands. “I know you don’t have a lot of time, so I won’t waste it. Bram says that Hurstgrove’s signature didn’t change much after our mating.”

The witch shook her head. “Sorry.”

“But Shock said it would. He didn’t lie … unless that’s merely the truth as he believed it.” Felicia sighed.

“I can’t say. I can read Shock’s mind only when he allows it. His gift in that area is far greater than any I’ve encountered.”

“I see.” But Felicia didn’t like it. “Bram suggested that my ancestor changed her imprint on her mate’s signature because they were not only mated but … um, intimate.”

“You and Duke haven’t been, and you’re asking my opinion?”

Felicia paused. “I know it’s mad. I don’t know you well, and you’ll likely side with your brother.”

“Well …” Sabelle smiled. “You know I can’t lie to you.”

Despite the difficult situation, Felicia returned the grin. “No one can.”

“Nor can I answer your question. This is uncharted territory, since none of us have met an Untouchable. Recently, Raiden and Tabitha, his encinta—that’s the witch carrying his child—found the Untouchable family tree. The last name on it had been erased. But the date and location fit you. I
popped over to Newham General Hospital for a bit. With a little magical persuasion, they confirmed what I suspected. You are of
the
bloodline.”

That wasn’t good news. Nor was it unexpected.

“Tabitha actually visited you on the night of your birth. I don’t know if this helps you, but … your parents didn’t give you up because they didn’t love you. They knew you were destined to be in danger and they wanted to give you a chance at a normal life.”

Felicia told herself that didn’t matter right now. But hearing that they’d given her up to help her, not abandon her, hit her square in the chest.

“Are they … ?”

“Gone. Your mother lived a mere two days after your birth, then died of a fever. After your adoption, your father disappeared. He returned to London less than a month ago and passed away. Perhaps he was looking for you. I don’t know.”

Now, Felicia never would either. Grief ripped through her. Her father had been alive mere weeks ago. Had someone painted a target on her birth father’s back because of her? For his sake, she hoped he’d died in peace.

“Your bloodline is both revered and feared, Felicia. Some of magickind dislike the fact that Untouchables are meant to … balance us. They’ve been hunted for millennia. If you hadn’t stumbled onto magickind by meeting Duke, it’s likely Mathias could have sought you yet failed to find you for years, perhaps for the rest of your life.”

The witch’s words sank in, and Felicia realized that she didn’t regret her current path entirely. As appealing as peace and security sounded, if she had married Mason and settled into comfortable suburban life, did it follow that she would have been happy? If she hadn’t come on this whirlwind
journey, she would have never really known Hurstgrove. He might be too frightening to love … but he was too fascinating to regret.

“Thank you for that.”

Sabelle nodded. “I have more details about them, names, biographical history, locations of graves, if you ever want them.”

In Felicia’s estimation, the witch was part psychic, part angel. “I will. But right now, we must deal with the immediate issue. Hurstgrove’s signature.”

“Yes, of course. I can’t honestly tell you if sex with Duke will make a difference in that respect. But I think it will in other ways. His ability to protect you increases when he has adequate energy, for instance.”

“And he wouldn’t go to a … surrogate?” The thought of enduring that again agonized her.

“No. A mated wizard never chooses that option unless he must. Not only that, if you and Duke cemented your bond, you would be more prepared to work as a team through the danger. Ice and I had our share of troubles whilst running from Mathias with the diary. But now that we’ve completely bonded, I swear sometimes I know exactly what he’s feeling and thinking, though I can’t read him the way I can others.”

Felicia believed that. Since exchanging vows with Hurstgrove, she’d felt an invisible thread tugging her insistently in his direction. Even now, she knew he prowled the perimeter of the caves, restless desire filling him. How was such knowledge possible?

“Do mates usually … love each other, the words of the bond aside?”

“Deeply. There are exceptions, but it’s rare.”

Sabelle’s answer struck a chord of fear in her chest. Felicia had mated with Hurstgrove for a “rare” reason. Did that
mean she might possibly be one of the exceptions to the whole love business? But was she willing to bet her heart on that? “Thank you. I must decide what to do quickly.”

“Only you can.” Sabelle patted her shoulder. “I know you’ve only known me a handful of hours, but I’m here if you need to bend my ear some more.”

“Thank you for everything.” Felicia bit her lip. “But I must ask for one more favor. Merlin’s books about Morganna’s tomb—”

“I’m ahead of you. Whilst reading for anything about Untouchables, I’ve been skimming for mentions of the tomb. I’ve set aside a couple that I believe contain relevant passages. But they require closer scrutiny. He was brilliant but not orderly. I’ll continue searching, but if you’d like to start reading—”

“I would. I need to see what I’m up against. Hurstgrove will try to stop me, no doubt, but I’m certain we won’t be able to avoid that tomb forever.”

Sabelle nodded sagely and rose. “I’ll show you where to find them.”

As she followed the witch back to the cave being used as an office, Sydney stood in the open door. “Where do you want this for safekeeping? And which of us will take it?”

It was a book with a slightly battered red cover and yellowing pages. An intricate pattern of rubies adorned the cover, raised and dazzling. And worth a serious fortune.

“What is that?” Felicia asked.

“The Doomsday Diary.” Sydney held up the book.

“Notice the symbol all decked out in rubies on the front?” Olivia pointed out. “The letter underneath is an M. The piece that locks it is the L. My great-great grandmother believed in bling.”

Felicia felt her jaw drop. “Morganna le Fay was—”

“Yep. Don’t I
have a fun family tree?” Olivia quipped.

Stepping closer to Sydney, Felicia reached for the book. Thinking better of it, she looked back at Olivia and Sabelle. “May I?”

The two women glanced at each other and shrugged. “Have a look.”

A sense of electricity overcame her when she grabbed it. Not that she felt magic from the book. But to think she was holding a piece of ancient history that most humans would never know of …

“Why have you sacrificed everything to protect this book? Is it worth that much money?”

“It’s more critical than mere money,” Sabelle said. “It grants wishes.”

Felicia stared at her, then the book. “Wishes? Like click your heels together three times and … ?”

“Not exactly, but not far off.” The gorgeous blonde cocked her head to one side with a considering look. “Open it. I’m curious what you’ll see.”

Shrugging, Felicia gripped the binding and opened the front cover. Immediately, she saw a very bold script, old, angry. She skimmed the words. “A curse?”

“You can read that?” Olivia’s mouth dropped open.

“It’s right here.” Felicia pointed.

“Not for us,” Marrok’s mate said. “Magic erases the ink from our view once the wish comes true. That curse was one Morganna put on Marrok a millennium and a half ago. Once it was broken, he could no longer see the words.”

Felicia flipped ahead, skimming. “The curse’s end is visible on the following page.”

“Um …” Sydney said. “Maybe you could skip a few pages there that I—”

“Too late.” Felicia grinned. “You have quite the imagination.”

Sydney flushed pink. “It worked.”

“I can see why you caught your man. He must be quite happy.”

The redhead laughed. “I like to think so.”

Felicia turned another page and read again, before casting a gaze to Sabelle. “It truly must grant wishes. Ice is whole, alive, and with you.”

The witch nodded. “I wrote in the diary when Mathias had captured Ice. I didn’t know what else to do. The moment Ice reappeared beside me was one of the happiest of my life.”

“Why doesn’t someone just write in the book to bring Tynan back, if this grants wishes? Or kill Mathias. Clearly, I can’t, but …”

Sabelle sighed. “It’s not that simple. The book has idiosyncrasies. One is that the person writing the wish must be female. It won’t respond to a man at all. Their ink simply disappears off the page.”

“Believe me,” Olivia added. “Marrok tried.”

Felicia winced. “I could tell.”

Olivia snickered.

“The second catch is that the wish must be the writer’s fondest, something she wants with all her heart,” Sabelle supplied. “A wish she somewhat hopes will come true won’t suffice.”

“And saving Tynan is no one’s fondest wish?” Felicia grappled with the concept.

“Oh, we very much like him,” Sabelle rushed to answer.

“Absolutely,” Sydney added. “Tynan is smart and brave.”

“Marrok says he’s a workhorse,” Olivia tossed in. “But the diary only works when you really,
really
care about the person in your wish.”

“I see.” The book’s methodology dawned on Felicia. She
felt sorry for Tynan. “Since the woman who loved him is gone …”

“Mathias murdered Auropha,” Sabelle said. “The rest of us have spent enough time with the diary to know its limitations.”

Kari sniffed. “It makes me so damn sad. Tynan has been a great friend to me. A shoulder to lean on. But as much as I care about him, when I tried to write in the book once for his happiness, my wish was ignored. I don’t think this time would be any different.”

Amazing. Magic so vast and complex, reaching across the centuries and looking into a woman’s heart. Morganna le Fay might have been a total bitch, but she was clearly talented.

“What about killing Mathias?”

“I don’t think killing is in any of our hearts,” Sabelle said. “No matter how much we’d all like Mathias dead.”

Which made complete sense.

Flipping through the book a bit more, Felicia found page after blank yellowing page. Until near the end.

She lifted her head to Sabelle. “Emma … isn’t she Bram’s missing mate?”

Everyone froze. Bram’s sister stepped closer.

“She is. Do you see something?”

Felicia nodded and pointed to the page in front of her. “She wished for Bram to be unable to find her.”

The women all looked at each other, stunned. Apparently this was news to them, and not of the good sort.

“What exactly does it say?” Sabelle asked with a worried frown.

Looking down at the page, Felicia recited, “‘I’ve made a terrible mistake. Bram Rion has captured my heart and will hate me once he learns what I’ve done. I will miss him always, but I can’t stand to see the betrayal in his eyes. Please make it
impossible for him to find me, follow me, track me. If he tries to locate me, confuse him. Frustrate him. But don’t let him near me. I would rather him believe I left him than to know the truth.’”

“Oh God,” Sabelle breathed.

“That was her heart’s desire.” Sydney shook her head in disbelief. “He’ll be crushed.”

Though Bram had been a thorn in her side, she felt somewhat sorry for him. “What did she do?”

“Stole the diary from him.” Olivia shook her head. “The question is, why?”

“And why did she then give it to my assistant?” Sydney mused aloud.

“All good questions.” Kari sighed. “As often as I wanted to rip out Ronan’s eyeballs when we first met, the one thing I would never have wanted was to make it impossible for him to find me. He angered me, but I loved him too much to stay away.”

Olivia nodded. “I think that’s true of all of us with our mates.”

“And if you have even a hint of doubt, once those mating words are spoken …”

“Like cement,” Kari agreed.

Their words staggered Felicia. She, too, had been impacted by the Call and her own Binding. But that was magical, so how could it be possible? Or did the words merely reflect what was in her secret heart of hearts?

“Do we tell Bram?” Sydney grimaced.

Olivia wrung her hands. “I don’t know what passed between him and Emma in that one night, but—”

“It was profound,” Sabelle finished. “I’ve never seen my brother like this. He was always snappy, on top of life, and happy for virtually any energy source. Now …”

“Won’t he want to know that it’s her conscience, not her heart, keeping her from him?” Felicia asked.