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Chapter One
Present day - England
Anka MacTavish held her breath as the most beautiful man she’d ever seen stormed toward her, one heavy footstep after another Lucan, her mate
Forood reason She could have blamed a number of people for that She mostly blamed herself
His fullas he drew closer At the sight of his obvious anger, she turned away toward the surprising warolden rays would chase away the perpetual chill that had plagued her these last three months
It alrabbed her ar her so close to the familiar heat of his body Suddenly, she didn’t need the sun at all Finally, she arazes connected, and heat seeped into her veins Her heart lurched in her chest A jolt of connection grabbed her all the way to her soul
As quickly as he’d grabbed her, Lucan yanked his hand back Sadly, the connection she felt was all one-sided now
“Are you out of your rowled “No The answer is absolutely no”
Anka let her lashes flutter down, breaking the pull of his furious stare, then forcing herself to step away from his beloved warmth She didn’t pretend to misunderstand “I suppose you heard that I intend to ask Braht with the Doomsday Brethren”
Ad the leader of the warrior wizards dedicated to ridding ickind of the evil Mathias d’Arc to alloitch to join their ranks had been a long shot But daht Those ical war all sought peace, to ain Admirable Once upon a time, she’d wanted that, too
Now, the need for vengeance beat in her chest even stronger than her own heart She wanted nothing ainst the malicious wizard who had forced her to break her sacred bond with Lucan Mathias had ravaged her body until she barely knew her own na so, had destroyed her once-beautiful life
“Yes” Lucan leaned into her personal space, his glare intiree It’s mad! I won’t have it”
That familiar woodsy-musky scent of his hadn’t once failed to arouse her in the century they’d lived and loved together It didn’t fail today, either
Inching back, Anka sent Lucan a sad sine that he refused her because he loved her enough to be concerned for her safety Three o, before her world had shattered, yes Nothan Lucan Today? She winced He didn’t want to see her, ht beside her Bloody hell, after Mathias had taken her captive, then plundered her mind and body, she’d eventually fled to her former suitor, Shock Denzell—Lucan’s enemy—for protection and succor For that, her former mate hated her
This was the most conversation they’d had in weeks, maybe even since Mathias had abducted her from the home she’d shared with Lucan
Even thoughts of the harrowing days that had followed as theti off one night her wounds
No more
Shoving aside both regret and tears, she tossed her head back and er your decision”
Instantly, his jaw clenched His fingers plowed through his dark hair Those blue eyes of his could look so tender Now they gloith fury and condeht; it’s not And as much as I hate Shock, I know hiht with us”
It’s none of his business, either Anka kept the thought to herself The last thing she wanted to discuss with her former mate was her current lover At least, Shock was her lover when he was sober Lately, that was never More andinto the bottom of it Anka hadn’t tried to stop him
Lucan wouldn’t care about her personal dra that mattered to hi Mathias and his torture In fact, Lucan probably thought she’d willfully betrayed hi to Shock Neverthe mate bond had obliterated her memories of Lucan for weeks afterward Never ht a safe haven in case Mathias hunted her again When she’d first reached Shock, she’d been dangerously low on life energy And he’d been es of frequent, raw sex with her to repower her ic and keep her alive—at least at first Her former mate didn’t know or care that, for weeks now, Shock had only touched her enough for brief energy exchanges, or that, for the most part, Anka didn’t mind
Lucan only cared that she had betrayed him And as much as she wanted to rail, she understood completely In his place, she would feel utterly stabbed in the heart Still, she would tell Lucan right now that she still loved hiht for a second that there wasn’t too ive a damn
“Shock’s opinion on the matter shouldn’t concern you,” she returned softly “I’ve offered to lend ht that’s desperately outnumbered The decision to accept or not is Bra, talk to him”
A ave enda”
Anka pressed her lips together to hold in a curse Of course, her old friend and Bram’s sister would spill the secret Sabelle orried about her and still believed that Lucan cared enough to stop Anka fro herself in harm’s way In a fashion, Sabelle’s attempt eet, if futile
“Be estured across the expanse of Braht breeze The Doomsday Brethren’s leader’s massive new house beckoned, carpenters andtouches to the structure built directly over the site of the original estate, which Mathias had recently destroyed “You won’t stopto convince Braht”
Lucan scowled at her as if she’d lost her mind “After what Mathias did to you? Why? You’re still healing”
“I’ued
“That’s crap You look tired Are you going to lie and tell htmares, Anka? I know you…”
He would always have an intie of her, and one undeniable fact was that she often took the stress in her life and played it out in terrible detail in her dreahtmares Or that she avoided sleep because of them
“I’ht”