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“Your delightfulwell, I take it?” Bram drawled

“Not exactly The wo I say is shit”

“You’re not being charritted his teeth “Deception isn’t my style”

“It’s charh Braht of him anywhere near Sydney made Caden feel uncomfortably ho mate?”

“Leave my mate out of this,” Bram snarled

If you return the favor

As soon as the words blazed across Caden’sabout Sydney like that He didn’t want a ical mate And now he had to distract Bra the urge to Call to this reporter?”

Every time he neared her, his temperature spiked She was a fever, and if he kissed her, he feared he’d blurt the words that could bind thens

Her proposition at lunch had boiled his blood A hearty “yes” had hovered on the tip of his tongue Yes, he wanted her naked Yes, he wanted to taste every inch of her fair skin, possess that sweet body Yes, he wanted all that intelligence and sass Yes, he wanted to be the one to protect her But giving in to his urges would spell disaster Too bad no one had given his instincts the memo

“Can we focus on the mission?” Caden unleashed his annoyance “She knows I’ve scarcely said a true word to her since weher contact this afternoon, kneas following her, and intentionally lostan article about the Doomsday Diary What do you think will happen if she does?”

Braic, Mathias-style”

“Exactly” Caden gripped the phone, the thought too terrible to conte to silence that story Keep her safe As much as it chafed him to ask for Bram’s help, he must

“You need to step in,” he went on “I’ical war story and that my seduction wasn’t real”

“I can’t” Suddenly, Braht Nearly everyone dead, to One transitioned just last week Gossip and panic is beginning to spread around ickind about Mathias’s return The Council elders have their thumbs up their arses, as usual They wantto be the voice of reason, but they don’t wish to hear logic Duke and I are visiting Privileged households likely to be attacked and preaching caution, butit’s frustrating to be forced to lie I dare not leave the Council to their own devices for long I’d insist on transcasting the truth to h of the other Councilmen’s votes behindus for the e all know is co If I sent Ice to help you, he would siic isn’t a cure-all I can’t just wave et about the book and her story ideas”

Bram painted a bleak picture, and Caden nearly felt sorry for the bastard What the hell good was h of that early in life Caden gripped the back of his neck and les had returned He was exhausted, yet his body craved sex Lots of lovelies in the pub, several looking in his direction But a glance south proved his cock was having none of theoing to have to fix this,” Bram said “Get closer to Sydney, however you must Convince her hatever necessary Get that bloody diary out of her hands Stop those stories Nothing about the Doohed How the devil was he to do all that?

“I’ll talk to her tonight,” he told Braets home Until then, I should visit my brother for a bit”

“I can’t spare any of the warriors to transport you, but I can send ht”

Bram snorted “Spoken like someone who does not have to live with the h, within moments Sabelle walked into the pub Every male head turned Jaws dropped Oneas if he was in a trance She held up a hand, and he wandered back to his stool instantly, looking a bit confused

“Do you get that reaction frorand in creation and they’d still respond that way”

But she wasn’t Far fro Wars had been started over faces half so lovely Centerfolds would kill for her body The first ti roo, he’d had to truly focus on her words, not his shock at her utter beauty

But he’d quickly learned that she wasn’t just beautiful on the outside Caden genuinely liked her But he didn’t want her

“If Bra Lucan”

“I’ve known him all my life, Caden He’s a dear friend I’m not about to let him die senselessly”

A brave soul “Every other surrogate we’ve sent has been terrified”

She shrugged “I believe, deep down, he would recognize me before he did any serious harm”

“Sabelle, he doesn’t know himself”

With a nod, she conceded “Yes, wellit hasn’t been going as well as I would like The energy he’s derived fro and calling Anka’s na?”

“With the previous surrogates, he growled that he scented another ht have a solution You’re welco in the witch’s tone made him pause “Perhaps we should discuss this”

Sabelle shook her head, golden curls brushing her slender arms “I need to do thisyour safety”

She patted his arm “I’m fine Why don’t we meander outside and round the back? We’ll attract less attention e teleport”

Caden knew a firave up, for now He nodded, and theychill

Once they were out of sight, Sabelle positioned theht, wrapped her hand in his and poof! One ht a black, stoic! Then he stood in Bra

“Glad to see you’re here I was getting worried,” he visually inspected his sister, clearly reassuring hihed “I’ so the trouble”