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Soed a brush through her hair and braided it “Bury your head in the sand, then I can’t We’d best go downstairs now They’re waiting”

“Move, whelp,” Shock said suddenly from behind him, then motioned toward Sydney “Ready?”

She moved toward Shock and sent Caden one last resolute expression that chilled hi in eerie patches as Caden assembled with Sydney and the Dooear and dripping enough weapons to make a third-world dictator salivate, he approached Sydney, who held the Doomsday Diary and stood close to Shock She looked to Caden for comfort, but to the leather-clad warrior for protection The thought stung his pride

“Everyone knows their assignht?” Bram said more than asked

“Aye” Marrok loaded a wicked Glock with a s at his side

“Got it” Ice looked as if he was looking forward to this Then again, given the fact Mathias had brutally o, he probably was

“Can’t wait” Tynan was all business, but his eyes gloith pleasure

“Ready” Duke ed to look like a cover uns slung low on his hips

“And I’roused

“She’s not a ‘skirt,’ ” Caden snapped “She’s a very worthy fe on my last nerve”

Shock responded with an obnoxious finger gesture

“Why are you here?” Bra a blade to this thigh and securing the clip in his S & W

“Why?”

What the hell? “Does it matter?”

“It does Every one of the warriors here has a vested interest in our success, except you You’re thinking with your cock and only joining us to protect the woman you don’t have the balls to claim Adain, if Sydney hadn’t convinced Brao, Caden wouldn’t have been as coainst it or afraid Any hint of joining the group, and he could find hi people like Duke, who he’d come to admire But this once, Sydney had boxed hiot your six,” Caden insisted

“Even though you don’t give a shit about this mission and won’t join us, we’re expected to accept that you’ll protect us with your life?”

Bram’s question was fair In his position, Caden would ask the saroup’s leader notched up

“You, Shock, and the rest are protecting Sydney So yes, I care” He looked right at her, dwarfed by Shock standing beside her “I’ll giveher”

Tears collected in the corners of Sydney’s eyes before she looked away Bloody hell, he hated the distance between them

Finally, Braet I’ll provide you a wand Practice would have been advisable, but under the circumstances, your instinct will have to do”

“I don’t want a wand,” Caden insisted, chafing at the thought ofI need to know”

Brae of explosives will be helpful Let’s review the plan Not a word of objection, understood?” At Caden’s reluctant nod, he went on “Shock says the gift of hypnosis runs in his family He will put Sydney into a trance”

Sydney came to at the sound of a snap She blinked once, twice, her fuzzy vision co into focus Then she looked up into the dark lenses of Shock’s sunglasses As always, his face told her nothing, and she still wasn’t sure she trusted hihter

Around her, she are of tall ceilings, hard floors, relatively bare walls She glanced around Through a partition door, she could see this warehouse had been transformed into a trendy industrial loft Inside the lass tables The partition walls hid the rest of the space, but she could hear shuffles and grunts beyond This was Mathias’s lair?

“Welcoed her attention

Glancing to her right, Sydney took in its source Stared, really The bloke was gorgeous Dark hair threaded with streaks of golden brown lay in loose waves around his neck, nearly to his bulging shoulders He wore a tight black T-shirt that hugged every ripped bulge of his biceps, chest, and abdonetism for ten men Sydney sucked in a breath

Exotic cheekbones fra widely His pale blue eyes, rirabbed attention, at first for their utter beauty But when she looked again, she saw the eyes revealed the cruelty of Jack the Ripper and Hitler colittering eyes, carefully controlled upturning of lips, he co to Aquarius too long She couldn’t see this , soulless Evil

Self-preservation kicked in She played her rehearsed part “Thank you”

“I’ the crimes he had committed, certain he was capable of far worse, Sydney was loathe to take it, butthe charade was critical She shook his hand, scorched by the fire that burned across her pale to rub her offended skin

“Would you care to sit?” He gestured to the sofa behind Shock

She glanced at Shock out of the corner of her eye He gave her an imperceptible nod

“Certainly” Sydney clutched the book tighter as they sat on the black leather grouping As she settled onto the cushion, she pressed the play button on Bram’s tiny video recorder, which was hidden in a pocket on the outside of her handbag with a little hole cut to accoht at Mathias

Gotcha! She thought Let’s see e can get this bastard to admit to on fils the Doomsday Diary to me is to be rewarded”

“I-I stuave it toof your quest for equality aht be best in your hands” And she nearly choked on those words

“In that case, why don’t you give it to me now?”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

GIVE IT TO HIM NOW? Caden watched Mathias coh a crack in the warehouse’s

Earlier, Shock had snuck them all past Mathias’s security spells, which didn’t surprise hiether