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“You’ve done the right thing,” Sabelle added, following Brahed and approached Sydney “Are you all right?”

Define all right, she thought Transcasting the news of Mathias’s return had been both exhilarating and bittersweet Without Caden here to cheer her on, hold her hand, love her afterwarda part of her was

“Fine” Melancholy and exhaustionher plastic smile a Herculean task

“I’ll pretend I believe you and wait for the deluge of es in my office The rest of the warriors and I should talk, plan our next moves” He paused and placed a hand on her shoulder “You’ve done us a great service at much risk to yourself I appreciate you I know the others do as well”

Looking tired but deter to do,” Sabelle murmured after he’d cleared the rooy and cannot find his mate,” the witch explained “Thus far, he’s only skiate I hope he finds this y He’s too io on like this”

“What will happen if he doesn’t?”

“He’ll die It’s why I’ve been tending Caden’s brother Technically, he’s no longer mated since Anka broke with him, but he rejected all fe I was her His condition is awful He’s keeping his strength now, but his mindI don’t know if he’ll recover”

Caden had returned to the UK for his brother and had reluctantly adher Sabelle’s explanation ical “divorce” fro a future with me, not because I’d written in the diary, but because he feared beco like his brother?

Oh Dear God

Suddenly, Sabelle speared Sydney with a direct stare “You’re right Sorry to read yourlike Lucan” She shook her head “I hope Caden finds Anka before it’s too late”

She had to see the ht so she couldn’t see and scarcely understood was both stupid and impossible

“When Caden left, I told him I would be by shortly to see Lucan I’m certain they’re settled in at Lucan’s townhouse I think it’s tiic”

She hardly needed ic’s potential peril But perhaps this would unravel the rest of the complicated puzzle of Caden

“Of course”

“No pictures I simply want you to understand, not report”

Naturally If I reported on Lucan’s condition, it ht spur Mathias to take the mates of other Doomsday Brethren

“Just Bram,” Sabelle provided “Marrok isn’t a wizard, and none of the others are fully an trudging her way up the stairs “Remember when I told you about the Call? They ask, you answer, then you’re h, so how can someone be partially mated?”

“They ask and they’re refused”

“But if they’re refused, how can the bond be established?”

“The wizard takes a mate in his heart when he speaks the words Whether or not he genuinely s are reciprocated, he is bound by that Call Until the woman dies, he is hers exclusively”

Sydney’s jaw dropped as she followed the wo warriors—”

“Shock He Called to Anka shortly before Lucan did and was eventually Renounced”

Another jaw dropper Lucan and Shock quarreling over the same woman?

“For over a century When Lucan slipped into , we called Caden here to care for his brother He’s afraid because he knows you’re his, but has seen firsthand the tragic possibilities of ”

Sabelle reached the top of the stairs and headed for a corner roo Sydney had never been to this side of the estate, and when the witch pushed her way into a glamorous room, Sydney’s jaw threatened to drop once olden touches was relieved by hints of ed, the furniture of dark, glossy wood Crystal candlesticks gleaed The room fit Sabelle completely

“It’s lovely”

Sabelle ss Should only be a moment”

Why not just summon objects? Sydney wondered

The beautiful witch sent her a chiding stare “I’rabbed a cape, a length of silk, rope, and a pair of handcuffs Sydney’s brows raised

“I don’t knohat I’ over there,” Sabelle explained “Here, we had Lucan well restrained so he wouldn’t be a danger to anyone”

Suddenly, Sydney wasn’t sure she wanted to see Lucan after all But Sabelle grabbed her ar invaded her stohtless feel left her at odds and ends

Then the floor appeared beneath theht out of Tuscany, alls like an autulea out of place was the snarling man secured by rope to all four corners of the bed His dark hair had been pulled back, revealing a face that would norh cheekbones, a wide mouth, a sculpted jaw But instead of the fary black pinpricks No warmth or passion, as feral as a olf’s

Lucan snapped his unfocused gaze in their direction and roared, struggling against his bonds as the bed creaked Surprise pinged through Sydney She stepped back Way back

“Losing Anka did this to him?”

Sabelle nodded solemnly

He missed his mate so much that he’d lost his mind? Sydney had never met Lucan, but she ached for hi