Page 4 (1/2)

The warriors shouted, cursed, began to back away as the insidious smoke clawed and crawled its way across the floor and walls Mathias himself was likely here

"Go now!" Duke shouted

Ice didn’t wait to be told twice With Bram on his shoulder, he dashed to the back door, then pressed an urgent hand to the small of Sabelle’s back "Grab your backpack Ease out the door Stay in shadow We’ve got two minutes, at most"

She sent hiives a shit? After losing his ht to use Sabelle because she was beautiful, kind, and convenient? "Right behind us"

With a nod, she grabbed her belongings "We’re safe for the moment Bram had more protection here, just in case we ever needed to escape"

Good to know Still, as Ice opened the door, he checked to make certain no Anarki had made their way around the massive estate He couldn’t see any, but he could hear thenashing their way ever closer to the Dooed Sabelle onto the terrace, in the shadow provided by the overhang, then slid out behind her, covering her body with his own The December chill wrapped around hiainst his skin Snoas beginning to fall He hoped the Anarki bastards were having aif they threatened his Sabelle

Damn it, she isn’t yours Ice shushed the unwelcouide her into the terrace’s corner while laying Braht With concrete at her back and sides, he could protect her Holding his back to her, he pinned her against the wall and scanned for potential threats, watching as Marrok, olivia, and Tynan poured out of the house They took a few steps forward before the wizard grabbed the other two and teleported them away Sydney and Caden followed

Where the hell was Lucan? The prick had ten seconds before Ice left hiing an injured Lucan behind him, as now bloody frole free Ice whirled on her andher deep into the corner "Can’t you hear the Anarki? They’re nearly upon us You are not rushing through the danger to tend MacTavish"

"But he ed wizard with others around who can care for hi for hi on his face must have shown his fury and the soul-deep willpower he used to squeeze it down He’d known that Sabelle had beco carnal sacrifice as he healed, and it lit a fire of jealousy and hatred in his gut Lucan loved Anka still, but he’d use Sabelle’s body, her sweetness and softness, for his own ends The bloody shit of it was that Sabelle encouraged him Because she loved him? Ice knew Sabelle would never be his, but he’d be damned if he stood by and watched Lucan use her

"Would you rather have Lucan die or the Doomsday Diary fall into Mathias’s hands?"

She drew in a shuddering breath, and the feel of her breasts against his chest was da But this wasn’t the tiht I--I wasn’t thinking" Her breath misted the cold air, and he wanted to kiss her so desperately He didn’t dare

"Ice!" Duke called through the dark chill

Dahty with a stare and a raised brow

"The Anarki is through the door and into the house That gray so Lucan is too injured to be anything but a liability to you now I’ll bring hio, princess"

He grabbed her around the waist She clutched his wrists and, panting, tried to pull him away "Where?"

Ice knew of many remote places between here and his boyhood home He could find aas necessary to ensure Sabelle stayed safe

"Anyplace they’re not"

Curling his arhtly around her waist, Ice tried not to think about how perfectly she fit against hi his chest, how easy it would be to curl one hand under her backside and urge her legs around his waist as he rode her

Not happening, he chided hi on Wye Valley in the Welsh Mountains, he willed himself, Sabelle, and Bram there His knees left hihtless disorientation sed him But he was conscious of his ar to hiround rushed up under them, and they landed in a heap within a cluster of trees, the river trickling nearby Lights frolowed in the distance

Ice helped Sabelle to her feet and began leading her in the opposite direction "Are you all right?"

In the silveryaround her face, cupping her breasts "Where are we?"

Not a good idea to think about her breasts now--or ever "Herefordshire I knoell Let’s go"

Ice secured Bram over his shoulder, took her hand, and hauled her deeper into the copse of trees If memory served him, there was an abandoned house built into the nearby hillside It would be easy to defend and should shelter theht After he reestablished communication with Duke and the others, they could decide on a rendezvous point

They’d taken only a handful of steps under the shelter of the trees when he heard a whoosh! behind him

"Where are they?" a deep voice boomed "Find them The spell Rhea cast on the book told us that it’s been transported here Spread out!"

Mathias Motherfucking hell The evil bastard hiood

Evidently Rhea, Mathias’s witch, had put a spell on the diary The Anarki would know the Doomsday Diary’s exact location as soon as someone teleported with the book

Question was, could the spell track theasps, and Ice gripped her handshe could keep up If she couldn’t, he’d carry her--whatever was needed for her and the Dooer, Sabelle stayed with him, every step His adged around trees, gradually turning toward the abandoned house They couldn’t stay there now, of course Likely the first place the Anarki would look He and Sabelle would have to keep going

Thanking God for the darkness that covered their tracks in the mud and for the fact it hadn’t snowed in Herefordshire today, he and Sabelle trekked toward the hill on the west side of the valley Behind him, Ice heard the pursuit of several wizards, the curses when one tripped over a branch

"Are you certain they ran in this direction?" one asked

"Not entirely If she teleports anywhere, we’ll find her," Mathias assured "Whoever the bitch is, she cannot outrun us When we find her, I will happily strip her bare and make certain she knoho her rowled

But the conversation told hi as he and Sabelle were on foot, unless the Anarki spotted the the book in a tree and teleporting away, but the risk was too great If the Anarki found it … No, theyinto hietting tired, yet he didn’t dare slow their pace