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Cursing, Ice conjured a bit of hu a few scones andonto the street oncethe first corner

There His little witch was occupied Ice stopped, watched as she stood near a hu, he s dazed by her beauty In turn, she sent the olden hair Ice ached to feel across his chest, over his cock She reached out to touch the ripped her hand in return

Ice snapped Sabelleto touch another as he watched

Hell-bent, he stalked across the car park "Sabelle"

She whipped her gaze in his direction and gave hilare Like hell

He barreled toward theripped the human’s hand To his credit, the rip, but she held firm

"This is Jaet the hell away froraciously offered to let us borrow his car for a few days"

When she held up the keys, Ice dragged in a deep breath She’d done it for escape To be fair, faithlessness wasn’t a question, since she had not coht of another er she would never see again to hold her hand and be influenced by her siren abilities, she had secured a new car that would not trouble them with the authorities That one touch allowed them to escape and continue their quest

He should feel thankful, not homicidal

"Nice to meet you" James’s voice shook as he extended his free hand in Ice’s direction

Ice did his best to suppress his scowl and took thethe idea of James’s fear, Ice smiled, not nicely

"Ice is my very protective … cousin"

"Cousin?"

Just like that, his tolerance snapped Cousin was one step from brother, and he hoped to hell Sabelle didn’t see hiine when she’d allowed him to strip her bare on a table and wrap his lips around those tight, berry red nipples He would have no probleain

Jalanced nervously between Ice and Sabelle, as if he sensed sorip on his hand ic Self-preservation kicked in

"I’ll see you e bring the car back" Sabelle leaned close to the hu frorabbed Sabelle’s ar her was apeace that se In that instant, she planted a soft kiss on Ja a drea as you need, love"

"Thank you for your kindness Isn’t he lovely?" Sabelle turned to Ice When he failed to respond on the spot, she elbowed hiht leave with his auto, did Ice nod "Indeed"

Sabelle elbowed hi euphoric and happily confused Sabelle watched, palo Did you reach Duke?"

"No answer"

Concern darkened Sabelle’s face "What do you think thatnot to think the worst "Like us, he may not have had his phone with him when Mathias attacked"

"He did, on his belt" She bit her lip "Do you think they were captured? Killed?"

The possibility so terrified her Ice wasn’t about to mention that had crossed his mind at least a dozen tie advantage We’re still alive, so it’s likely they are, as well"

"I hope you’re right I’ht Mathias alone"

You can’t, he wanted to say He’d tried, after all, taking down nearly a hundred Anarki by hio, and he’d been much more rash and stupid He’d been lucky to escape with his life, though that hadn’t been his intention And he’d learned a valuable lesson: Mathias’s army was like an octopus An evil that could reach in all directions to drag a wizard in and devour him whole if he hadn’t the proper tools and allies

Which is why you can’tdeal about this car, he re off as many arms of thethe woman? Foolish and ill-timed She would never say yes, and he shouldn’t expect her to in the midst of crisis

Tiet on the road again," he coet food?"

Indeed But when he looked down at his fist, he realized that witnessing Sabelle touch Jah to turn the scones and muffins into little more than crumbs for birds

With a curse, he dropped the in the next town"

Around midday, Sabelle and Ice arrived at the outskirts of Ludlow Thomas MacKinnett lived in a renovated nineteenth-century estate about five kiloh the haze to shine in a perfect blue sky Everything here was lovely in a stark, December sort of way, and she had no reason to shiver But she did The air felt disturbed Even without seeing the house yet, she knew so

"It’s quiet out here" Ice frowned The farther up the winding dirt road she drove, the more his frown deepened

Too quiet Ice ht it "Indeed"

"MacKinnett had no children other than Auropha?"

"No And his o Other than servants, he lived alone"

"Perhaps that’s why it’s so quiet"

Sabelle wasn’t convinced She stepped on the accelerator and moved their borrowed car farther up the muddy lane When the house cah the clouds, sending down patchy rays of light playing on the battered roof Age stains and ivy crawled across the stone facade MacKinnett had closed the shutters over every

The house seemed frozen, as if terrified to even take a breath Utterly un Even the trees didn’t dare sith the breeze

"Bloody eerie," Icethe house?"

Ice paused, and his frown turned to a scowl "Nothing Hardly the actions of a paranoid sort of bloke"

"Exactly Braone corief But he was never reckless We were here a feeeks ago He had ical protections all over the house, up the lane Early warning sensors … Now, nothing"