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Silence fell, then Ice and Bra expressions What the hell were you thinking? they asked About the future About Ice living to see the next sunrise

"Why call Shock?" Bram barked "of all people, the one we can least trust--"

"You don’t know that I think he eons"

Braed

"It’s possible I don’t recall much, except that he left ht or design … I don’t know"

"Right now, Shock’s loyalty isn’t my concern," Sabelle reiterated "Ice is I must be there in case he needs y and thus the challenge"

Her brother sighed, worked his jaw "I don’t like it"

"No," Ice protested "There is no force on earth that will induce me to put you in that bastard’s path"

His protective nature had often been both tender and sigh-worthy Now, she just found it exasperating "There is no force on earth that will induce ht dirty, Shock said"

"I will fight and be watchful for Mathias’s treachery, but I cannot break the rules The Council for any way to discredit me I will not cheat"

Sabelle sed Yes, Ice had a noble streak an ocean wide He would not want to win any way but fairly Unfortunately, Mathias wouldn’t be quite so picky

She wished that solving theher love and siren abilities to dissuade hiift of e with Ice Already, she was devising a sche rose in eerie drifts, curling around the huge wrought iron gates of Blackbourne’s estate The Council elder and his faht everyone else beneath them and shut themselves off from the world Ice wondered briefly if a Deprived had ever crossed these gates as anything more than a servant

His insides knotted as he, Braical calls requesting adates slowly parted Blackbourne hihostly white roup with a sharp eye "I wondered, Rion, why you brought your sister, but I see fronature that he Called to her You claimed he was no ally of yours"

Bra pointless words You’ll notice that my sister has not Bound to him Nor will she"

"But--"

"Carlisle," Sabelle stepped forward and wrapped her hand around his arht, but sed the urge to do violence and forced hiine that er to seeYes, he understood that it was in every-one’s best interest for Blackbourne to believe there was no chance that he and Sabelle would unite But the careless ploy still er to prove to everyone else that Sabelle was, and would always be, his

"Eh … no"

"Brauardian, so … Is your son Sebastian still unmated?"

"Indeed" Blackbourne relaxed, sritted his teeth He wanted to kiss her in front of them all, put his arms around her, and de that she’d welcome attention from Sebastian Blackbourne

"The others are on the lawns behind the house," the elder directed "Come with ether? Battle lines had been drawn, he supposed Purposely, he hadn’t spent a great deal of tiic he’d use to defeat Mathias He’d prayed last night, asked himself ould most set Gailene’s memory to rest, hoped that he could find an honorable way to win this seat, and soled inside hi Gailene down again, of leaving this battle unfinished Of never holding Sabelle again Fates too terrible to contemplate

All too soon, Blackbourne led the place looked centuries old and had so many chimneys that Ice lost count Windows everywhere The s to every brick

At the back of the largescones, as if they hadn’t a care in the world And at the moment, they didn’t Who would believe Mathias could lose a battle to a coht aside, Ice rounded the corner, which brought the rest of the back lawn into view He braced hi could stop the visceral need that pu indolently against a wooden pillar with a deceptively youthful appearance, golden hair whipping in the wind, looking somewhere between absent and bored

Mathias d’Arc

Ice fisted his hands so tightly his arms trembled The corners of Mathias’s leefully taken Gailene’s innocence and life, then acted as if Ice’s anger entertained him How dearly he looked forward to the opportunity to kill the bastard He ht fail--and miserably--but Mathias would feel pain before he went down

"My esteeain" Mathias eased away from the pillar, mischievous blue eyes clapped on him as he approached, hand outstretched "Your last visit ended very abruptly, indeed Let’s see if we can settle in for a nice long … chat, shall we?"

No fucking way he would talk to Mathias noring Mathias and leading Ice to the far side of the lahere a big concrete slab sat, surrounded by so that looked like a plastic bubble

"A force field," Brao Whatever spell either of you throw, it should not penetrate those walls and unwittingly hit so so a corporeal form of their inner dehter contained

"And you must be Miss Rion," Mathias drawled froirl, indeed After today’s challenge, your brother and I should be working together more It would be my pleasure to know you better"

Ice whirled on Mathias To hell aiting for the challenge; he wanted to fight now Brarabbed the other