Page 77 of Seduce Me in Shadow

So…I feel my clone’s pain, but I don’t sustain his injury. The clone, however, suffers both. Confounding, but then, magic always is. Little Westin’s death alone proves that.

“Say something.” Her tears begin falling harder.

“I can’t.” Nothing I spill will make sense. I sigh. “I’m sorry.”

Bloody lame answer,my clone sneers inside my head.

Splendid. Now I can converse mentally with the unwanted prat.

Fuck off.

Sydney stomps her foot and grabs the dressing gown littered on the floor near the bed. She shoves it on in angry, jerky movements. “Piss off—both of you!”

As she marches from the bedroom, my mind reels. Sydney will find Duke, who’s likely still loitering on her sofa. When she says she’s seen two Cadens, news of my ability to clone will go straight to Bram, who will find a use for me in this bloody flipping war.

Squeezing my eyes shut, I try to remember everything I learned about magic as a boy. I’ve blocked out most, but bits, especially when Lucan visited me, return.

Power and passion. Both are important. A wizard must have the magical ability to cast the spell they seek. But the desire for the outcome is equally critical. I bloody hope that magic wouldn’t be so cruel as to saddle me with a power I can’t control. As much as I hate all this hocus-pocus rubbish, I need my clone gone.

Straining, I clench my fists and focus on merging myself back into one essence, visualizing the other being assimilating into my form. I hear a sucking noise and feel a slam against my back, followed by a pounding in my head. Bloody hell, every muscle hurts worse than before, and I feel a bit nauseous. But when I look around, the blanket about my clone’s waist is in a heap on the floor and he’s blessedly gone.

So is Sydney.

I stumble into my pants and race out her bedroom, shouting her name. To my relief, she hasn’t run far.

Duke caught her before she reached the front door and blocked her from escaping.

He looks up when I race down the hall. “What on earth…? She’s prattling on about some rather inappropriate twin pranks.”

“Exhaustion.” I blurt the first explanation that crosses my belabored brain.

I despise myself for the fabrication. Sydney is so brilliant and competent at virtually everything, and there’s nothing she hates more than looking foolish. When will this magical nightmare end? Now that I’ve transitioned, how can it?

“Liar!” She wrests free from Duke’s grip and turns on me. “I saw two of you.”

Duke shoots me an arched brow. His expression says I have some explaining to do.

Bugger all.

I ignore him. “Sweetheart, you’ve had a taxing time of it. We’re both beyond knackered and?—”

“I may be tired after two days of shagging, but I’m not daft.”

“Sydney, we should—”Two days?If we’ve been busy that long…so hasOut of this Realm.

“Fuck!” Cold horror chills me to the bone. “Did you ring Holly and tell her to pull the story about the book?”

Chapter

Thirty-Five

Fury mottles Sydney’s cheeks. “Don’t change the bloody subject.”

“It’s Saturday?” I demand of Duke.

“Indeed.”

The bottom falls out of my stomach. My heart plummets to my toes as I curse a blue streak. “The latest edition ofOut Of this Realmposted this morning.”

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