Page 79 of Seduce Me in Shadow

As much as it pains me to force Sydney, it’s for her own good. With a curse, I bend at the knees and hoist her onto my shoulder in a fireman’s carry, careful to keep her dressing gown over her pert little ass.

“Put me down, you bloody bastard! I’m going to string you up by your stones, then take a rusty knife to you.”

Wincing, I turn to Duke. “The book is on her night table. Grab it and put it in her hands.”

With a sharp nod, Duke turns and disappears. A moment later, he reappears, holding the Doomsday Diary, then shoves it into Sydney’s grasp.

We make our way toward her front door, me pinning Sydney’s struggling form to my shoulder, Duke following in solidarity. Sydney more than breaks the silence with a string of wretched curses. I hate it, but I’d rather her angry than dead.

Three feet from the door, someone on the other side bangs. Adrenaline bursts through my blood stream. I pause, clutching Sydney. Duke draws his wand.

“Caden, are you bloody in there? If you’re not dead, I’ll kill you myself.”

Bram.Shit!

Heaving a sigh, Duke swerves around me and wrests open the door. Sure enough, the Doomsday Brethren’s leader stands on the other side, fist clenched.

“Someone tell me what the devil is going on here.” His gaze bounces between me and Duke.

“Who the blazes are you?” Sydney lifts her head and looks at Bram.

“Bram Rion. I’d say it’s a pleasure, but you’ve been nothing but a thorn in my side since you started writing about those bodies in the tunnel.” He tears his attention away from Sydney to glare at me. “One small mission. Keep her quiet. And you failed miserably.”

“He’s just transitioned,” Duke cuts in.

“Transitioned?” Sydney asks.

No one answers her. Bram hesitates, casts another glance at me, then turns to Duke. “Why did you stay?”

“I daresay, the past two days have been frightfully tedious. I’m still in need of Marrok’s training?—”

“Exactly.”

“No doubt other crises have erupted, and it’s been bloody difficult to hold my impatience while nature took its course. But if she’d been unable to complete the task…”

Bram nods in resignation.

“What are you blathering about?” Sydney wriggles and screams until I let her down in the middle of us three. But she doesn’t back down. Not my Sydney.

For a foolish moment, I’m proud of my firecracker. Even in the face of three large wizards and an incredibly bizarre situation, she doesn’t cower or stop asking questions.

“I’ll explain later,” I vow. “We have to get out of here.”

Sydney shakes her head. “You’ve promised answers. I’ve yet to receive them. I refuse to leave until I do. And the next one who tries to lift me over their shoulder will lose an arm.”

“We’ve no time for this.” Bram curses. “You’re inexorably in the thick of things, so I’ll give you the condensed version and trust that you want to save your own backside enough to keep quiet. Thereisa magickind. The three of us are wizards. Every bloody one of those stories you’ve written has put us—and all of magickind—in danger.”

“You’re saying all this magical stuff is real?”

“Yes, and?—”

“Genuinely real?”

“I’m explaining that it is—if you’ll stop interrupting me. And we don’t need exposure to humans; they’ll unleash a witch hunt. Nor do you want Mathias after you. But that’s precisely what will happen since you were stupid enough to write about the diary. As if that isn’t enough, you shared a byline in a different story with Mathias’s second in command.” At her incredulous gasp, he goes on. “Zain is loyal to the very villain you’ve reviled. Didn’t tell you that, did he?”

“Zain Denzell?” I whirl on Sydney. “He’smy replacement?”

Chapter

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