At the sound of a sharp snap, I come to. My vision clears, focusing on Shock’s inscrutable face behind those damn sunglasses. I’m still not sure I trust him. Instinctively, I tighten my grip on the book, its weight both comforting and terrifying.
The room materializes around me—soaring ceilings, stark floors, and bare walls. Through a partition, I glimpse a warehouse transformed into a chic industrial loft. A black leather sofa and gleaming glass tables occupy the makeshift office. Beyond the walls, I hear shuffles and grunts, hinting at unseen dangers.
Is this really Mathias’s lair?
“Welcome.” A voice, smooth as silk and sharp as a blade, cuts through my thoughts.
I turn, and my breath catches. The man before me is devastatingly handsome—all chiseled features and rippling muscles barely contained by a tight black shirt. Exoticcheekbones frame a lush, smiling mouth. Dark hair with golden-brown streaks falls to broad shoulders. For a heartbeat, I’m mesmerized. He’s a sexual animal in his prime with enough magnetism for ten men.
Then I meet his eyes.
Pale blue and framed by thick lashes, they’re beautiful at first glance. But beneath that beauty lurks a coldness that chills me to the bone. These are the eyes of a predator, of a man who’d watch the world burn for his own amusement.
Maybe I’ve been listening to Aquarius too long. I can’t see this man’s aura, but I feel it. Calculating, soulless. Evil.
I steel myself, falling into my rehearsed role. “Thank you.”
“I’m Mathias.” He extends his hand, a spider offering its web.
Every instinct screams at me to recoil, but I force myself to shake it. Fire lances up my arm at his touch, and I yank my hand back, fighting the urge to scrub my skin raw.
“Would you care to sit?” He gestures to the sofa with elegant menace.
I glance at Shock, catching his barely perceptible nod. Heart pounding, I clutch the book tighter as I perch on the edge of the leather, pressing RECORD on the hidden camera in my bag. I position the lens in the little hole I cut out of the leather and point it right at Mathias.
Got you, you bastard.
“Shock tells me you’ve brought me quite the gift," Mathias purrs. “Anyone who delivers the Doomsday Diary deserves a reward.”
“I-I stumbled across it in my research. Actually, a stranger gave it to me after my first article printed. But when I heard about your quest for equality among magickind, I thought it might be best in your hands.” The bitter lie nearly chokes me.
Mathias’s eyes glitter, a serpent eyeing its prey. “How thoughtful. Why don’t you hand it over now?”
The air thickens with tension. I can feel the noose tightening, knowing one wrong move could spell disaster. But beneath the fear, a thrill of defiance surges. I’m here to expose this monster, and I’ll be damned if I let him intimidate me.
Chapter
Fifty-Three
Caden
Hand it over now.
Through a crack in the warehouse window, I watch as Mathias eyes Sydney. My blood runs cold.
Shock may have slipped us past Mathias’s security spells, but getting out with the book and our lives intact is another beast entirely.
The area is clear of human guards—Mathias’s arrogance on full display. The Doomsday Brethren and I wait for Shock’s “go” signal, but I can’t tear my eyes from Sydney and her deadly dance with the evil wizard.
He’s toying with her, a predator playing with its prey. Every fiber of my being screams to burst in and end him. I white-knuckle my semiautomatic, fearing that refusing a wand was madness. After all, a 9mm can’t take him down. Our battle in the tunnel proved that bullets barely scratch him.
I’ve rigged C4 at every corner and window—a human element Mathias won’t expect. Once inside, I’ll plant more on the overhead support beams. One press of a button, and this place would become a tomb.
But will that be enough to kill the most powerful wizard in a millennium?
“That’s why I came here,” Sydney says, sounding deceptively calm. “To give you the Doomsday Diary. But I wonder… You’re such a powerful figure in magickind, could I persuade you to answer a few questions first? I’m quite in awe.”
Her mix of starstruck and sheepish is masterful. The audacity to lie to the most dangerous wizard alive staggers me. She’s poking a bloody dragon, and even Shock looks unsettled.