Page 68 of Possess Me at Midnight
I’m confused. “New volunteers?”
“Tynan brought Raiden and Ronan here.”
The Wolvsey twins? As wild as they’ve always been, I’m not sure how useful they’ll prove to the cause. But they’re the least of my worries now.
“I know that expression, Sabelle. They’re hardly the same boys who pulled on your hair when you were in nappies,” Lucan informs me.
If that’s true, it’s good news. But those two womanizing hell-raisers aren’t even on my radar.
Olivia opens the door. Marrok and the two green-eyed wizards enter behind her. Everyone is here. Finally, we can do what needs to be done.
“Doomsday Brethren, gather round,” Duke calls.
I find myself wishing my brother was helming this meeting…and that Ice was hovering beside me with his gruff growls and sarcastic comebacks. The thought that I might never see him again, never feel his protective presence, makes my chest tighten with barely suppressed panic. Will anything ever be right again if I lose them both?
Quickly, the warriors comply, edging in closer.
“Excellent.” Duke scans the room, taking in every warrior’s face and their determination. “We need a plan, and we need it now.”
Another fifteen minutes slide by as the warriors debate the pros and cons of multiple rescue strategies. Sterling still insists that Ice, being Deprived, is expendable and often changes the subject from plotting his rescue to thwarting Mathias’s scheme to sit on the Council. I want to scream and rail, but that isn’t productive. Finally, Caden redirects his uncle to locate an obscure bit of Council law, bless him.
But among the Doomsday Brethren, tempers run short. Without Bram to act as general, each argues about the best way to rescue Ice. Duke is brilliant at organizing resources, but by his own admission, he’s no battle tactician. Marrok and Caden are experts in warfare, but not the magical kind. After his mate mourning, Lucan is still not himself. And the Wolvsey twins have been members of the Doomsday Brethren for five minutes, relatively speaking. Besides, they’ve always been lovers, not fighters.
Saving Ice is made harder by the fact that no one knows where he’s being held. The only possible source of information is Shock…and no one trusts him.
The tick-tock of the clock pounds in my ears. My head thuds. My heart wails. I can’t sit here while these wizards waste time squabbling. Instead, I leave the warrior business to them, insisting that I need to check on my brother and store the Doomsday Diary in a hidden location, just in case. The men barely nod my way. As I slip from the room, I send Olivia and Sydney meaningful glances. Then I disappear into the first available bedroom in Sterling’s sprawling estate.
Moments later, the other two ladies enter behind me.
“Sabelle?” Sydney asks softly. “Are you okay?”
Olivia hugs me. “And don’t tell us you’re fine. I know you’re not.”
“You’re right; I’m not,” I confess to my friends, barely holding in a sob. “I have to get Ice back. I’m going to.”
Olivia and Sydney exchange a glance. Obviously, they suspect Ice and I formed far more than a friendship while on the run. Wisely, neither says a word.
I unzip my pack, open the Doomsday Diary, and stare at the other ladies. “How do I use this? I know you both know. And I need to. Please.”
“The book is…really unpredictable.” Olivia frowns. “Are you sure that’s a good idea?”
“Do you have a better one? We’d be mad to assume that the handful of exhausted, banged-up warriors downstairs could infiltrate Mathias’s heavily guarded compound, wherever it might be, and suffer no injuries or casualties. Why risk them if this bloody book can help? I didn’t know for certain how to use it and had no time when Ice was first taken. But Mathias has left me no choice. Every second we waste arguing, Ice could be…” I swallow hard, unable to voice the possibility that he might already be dead. “I can’t sit here. I won’t.” I grip their hands. “Help me.”
They share another look before Sydney nods.
“Every time I wrote in the book, I started with ‘Dear Magical Diary,’ since that’s what I believed the book to be. Of course, I thought it merely granted sexual fantasies.” She flushes, her pale skin turning almost as red as her hair. “As far as I know, all you do is jot down your wish.”
Olivia searches the room for a pen, then hands it to me. “When I used it, I learned that for your wish to come true, you’ve got to have a powerful desire to have it granted. The bigger the wish, the more you have to want it. This is a big ask, so saving Ice… It has to be your heart’s deepest desire.”
She winces at me like that’s going to be a problem. It won’t be—at all.
I ache without him. Fear gnaws at my belly every moment he’s not here. Not knowing if he’s still alive is pure torture. I want him beside me where I can wrap my arms around him, touch him, heal him. I need him here so we can figure out if there’s any possible way we could untangle this world and share a future.
“No spell or other incantation necessary?”
They both shake their heads. Olivia’s violet eyes are full of soft empathy. Sydney’s dark stare glows with the suspicion that my heart belongs to a wizard I should never want.
“Perfect.” I grab the pen, my hand trembling slightly, touching it to the page as I prepare my thoughts.
