Page 69 of Possess Me at Midnight
Ice’s safe return, free from Mathias and by my side. Nothing has ever mattered more. I close my eyes, picturing his face—not bloodied and broken as he likely is now, but strong and defiant, green eyes blazing with life. I need him back. I need to feel him against me again.
Please, I think desperately. Let this work.
“Be warned. Your wish coming true… It takes time,” Sydney says. "The diary doesn’t work in the snap of a finger. Mine took a day, sometimes more.”
“Exactly,” Olivia added. “But…what if writing in the book makes it traceable?”
“We’ll deal with it.” Then, before anyone can try to talk me out of it, I scrawl out a few sentences in which I beg for Ice’s safe return. Then I slam the book shut. “That’s done. But I can’t leave Ice’s fate to the whims of an ancient book and even more ancient magic. I’m going to find Shock.”
Olivia gasps, mouth gaping.
“Are you out of your bloody mind?” Sydney rounds on me. “He’s supposed to be one of us, but he’s most likely sided with Mathias. He may well view you popping in as an opportunity to take you to his master for brownie points and a pat on the head.”
We know little about the elder Denzell brother. He appears when it suits him, then disappears again just as quickly. Secretive in the extreme, Shock is a mystery. But at this point, I see few options. Besides, there is one thing I understand about the man.
“I assure you, Shock is no one’s lap dog.” In fact, my suspicion is that he’s a pragmatist, somewhat like me. He has less skin in this fight than I have, so he’s content to play both sides. Above all, I suspect he intends to be on the winning side. So for now, he can sit back and watch others play political chess until he figures out who’s likely to win. Then he’ll have positioned himself to say he fought for the victor all along.
“He’s also really freaking unreliable,” Olivia puts in.
“I’m aware Shock is neither safe nor predictable, but during the battle in the tunnel, he didn’t hurt you when he could have,” I argue. “Besides, it’s possible he’ll be away and Anka will know something useful.”
Then again, my friends could be right. Shock might abduct me on sight. But I can’t wait around for the men downstairs to come to a decision that will risk their lives. I’d rather risk myself than the warriors we desperately need to reclaim magickind. And if Shock captures me…at least I might learn where Ice is being held before?—”
I can’t finish that thought.
“Let us go with you,” Sydney urges.
“No! Mathias would love to stop the anti-Anarki voice of the transcasts. You’re the only one giving magickind the valuable information it needs.” Then I turn to Olivia. “And you have an enormous target on your back, being Morgana Le Fay’s great-granddaughter. Everyone knows your magic will be significant once you transition. Besides, I need you to take care of my brother and keep the diary safely under your wing.” I hand the book to Olivia. “I don’t have to tell you to guard it with your life. And Sydney, I need you to perform some verbal gymnastics so the wizards downstairs have no idea I’ve gone.”
“All right. But if you’re not back in two hours, we’re coming after you,” Sydney warns.
I nod. In two hours, I’ll either be successful…or dead.
Chapter
Twenty-Six
I teleport to Shock’s house. On a seedy London street close to Canary Wharf, it’s one of many nondescript brick buildings that have withstood wind, water, and war for centuries. Renovations in the form of a new coat of paint or a window washing have done little to disguise the place’s less-than-distinguished feel.
With a shaking inhalation, I send out my personal ring, asking Shock for admittance. I’d prefer him to be elsewhere so I can talk to Anka alone. Since she escaped Mathias’s captivity, she’s proven far more loyal than Denzell. If not for her well-timed warning the night the Anarki attacked Goldcroft Manor, I fear most of the Doomsday Brethren and I would already be dead. But I don’t have the luxury of waiting. It’s entirely likely Mathias is torturing Ice for information. I haven’t known Isdernus for long, but I’m convinced he’d give anything—even his life—to protect me. So once that bravely protective wizard refuses to say anything except four-letter slurs, d’Arc and the Anarki will end him.
Even the possibility has tears threatening. But I can’t afford them, so I toss my head back and watch the opening door head on.
Luck isn’t on my side. Shock appears in the doorway wearing sunglasses, leather trousers, a glower—and nothing else. The power of his half-bare body roars at me through the open portal. Towering height, bulging shoulders, cabled biceps, ridged abdomen, well-muscled thighs. He’s intentionally imposing. It’s his visual Keep Away sign.
“To what do I owe this pleasure?” he drawls. “Did your brother send you here in his place, like a servant, to deliver another of his inane messages? Does he imagine that I won’t kill the messenger if she’s pretty?”
If necessary, I can also play games, mince words, talk in half-truths, and refuse to reveal my purpose. But it’s a bloody waste of time. Shock likely knows where Ice is being held. If I play this right and if he chooses to help me, I can save Ice soon.
Big if, especially since Shock keeps me on his doorstep, shivering in the December chill. Snow has fallen in London, and the damp wind cuts through my clothes.
“No. I’m sure you know that when we freed Sydney from Mathias a few days past, he hit my brother with a spell none of us has ever seen or knows how to counter. It’s slowly been killing him. I’ve merely been able to make my brother comfortable and hope his absent mate appears to help him. But that’s not?—”
Shock’s black brows descend to a harsh scowl. “What sort of spell?”
“If I knew, I would be healing him. It’s wrapped him in a dark cloud and nearly smothered him. But as trying as that may be, I’m here to discuss Ice.”
Shock stands stock-still. An expression crosses his face. Smugness. Awareness. He knows about Ice’s captivity.
