Page 85 of Possess Me at Midnight
“And he also made himself look the hero while he got exactly what he wanted: for the Anarki to take him to their master so he might have the opportunity to kill Mathias. Don’t delude yourself, sister dear. He didn’t sacrifice himself for you. This man who professes his love so sweetly would do anything for the chance to take Mathias apart, limb by limb, in the most painful way possible, even sacrifice you, me—and anyone else. And he’d say anything to have his revenge against me.” Bram stares over my shoulder at the other wizard. “I grant you, Ice would never condone the death of an innocent woman. But he knows you’re far too valuable to simply hand over to our enemy. Just like he knows there’s more than one way to take my sister from me.”
Ice says nothing. He simply drills my brother with a glacial stare. My mind races as I try to unravel his words. “What are you saying?
“Dig deeper for his motives, Sabelle.”
“If she does, she’ll find only devotion and love,” Ice growls.
“Right…” Bram drawls, then faces me. “Decide whether you want to stake your entire future on his words. Because if you refuse Lucan and choose Ice instead, you will no longer be my kin.”
Shock and horror sweep through me. I can’t believe what I’m hearing. “You would disclaim me?”
“You’d leave me no choice. I won’t stand by and watch you put yourself forever in the grip of a madman with a vendetta, determined to hunt a homicidal tyrant, regardless of the cost. You will end up impoverished and mateless. Think on that before you decide.”
After my brother’s startling words, I flee him and Ice, running down the hall, the stairs, flinging Sterling’s back door open to the frozen December garden. I wear no shoes against the cold stone, no coat to protect me from the chill. I barely feel it.
My brother will disclaim me if I mate with Ice.
Disclaiming is nearly unheard of these days…except among the most Privileged. I’ve long known my brother expects my mating to bring advantage to our family. I even agreed it was critical. With times this difficult, he needs the benefit of a good match. But I truly believed he loved me enough to allow me to mate happily.
He just shattered that illusion. Discovering that I’m as much a pawn to him as I once was to my mother is a bitter pill.
Yet I can’t risk trusting Ice now, knowing his vow of revenge against Bram.
Again, I wish I possessed the wizards’ mating instinct. If I only knew for certain that Ice is the one for me… My heart says so, but I have little experience in such matters. What if all his care was a ploy? What if his sacrifice to the Anarki was a convenient way to dupe me while getting closer to the man he intends to kill at all costs? What if all the ways Ice makes my body sing mean no more to him than a chest-beating comparison to all the Privileged lovers in my past? Or a slap in Bram’s face?
Any of that could be possible. The truth is, I’ve only known Ice a handful of days.
I swipe the tears from my chilled face with trembling fingers. Cold drizzle dampens my hair, and I shiver as I look across the expanse of the wintery garden.
Snow fell last night. The remnants dust the shore of the half-frozen pond. A stone lantern sits on the far banks. Bushes around it groan with the precipitation’s weight. The landscape seems desolate, ravaged by the elements—much like my heart.
I don’t know what the devil to believe. Bram may be cruel because of that spell’s after-effects, but the facts he revealed are true. Ice even admitted them. The threat happened. His vendetta was real. But that was over two hundred years ago. The only way Ice could be telling the truth now? If he loves me.
But how can I know for certain?
“Sabelle… You’re freezing.”
Lucan. His concerned voice slips into my ear, even as his body heat blankets my back. He doesn’t touch me, merely drapes a jacket around my shaking shoulders.
“I-I’m fine.” My chattering teeth belie my words.
“You’re going to catch your death. Come inside. I’ll make you some hot cocoa. We’ll discuss everything.”
For once, I don’t want to talk. I want to wail that my brother may be forever changed. That I love a man I cannot mate with, who might not love me back. And the most terrible, awful pain is rending my insides to shreds, tearing my still beating heart from my chest and leaving it to bleed at my feet.
But I can hardly say that to Lucan, my other suitor, without hurting him.
“I’ll be in soon,” I demur.
He cups my shoulders and sighs. “Sweetheart, we must discuss this. Time is running short. If we’re going to cut Mathias off at the knees and prevent the rest of the Council from bumbling our defense, we’ve mere hours to do it. Tomorrow at the latest.”
Hours. I must decide the rest of my life in a few ticks of the clock. The path seemed so simple an hour ago, wrapped in Ice’s embrace, basking in his passion. Now…
I squeeze my eyes shut and nod. “I know.”
“I would give you more time, but Mathias… And we don’t know what the other Councilmen might do.”
A spike of anger has me whirling on him, but I tamp it down. It’s hardly Lucan’s fault that he’s right. I desperately want more time to sort through Bram’s condition, the tangle of these accusations, and my own emotions. But if we wait, it will be too late to intercede. Mathias will be on the Council and disaster will already be unleashed.
