Duke pulled close to the walk, then turned to Olivia. “Can you park this? Call Marrok and tell him your location. Suggest that Sabelle fetch you as soon as possible. I hate to leave you alone, even for a moment.”

Olivia laid a soft hand on his shoulder. “I’m fine.”

“Bad people still want their bloody hands on you, my little le Fay. You’re in danger. Be careful.”

Le Fay? Like Morganna le Fay?

A smile curved the beauty’s mouth. “You’re like the annoying big brother I never had.”

“Big brothers know best. Now go.”

At Olivia’s nod, Duke exited the vehicle, doffing his sweater. When, the back door opened, he leaned in. Sydney wriggled to lower her skirt, which earned her a growl from Caden. Hurstgrove never looked her way.

“Come with me.” Duke grabbed Caden by the neck and yanked him to his feet. Caden fought, hitting his head on the top of the door.

“Careful!” she insisted.

As soon as he cleared the vehicle, Caden snarled and whirled, throwing wicked punches in the air.

Duke spun him around, then clamped his arms around Caden’s middle. “Put this on.” He tossed her his sweater. “Go. Open your door. We’ll follow.”

Sydney skipped the lift and headed for the stairs, uncertain that Duke could contain Caden during the ancient machine’s long ascent.

Behind her, Caden grunted, straining to be free. She swallowed. His desire was contagious. Want hiked up her breathing, cramped her sex. But terror crept in. What if she couldn’t help him? What if her efforts to reach his heart didn’t heal him? What if this was all due to that damn book?

Suddenly, Duke huffed. “Bloody hell!”

Glancing over her shoulder, Sydney found Duke doubled over—and Caden charging for her. He pinned her to the wall a moment later, grabbing her thigh in one hand and nipping at her throat with his lips. She felt his erection pressed against her. Her anticipation skyrocketed, and she palmed her way under his shirt, eager to feel the hot, bare skin of his back.

“Not in the hall,” Duke admonished. “Let’s get behind closed doors, shall we?”

Oops! No matter how badly she wanted Caden, Hurst-grove was right. Admittedly, it was odd to be nearly ravished in front of a stranger, and she was hardly in the humor to provide a peep show for her neighbors. But caring at the moment was bloody hard. What woman didn’t have a fantasy or two about a man being so overcome with passion he was hardly himself? Even more, the fact Caden had asked her to be the anchor in his storm added to her thrill.

So when Caden pressed against her and whispered that he couldn’t wait to be alone with her, inside her, she melted all over again.

With a curse, Duke managed to pry Caden away and push him up the stairs. They trudged toward her door.

As they reached it, Duke tried to soothe her by patting her shoulder. “After you’re inside and together, all will be well.”

Suddenly, Caden shoved her behind his big, hot body, then whirled to face Hurstgrove, then clasped his hand around the duke’s throat. “You will not touch her.”

“Right.” Duke held up both hands in surrender. “Won’t do that.”

Caden growled and let go, then turned back to Sydney. Possessiveness? Yes, it was in his eyes. She’d always been certain that this relationship meant more to her heart than his, but now . . . now she questioned that. Was she finally seeing the emotions he’d kept hidden behind his barriers?

Hoping yes, she raced for her door, inserting her key with trembling fingers. He was right behind her, pressing her to the wood, breathing hot and hard in her ear.

“Don’t leave me, Sydney.”

She finally managed to turn the key, and they spilled inside the little flat. Caden roared in after her, his expression a pledge that he meant to have her. Heart trumpeting, she drew in a ragged breath. Duke followed them in, shutting and locking the door, his gaze discreetly focused elsewhere.

Hurstgrove spotted the hallway leading to her bedroom and gestured to her. “Take him.”

“Be with me,” Caden murmured. “Now. I need you.”

Sydney wanted that more than anything, but needed some information about his condition first. “We’re here. Explain. Why is he suddenly a randy octopus and why does he want my help?”

Duke mussed his expensively coiffed hair by raking a hand through it. He cursed something ugly. Then he glanced at Caden, feverish and sliding his hands over her arms, across her abdomen, burning her up with his touch.

“This is off the record. If one word of this appears in your tabloid, I will use all my wealth and connections to shut it down and unemploy you permanently.”

His intimidation tactics startled Sydney—and annoyed her. If he hadn’t been Caden’s friend and she hadn’t seen his concern in action, she’d have tossed him out on his ear. Yes, he was wealthy and powerful, but if she stumbled upon a hidden truth, she wanted to tell it. Still, she had no doubt Duke could make good on his threats.

“I don’t like being bullied.” She glared at Duke.

“Understood. But you’re dealing with something very dangerous you can’t possibly understand.”

Her heart stopped. “Caden’s condition is that serious?”

Duke hesitated. “Not exactly. It’s everything you’ve been writing about.”

Caden had warned her of that repeatedly, seemed gravely concerned about her safety. “In what way? What does magic have to do with him?”

At that moment, Caden planted his mouth on her neck, hand under the sweater, and whispered of his need. She shivered, her mind whirling and her body aching. But Duke’s words demanded a few moments of attention before she lost herself in Caden’s touch.

“We’re out of time. All I can say now is that Caden has been touched by magic and he’s chosen you, and you alone, to provide a healing touch. He’ll reject all others, I suspect.”

The fact he’d chosen her was both thrilling and surprising, but . . . “Touched by magic? Cursed?”

Sydney thought again of the book and all she’d written and winced.

“I’m certain that’s how he sees it. By joining with you, he can convert the energy you generate together into something that heals him.”

“How do you know?” Sydney managed to gasp out as Caden gripped her hips and pressed into her, clearly ready for a night of sin. She wasn’t at all immune to the idea.

“I’ve been through this. He needs you now. Please,” Duke cajoled. “He’s going to require everything you’re willing to give. Just don’t kiss him. It would be catastrophic.”

“To his health?”

Caden’s hands maneuvered up her belly, to the sweater and began lifting it. Sydney tried to wriggle away, but his grip was like iron. He wanted her. Now.

Duke nodded. “And perhaps yours.”

“Does this have anything to do with the book?” Sydney hated to think she’d done this to him. He’d be furious and hate her—and rightfully so.

Caden had apparently tired of talking. He tore Duke’s sweater from her body and urged her down the hall. When she resisted, he scooped her up and carried her.

“What the—Caden!”

With a grunt, he kept going.

“Give him what he needs for as long as you can,” Duke called out.

“I will!”

Now her only questions were: How long would that be? And did she have everything necessary to heal him?

“So what happens now?”

Duke whirled toward the voice. Olivia. He hadn’t heard her come in the door.

“That was locked.” He frowned.

She shrugged. “I’ve been working on my simple magic. Locks are a breeze for me now.”

Despite the tense situation, he smiled. “Marrok always says you’re mischievous. I see why. Is Sabelle coming for you?”

A thud reverberated through the room, like something— or someone—had hit the wall. Moments later, a murmur, a rip, then a sigh. Clearly, they weren’t wasting any time. Duke winced.

“Soon,” Olivia answered, flushing a pretty shade of pink. “She’s helping Bram elsewhere now. Marrok asked me to wait with you for a bit.”

With a nod, Duke sat on the sofa. Olivia followed suit.

On the other side of the wall, sighs turned to moans.

He hesitated. “I suppose you won’t settle for the short version of upcoming events.”

“You know better.”

Duke settled his elbows on his knees and peered over at the violet-eyed beauty. She was striking and soon would be a powerful witch once she went through Caden’s current plight.

“He’s transitioning, and I suspect he’s been fighting the need for some weeks, so he’ll need a tremendous amount of energy. It’s going to be long and difficult. And dangerous. It’s made worse because he’s fighting the urge to Call to her.”

Olivia’s eyes threatened to pop from her head. “A human reporter? Has he completely lost it?”

Her American expressions often amused Duke, but now wasn’t the time. “I’ve warned him. I also placed a secret repelling spell over her mouth. It’s not foolproof and won’t hold for more than a few days, but it’s all I can do for now. My biggest concern is whether she’ll be strong enough to pull him through this transition.”

“It doesn’t take a lot of physical strength for a female to have sex,” she pointed out.

“Perhaps stamina is a better word.”

Olivia frowned. “How long will they be at this?”

A loud feminine moan penetrated the walls, followed by a male voice muttering in encouraging tones.

Duke managed to hide his grimace. “The average is two days.”

“But it can be longer?”

“Yes.” He scrubbed a hand over his face. Frightening the girl who had yet to undergo her own transition was something he wanted to avoid, but being dishonest benefitted no one. “My transition came two years early. In my ignorance, I fought it. My parents knew little about magic, since mine came from my grandmother, who had long since disappeared. So when I transitioned, it was harsh, as I suspect Caden’s will be.”

“And yours took longer?”

Before he could answer, a thumping against the wall startled him. The sound echoed through Sydney’s little living room once, twice, again, then settled into a rhythmic pace. Bloody hell.

“Three days,” he confessed. It was one of the few times his body and magic had completely overridden his decorum. For those few days, no amount of sex had been enough, no act too wicked. He’d rejected food, water, family.

“The poor woman must have been exhausted after three days. I can see why you’re worried for Sydney.”

When Duke had transitioned, his emotions had not been engaged with a woman, as Caden’s were. He’d started with a woman he’d been casually dating. When she fell into an exhausted sleep, he hadn’t thought twice about opening the door to growl for another.

But he said nothing. Still, something on his face must have shown his discomfort.

“More than one woman?” Olivia choked.

He closed his eyes. “Four.” And the last had nearly had to be replaced.

A good thing, he thought in retrospect. At the end of every transition, each witch’s or wizard’s special power, unique to them, emerged—without any warning when or what would manifest. When his special power had emerged, if the woman he’d been with hadn’t been mostly unconscious, she would have screamed in utter terror.

“What happens if Sydney isn’t strong enough to pull him through?”

“Let’s hope for the best, shall we?”

Olivia didn’t look comforted. “Are you trying to avoid telling me that he could die?”

He patted her hand to reassure her. “You will be better prepared. Bram will tell Marrok well in advance what’s to come and how to behave. My family was not so lucky. Do not fear; your transition will come off splendidly.”

“I’m not worried about me. Marrok will do everything in his power to get me through. But I’m worried about Caden.

What if Sydney can’t? Who will—”

“Replacing her doesn’t seem to be an option. Caden is dangerously attached, and I can only hope we find some way to separate them before he cements the bond by issuing the Call or—”

“Yes. Yes!” Sydney wailed on the other side of the wall.

“We won’t ever be able to part them,” Olivia finished.

“He’ll kill anyone who tries. A wizard will fight for his mate to the death.”

“But she’s a reporter who could spill every one of our secrets. Caden says she’s ambitious and plans to use her current job as a stepping stone to something big. Blowing the magickind story open is disaster for us. She already knows too much about the war and Mathias and—”

“Could make genocide of our kind a terrible reality. But the way he looks at her, I fear it won’t be long after this transition before they form a mate bond.”

She grimaced. “Well, there must be something productive we can do while we wait. We need the Diary. Shouldn’t we look for it while Sydney is . . . busy? If we find it, I’ll be able to grab it and go.”

“Good thought. In the past you’ve been able to feel its power. Do you sense it here?”

With a scowl, Olivia rose and wandered around the little flat. “I don’t feel it in this room.” She meandered into the kitchen, the foyer, into every corner of the apartment on the near side of Sydney’s bedroom door, then sighed. “If it’s in this flat, Sydney is keeping it in her bedroom. I can’t feel the surge of the book’s power unless it’s close, and definitely not through the door.”

Duke pinched the bridge of his nose. “If you go into the bedroom to search while Caden is transitioning, he may perceive you as a threat.”

“And try to kill me. Spectacular.”

He patted her shoulder. “And if I let anything happen to you, Marrok would kill me. Why don’t we return to the sofa and wait . . . and hope disaster isn’t around the corner?”