“Any change in Aquarius?” Bram asked, breaking the heavy silence.

Sydney shook her head and picked at the tender meat on her plate. Guilt and heartache were appetite killers. “No.”

She supposed she should be thankful that Zain had left her friend alive. She didn’t know if his spell prevented her from dying from her injuries or if Sydney’s efforts to keep Aquarius cool with compresses and ice packs had helped. Whatever the cause, thankfully, her resilient friend had hung on.

Bram turned to his sister. “Did you call for Conrad, the healer? He’s had more experience than Millie, and he tended Marrok well enough a few weeks past.”

The blonde glanced at Ice before she focused on her brother. “He popped by earlier. Said he’s never seen anything like it either. He can’t help, but suggested the helbresele spell.”

“A healing spell would be lovely, but until Zain awakens and gives his blessing, that’s impossible.”

That didn’t improve Sydney’s mood. She didn’t fully understand the spell, but even if Zain was conscious, he certainly wouldn’t consent to help Aquarius.

Sabelle turned toward Caden. “He also looked in on Lucan.”

“I spoke with Conrad before he left.” From Caden’s tone she wondered if his brother’s condition had worsened.

“He told you that we should try moving him to his own home? That he might improve with exposure to more familiar surroundings?”

“Yes. I’ll be preparing his house over the next day or two. Anka put up a quite a fight, and it’s in shambles. As soon as it’s ready, I’ll move him.”

“I’ll help,” she said. “If moving him will help his condition improve.”

“I can lend a hand,” Sydney offered.

“No,” Caden bit out. “But thank you.”

His immediate, adamant refusal stung.

Caden leaned closer and murmured, “I don’t want to involve you any more than I must. Let me protect you.”

Was he simply trying to keep her safe or had that been a lie to soften the blow? What danger could there be in cleaning up a house?

Sydney suspected that he simply didn’t want her there. Had the tenderness he’d once shown her been manufactured by the Doomsday Diary? After all, it granted wishes, and she’d fantasized about him on the page. What they shared had been more than sex. For her, anyway. Now that the spell was gone, so, it appeared, was his caring.

In some ways, she wished she’d never laid eyes on that book. But had she not, Caden would never have let down that mammoth self-control and become her lover.

He had a lot on his plate, true. But deep down she feared he simply didn’t want her for more than a shag, and she had no one to blame but herself. Rather than dwelling on her screwup, she’d be better served by focusing on her story. Once this ordeal was over, releasing it would be safe. With great copy and proof of magickind’s existence, she’d be a journalistic sensation.

But right now, her old life seemed a million miles away. Sydney pushed her plate aside.

“Anyone seen Shock?” Duke ventured, more to change the subject than anything she suspected. The man had disappeared again late last night.

“No. I tried to reach him earlier today to coordinate some last minute plans for our—” Bram glanced her way, then pursed his lips together. “He didn’t answer.”

And whatever he’d been about to say would remain a secret. She understood why Bram didn’t trust her, but she wouldn’t write a word for Out of This Realm when doing so would endanger them. She’d made that clear to Holly. But they had no reason to trust her.

A series of trills and gongs sounded. Bram sat up straight, listening intently. As soon as the last note faded away, he rose and stalked from the room.

“What’s that?” Sydney asked.

Sabelle looked puzzled, but explained, “It’s a magical calling card. To be polite, we send a distinct sound to another residence when we wish to visit.”

“Each person has an individual bell ring?”

“Something like that.”

“Do you know who that one belongs to?” she asked.

“Everyone,” Bram called from the narrow dining room’s portal. “This is Tynan O’Shea.”

Mr. O’Shea was, in a word, yummy. Hair as dark and shiny as ink and slightly spiked, as if he were ready for a photo shoot. A rugged face, a strong chin, and bronzed skin all gave the appearance of a hearty outdoorsman. But his flat gray eyes looked as if all life and happiness had been sucked dry.

He held up a large palm by way of greeting, not meeting anyone’s eye, then turned an intense gaze back to Bram. Clearly, he wasn’t here to be sociable.

“Sit.” Bram gestured toward an empty seat at the table.

“Hungry?”

O’Shea shook his head. “I came to talk. I want answers.”

“Has something happened to your family?”

Slowly, he shook his head, then he swallowed. “I’ve heard whispers that Mathias has returned.”

Sydney frowned. Whispers? Of course Mathias had returned. How could Tynan not know?

Bram shifted in his chair. “Have you asked your grandfather?”

Tynan drilled him with a derisive stare. “Would I be here if I’d gotten answers?”

“Officially, as a Council member, I’m not at liberty to —”

“The devil with the Council!” Tynan erupted suddenly.

“Who killed Auropha MacKinnett?”

Clearing his throat, Bram sighed. Sydney got the distinct impression that Bram was stalling for time.

“We haven’t yet determined precisely—”

“The truth, damn you!” O’Shea looked ready to burst a blood vessel. His olive complexion flushed red. His eyes flared to furious life, like smoke and danger and determination. “Was it Mathias?”

“There are rumors that some rogue vestige of the Anarki are trying to wreak havoc.”

“I hear others have been attacked!” O’Shea pointed out. “People claim they’ve seen Mathias. I saw Auropha’s body.” He choked on the last word.

Sydney’s heart went out to him. The man looked genuinely anguished. And furious, as if he had a death wish. As long as he could avenge Auropha first, Tynan O’Shea would die a satisfied man.

“Tell me the bloody truth!” Tynan demanded.

Mathias on the loose should be all over magickind’s version of the news. Maybe he’d been living in a fishbowl? Sydney saw confusion and desperate need in his expression. The man fisted his hands, clearly trying to hold back. Tension vibrated in the air, and she had little doubt O’Shea was close to snapping.

“You know I’m not allowed to speak of Council matters,” Bram said finally.

“Do not fuck with me,” he growled. “I loved Auropha. She was to be my mate after her transition next year. If that Satan’s spawn raped her until she found her nextlife, then I want to show him his. The more painful his death, the better.”

Sydney held her breath. Ice cursed softly. Duke looked at Bram, seemingly waiting for a cue. Would no one tell this grieving man about the Doomsday Brethren?

“Damn it, have you formed a clandestine army? There are whispers. I visited the Pullman family after they were attacked. One of the neighbors thought you might be gathering warriors to combat Mathias, and doing it under the Council’s nose.” He rose and growled. “If you’re fighting, I want in.”

“Mere rumors,” Bram said weakly.

Sydney’s jaw dropped, then she snapped her mouth shut.

Why would Bram lie?

Tynan sneered. “Only in dire circumstances would I find a Deprived like Rykard supping at the same table as the ultimate Privileged. You need only your friend Lucan MacTavish to complete the picture. Where is he?”

Dead silence fell across the table. Sydney bit her lip. Couldn’t these people see Tynan O’Shea’s anguish? Why wouldn’t they help him? Sydney hurt for the man and his soul searing loss. How could they refuse this poor man something as simple as the truth? Besides, if the odds were so seriously against Bram, Caden, and the others, wouldn’t they want another warrior?

“Lucan is injured,” Sydney finally said, testing the waters.

Every head at the table whipped in her direction, especially O’Shea’s. His gaze fixed on her until she felt pinned as surely as if he held her to the ground. Oops, maybe I shouldn’t have said anything.

“And they’re fighting Mathias as a group, human?”

Sydney frowned. How did he know I was human? Not important now. Instead, she caught Bram’s gaze, silently asking why he wouldn’t want to tell O’Shea the truth. Finally, the blond wizard sighed.

“Fine. Unofficially, yes. We have formed a group, the Doomsday Brethren, designed to both keep the Doomsday Diary safe and fight Mathias, who has returned from exile, and the Anarki. If you take the information about the Doomsday Brethren to your grandfather, I will deny it to him and the rest of the Council with my dying breath.”

“Why would I end a group that can help me avenge Auropha and prevent this tragedy from befalling another family? I’m relieved you’re taking action. I know the Council will do nothing to quell Mathias. They’ll merely deny his existence, despite news like this.”

O’Shea pulled a scrap of paper from his pocket. Sydney would have recognized it anywhere. It was her article from Out of This Realm about the battle in the tunnel. She gasped.

“You read my article?” The words slipped out before she could stop them.

“This and the others in the series.” O’Shea crossed the room, grabbed Sydney’s shoulders and hauled her out of her chair. “You’re the reporter? What else do you know?”

Suddenly, Caden stepped between them. “Take your hands off my—the woman.”

Tynan pinned him with a contemptuous gaze. “You are a MacTavish, clearly.”

“Caden, Lucan’s younger brother.”

The distraught man held Sydney tighter. “Until someone gives me information, I’m going to keep asking her questions. She’s talking, at least.”

The murderous look O’Shea tossed at Bram chilled Sydney. He was deadly serious.

“She’s already told you all she knows,” Bram drawled, looking totally unconcerned. But she sensed the tenseness in his shoulders, the slight pull of his mouth.

“Let me fight with you.”

Caden spoke up then. “Let her go and get lost. There’s more here than wand waving.”

Tynan raised a dark brow. “Meaning?”

“In for a penny, in for a pound,” Bram grumbled. “Mathias is ‘recruiting’ Anarki involuntarily, using human soldiers for his army once he rips their souls from their body. They don’t wield magic and seem impervious to it, so the only way to defeat them is through human methods. Ever punched a man? Fired a gun? Sliced someone in two with a sword?”

The angry intruder looked around the room, seeming to gauge whether everyone else knew these things as well. He released Sydney. “I’ll learn.”

After pausing, Bram shook his head. “No. I can’t risk it.”

Duke interjected, “A handful of weeks ago, few of us knew any of those things, either.”

“I can teach the lout quickly, should he learn to curb his temper,” Marrok added. “An emotional warrior is a sloppy one.”

“I’ll curb it. Just . . . damn it, let me fight.” Tynan curled his hands around the sides of an ornate dining room chair, his knuckles turning white.

“If I let you fight beside us and you’re killed, your grandfather would do everything in his power to see me separated from the Council and my head severed from my body. No.”

“You need more warriors,” Caden argued. “I’m not staying. Lucan . . .” He shrugged painfully. “He may never fight again. Shock comes, Shock goes.”

“Shock Denzell?” O’Shea asked, incredulous. “His family has always supported Mathias. Isn’t he on the other side?”

Bram didn’t answer. He turned to Caden instead. “Your point?”

“Mathias is quickly swelling his ranks with all these soldiers he’s conscripting. You have a wizard willing to fight. You allowed everyone else here to fight with the understanding that their safety was on their own head. Why change the rules for him?” Duke pointed to Tynan. “We need him as much as he wants to join. It isn’t as if we have more appealing options.”

Sydney winced. It was the blunt truth.

“I absolve you of any and all blame if something happens to me,” Tynan assured.

“Your family won’t.”

“Burn the body, then. They’ll simply think I disappeared. The great Bram Rion has ways to protect his precious reputation, I have no doubt. But don’t exclude me because you’re afraid of an old man like my grandfather.”

Oh, that was ugly. Animosity was thick in the air.

Marrok stood suddenly, clutching the hilt of his sword, always strapped about his hips. “Have you brought your wand?”

Tynan looked at Marrok as if he’d gone mad. “I never go anywhere without it.”

With a quick nod, his long, dark hair brushing his shoulders, Marrok said, “Come with us. I will test your fighting prowess, and Bram, your magical skills. If you have aptitude, mayhap you can join. Bram?”

Bram’s face told Sydney that he didn’t like being boxed into a corner, but saw the logic. “If you possess skill with a wand and can demonstrate the ability to learn human combat, I’ll consider it.”

Tynan nodded eagerly. Bram shot Marrok a rancorous glare and followed him. A moment later, the back door slammed. Duke rose next and crossed the room, exiting after them. Then Ice. Olivia and Sabelle followed.

Suddenly, Caden and Sydney found themselves alone. She rose and took a few steps toward the hall—until Caden wrapped his hand around her arm and pulled her back.

She whirled to him, certain that what was about to happen would make a great story. “I want to see what happens next.”

“And I don’t want you involved any deeper.”

She had always been independent, and that would never change. Besides, while this was a story that could make her, it was one people should read as well.