Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 115860 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 579(@200wpm)___ 463(@250wpm)___ 386(@300wpm)
Too bad for Mathias I’m not “normal” anymore.
Closing my eyes, I let my senses crawl around the ten-foot wall. Simple.
While I don’t know the limits of my magic, there’s nothing I won’t do if it helps me reach Sydney. For all I know, I’m bloody Superman. When I was a tot, my mum made it sound as if I would be. I’ve already performed some magic, like lifting Sydney’s password off her computer and sending a wall of glass flying into the Anarki. How hard could leaping a wall be?
I jump—and quickly discover that when I tap into my magic, clearing ten-foot walls is no problem. It’s bloody easy, in fact. One step closer to Sydney.
The instant I land, there’s a shift in the air. I see something unexpected. No, someone.
Shock.
He strides toward me as if rising up out of the mist. Even at night, he wears those blasted sunglasses. “Stay quiet. I’ll sneak you past the alarms and take you to Sydney.”
“Why should I trust you? You had Anka under your roof and in your bed—probably for days—and you told no one. Nor did you return her to my brother.”
“She was mine before your brother stole her from me,” he growls. “I owe Lucan nothing. She was abducted and hurt on his watch. It won’t happen on mine.”
I mull Shock’s words. In all likelihood, that’s how he sees the matter. But that doesn’t annoy me any less or make me trust him any more.
“I don’t give a shit about your tender sensibilities,” Shock mocks. “If you want to save Sydney, I’ll take you. If not, piss off.”
I glare at the leather-clad wizard. “You intend to help me, just like that?”
Shock looks past me. “You come alone?”
The truth merely gives Shock the green light to overpower me. But Shock will only read my mind if I lie.
I nod. “This is my fight.”
He raises a skeptical brow above those dark sunglasses. “So Bram, Lucan, and the others are leaving you to rescue Sydney and the book by yourself?”
“They don’t know either is missing. She’s my responsibility. The book isn’t my first priority.”
“But you’re not leaving without it.” It isn’t a question.
Shock is right. If I don’t return the Doomsday Diary, I might save Sydney, but Mathias could consign us all to hell two minutes later. If I genuinely want her safety and the chance to live happily ever after with her, I have to retrieve the book.
Shock sighs. “Of course you want to save the book. That shouldn’t have been a hard decision.”
“Get the hell out of my thoughts.”
“Look, you did a decent job getting this close, but once Mathias took your woman, he knew you’d come. Despite what you think, the others will, too. I’m going to restrain you and drag you to Sydney’s cell, to make it all look believable.”
The fuck you are. “Mathias seems like a natural ally for you, given your family’s allegiance and your sparkling personality. How do I know that I can trust you, mate thief?”
An acrimonious smile splits his mouth. “You don’t.”
Chapter
Sixty-Three
Irouse with a groan and open my eyes to a dank limestone floor. Then I realize I’m hanging upside down, a shoulder in my midsection. I groan when a throbbing rips through the peace in my head.
“Awake, are you?” Shock grumbles. “That was a quick recovery. Your magic is strong. I’ll have to keep my eye on you. Now, on your feet.”
With a grunt, he sets me down somewhere shadowed, underground. Prison-like. Shit.
“You’re not locking me up!”
Shock shoves me back. “Don’t be difficult, whelp. You wanted to see your woman, so I’m taking you to her. I’ll wait for the rest of the company.”
With a slash of his wrist, Shock opens the rusty cell door with a squeak. Sydney appears, looking no worse for the wear. She runs for the opening, but Shock holds up a palm, creating an invisible wall. I focus on destroying that wall. But Shock’s magic doesn’t bend.
There’s always marine-style brute force.
I punch Shock in the stomach. He grunts, doubling over.
Then I turn to grab Sydney’s hand, determined to escape. When my fingers close around hers, a sense of home and thankfulness curls around me. Warmth, relief, need.
Until I feel a boot in my backside.
I tumble into the cell, stumbling into Sydney. We topple over, landing in a heap of arms and legs on the cold floor.
With a screech, the cell door closes.
Scowling, Shock uses his magic to seal it. “Wait here. If your friends don’t appear, Mathias will send you back to Bram and the others with a message. Your woman…” Shock shrugs. “You should know, it doesn’t look good.”
Scrambling upright and racing to the bars, I scream at Shock’s retreating back, “You fucking backstabbing traitor! You don’t give a shit that people are dying and that Mathias will wipe out entire families.”