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)
“Put me down, you bloody bastard! I’m going to string you up by your stones, then take a rusty knife to you.”
Wincing, I turn to Duke. “The book is on her night table. Grab it and put it in her hands.”
With a sharp nod, Duke turns and disappears. A moment later, he reappears, holding the Doomsday Diary, then shoves it into Sydney’s grasp.
We make our way toward her front door, me pinning Sydney’s struggling form to my shoulder, Duke following in solidarity. Sydney more than breaks the silence with a string of wretched curses. I hate it, but I’d rather her angry than dead.
Three feet from the door, someone on the other side bangs. Adrenaline bursts through my blood stream. I pause, clutching Sydney. Duke draws his wand.
“Caden, are you bloody in there? If you’re not dead, I’ll kill you myself.”
Bram. Shit!
Heaving a sigh, Duke swerves around me and wrests open the door. Sure enough, the Doomsday Brethren’s leader stands on the other side, fist clenched.
“Someone tell me what the devil is going on here.” His gaze bounces between me and Duke.
“Who the blazes are you?” Sydney lifts her head and looks at Bram.
“Bram Rion. I’d say it’s a pleasure, but you’ve been nothing but a thorn in my side since you started writing about those bodies in the tunnel.” He tears his attention away from Sydney to glare at me. “One small mission. Keep her quiet. And you failed miserably.”
“He’s just transitioned,” Duke cuts in.
“Transitioned?” Sydney asks.
No one answers her. Bram hesitates, casts another glance at me, then turns to Duke. “Why did you stay?”
“I daresay, the past two days have been frightfully tedious. I’m still in need of Marrok’s training—”
“Exactly.”
“No doubt other crises have erupted, and it’s been bloody difficult to hold my impatience while nature took its course. But if she’d been unable to complete the task…”
Bram nods in resignation.
“What are you blathering about?” Sydney wriggles and screams until I let her down in the middle of us three. But she doesn’t back down. Not my Sydney.
For a foolish moment, I’m proud of my firecracker. Even in the face of three large wizards and an incredibly bizarre situation, she doesn’t cower or stop asking questions.
“I’ll explain later,” I vow. “We have to get out of here.”
Sydney shakes her head. “You’ve promised answers. I’ve yet to receive them. I refuse to leave until I do. And the next one who tries to lift me over their shoulder will lose an arm.”
“We’ve no time for this.” Bram curses. “You’re inexorably in the thick of things, so I’ll give you the condensed version and trust that you want to save your own backside enough to keep quiet. There is a magickind. The three of us are wizards. Every bloody one of those stories you’ve written has put us—and all of magickind—in danger.”
“You’re saying all this magical stuff is real?”
“Yes, and—”
“Genuinely real?”
“I’m explaining that it is—if you’ll stop interrupting me. And we don’t need exposure to humans; they’ll unleash a witch hunt. Nor do you want Mathias after you. But that’s precisely what will happen since you were stupid enough to write about the diary. As if that isn’t enough, you shared a byline in a different story with Mathias’s second in command.” At her incredulous gasp, he goes on. “Zain is loyal to the very villain you’ve reviled. Didn’t tell you that, did he?”
“Zain Denzell?” I whirl on Sydney. “He’s my replacement?”
Chapter
Thirty-Six
Sydney nods, paling. “Holly hired him because he had photos of the bodies in the tunnel and claimed knowledge about the magical war…”
“I’ll bet he did. Christ…” My blood runs cold, and I feel like I’ve been punched in the gut. The thought of Zain anywhere near Sydney makes me want to kill. “He’s incredibly dangerous. Did he touch you? Did he try anything?”
“Is he a wizard, too?” she asks, her voice small.
“Indeed.” I clench my fists, trying to control the rage and fear coursing through me. “An utterly ruthless one.”
“No doubt he had nefarious plans for you,” Bram interjects. “Mathias repeatedly raped your source for these articles. If he finds you, he’ll do the same to you. Then kill you for sport. When you were writing this, did you wonder if any of this magic business was real? It is. Welcome to the war, poppet.”
Her expression is wide-eyed with both shock and apology. “I-I wondered if it was real. I never meant to see anyone hurt. I merely meant—”
“Piss off!” I growl at Bram. “She didn’t know. She was just doing her damn job. And you’ve just put her in more danger. Congratulations.”
Bram raises a pale brow. “Don’t start. All you had to do was shut her up and get the book before every bloody Out Of this Realm reader discovered our secrets and magickind’s greatest weapon. You failed on both counts.”