With a distracted push, Sydney eased the door nearly shut. Caden leaned closer to the slightly ajar door and listened.

"I'm here," she said. "Lunch sounds great. Can you meet me at eleven-thirty at that um . . . Blue whatever the name was?" She paused. "Perfect. I'll see both of you then." Both of them? Was she contemplating dating more than one man?

"Work is fine. I know you're supposed to be on holiday. I don't want to bog you down, but I need help with this week's story. It's still developing. I also need to ask you about that magical diary you gave me for my birthday."

Oh, so she was talking to Aquarius and going to meet her-and a friend?-for lunch. Caden sighed with relief. Not only because Aquarius was in town, but because Sydney was still single. He couldn't stomach the thought of her with another man, and it would be wise to refrain from violence before eight a.m.

"What can you tell me about that book? Its origins? Does it have any ties to the magical world I've been writing about?" She spoke in low tones.

Caden closed his eyes and concentrated very hard, hoping to hear both sides of Sydney's conversation.

Aquarius loudly answered yes to Sydney's last question, then her voice dropped again. He picked up a word or two about someone named Emma, whoever the b.l.o.o.d.y h.e.l.l that was.

Then Sydney spoke again, "Perfect. I'm still working on the ongoing war angle of this story, but would you mind if I wrote this week's article about the book?" Her words jolted Caden, as if someone had put ten thousand volts through his body. d.a.m.n and blast, he couldn't let Sydney write that. The danger to her if Mathias read the article. . . . Caden's blood chilled and his breath stopped as he imagined everything the terrible wizard would force her to endure. Hadn't he convinced her yet that this angle was dangerous? That she could be a target?

Hand on the k.n.o.b to her door, Caden prepared to charge in. He could not let her write about that b.l.o.o.d.y book. Not this week, not ever.

Before he could push the door open, someone tapped his shoulder. Caden whirled to see Holly, Sydney's editor. Well, d.a.m.n. This looked bad.

"I was just going to ask her a question."

"And it's taken the last two minutes of intense eavesdropping to decide what to say?"

"No. Well, she . . . I don't think-"

Holly held up a hand to stop him. "Come with me."

Caden looked back at Sydney's closed door. He didn't have much choice. Later, before Sydney left for lunch, he'd talk to her, make her see reason, convince her not to run that story.

With a sigh, he followed Holly.

"Do you have anything personal in your cubicle?"

"Just my camera. Why?"

"Get it." She walked him to his desk, where he retrieved his camera and keys. Other than that, he'd brought nothing.

"That's all, then? I'll walk you to the door."

A chill went up his spine. "The door?"

Holly sent him a glare that said the jig was more than up as she escorted him to the front. "C'mon, MacTavish. You've used every angle to learn her source. Hitting on her, going to her apartment, eavesdropping. It's clear you want to scoop her and-"

"No! G.o.d, no. I swear. Holly-"

"Save it. You're sacked." Holly opened the paper's front door. Weak morning sun glared in his eyes, blinding him. "Get out. Now."

CHAPTER SEVEN.

CADEN MADE IT BACK to his flat, rage barely in check. The minute the door slammed behind him, he shouted a string of curses. He'd been sacked and he had no idea where to find the mystery "Blue" restaurant at which Sydney, Aquarius and whoever would have lunch. Translation: Mission failed. He'd never learned if Sydney's source was Anka. d.a.m.n it all, no Anka meant no return to sanity for Lucan, and no going back to Texas for him. Sydney was going to pursue a dangerous story, and he was no longer there to protect her.

As a Marine, failure wasn't something he tolerated well. Logically, he knew he should be glad. Now that he was no longer employed at Out of This Realm, Bram would have to a.s.sign the mission to someone else. Eliminating lies and subterfuge thrilled him. But not completing a mission rankled. He'd continue searching for Anka another way, of course. He didn't recall any magical detectives from his childhood, and he knew from his own mother that seers could be notoriously unreliable. He needed another plan, one that removed Sydney from danger.

He reached into his pocket and picked out one of the white summoning rocks Bram had given him, then thrust it back. Like anything magical, Caden had come to hate these after Westin's death. Once he'd been old enough to learn to bewitch one, he'd been completely against it, despite Lucan offering to teach him. Having lived among humankind for so long, tossing a pebble in the air, calling someone's name,and having them appear moments later seemed creepy and abnormal.

He knew his magic was coming. Today, he'd awakened energized and refreshed for the first time in weeks. Within hours, the shakes, the sweats, and the never-ending s.e.x drive had kicked in again. Signs of his coming change. But until magic forced unwanted powers upon him, by G.o.d, he was still a man.

Grabbing his mobile phone, he punched in Bram's number. He'd tell the sod to a.s.sign someone else to this errand. He was out of the James Bond business.

But being sacked also meant he had no more reason to see Sydney each day. After the way he'd left her this morning, she was angry and hurt. That made him wince.

Had her anger been strong enough to sabotage his job? Sydney had long suspected he was trying to scoop her story. Holly had reiterated the same suspicion, and he'd seen precious little of the editor. The woman couldn't have fabricated that worry by herself. Sydney had likely helped her reach that conclusion. Because of his abrupt departure this morning?

Caden didn't lament the loss of the job. The loss of the woman? G.o.d help him, that was a stab in the heart.

If he kissed her and opened his burgeoning magical senses to Sydney, he was certain they would demand he speak the Call. And given his complete lack of restraint with Sydney, he would have blurted the words, caution be d.a.m.ned. That quickly, magic would have forced a mate on him.

Caden required self-control, and Sydney stripped him of it more easily than he liked. Losing her after mating himself to her would only leave him ripe for the kind of lunacy that could kill him. Worse, magickind was fast becoming a dangerous place-one in which she didn't belong. She would be safer if she stayed away from him. And stopped writing stories likely to catch Mathias's notice.

"MacTavish?" Bram answered, sounding irritable. "It's nine a.m. on a Tuesday, and you're ringing me?

Tell me-"

"I've been sacked."

"What?!"

Caden reiterated the morning's events, leaving out the fact he had spent the night in Sydney's arms and bed.

After he was finished, Bram sighed. "We didn't need this setback."

"As some of my American friends say, I screwed the pooch." And that burned his hide. "Damage done.

Now you're free to send someone else in to snuff the stories. I just ask that whomever you send protect Sydney."

"We've discussed this. My options are limited."

"Send Sabelle. She and Sydney would get on well."

"Impossible. My sister is tied up with Council business." Caden frowned. "She's not a member of the Council."

"But she does have a certain charm for the old codgers who sit beside me that I apparently lack." Despite the gravity of the situation, Caden laughed at the image. "She is far prettier."

"She smiles and flatters and makes them feel young again. It's a needed skill. Word of all the Anarki attacks is leaking out and the rest of the Council is demanding I stop them."

"The rumors or the attacks?"

"The former, but I know that can't happen until I stop the latter, which they're still refusing to publicly acknowledge."

"And you're trying to persuade the Council to make a statement to magickind at large, explaining the real danger, correct?" Caden grunted. "Good luck."

The group of elders had never moved quickly or advocated a less-than-traditional path. It could take them months, even years or decades, to reach a consensus on a public statement about Mathias's return.

By then, Mathias may have already taken over magickind. Stupid sods.

"I need it. And Sabelle." Bram sighed. "I could send Shock, I suppose. He can skim Sydney's thoughts-"

"Absolutely not! How do I know he won't deliver her to Mathias? I will not have that turncoat anywhere near my . . ." Mate. The word nearly rolled off his tongue. "Former coworker." There, that sounded better.

And like a pitiful lie.

Though Shock was bound to Anka, despite the fact she'd rejected his Call and he could, therefore, not touch Sydney s.e.xually, the thought of Shock anywhere in the same postalcode still made him murderous.

"Do you think Sydney is your mate?" Bram asked pointedly.

"I haven't tasted her."

Bram hesitated. "For everyone's sake, I hope she isn't. You're preparing for transition. I sense it. You're irritable and tense. You've been tired a great deal, haven't you? And the urge for s.e.x is overwhelming, right?"

Caden didn't answer. Why tell Bram he'd hit a bull's-eye? The sod likely knew it anyway.

"You'll need to find a witch to transition with. You're going to need s.e.xual energy to power your coming magic."

Grinding his teeth, Caden turned away. Yes, he knew he needed s.e.x-and a lot of it-to create the energy necessary to transition. If he had issued the Call to Sydney, only she would do. But he hadn't. If he could restrain himself a bit longer, he wouldn't. Problem was, he didn't want some nameless witch.

"I have not issued the Call to mate," Caden reiterated.

"Unless that changes, you have no problem."

Wrong. "She believes in this story and is suspicious of everyone. No one is more suspect than Shock.

You come," Caden suggested.

The thought of Bram charming Sydney made him want to grind his teeth into powder, but the wizard was newly mated. He couldn't woo Sydney. And he wouldn't turn her over to Mathias.

"I told you, I can't, not until I complete the Council's demand for magickind to stop spreading rumors-even if they're the truth." Bram snorted. "This a.s.signment also allows me to quietly warn Privileged families that Mathias is likely to target them and demonstrate to his Deprived followers that he embraces their bid for equality."

"It's s.h.i.t."

"But I cannot defer this duty. There have been four Anarki attacks in the last three weeks. If the Council won't send a transcast, I must warn people unofficially. I am spending what little free time I have trying to locate my errant mate."

In Bram's shoes, he'd be doing the same. "Keep Shock away from Sydney."

"Then stop her from writing articles."

"I've been sacked. How do you propose I do that? Sydney may very well write an article about the Doomsday Diary. Just this morning, she was inquiring about its origins."

"For the last b.l.o.o.d.y time, charm the woman!"

"I tried. It's . . . complicated." And he wasn't spilling a single detail.

"Uncomplicate it," Bram snapped.

"This was your f.u.c.king mission to start with. I did my best and, as much as I hate failure, I admit to it.

This morning, I tried to steal the Doomsday Diary from Sydney, but when I attempted to leave her flat with it, the book dissolved in my hands. Twice. Why?"

"Dissolved?"

"Completely. Moments later, it appeared again on the nightstand from which I took it."

"In other words, it would not leave Sydney's flat with you. Interesting . . . but I think I might know why.

You're male. You've heard me say the book is an object of feminine reverence? That means the book responds only to women."

"I didn't try to use it."

Bram hesitated. "Stealing it may work the same way. We're learning as we go, but it makes sense. Eons ago, Marrok paid a woman to steal it from Morganna. After she did, she gave it to him. Marrok kept it in the same cottage for centuries. Then came Olivia. She brought the book to my estate and hid it. I a.s.sumed at the time that anyone could transport the book, but, given your experience, clearly not.

Neither Marrok nor I could write in it when Mathias abducted Olivia. Sabelle, however, could. A wish to fix a b.u.t.ton was granted instantly. Her wish to save Olivia was not, and we discerned that whoever uses the book must have both great power and great desire to fulfill the wish. My mate stole it from me.

Somehow, it fell into this Aquarius's hands, and she gave it to Sydney. Female to female to female. When you tried to steal it from Sydney-"

"I'm not female."

"Exactly."

Caden sighed. Interesting, but . . . "I've barely met Aquarius, so I don't know about her, but Sydney is definitely human, not magical."

"Apparently having two X chromosomes is more important than having a magical one."

"Even more reason you should send someone else in my place, Olivia, perhaps, and let me look for Anka elsewhere."

Bram huffed. "Is giving up what the Marines taught you? Last I heard, failure wasn't an option." Blast it, the wizard was right. Caden hadn't asked for this mission, but the guilt of failure ate at him. Nor did he want to leave Sydney unprotected. But what else could he do? So, like any good tactician, he resorted to a diversionary tactic.

"I may have some information about the book and how Aquarius acquired it."

"I'm listening."

Caden gripped the phone. "I don't know how she fits into the equation, but Aquarius mentioned someone named Emma."