The older woman looked up with regret in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I've never seen anything like this. The damage is extensive."

The little woman's answer slammed Sydney's composure. She covered her mouth with her hand as the little woman left. Somehow, Millie's poise had made her hope that she could solve Aquarius's crisis. To hear otherwise crushed her.

"I think I know someone who might be able to," Olivia said. "A moment, please." She disappeared. Sydney had no notion what to do or say, so merely grabbed her friend's hand and held it tightly in her own.

"Fight," she whispered to Aquarius. "It's bad karma for you to leave me all alone." Her breath caught in her throat, and tears stung her eyes. Guilt stabbed her. If Sydney had listened to Bram when he'd said to get out, Aquarius would be well. If I hadn't struggled to escape Zain or if I'd found some way to protect my friend, no harm would have befallen her. But Sydney couldn't change any of it now. All she could do was hope.

"It's not your fault," Sabelle offered, stroking her shoulder. Sydney blinked.

"How-how did you know?"

"I can read your thoughts. Sorry. Thought I should give you fair warning. But I've delved into your friend's mind. Deep. She's worried about you."

The tears started flowing in earnest. Only a friend like Aquarius would be near death and still worry about someone else.

"I feel so helpless. Aquarius would at least have some healing crystal, sacred chant, herbal tea. All I've got is my hand."

"And the power of your friendship. She feels it."

Sabelle's understanding sank into Sydney. Even if she thought the gorgeous blonde was full of rubbish and trying to soothe her, Sydney appreciated the gesture. Perhaps Sabelle wasn't so bad after all-as long as she kept her hands off Caden.

"In the future, I will. He's all yours, I promise." Sydney hiccuped, smiling despite her tears. "You're not intimidated by me surely?"

"Caden and Bram both said you're tough, but no. My attentions are . . . engaged elsewhere."

"Olivia said you wanted to see me," a voice growled from the door.

Sydney turned, along with the other two women. Ice stood there. His behemoth shoulders bulged out of a black tank. An expressive mouth and the dark stubble dusting his otherwise sleek head, along with the faded fatigues, made him an intimidating figure. And when Sydney looked at him, the hunger in his expression, directed purely at Sabelle, blasted her like a heat wave.

The blonde merely blushed and cast a demure glance down. Then she sent Ice a nervous smile. "I think Olivia believed you might be able to help."

He frowned as he glanced at Aquarius. "I know blast and d.a.m.n about her condition."

"Zain cooked her from the inside out," Sydney blurted.

"I'm not a healer." His craggy face gentled in apology.

"But Olivia sent you." Sydney couldn't understand why she had if Ice couldn't help.

He shrugged uncomfortably. "To stand guard?"

Sabelle edged around Sydney and approached Ice, drawing in a bracing breath. "Your nickname, does it imply ability? Maybe . . ."

At his scowl, Sabelle broke off. Sydney's thoughts raced. Did Ice have some ability to cool down Aquarius's insides?

He swallowed, hesitated, then nodded. "But I don't know how to heal." Ice turned away, and Sydney moved to chase him down, anger flashing through her. He's giving up, just like that? Aquarius may not mean anything to him, but her friend meant the world to her. Sabelle pulled her back and held up a steadying palm. Then she stopped Ice herself, wrapping her hand around his huge biceps.

"Please . . ."

Sabelle looked up at Ice, beseeching blue eyes wide open. Renewed hunger stormed his face. The wizard wanted her. Badly. And he was letting her see it. Sabelle didn't back down; she gripped him tighter, though Sydney sensed that the witch was overwhelmed by Ice. Yet she held her ground for Aquarius's sake, a woman she did not know.

Initial impressions be d.a.m.ned. Sabelle had just earned herself a new friend.

Ice huffed, then groused, "I need a conduit. I can create objects of ice, but transferring it to something living is beyond me."

"I can try," Sabelle a.s.sured, her hands dropping from his biceps.

"How?"

The blond witch licked her lips. "I'm part siren. I can often influence people's feelings by touching them.

If you can pa.s.s the feeling onto me . . ."

Part siren? There was such a thing? And they could change other's feelings? Wow, the material she'd have to put in her next article.

Ice retreated. "Your brother will object."

"Bram can't always have his way."

He clenched his jaw. "Sabelle, I have to touch you to use you as a conduit." She drew in a shaky breath, clearly nervous. And excited. She stared at Ice as if he was the forbidden fruit. "Touch me how?"

Desire leapt in his gaze again. "As much as you'll let me. The more contact, the more successful I'm likely to be."

The witch paused.

"Worried my insanity is contagious, princess?" Ice challenged with a dark raised brow.

"No," Sabelle snapped, then glanced at Aquarius, who labored for each breath. The witch bit her lip.

Something about Sabelle's demeanor told Sydney that her reticence wasn't about Ice's intimidating demeanor, but the s.e.xual vibes floating between them.

"I'll do it." Sabelle said in a voice that cracked and wobbled.

"Relax and trust me. You can't be afraid, no matter what." Sabelle gave a shaky nod. Sydney suspected that Ice's request was easier said than done. Either way, she wished they'd hurry. Aquarius's clock was ticking down.

"Do we need anything else?" the blond witch asked.

"Just put your hands on her and concentrate. Whatever happens, don't move away from me." The gorgeous witch positioned herself at the side of the bed, arms out so that her hands rested on Aquarius's torso. She drew in a deep breath, as if bracing herself.

Ice moved in behind her, stopping a mere breath away.

"Ready?"

She nodded, but her body tensed. And no wonder, the s.e.xual tension between them was thick and undeniable.

Closing the last bit between them, Ice wrapped his arms around Sabelle's middle, just beneath her b.r.e.a.s.t.s. His legs shadowed hers, thighs to thighs, shins to calves, his feet braced around hers. The woman's breath caught when Ice dropped his head, resting his cheek against her neck. His breath fanned the little tendrils of hair at her nape. Some of the hair artlessly piled on her head slipped free of its clip, caressing Ice, and she leaned back into him.

Neither moved, yet their bodies seemed to meld together.

"I'm going to blast you with cold, like an inanimate object. Try to pa.s.s it through you to her." Like some sort of energy transfer? It didn't escape Sydney that if Aquarius were awake, she would embrace this holistic energy healing bit and give it two thumbs up on the karma scale. But Sydney herself held her breath, willing this to work.

Sabelle closed her eyes. A moment later, she stiffened, gasped. Then she tried to jerk away from Ice.

"No," he growled. "Stay with me. Pa.s.s it through. See where she needs cooling and give it to her." With chattering teeth, Sabelle tried to nod. Her hands turned white, then blue. Sydney frowned. The chill seemed to be coating Sabelle outside, but not reaching inside her so she could transfer it to Aquarius.

"Please," Sydney cajoled. "Can you . . ." But she didn't know what to tell Sabelle to do.

Olivia rushed back into the room and gave her hand a supportive squeeze.

Ice wrapped his arms around Sabelle tighter, touching his lips against her ear. "Take it in, princess. Send it through."

Sabelle squinted, trying to focus inward, judging from her expression. Ice gripped one hip, pressing himself closer until there wasn't a breath of air between them. The other hand he splayed across the flat of her stomach, fingers stretched from just beneath her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, all the way to her navel. Sabelle's head fell against his shoulder, eyes closed.

"Feel me?" he whispered.

"Yes," she gasped raggedly. Within seconds, color pinkened Sabelle's skin and flushed her cheeks.

But Aquarius looked unchanged.

"What the devil?" Sydney perched on the other side of the bed, close to Aquarius. Another look at Sabelle's face shocked her. Face dreamy, lips parted, head tilted back against Ice's shoulder, she looked . . . aroused.

"f.u.c.k!" Ice jumped away from her suddenly, as if scalded. "You sent me a blast of heat."

"I-I don't know why." Sabelle glanced away, but Sydney could see her eyes. They looked unfocused, dilated-and guilty.

She was aroused and didn't want to admit it. Understanding dawned on Ice's face. As it did, his expression said that he was mustering all his self-control to resist getting naked with her.

Grabbing her elbow, Ice turned her toward him, and with a finger, he lifted her chin, forcing her to look at him. "Princess, talk to me."

"Leave it be." She tried to jerk away.

He held tighter. "Not until you explain what just happened." Ice knew that Sabelle's arousal had melted his chill, but he wanted to hear her say it. And it frustrated the h.e.l.l out of Sydney. Aquarius would not live if they didn't think of something fast.

"It didn't work. That's all." Sabelle turned back to Sydney, all traces of sensuality gone from her expression.

"That's not all," Ice challenged. "I felt more."

Sabelle said nothing for a long moment, then whispered, "You know it's impossible." Her expression turned contrite.

"I'm sorry."

With that, the witch all but ran out of the room, Ice looking after her with a need so stark, it was painful.

Olivia's gaping mouth told Sydney that she wasn't the only one flabbergasted by what had just happened.

Nor did she think Ice would simply let Sabelle run from him now that he knew the attraction was mutual.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

THE MINUTE ICE RETURNED to the room, Bram began pacing in front of his ornate desk, looking at each man. Caden felt the gravity-and disapproval-of that stare. He bristled. Admittedly, if Caden had still been a Marine, and Bram his superior officer, he would have deserved an a.s.s chewing.

But he had his own problems-his transition, Sydney's attack, Lucan's illness. He wanted to shout that he owed Bram nothing. But the situation was no longer that simple. The man's sister was keeping his brother alive at great personal expense.

He also couldn't deny that, without Bram, Zain likely would have killed Sydney. Caden knew little magic-and preferred it that way. Knowing it would be unnecessary once he returned to Texas, but today . . . leaving wasn't an option. Because there was no mistaking the fact Sydney's fate had changed utterly. As long as the Anarki believed she had the diary, true or not, they'd hunt her relentlessly.

Then there was the fact that Anka was alone and unprotected, with little idea where she belonged. As much as Caden despised it, he needed Bram's help now more than ever to find her so they could right Lucan's life.

"Today, many things changed. Caden transitioned. The Anarki began hotly pursuing the book once more.

We have a prisoner. Again."

"Unlike last time, we won't let him escape," Ice growled.

Shock ground his teeth and set his jaw, but nodded. "As long as he's here, I should keep a low profile. If he gets free, he may convince Mathias that I'm on your side."

"Agreed. Caden, tell the others what you learned about the book when you tried to steal it." Quickly, he explained his failed attempts to steal the book from Sydney, stressing the fact it literally disappeared from his hands when he left her flat.

"This underscores what we've suspected about the Doomsday Diary: It can only be 'owned' by females.

Several of us have tried to write in it. Nothing. So it cannot be utilized by a man, either. Which begs the question, does Mathias know this little twist?"

"How? That cursed book has scarcely left my sight in fifteen hundred years, and I knew this not until today," Marrok said.

"True. But we don't know if Mathias has other means." Bram turned to Shock. "Does he?" Every eye in the room turned to stare at their supposed double agent.

"Can't say for certain." He shrugged leather-clad shoulders.

Nice and vague. Naturally. Why would Shock tell the Doomsday Brethren anything useful?

"We'll work on him. Discern what he knows. Perhaps talk to Zain, as long as he's going to be gracing us with his presence below."

Shock nodded. "Zain's capture will hurt the Anarki. Physically, Mathias is still weak from Olivia's blast in the tunnel a few weeks past. He's recovering, mind you, but slowly. Zain has been elevated to acting head fiend, so his absence will be felt."

Ice clenched his fists. "I wish they could feel me blasting them all to h.e.l.l."

"Me, too," Bram chimed in. "Crippling their operation is a start, but-"

"He's not as crippled as you think," Shock advised. "He's ramping up the Anarki. The ranks of half-dead are swelling enormously. I don't know how. His followers are abducting soldiers from all over the world and converting them very quickly. More arrive, angry and belligerent, each day. It isn't long before their souls are gone and they're sporting robes."

"Why soldiers?" Caden asked.