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 sc.r.a.p 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 . . . d.a.m.n 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 a.s.sured.

"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 apt.i.tude, 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.

"Unlike you, I'm not one to bury my head in the sand." Sydney jerked her arm free and turned to stomp away.

He grabbed her arm again. "What does that b.l.o.o.d.y mean?"

"These people need you. And you plan to turn your back on them because you think it's not your fight? I never knew Marines were afraid."

Caden's blue eyes narrowed. "Is that what you think? I'm not afraid of fighting. If I survived two tours in Iraq, I can survive this, I a.s.sure you."

"Then explain why you won't fight with your people." His grip loosened, and he pulled away. "I left England and everyone magical I knew at eighteen. All this wand waving and the like, it isn't normal."

"Normal? You've already transitioned. You can't change that. What magickind can do is so extraordinary . . . amazing. Humans would kill to have your abilities. A gift like yours can help take down a madman. And you want to walk away from it?"

He crossed his arms over his chest, mouth thin with anger. "Why don't you want to follow your parents and join the academic crowd?"

Sydney hesitated. "I just didn't. It didn't fit me."

"Precisely!" Caden threw his hands wide.

If anyone tried to force her into that tediously dull and pretentious academic scene, they'd have to drag her kicking and screaming. She didn't fit there. Square peg, round hole. But this wasn't about a career.

This was his heritage! She sensed Caden's reticence was deep.

He wasn't being completely honest with her. Given that, how could he possibly claim she was important?

He'd demonstrated that he felt responsible for her, but his unwillingness to truly share himself said he didn't love her. And it hurt.

"They need you," she said quietly.

He shook his head. "They need someone pa.s.sionate about their cause. That isn't me."

"What's the real reason?" She should b.l.o.o.d.y stop trying to make him share himself, but she kept hoping.

Caden recoiled. "I don't want to discuss it."

He didn't trust her, not with his story, not with his secrets. Not with his heart. And he didn't care for her enough to try. She had no one to blame but herself. b.l.o.o.d.y stupid impulse to write in the book.

"I can't make you. It's simply . . . Bram and the others won't survive without able wizards on their side." Caden closed his eyes, and Sydney almost regretted her words . . . almost. But she couldn't skirt the truth. Even if he didn't want to hear it, he belonged here. He was a wizard. By virtue of his brother's illness and his sister-in-law's rape, he had a stake in this fight. Heck, she barely knew Anka and had never seen Lucan, but already her heart went out to them. And for the people who had tried to help Aquarius, she resolved to help however she could.

Caden shrugged his shoulders uncomfortably. "More Tynans will appear at Bram's door as word inevitably spreads."

She hoped so. "Why doesn't everyone know about Mathias and the Doomsday Brethren?" Sydney anch.o.r.ed a hand on her hip. "I gather Bram wants to keep the Doomsday Brethren hush-hush from the Council so he can operate without their interference, but Tynan has only heard whispers of Mathias's return. And people are being attacked. What's going on?" Caden pinched the bridge of his nose. "Bram sits on the magical Council that governs magickind. There are seven councilmen in total. Tynan O'Shea's grandfather is among them. Bram has pushed to advise magickind about Mathias, but the rest of the Council are controlling b.a.s.t.a.r.ds who prefer to pretend problems don't exist. Bram wants a transcast. It's a television-like broadcast using magical mirrors, for lack of a better description. They were established for just such emergencies."

"And the Council said no?" Sydney's jaw dropped.

"They don't see this as an emergency. Some even write off the 'problem' as pranksters stirring up trouble for the sport of scaring people."

"That's insane! If they had seen Anka's condition . . . the poor woman could barely speak coherently when I first met her. And this Auropha woman; Mathias killed her. Hardly a prank!"

"Despite the fact Auropha MacKinnett's father sat on the Council and the girl was murdered by Mathias, the Council won't budge. Bram says they are a traditional lot. I think they're afraid."

"Magickind should know. This is censorship! And very dangerous to people caught unaware. I want to talk to Bram." The first item on her agenda was the thing she excelled at most. "Everyone must know about Mathias so they can protect themselves."

He frowned. "Why do you want to talk to Bram?"

"I've never done a . . . what did you call it? Transcast. But I am a reporter. In an emergency, I don't have to be magical or entertaining, just informational." He leaned in with a scowl. "You want to transcast to magickind?"

"It's the only way I can help. I'll never learn to fight or be able to wave a wand. But by G.o.d, I can keep people informed."

Caden knew his mouth gaped open. Did Sydney have any notion of the target she'd be painting on herself if she transcasted? All of magickind would see her face. Especially Mathias. No one he attacked put up a fight, because they were unprepared. And for breaking that secrecy, he'd want her dead. Caden couldn't help but admire her courage and willingness but . . .

"No. Absolutely not."

"It's not your choice, Caden. You'll be returning to Dallas alone, remember?" She brushed past him out the dining room and into the hall. She was headed to the back door, where she'd join all the others and embroil herself deeper into this mora.s.s. He'd failed Lucan with his inability to return Anka. He'd failed Anka by letting her slip through his fingers. He would not fail Sydney by letting her place herself in mortal danger. Even if he couldn't mate with her, the thought of her dying . . . it flattened his soul.

Caden stalked into the hall, then grabbed her arm. "You cannot do this. The fact I'm not staying doesn't b.l.o.o.d.y mean I don't care."

"No, the fact you won't be honest about your reasons for avoiding magic tells me you don't." d.a.m.n, the woman was too b.l.o.o.d.y smart by half. He grabbed her shoulders and brought her against him. "I won't see you hurt or worse."

"You may be comfortable retreating, but I'm not. I can help. There's nothing I can do for Aquarius, but I can try to make certain no one else suffers her fate. Or Anka's. Since you and I are through, and you're unwilling to stay and fight Mathias or fight for us, we have nothing to say." A tennis-b.a.l.l.sized lump of apprehension stuck in his throat. After a few days here, she didn't have a proper grasp on magickind's real peril. He had to stop her. If he failed . . . the thought of Mathias hurting her was so painful, he nearly staggered to his knees.

"The h.e.l.l we don't!"

She glanced at him over her shoulder, those arrow-sharp eyes of hers piercing him with fire. Her red hair floated around her shoulders, curled halfway down her back. Even in anger, she was a beauty. He couldn't let her talk Bram into a transcast. It would mean her death.

Pumped full of protective fury, Caden charged after Sydney and scooped her up against him, lifting her off her feet to carry her into the nearest room with a closed door, the library.

Sydney wriggled and grunted in frustration. "Put me down, d.a.m.n you!" Lightning tore through him as she moved against him. But despite his hunger for her, they had to talk. She had to see reason, d.a.m.n it.

He plopped her on Bram's plush sofa, and she sprawled out beneath him, eyes spitting fury. Desire sparked in his veins. Everything inside him tensed as he tried to ignore it.

"Let me be very clear, Sydney: You are not transcasting." She scoffed. "I'm a grown woman who makes her own decisions. Besides, how will you stop me once you're gone?"

Her challenge hit him like a hammer. She was right. If he found Anka and righted Lucan's life and departed, Sydney would be left to her own devices.

Not b.l.o.o.d.y likely.

"Until you realize the folly of your idea, I'm not going anywhere. In fact, I'll be staying very close to you." Sydney raised a ginger brow. "Go away."

Her dismissal riled his mating instinct and urge to protect. The human signs of her arousal exploded across his brain-her peachy-floral scent, peaked nipples, the heat in her eyes.

Caden shook his head. "I'll remain so close you'll feel my breath on the back of your neck. Constantly." She stilled, her breath turning rougher. "I don't need a babysitter."

"No, you need a keeper, and I'm him."

With an outraged gasp, she began squirming, trying to worm free. Her arching and bucking inflamed already sizzling nerves.

"Stop it!" He clamped his hands on her hips to still her.

"Make me."

Her dare went straight to his core. Heat bolted through him, and instinct overruled logic. Mine. Take.

Now!

Breathing hard, he fitted his body completely over hers until their lips were inches apart. The temptation of her little red mouth was right under his, and the urge to taste it for the first time nearly consumed him.

Just once . . .

One kiss would be the nail in his coffin. Would it be so bad? A needling voice in his head asked the insidious question. What if they mated and she transcasted and he lost her? He would become a carbon copy of his brother. She was so intent on slaying the evil she didn't understand, it would kill her.

The thought made him grab her tighter, as if he could take every part of her into him and keep her safe.

His body pulsed, electric. She was so warm and vital and female, and he needed her with a desperation that bordered insanity.

Trailing kisses across her cheek, he dared to brush the corner of her mouth. The sweet scent of her nearly overcame him. He grabbed the edge of the sofa in one hand, her hip in the other, barely restraining the urge to devour every part of her with his mouth. Determined to distract them both, he kissed his way down her throat, down to the soft skin above her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, rising and falling rapidly.

"Caden, this is insane. We should talk." Smart words, but her voice was breathy.

"We did."

Shoving her T-shirt aside, he inhaled deeply. Since transition, his sense of smell was keener. Though he knew she'd showered since they'd last made love, he smelled himself on her, and it aroused him out of his mind. Skin. He needed her bare skin-against his hands and his tongue.

"But-"

Caden wrapped his fingers around the clasp of her bra and yanked. It snapped into pieces. When he laved her nipple with his tongue, Sydney moaned, and he smiled in satisfaction. She couldn't deny that she wanted him. Her breathing, accelerated heartbeat, alluring smell, fingernails in his shoulders-all told him the truth.

"d.a.m.n it, how do you reduce me to a puddle in moments?" she panted.