“You’re well aware that my family was cursed centuries ago. We can’t sense our mates. The instinct was bred out of us generations ago,” I say, referring to the sixth sense that allows a wizard to taste a woman and know if she’s the fated mate magic intends for him.
Bram raises a golden brow, his blue eyes laser sharp. “That didn’t stop your twin. Ronan looks quite settled with Kari. For months he hasn’t so much as looked at another woman.”
Nearly two years, if Bram wants the honest truth. Oh, prior to mating with the pretty human Kari, Ronan bedded other women. Magic must be powered by a strong exchange of emotion, and sex always provides plenty. Playful encounters with many partners are expected until one mates. But almost from the start, Ronan fixated on Kari until he finally mated with her, despite the fact that the rest of the Wolvesey wizards, eternal bachelors all, thought him mad—including me.
I understand now. Meeting Tabitha was almost surreal. My first thought was that no witch could possibly be so lovely. Once I’d talked my way into her bed, my second thought was that no witch could possibly be so sweet.
It took great effort to leave her the next morning, but I vowed never to return. She was too tempting, felt too damn good once I sank into her. But I returned three agonizing days later, hungrier than ever. Then again, and again…
“I’m not like Ronan.” I clench my jaw so hard that I swear it will shatter.
Bram scoffs. “He’s smarter.”
When Bram turns away to sift through the ruins, I charge after him. “I don’t have the instinct!”
“But, in theory at least, you have a brain. And a heart. You knew that witch meant something to you, but…” Bram shrugs. “Well, I suppose it’s water under the bridge if she’s dead.”
I growl, “I will not believe that until I have proof.”
“But chances are?—”
“Finish that sentence, and I’ll wring your bloody neck. Call that dodgy prick Shock. Find out what he knows. Right now!”
Bram doesn’t take orders, and it goes against everything in my body to suggest he call the Doomsday Brethren’s supposed double agent. No one likes the confrontational bastard. They trust him even less. But he alone is close enough to Mathias to have useful information. Shock might well know the truth. I close my eyes and pray.
“Are you mad?” Bram glares. “If Shock says Mathias has her, what will you do? Charge in like her white knight? You’ll be signing your own death warrant.”
If Mathias has Tabitha, I’ll go after her. I’ll do everything I can to save her…or die trying. No woman—especially sweet Tabby—deserves to perish the way Mathias prefers to kill: shaving, branding, raping, then leaving the agonized victim to bleed to death. I can’t even think about her enduring that. She’s so warm, so passionate beneath her shy exterior, so smart, and so welcoming I couldn’t find the will to stay away. Everything about her draws me in.
She is, in a word, perfect.
Tabitha deserves a better father for her child. In fact, her parents insisted on that—and found her a suitable mate, whom she would have joined with mere days from now. I never imagined that dredging up the strength to walk away from her would lead to her disappearance…or worse.
“Call Shock,” I demand. “Now!”
With a sigh, Bram pulls his phone from his pocket, his long exhalation sounding like code for you poor bastard. “You’re presuming the wanker will answer.”
After pressing a few buttons, Bram hands me the phone.
Shock picks up…with his usual attitude. “What the fuck do you want?”
“It’s Raiden Wolvesey. I need help.”
“Why should I help you? We have nothing to say.”
The hell we don’t. “I need information about the Lowery attack.”
Shock falls silent for a long moment. “Why do you think I can help? What’s done is done.”
“You knew about this?” I’m horrified. My stomach lurches. “You knew Mathias intended to attack Tabitha’s family?”
Shock remains silent for so long that I wonder if the wizard hung up. Finally, he replies, “If you were Mathias and you could obtain information you needed while bedding one of magickind’s most renowned beauties, what would you do?”
“So he planned to take her and—” I can’t finish my sentence. Hell, I can scarcely breathe. I’m torn between feeling ill and wanting to take him—not to mention his evil boss—apart with my bare hands. “Did he succeed? Does Mathias have her?”
“How should I know? I wasn’t there. Mathias had this mad idea last night. Wouldn’t share it, just said he’d solved a problem and needed information. Then he disappeared. I don’t know who he took from the Lowery estate. But today, he’s in a foul mood. Make of that what you will. Now piss off.”
I hear three beeps in my ear. The wanker hung up on me! With a curse, I thrust the phone back at Bram, trying to tamp down my growing fear and fury.
