Embrace Me at Dawn (Doomsday Brethren 6)

“That’s not my plan,” she promised.

“Bollocks! That willful look on your face says otherwise.”

Lucan was worried, and rightfully so. He’d lost everything once, too. Now they both had even more to lose. “I will trust you to take care of us. Isn’t that what you wanted?”

His glower told her that he didn’t like having his words used against him. “Good. Then stay home. I’ll put a protection spell around the house—”

“Because that worked so brilliantly last time,” she said as she struggled into her clothes. She knew the words would wound him, but the truth mattered more than sparing his feelings, no matter how scathing. “We can’t sit idle, Lucan. This is bigger than what we want. Come with me to talk to Bram, and I’ll explain.”

She exited the bedroom as Lucan was sliding on his jeans and searching for a shirt.

“Explain it to me now!” he shouted.

If she did, he would only object to her plan. Undermining him wasn’t her objective, and she didn’t want to risk her youngling. But they didn’t have the luxury of sitting idle. And as much as she wished otherwise, Anka wasn’t sure she could face her future before being at peace with her past.

“Come with me. I swear, I’ll explain there.”

Anka tried to teleport out of the house. Lucan’s magic blocked her.

He smirked. “You’re not going anywhere.”

“You’re not being reasonable. I have some information about Morganna that Bram and the others must know, and I only want to explain it once.”

“So you can find some way to get involved. No.”

She drew in a breath, trying to keep a lid on her temper. “I understand your need to protect, but now isn’t the time to behave like a bloody brick wall.” Lucan was doing a damn fine imitation, raising a brow and still refusing to budge. “Right, then. I don’t want to do this without you, but since you won’t even listen, you’re forcing me to go on my own.”

He could magically restrict who teleported in and out of the house. But once outside, he wouldn’t be able to block her. She strode out the bedroom door, toward the front. From the foyer, she spied Caden kissing Sydney in the kitchen.

“Stop her!” Lucan demanded, hopping into his shoes and carrying his shirt.

Anka didn’t wait to see if little brother followed. Marching outside the house, she emerged into crisp morning air and gray skies that, not surprisingly, portended rain. She stood ready to teleport out when someone grabbed her wrist. She whirled.

Caden glared at her with narrowed eyes. “Let’s get one thing straight. If you break his heart…” Suddenly, he fell silent. His jaw dropped in astonishment. “You’re carrying his youngling?”

“Indeed. And you’ll do what if I break his heart? Beat me up?”

“No.” He looked quite cross. “I’m not the sort to hit females. But I will do everything in my power to stop you from leaving now. You and Lucan need to work your differences out. He’s been fucking miserable without you.”

She had heard that Lucan and Caden were quite close now. She wasn’t keen to come between them, especially when Caden had sacrificed so much to care for Lucan these past few months.

Her gaze softened. “I’ve been unhappy without him and I’ve no desire to hurt him. We’ll work it out, I swear. But he must see reason. Get him to Bram’s.” She tugged free of Caden’s hold as Lucan came bounding through the front door.

“Anka!”

She teleported away before either of them could say another word.

As she emerged onto Bram’s lawn, she threw out her chime. A scant moment later, the barriers eased to admit her. A whoosh sounded behind her. She cast a glance over her shoulder. Lucan and Caden were hot on her heels.

“Anka!” Lucan shouted, his blue eyes pinpoints of fury. She was definitely going to get an earful. “You are not fighting.”

“Not unless I have to,” she tossed back and entered the house, darting for Bram’s office.

The air resounded with Lucan’s and Caden’s magical calling card. They sent it quickly, more than once.

She reached Bram just before he let the brothers in. His head snapped up. In an instant, his eyes widened. “I’ll be bloody damned. You’re—”

“Expecting a youngling, yes. Lucan knows. I need you to gather everyone and listen to me for ten minutes. If you let Lucan stop me before I’ve explained, I may not be able to help the cause.”

Bram sent her a considering stare. “You can’t help anyway. I’ve put the war over my friends more than once, and Lucan despises me now because of it. If I let you fight pregnant, he’ll bloody kill me. The answer is no.”

“I know how to release Morganna’s potion—and maybe kill Mathias at the same time.”

Pushing out of his chair, Bram leveled a disbelieving stare at her. “What?”

Lucan’s and Caden’s chimes continued to sound incessantly.

“Is there a reason you’re not letting them in?” Sabelle called down the stairs.

“In a minute!” Bram shouted and turned back to her.

“You heard me,” Anka answered. “Let Lucan and Caden in, then gather the others. I’ll explain.”

He hesitated, shrewd blue eyes dissecting. “All right, then. I’ll give you ten minutes. If I’m not convinced, you’ll go home with Lucan and stay there until the youngling is grown!”

As Bram sent an urgent text to all the warriors, he admitted each who arrived inside the protections surrounding the manor. Lucan and Caden barged in, several others right behind them as Marrok made his way down the stairs, to the office.

“This is how you trust me to take care of you? Running out and not listening to a bloody word I say?” Lucan’s expression thundered, dark brows slashing over angry blue eyes.

“I’m only asking that you listen to me.” She placed a hand over his drumming heart. “I have information that everyone needs to know, and I only want to say this once. Please.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “You’re not telling everyone about everything, are you?”

Anka bit her lip. She understood Lucan’s reservation about telling a roomful of people about her bloodline. Anyone with a future ax to grind could report her, and she’d be dragged away forever, tortured, then likely killed. But if they were going to save magickind, then her one life couldn’t be more important than all the others.

“Fuck me!”

At the sound of the familiar, furious bellow, Anka turned. She peered up into familiar sunglasses, taking in Shock’s grim, taut mouth. As he stood in the doorway, glaring, he looked ready to tear apart the mansion’s roof with his bare hands, shingle by shingle.

“You’re carrying his youngling?”

Even from behind the sunglasses, she saw Shock’s stare was as focused as a laser. He looked stunned…and shattered.

Nerves knotted her stomach. “As you can see.”

He zipped around to find Lucan hovering ever closer.

“And you Called to her,” Shock said. “But Anka hasn’t spoken the Binding yet?”

“I haven’t,” she murmured, feeling Shock barge into her head.

There really hadn’t been an opportunity to Bind to Lucan. They needed more time to work through their difficulties and learn to communicate better before they both committed to forever. And she let Shock know it. She owed him the truth.

Lucan curled an arm around her. “But she will.”

“Children!” Bram whistled, getting everyone’s attention. “Anka has the floor now. No one—and I mean no one”—he glared at Lucan and Shock—“interrupts. Or I’ll throw you out. Go ahead, Anka.”

She stepped into the middle of the circle of warriors and reached deep for her courage.

“Thank you, Bram. As you all know, we must have three beings to retrieve the potion that will kill Morganna: blood from the lines of both Merlin and Nimue, which we have in Bram and Mathias, and a second generation washerwoman.” A general rumbling of assent rolled around her, and she pressed on. “Our problem has been finding a banshee who is also a mother, correct?”

After another rounds of nods and grunts, she risked a glance at Lucan and Shock, who stood side by side. Lucan remained tense, ready to pounce all over her if she confessed her secret. Shock looked like he had a whole lot of questions about what else she planned to spill.

Sending Shock a slight, reassuring shake of her head so he knew that his secret would remain with her, she addressed the others. “We don’t have that problem anymore.”

Silence stopped the room. The wizards looked at one another, clearly wondering how she could make such a claim.

“Anka…” Lucan warned.

Caden slapped him on the back, none too gently, as a reminder of Bram’s gag order.

“As you can see, gentlemen, I’m expecting a youngling.” A stunning surprise every time she thought about it. She would protect this little life with her dying breath. But first, she had to make sure the world her daughter would grow up in was as safe as possible. But if she got revenge against Mathias in the process, so much the better.

Bram narrowed his eyes. “You’re expecting, yes, but Merlin’s magic is strong enough to discern that you’re not a banshee. Pretending won’t work.”

“I’m not pretending.”

The entire room came to a dead stop. No one moved, spoke. Breathed. They all stared—except Lucan and Shock. They uttered the same curse in the same moment.

“You could wail now and kill us all?” Ice finally asked.

She shrugged. “I suppose.” When he and Duke both backed away, she held up her hands. “Until Mathias took me, I had never wailed. It was a terrible, wretched experience, and I have no interest in ever using my voice that way again.”

“So you want Mathias and me to take you with us to release Morganna’s potion?”

Leave it to Bram to skip being spooked by the odd girl and get right to the practical.

“She’s staying home,” Lucan insisted.

Anka shook her head. “You can’t put your hands on Morganna’s potion without me.”

“That was the reason for Morganna’s fertility spell?” Clearly, the wheels in Bram’s head were turning quickly. “She knew you were a banshee?”

“Right away,” Anka answered. “But I pointed out that I was not a mother and, therefore, was of no use to her.”

“So she fixed that for you. Brilliant.” Bram’s eyes narrowed. “But how did she know that releasing the potion would require a second generation washerwoman? Merlin would never have allowed her to discover that information.”

“I told her.” At the collective incredulous stares and growls around her, she scowled. “I had to give her some useful information or else she was coming straight for you and Sabelle.”

“Bugger,” Bram muttered.

“Morganna is potentially even more dangerous than Mathias, Anka,” Lucan implored. “Come home and let me protect you.”

Anka wanted to scream. The truth was in front of Lucan. Why couldn’t he see it? “That’s impossible. She knows my face, my bloodline…and that I’m now carrying a youngling. She needs me and she knows it. She will find me, and it won’t matter who gets in her way. As long as she perceives that I’m merely a part of the combination to unlock her potion, she’ll mean me no harm.”

Lucan clenched his fists. He looked like a truck had hit him, but he was no longer arguing.

“Are you suggesting that we simply give the potion to her?” Bram’s question left no doubt that he thought she’d lost her mind.

“The two of us, along with Mathias, must retrieve it.” She swallowed realizing how close she’d have to be to her tormenter. He would comment about her pregnancy, deliver more veiled threats. Mathias would realize that he could make Lucan weak again if he harmed her. He would scare the hell out of her and enjoy every minute of it. Damn it, she hated being vulnerable, but she could do nothing now. “I said nothing about giving Morganna the potion, however. In fact, I have a plan to use it to destroy her and Mathias.”

Caden cut in. “Why risk you, the youngling, and my brother’s ire to stop her? Why not let the potion stay hidden?”

Turning, Anka addressed him. “You mean beside the fact that Morganna won’t let me? For two reasons: First, the Doomsday Brethren can’t fight both Mathias and Morganna at once. And don’t forget, we can’t retrieve the potion without Mathias. As long as Morganna is threatening to expose us to humans, she’s a greater threat. Am I wrong?”

“Not at all,” Bram returned.

“We need that potion.” Anka smiled. “Second, I don’t think for one minute that Mathias wants to play nice with us for the good of magickind. The moment that potion is free, he’ll enact whatever scheme he’s brewing in his head and double-cross us. He’ll try to leverage the potion to control Morganna.”