"It was a mistake," she murmured.
A grin broke out across Sabelle's face. "Not at all. A mating between you two would be brilliant. I've long worried Duke was too disconnected from everyone, everything. He's never shown a preference for one female over another. Until you."
Felicia's heart stopped. Shock and Lucan--and now Sabelle--all seemed to think she belonged with Hurstgrove. Was his urge to protect her rooted in more than merely keeping Mathias from gaining the upper hand against magickind? Had his kiss been more than his playboy tendencies coming out to play or his need for a snack?
"Anything romantic between us is impossible."
"Is it? You need protection. And Duke would give his life for you."
He would; Felicia knew that. Already he'd risked much to keep her alive: his family, a scandal, and now his magical bachelorhood. "That makes no sense. He barely knows me."
Sabelle sent her a long look. "If he kissed you, he knows more than you think."
Duke tried to focus on the conversation around him, but he could only think of Felicia.
In twenty-four hours, she'd been threatened by Mathias, abducted from her wedding, kissed soundly by her fiance's brother, introduced to magickind, then told to mate with a wizard she barely knew. It was more than anyone should have to deal with so quickly; enough to shake even the hardiest of souls. Yet she'd taken it all in stride, proving again she was a strong, amazing woman.
He wished he could say he'd handled the situation as well. In those same few hours, he'd pried her from the man she loved and kissed her soundly ... mostly against her will. Shock's suggestion that she could hide by mating had secretly thrilled him. The need to Call to her coursed through him, crowding out all else. Even now, his hands shook as he suppressed the urge to take Felicia to his bed and make love to her until she admitted that she wanted him even half as much as he craved her.
But that could never happen.
Duke raked a hand through his hair. If he gave in to his urge to claim Felicia, Mason would hate him forever. He recalled sunny days of riding bikes with his brother, the two of them watching cartoons and sharing pranks. The thought of his younger brother hating him for the rest of his days chafed. If he took Felicia as his own, his mother might never speak to him again. He'd loathe his own disloyalty. But his only other choice was to reject the woman intended to be his mate. Which would leave her unprotected. Eventually, she'd marry Mason, and Duke would have nothing left but centuries of loneliness. Fucking no-win situation.
"Are you listening to me?" Bram snapped.
Duke blinked, looked over at the Doomsday Brethren's leader, and grimaced.
"Sorry."
"Once Felicia is mated, rescuing Tynan must be our first priority." Bram's booming voice jarred Duke from his thoughts. "Marrok, what strategy did you and the others devise for extracting Tynan from Mathias?"
As Marrok outlined his plan to lure Mathias out of hiding using the Doomsday Diary as bait, Duke's thoughts strayed again to Felicia.
Once they'd spoken their vows, how would he ever keep his hands off her? He'd spent less than two days with her, and already she burned in his blood like a fever.
"Fine," Bram said. "That's the best plan we have for now, though there are a lot of holes."
"Aye," Marrok concurred. "Until we find the lout's location, we must leave more to chance than I like. Methinks we will reconsider much once we know in which hole he hides."
Bram nodded, then sighed. "We need a plan to contain Mathias. Since the Council finally gave us--and no one else--license to kill the bastard, we'd best keep trying."
"It's as if Mathias knows all our plans, even those we don't share with Shock," Ice pointed out. "Because he's the Council elder, that fucker Carlisle Blackbourne insists on hearing the Doomsday Brethren's every move. He's been known to associate with Mathias in the past ..."
"Indeed," Caden drawled. "I don't believe for a moment that Blackbourne repudiated him. I have no doubt our corrupt Council leader and Mathias are still as thick as thieves."
All this talking did nothing to keep Felicia safe. Duke spit out a nasty curse, and every stare in the room turned to him in surprise.
"Wish to share something now that you're back with us?" Bram glared at him impatiently.
"Blackbourne is a reptile. No one questions that. Why are we discussing it? Let's solidify a plan to kill Mathias. Now. I grow tired of him terrorizing magickind and threatening all we hold dear."
"If you have the solution to our problem, do tell," Bram spat.
Duke didn't give a shit about his mood. "If we're going to lure him out, why not make it to his doom?"
"Perfect. Any ideas on how we can actually kill a wizard who's already risen from the grave? I doubt traditional means will do it."
As much as Duke hated it, Bram made a good point. This conversation wasn't new to the Doomsday Brethren. Truth was, since Mathias had obviously employed some frighteningly dark magic to cheat death, they didn't know exactly how to vanquish him.
That fact had never disturbed Duke half as much as it did right now.
"We haven't yet tried skewering him on a sword covered in Ice's blood." He referenced Ice's fight with Mathias for a Council seat a few weeks prior. "If Ice is incorruptible, then his blood should be poison to Mathias and--"
"And if we can make Mathias stand still whilst we stab him with such a sword, we will. But that isn't really your problem with this discussion. You're worried about Felicia."
Duke raked a hand through his hair. He wasn't behaving like a warrior, and Bram had called him on it. They were supposed to be working toward a common goal, and suddenly, he'd developed his own agenda. "Sorry."
Bram eyed him carefully. "You sense that Felicia is your mate, yes?"
God, why didn't Bram simply ask him to give himself a lobotomy. That would be no harder than admitting he needed his brother's fiancee more than he needed to see his next sunrise. He'd become so bloody transparent.
Feeling the weight of all those gazes, he closed his eyes. "It's irrelevant."
"Clearly not. I understand that being near Felicia and not claiming her, especially when she's in so much danger, is difficult. But your misery will end soon."
No, making Felicia his while knowing that, in her heart, she belonged to Mason, would increase his misery a hundredfold. Somehow, Bram had failed to grasp the situation, or chose not to.
"It will destroy my family."
Bram sent him an apologetic shrug. "Nothing about this war has been easy for any of us."
They'd all made sacrifices. And would continue to.
Lucan sighed. "What time do we leave tonight?"
"Midnight, perhaps. That depends on when our 'information' about the diary's new location reaches Mathias. I've put in a summons for a few wizards who might pass along the word. Should have asked Shock whilst he was here. Now he's not answering."
Naturally. Dodgy bastard.
Then Bram addressed all the men. "I shouldn't have to tell you that rescuing Tynan will be a dangerous mission and may require a great deal of energy and strength.
Everyone with a mate, go spend a few hours of quality time with your chosen one."
None of the mated wizards needed to be told twice to find their women. Ice nearly left a trail of fire as he beat feet out of the room. Ronan was hot on his heels, with Caden and Marrok fighting to get out the door next.
Bram sighed at the empty archway moments later. "I've called for a surrogate.
Lucan--"
"I'm going out." The wizard's blue eyes looked furious and remote, and Duke wondered if Anka had any idea how badly Lucan pined for her, how much he hated having to touch someone else because she'd chosen Shock as a protector rather than renewing their bond.
Bram nodded. "Be back by ten." Then he turned to Duke with that look of superiority that always annoyed the hell out of him. "Go to Felicia. I don't want to see you again until you're mated, brimming with energy, and have changed her imprint on your signature entirely."
How the bloody hell was he supposed to do that without ruining his life?
"I can't. I'll go with Lucan."
Lifting a golden brow, Bram drawled, "Do I need to ask some other wizard to mate with Felicia? Blackbourne's son, Sebastian, would enjoy an exotic female to help him build that dynasty he craves. He'd have no qualms about tucking her into his bed from dusk to dawn."
Bram had thrown down the gauntlet, his every word designed to push Duke's buttons and ream his sanity.
If Duke spoke the Call, his urge to make Felicia his in every way would only multiply. The one time he had touched her had nearly decimated his self-control. Far beyond a mere kiss, he didn't even know how to describe the contact. In that moment, he'd been connected to her in every way, felt her goodness, sensed her fear, ached to make her a permanent part of his life.
He'd be damned if Sebastian Blackbourne or any other wizard would touch her.
Clenching his fists, Duke glared at Bram. "Shut. Up. Now."
"Felicia is ours to guard. We can't protect her if you're broadcasting an easy trail to follow. We need you. Man up."
"I don't respond well to coercion or guilt. Piss off."
Duke grabbed Lucan's arm and stalked out of the room, down the hall, and emerged into the blast of the cold night.
With January wind whipping around them, Lucan jerked his arm from Duke's grasp. "What the hell is the matter with you?"
Anger jolted his system, and Duke turned to Lucan, silenced by the other wizard's genuine confusion.
"What would you have me do? She belongs to my brother. I want her, and she knows it. Mason knows it. My family will disown me."
"You know what's at stake." Lucan's blue eyes blazed at him. "I needn't spell it out for you."
Shit. Bram and Lucan were right. Felicia needed a mate. With a few words, he could protect her, the Doomsday Brethren, and all of magickind. He could speak the Call and solve many problems. Save many lives. Nothing else mattered.
He scrubbed a hand across his face. "I know."
"So what's truly stopping you?"
Duke sighed. "She's meant to be mine, but as soon as the danger has passed, she'll break our bond. Because she's female, she'll heal quickly and leave. Return to Mason.
You know how that feels."
Formerly mated females forgot their previous mates when the bond was severed, so they often sought the protection of another. Anka drifting to Shock was a prime example. Imagining Mason and Felicia together--it twisted deep in Duke's chest until it became a pain he could scarcely endure. The greedy part of him wanted to mate her, then spend every free moment wooing her until she had no will to leave.
"And you fear Felicia will rip your heart out," Lucan finished softly, "leaving you devastated and mad, like me. I wouldn't wish that on any wizard."
Once Felicia left him, Duke knew he would endure an anguish, a possible descent into madness, and a gaping hole in his heart that could take years to heal, if it ever did.
Only a few weeks ago, Lucan had been chained to a bed like a madman, thrashing and screaming for his former mate. He'd been so distraught, unable to take energy from the solace of another woman's body, that he'd nearly died. If it hadn't been for Sabelle's tenacity and Anka's healing spell, he might have.
"If I mate Felicia, and she leaves me, I'll have nothing. No family, no mate, no sanity. Nothing but war and vengeance and hate."
"I can't tell you that being torn away from your mate gets easier. But I still wouldn't wish away a second of the time I spent with Anka. Ten minutes with your mate is still better than a lifetime without her. Besides, if you don't mate with Felicia, what will happen to her? Bram dreamed of her in Mathias's clutches."
Duke closed his eyes. Lucan spoke true. He must do whatever necessary to prevent that. Better to lose her to Mason than Mathias.
Even if that meant giving up his family, his sanity. His heart.
"You're right," he told the other wizard. "Go on without me."
Nodding, Lucan shrugged deeper into his coat. Duke darted back toward the cave.
God, this was madness. And in an odd way, he was relieved to have this decision behind him. If all went well, Felicia would be his mate tonight. It was a temporary comfort, and he deceived himself by basking in it. But he had nothing else.
Shouldering his way back inside, he tore from room to room until he found Sabelle. "Where is she?"
Sabelle instantly understood. "Follow me."
Down a series of stairs and narrow hallways they wended until she finally stopped at a closed door. "In here. Reassure Felicia. She's afraid."
"Of being here?"
The beautiful witch shook her head. "Of being with you."
Duke drew in a sharp breath. That fit. Being with her scared the hell out of him.
He had no doubt that if he bedded her even once, he'd be addicted. He'd be hers for life.
The fact that Shock had read her mind enough to know that Felicia desired him too ...
Duke hardly needed more fuel for his fire.
"I'll do my best."