“H-help? I’m hardly in fighting shape. Magickind hasn’t needed anyone to enforce the rules really since?—”
“Mathias, right?”
The old wizard sighs. “Are you certain this isn’t much ado about nothing?”
I grit my teeth. “Locate Lucan and Caden. Ask them to come here. Right now. You’re our only hope. Please…”
“You younger ones are so easily excitable and so certain you’ve seen a ghost.” Another sigh. “All right then. I will find my nephews.”
“With all haste, please. Thank you.”
Closing the lid on the mirror, I tuck it into my pack and set the bag beside Bram. With wand in hand, I creep up the stairs and listen. Stomping, shuffling, shouts, some of pain—all above stairs. The odds are against me. I might be captured. Who am I kidding? It’s likely. But I have surprise on my side, and I refuse to leave Ice to his doom.
Bracing my palms on the stone block in the wall, I push with all my might. It won’t budge. Damn and blast!
I point my wand at the giant cube of marble, envisioning it wiggling free of the ice and falling to the floor below. The stone trembles in the wall, shudders, then falls still.
There’s only one reason my spell would fail: Ice sealed it off. He poured his magic into that frozen water to make opening the little tunnel again impossible. In ensuring that no one can follow me down the tunnel, he’s also made certain I can’t leave the relative safety of my hiding place to help him.
Tears choke me. That big, stupid, noble, idiotic, incredible man. So willing to protect me at the cost of his own life. Doesn’t he understand that I would and could have fought by his side? Yes. And despite hating my brother, he cares enough for me to ensure my safety, even at the expense of his own.
I have to rescue him. I have to escape this tunnel and save him. Somehow.
Above me, shouts erupt. Something—someone?—bangs the walls. Repeatedly. More stampeding across the floor. A door slams.
“No!”
My blood freezes. That’s Ice. I’d know his voice anywhere; it’s imprinted on my heart.
It might be reckless, and my brother would highly disapprove…but I whisper a prayer that my brother and the diary will be safe and remain undetected here until either I return or Lucan and Caden arrive. Then I teleport to the back of the manor house and creep toward the kitchen door.
“Bloody fucking wankers.” Ice again. Thank goodness, he’s alive.
I peer through the glass in the door, barely peeking above the edge. What I see has my heart jumping into my throat. Blood runs in vivid crimson rivulets down his face. One ribbon drips right between his eyes, soaking the thirsty sweater across his torso. He holds his wand high and backs out of the room.
“Kill me, then. I won’t tell you where the diary is.”
The half-dozen wizards with their backs to me laugh.
One saunters forward, his swagger infuriating me. “I’m certain Mathias will change your mind.”
Ice raises his chin, full of challenge and sneer. “He can try.”
The wizards nearest the door charge toward Ice. My chest seizes up. He’s terribly outnumbered—and agitating the other wizards to act. Is he utterly mad?
With a slash of his wand, three of the pursuing wizards stop. Cease completely and simply fall. I’ve never been one for bloodshed, but I sincerely hope they are dead.
I cannot allow the remaining Anarki to reach Ice. So I ease the door open behind them, determined to keep the element of surprise on my side.
Ice’s eyes flash when he spots me. His swagger slips, and terror overtakes his face. “No!”
From the side door between the kitchen and the formal dining room, Zain pops out and raises his wand with malicious glee. “Thought you could kill another hundred of us again, did you? You’re slipping. You only got eighty this time.”
“Because the other twenty ran like cowards.”
“Your bloodshed stops now!” Zain roars.
I cast a spell at the three robed figures heading for Ice, hoping he’s able to disarm or dispatch Zain. Then we might be able to escape, be free. Instead, he points his wand at me with fear and apology all over his face. Love glows in his green eyes.
