Embrace Me At Dawn (16 page)

With a determined sigh, he sauntered over to Anka and planted himself beside her. “You’re hurting Belle’s feelings.”

Anka looked away, focusing her attention on Bram, who now stood behind his ornate wooden desk at the front of the room, books spread out before him. “She has Ice.”

“
She is your best friend.”

“
She is from an impeccable family. She is the sort of mate you deserve.” Anka pushed away from the window to find an empty chair in the back corner of the room.

Where the devil had
that
come from? There were so many damn things wrong with Anka’s statement that Lucan didn’t know where to start. Definitely, they were going to sort this out. If she thought she could end the discussion by moving to a corner, she was sorely mistaken. But here and now wasn’t the time to make that clear.

“
Thank you all for coming on short notice. Special thanks to Olivia, Sabelle, Sydney, and Felicia for tirelessly prowling through Merlin’s rambling tomes to find something—”

Duke burst through the door a moment later, interrupting Bram’s speech. He looked as if he’d like to tear off more than a few heads and ask questions later. Lucan frowned. Simon rarely lost his cool. His visible frustration didn’t bode well.

“
Good of you to join us. Where the bloody hell have you been?” Bram asked.

“
Dealing with some of the worst sort of scum. Television producers.” Simon shuddered. “The long and the short of it? All the murmurs I heard about exposing Morganna are true. We must act now!” He raked a hand through his hair, and Felicia came to his side with a concerned frown knitting her brow. “The BBC has planned an in-depth look at the tragedy at Stonehenge. They intended to publicly surmise that supernatural forces could be at work and even found people to interview about
magickind
specifically. Yes, us. They’re still airing the exposé, but after our ‘conversation,’ they are omitting the speculation. For now. As if that isn’t bad enough, an American cable show called
Ghost Hunters
is planning an episode about the spirit of Morganna le Fay haunting England and killing innocents. Not precisely true, since it’s the witch herself and not her spirit, but too close for comfort. I’m still seeing articles pop up in various newspapers and tabloids. Sydney, I’m going to buy up the paper and fire your former editor if
Out of This Realm
doesn’t stop speculating about the Stonehenge attack.”

Sydney sighed. “I’ve told Holly to shut it. She’s not exactly listening.”

“
At all.” Displeasure made Simon growl, and Felicia tried to soothe him with a gentle brush to the shoulder.

“
For fuck’s sake.” Bram paced. “Not what I wanted to hear. Can’t you stop them?”

“
I have—for now. But I can’t hold them at bay forever. Money will only buy so much, and then…well, won’t they be asking why I’m willing to pay hundreds of thousands of pounds to silence them? Coupled with all the speculation about why I seemingly haven’t aged a day in the last decade, there are bound to be difficult questions. I don’t want to put too much spotlight on myself or any of us. But we’re running out of options.”

Lucan held in a curse. Duke had been raised human, but he understood magickind’s current problems perfectly.

“
Before the humans look too deeply at you, before Morganna brings another inquisition down on magickind, before the death toll skyrockets, yes. Damn it all! We must rid ourselves of Morganna. Whilst you were gone this morning, we’ve found some new information that might help. Ladies?”

They all looked at one another, then Felicia nudged Olivia forward, who rolled her eyes and trudged over to Bram. Marrok looked on proudly.

“
This morning, we stumbled across something that I believe will help us, but we need a bit more interpretation. I know some Arthurian folklore and legend, and I’ve asked Marrok what he knows from that period since he lived it. Anyway, we’ve managed to piece together a few facts. We’ve always known that Merlin created some way to ultimately destroy Morganna. He exiled her previously so that she would suffer the sorts of trials she forced on others, but he knew she was scary-strong and ultimately left a way to kill her for good. According to this passage, it’s a potion. The eyewitnesses of the Stonehenge attack said that she seemed to be frantically searching the relic bit by bit and killing anyone who got in her way. I can only guess this potion is what she sought.”

“
How did she know about it?” Ice snarled.

Olivia frowned. “I don’t think Merlin made much secret that it existed.”

“
Knowing my grandfather, he would have taunted Morganna with the knowledge,” Bram drawled.

“
You’d do the same,” Lucan pointed out, and Bram nodded with a grin. “Even if we find this potion, she won’t drink it. She’s too happy being out of exile and terrorizing others again.”

“
Precisely. I’m sure she wants to destroy it, which is why she’s hunting for it. That would make her almost invincible. Old age might get her eventually…but somehow she’s already lasted far beyond a normal magical lifespan, so I have to believe that she’s gathered dark forces to work for her and somehow keep her alive.”

“
That’s possible?” Duke asked, wrapping his hand around his mate’s delicate fingers, as if he wanted to keep her closer.

Bram shrugged. “That’s the power of magic. It’s not as if the laws of nature and physics always apply. If you’re strong and crafty enough, you can even cheat death.”

“
Looks like she’s learned. Fuck,” Ice grumbled on the other side of the room.

For once, Lucan perfectly agreed with Sabelle’s gruff mate.

“
Where might we find this devil’s potion?” Marrok asked. “Does Merlin say? I’ve a yen to force it down her evil throat.”

Everyone turned to Olivia, who sighed, shoulders slumped. “We don’t know exactly where it is. You know Merlin would never have organized the information outlining
where
to find the potion with the instructions for actually retrieving it from its hiding spot. And that’s all we found, details about how to get our hands physically on the potion once it’s discovered. And it’s not going to be easy.”

Bram jumped in. “Indeed. The potion, wherever it is, is caged by a spell. Merlin wouldn’t have wanted to make it simple for Morganna to obtain and destroy it. The good news is that we know now what we need to snatch it up. The bad news? The order is a tall one.”

“
Well, spit it out, then,” Lucan demanded. After his session with Anka had been cut short, he found his patience running thin.

Bram raised a brow at him, then his stare skidded over to Anka. She sat, back straight, chin raised, shoulders squared, staring straight ahead.

Her bravado was utter shit. Lucan saw it.
Felt
it. Wanted to get underneath it to reach the fragile woman underneath who seemed to think she was somehow too damaged for him or somehow not good enough. Impatience chafed him, but he swallowed it down. She needed time to heal, his attention, and the certainty he would be there, no matter what. No way could he convince her of all that in a day or two.

“
The first component to undoing Merlin’s spell is someone from his bloodline.” As Ice stood to his full height, wrapped his arm more tightly around his mate, and glared across the room, Bram calmed the big warrior immediately. “I’ll take that. There’s no need for Sabelle to be involved.” As Ice relaxed back at his mate’s side, the lovely blonde witch nudged his shoulder with a scowl.

Olivia grabbed Merlin’s book. “The next component is trickier. The blood of someone from Nimue’s line.”

“
Nimue? Who is that?” Duke asked. “Sometimes, I bloody hate that I didn’t grow up magical. Sorry I’m so far behind.”

Bram sent him a grim smile. “Nimue is otherwise known as Viviene. Most commonly known as The Lady of the Lake, the witch who was Merlin’s student and lover, who eventually tricked him into his tomb. Finding someone of her ancient bloodline will be difficult.”

Tabitha shoved herself up from the sofa, her swelling belly more pronounced every day as Raiden’s youngling grew within her. “I think I can help there. My father, before he was killed, updated a document filled with magickind’s most sacred bloodlines, including Nimue’s. He didn’t publish it, so we have an advantage there. Morganna won’t know where to look.” She gestured to a thick, yellowing book her mate currently held on his lap. “I’m glad you told me to bring this, Olivia. Keep talking. I’ll continue looking. My father handwrote most of this, but I think I’ve nearly figured it out.”

The Doomsday Brethren’s leader smiled her way, then Raiden helped her back to her seat. Before anyone could even resume speaking, the crafty redhead was flipping pages again, the paper occasionally scraping against her protruding belly.

“
While she looks for that, I’ll tell you about the last requirement of Merlin’s to release the potion,” Olivia continued. “There’s a reference here to the second washerwoman. Whatever that is, we must have one of those.”

Lucan frowned. “What does that mean?”

“
A banshee,” Anka whispered fearfully from the back of the room. And no wonder, the nomadic women who roamed the earth washing the bloody clothes of those about to die, singing the death wail, were feared by all.

He spun his head around to stare at his former mate. She hadn’t spoken a word since this meeting began. Why give voice to her thoughts now? And how did she know the answer?

“
Anka is right,” Bram said. “But not just any banshee. I remember Merlin telling me that there are three types: the maiden, the mother, and the crone. This is where the spell gets difficult. In addition to the blood of someone from Merlin and Nimue’s lines, we need the second generation in a banshee line, so one who is also a mother. She wards off the spirits guarding the potion.”

“
What?” Lucan completely lost his patience. “Is that even possible? Weren’t the banshees obliterated hundreds of years ago? The few who weren’t killed by the paranoid Council idiots ended their own lives, rather than endure public execution. I’ve heard rumors that a few still exist…but I would never have stopped Anka’s training for this meeting if I’d known you were basically looking for the impossible.”

“
Sounds like the equivalent of an Elvis sighting to us humans,” Sydney piped up.

Bram shot her a disapproving glare. “It’s improbable, Lucan, but not impossible. We must keep looking or we’ll never be rid of Morganna.”

Into the momentary silence, Tabitha gasped, going utterly white. “I found Nimue’s bloodline!”

“
Well?” Bram prompted impatiently.

“
Lucan’s right. This isn’t possible.”

“
Supposedly opening Morganna’s tomb and resurrecting her was impossible, too, but here we are dealing with the bitch. So tell us. Who do we know that’s a descendant of Nimue?”

“
There is only one living member of the line.” She placed a trembling hand over her belly, Raiden wrapped his fingers around hers, giving a soft squeeze of comfort. “It’s Mathias. To end Morganna, we’re going to have to undertake a dangerous hunt for a banshee…and make a deal with the devil.”

Chapter Six

Anka fidgeted. Lucan’s watchful gaze never strayed. She schooled her face impassively as talk of teaming up with Mathias and capturing a banshee continued. Her heart froze up, failing to beat for long minutes.
Oh, God
. She didn’t want to dance with the devil. Facing him again would be hard enough, but being his partner would be impossible. But Mathias wasn’t her only worry.

For Anka’s entire childhood, her mother had harangued her daily about keeping their deadly bloodline a secret.
Don’t trust anyone, girl. And definitely don’t ever sing.

If people knew the truth, she could be hunted, incarcerated, killed. Every day, she thanked their Creator that being a blend of other species didn’t reflect on a magical signature. Banshee camps weren’t that distant a memory, historically speaking. Hunted by paranoid witches and wizards in their remote banshee villages, the women had been captured en masse for centuries and dragged away from all civilization. Their mouths were always magically sewn shut forever. Often, they were slaughtered. Entire generations of banshees perished together. Her grandmother had given her life so that her mother could escape such a camp. Eventually, her mother had mated with a wizard, kept her secret to the grave, and made Anka promise to do the same. And in the century she’d been mated to Lucan, she had never once given him any reason to suspect just what blood ran in her veins.