Embrace Me At Dawn (38 page)

Lucan took in Bram’s little speech. Yes, from the other wizard’s point of view, that made perfectly logical sense. “You’re full of shit. If Emma had come to me, desperate for energy and protection, and I had to choose between you or…Sebastian Blackbourne, for instance, I would have assumed you wanted your mate. That you could take care of her. I would have given you the benefit of the doubt, war or no. I would
never
have stabbed you in the back.” He narrowed his eyes. “When Anka wakes from this mate breaking, I’m going to take her home with me, where she belongs. Tomorrow, we will return, and she will continue training. Despite no longer being able to fuck information out of Shock for you, she is still one of us. You won’t tell her otherwise.”

“
A few days ago, you didn’t want her to be one of us at all. You wanted her nowhere near the fighting.”

“
If anything pulls her through this mate breaking, it will be the fire of her revenge. She needs it, and I’m here to give her what she needs. Now fuck off.”

Pivoting around and wrenching the double doors open, he strode out.

“
Lucan, don’t do this!” Bram shouted after him. “We’ve been friends for too long—”

“
We
were
friends.” Lucan didn’t break stride, just headed for the stairs. “Now we just fight on the same side of the war.”

If Bram had anything else to say in his defense, Lucan didn’t want to hear it. Didn’t care. Only Anka mattered, and he ran up the stairs to find Shock pacing.

“
Impressive,” the leather-clad wizard said. “‘Low-down, wretched, motherfucking scumbag’ has quite the ring to it.”

“
I wanted to add ‘shitty, back-stabbing arsehole,’ but I ran out of breath.”

“
You’re really furious.”

“
Imagine being in my position.”

Shock pondered, then nodded. “I probably would have killed him.”

“
Don’t think it didn’t cross my mind. He’s obsessed with this war, so I shouldn’t be surprised. Has he even put in any time looking for his own missing mate? I’m not aware that he has. I probably shouldn’t be surprised.”

“
Actually, more than you think. He’s certain that he’s narrowed down her vicinity. Too bad for him he’s quite wrong.”

Lucan’s jaw dropped. “You know where Emma is?”

“
A little mission for Mathias, yes. I’ve kept her out of harm’s way. But I’ve kept her under my thumb, too. Bram will never find her.”

Surprise rippled again and again through Lucan. Shock was smarter—and more dangerous—than anyone suspected. Lucan had a whole new level of respect for the chap.

Shock laughed. “I’m an equal opportunity bastard. Mathias doesn’t know where she is, either. I’ve stashed her someplace perfect. When the right moment comes…I’ll tell whoever needs to know most.”

That worried him. He might not consider Bram a friend anymore, but he didn’t want to see a human caught in the crossfire. “Mathias will kill her.”

“
He might threaten to, but ending her accomplishes nothing for him. More likely that he’d use her to get to Bram.”

And the wizard would give his life to spare his mate’s. The instinct was innate.

“
Exactly.” Shock crossed his arms over his chest with a superior grin.

Which reminded him that Shock had his own agenda in this war. Not that Lucan gave a shit right now.

He ripped his mobile free from his pocket. “How much longer?”

Shock’s smile fell. “I don’t bloody know, but it’s taking too damn long.”

Yes, and waiting to hear about Anka was killing him.

The thought barely crossed his mind before the bedroom door opened. He and Shock both snapped to attention and crowded around the portal as a shaken Sabelle appeared.

Chapter Fourteen

Lucan didn’t wait for Sabelle to speak. He pushed past her, ran into the bedroom, and skidded to a stop on his knees at the side of the bed. Anka looked ghostly and still as he took her icy hand in his. Her chest didn’t rise and fall. Her magical signature was devoid of Shock’s influence, except a tiny crack that proclaimed him her former mate. But all of her colors were fading so rapidly, his heart stopped.

Anka was slipping through his fingers. If he didn’t do something, she would soon be dead.
God, no
. No way would he let her go. He hadn’t come this far, discovered that he was the mate of her heart, only to lose her forever. Giving up was not an option.

He jumped on the bed beside Anka, wrapped her in his arms, and crushed her to his chest. She tumbled limply against him, a chilly, lifeless rag doll.

“
What happened?” he asked Millie.

The old witch shook her head, a pained frown on her fey little face. “I tried. Once the mate bond was broken, she simply fell.”

“
Fell? What does that mean?” Lucan gripped Anka tighter, willing her to warm, to breathe, to open her eyes and see how much he loved her.

“
I…it’s a term healers use. When you’re performing intricate magic, it’s complicated. And it’s still magic, which is imperfect and…” Millie swallowed nervously. “It doesn’t always work the way you expect. I thought I’d been slow and gentle, that we’d done everything to make her warm and secure...”

“
After you left and Millie began severing her mate bond to Shock, I sensed that Anka felt adrift. Cut loose,” Sabelle supplied, then shook her head. “No, that’s not it exactly. I felt her searching for an anchor. When she couldn’t find one, she floated away.”

She’d felt alone? She’d needed someone to lean on?

“
I believe so,” Sabelle said, obviously scanning his thoughts.

He turned to Shock, whose hulking presence Lucan could feel behind him. “Read Anka’s mind. Anything?”

Shock bowed his head, paused. Finally, his head snapped up again, and he nodded. “She’s still alive. Only just. She’s hazardously low on energy. And she’s afraid.”

“
Don’t fear, love. You will
never
be alone again. Ever,” Lucan whispered fiercely in her ear. “I’ve got you.” He stood, draping the sheet around her naked body, then carried her out of the room, down the stairs. “Thank you, Millie, Sabelle. I’ll take her.”

On his heels, Shock followed. “I hear her faint thoughts. She’s afraid of dragging you through the muck of her problems.”

“
Our
problems,” he growled to her as he headed for Bram’s front door. “They aren’t just yours, love. I’ll be there with you. Focus on coming back to me.”

“
There you go, Anka,” Shock bantered. “And no, I won’t butt out. You don’t get to die on us. You know if I have to be underhanded to keep you alive, I will. I’ve done it before.”

Outside, Lucan gripped Anka against his chest, ready to teleport away, the urgency to get her home and plaster her naked skin against his and force energy into her little body strangling him. But he owed Shock something.

“
Fuck that,” Shock growled. “You owe me squat. Go.”

“
You’re not in mate mourning.”

Shock hesitated. “Maybe it’s delayed?”

“
Mine hit instantly. It disconnected all rational thought from my brain to the rest of my body. Instinct took over, and only my mate would do. If you’re feeling none of that, she wasn’t the mate of your heart, either.”

Without waiting for a reply, Lucan teleported back to the house he’d shared with Anka for over a century. As he landed in the middle of the foyer, Caden and Sydney both came dashing into the room.

His sister-by-mating gasped in horror at Anka’s limp form, staring with wide brown eyes.

“
Dear God,” his brother whispered. “Is she—”

“
No. I won’t let her, damn it. Sydney, start making her a bit of food. Have it ready in thirty minutes. Caden, run her a hot shower. I’ll get her ready.”

Both nodded. Sydney scampered off to the kitchen, and Lucan heard her rummaging through the refrigerator. Caden jogged up the stairs in record time. The water sluiced down the glass walls of the shower enclosure as Lucan strode through the door of the master suite. He passed his brother as he made for the exit. They exchanged a solemn glance before Caden clapped him on the shoulder with a bracing nod and left. In that moment, Lucan knew that his younger brother would be there for him, no matter what, in whatever way he needed.

The second the door closed, Lucan stripped himself with a snap of his fingers, then ripped away the sheet covering Anka and carried her limp form into the steamy shower, grateful for the scalding water on her frigid skin.

How the fuck to do this? How to awaken her enough to feel pleasure, to drive her body to the orgasm she would need for them to exchange a full dose of power? Or would that drain her? Did he hold her through his own release and hope that enabled her to open her eyes and accept the rest of what she needed? Time would help him figure it out, but he had none in which to dither or debate.

Bloody hell, he’d never felt less like sex in his life.

Swallowing back his panic and worry, he chose instinctually. If she’d been feeling adrift and disconnected during the mate breaking, he wouldn’t leave her alone now. But she was in no shape to give him even a drop of energy.

Sitting on the tiled bench in the shower, he pulled Anka onto his lap, facing and straddling him, then braced her against his chest. The hot spray hit her back, and her skin slowly warmed. He prayed it would keep her from draining altogether. The rest was up to him—and her drive to live.

Quickly, he took his cock in hand and stroked, thumbing the sensitive head, willing himself to harden as he spoke to Anka. “Love, I’m here.
Please
take from me. Don’t give up. Don’t leave. I am always here for you. I’ll do whatever it takes to show you.”

No response—from her or his cock.
Fuck
. He had to reach her. She deserved everything he could give her.

Anka behaved courageously because she was brave. Hell, she’d gone to meet Morganna alone and was likely still suffering some effects of the spell. But beneath her barriers, Anka was fragile and scared. Revenge and independence—she’d been trying to march to those drums for months. They were providing the beat of her life now, but Anka’s nature was to give. She surrendered—herself, her trust, her love. Without a mate she had no one to share herself with. Anka might have changed in some ways. In others, she was still the witch who wanted to belong, who wanted to be loved. It stood to reason that she still wanted to give her heart and her future to the man who would love her forever.

She needed to know he was that man.

Lucan took hold of her face and softly kissed her lips. “Become a part of me, as I become a part of you. And ever after, I promise myself to thee. Each day we share, I shall be honest, good, and true. If this you seek, heed my Call. From this moment on, there is no other for me but you.”

In his arms, Anka shuddered and gasped.

Hope squeezed his heart. “There’s never been anyone for me but you, love. Open your eyes. Let me prove it.”

She whimpered, struggled to comply. Anticipation was a slick mistress, teasing him with possibilities as he held his breath. But Anka eventually slumped against his chest in exhaustion once more.

His mood deflated…along with his cock.

Angry tears threatened. He wanted to punch something. Rail and curse. Break glass and tear down walls. Lucan contained his rage. He fucking refused to give up. She’d come back from Mathias, from Morganna. She needed him now. He wasn’t letting her go.