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"Your precious reputation orth more to you than ood is a Councilman no one will listen to? I’d been on barely a decade I was the most junior etting the others to treat me as an equal For you to insist on a no, but Deprived … You asked for the ie to the Social order and balancing the Council with a Deprived We’d talked before about the fact I’d be a good candidate, since ed"

Brah "You really believed that would coe? Honestly, Ice"

"Now I know otherwise, but at the time--"

"Which only sho naive and ill-equipped to sit on the Council you were"

Ice gnashed his teeth Point to Bram "Why did you not say this? Why did you just say no and turn your back onfriend My only--" He choked

God, they hadn’t discussed this in two centuries, and the first thing he did? open hisBra the dark days after Bram’s departure, Ice often felt alone, wondered what the fuck he had to live for And nohat must Sabelle think?

"You issuedht You would have tried to direct all Council business into vendettas against Mathias He needed to be dealt with, yes Butyou would have been iht Likely, even But Bram had never asked to see if the rest of the Council would accept the nomination He’d simply said no

"It’s done None of thisI’ll return your sister as soon as we’ve finished talking Joining the Doomsday Brethren was a mistake Consider my involvement at an end"

"Ice, damn it, no" Bram looked ready to hit him

"The Doomsday Brethren needs you," Sabelle added

He snorted, resent his veins "Yeah, you need your slave labor, just as you did during your early Council days I’ll bet you never told anyone I did reat ht the surprise on Sabelle’s face Score

"I’h to be beside you in politics or family Nice"

Bram cursed, then looked him in the eye "No, it’s not nice But it’s reality The Council would have laughed at your noickind will benefit fro to Lucan We cannot allow Mathias on the Council But I need you at ood warriors, Ice I freely admit you are the most fearless The best"

"Please" Sabelle wrapped her hand around his arm and squeezed "Don’t abandon the cause"

By God, they asked too much of hiood of the bloody cause, where he would be forced to watch the witch he loved mate with another?

"What would Gailene have wanted?" Bram murmured

It was a rotten question, but the ansas easy: for hi Gailene, bless her, had always had an unbending ardless of the pain or personal sacrifice Her sense of rightness, fairness, always amazed him, especially since their father had shown her no such exah Ice’s head when several s sounded MacTavish, Lucan, and Caden A Wolvesey ring followed What the hell, was he being invaded? Clearly, they’d all followed Bra Sabelle here and show her the painful plainness of his hoed warrior here as well? Give them a reason to forever mock him?

"Go the fuck away, all of you!" He turned and stormed fro the secret exit that led to the vast expanse of lake and forest and blessed privacy

Instead, Caden’s voice stopped hi"

Hell He didn’t want to see a decent wizard die unnecessarily, and because Ice hated Lucan MacTavish for stealing Sabelle didn’tto suffer But

"Why the devil are all of you here?" he roared,"Certainly you didn’t use all the roo Ice wanted was everyone invading his personal space and secretly er safe," Lucan shouted through the door

Frowning, Ice dropped his defenses long enough to let the the door open First, he adnized as Caden’s HerTynan Lucan and the Wolvesey twins sidled in out of the cold, Ronan curling a pretty blonde at his side TheirMacTavish eed from the back of the pack and pushed his way in front of his nephews, just past Ice’s front door "Clifden o’Shea is dead Attacked and slaughtered Signs point to Anarki"

Oh dear God Ice nearly stopped breathing Mathias wasbloody fast

"Tynan went to visit hiet himself out," Duke added "It’s clear Mathias intended to finish off Clifden’s heir, too Damn near succeeded"

Ice cursed Tynan, he’d soed, he wasn’t all bad

"Can we come in?" Caden’s blue eyes bore into his as he held the injured Tynan, who looked dirty, bloody, and completely unconscious "If Tynan dies, Mathias will have another open Council seat to vie for"

Bloody hell

"I o," Lucan announced "I merely came to check … the situation"

In other words, make certain Ice hadn’t raped or harmed Sabelle As if he could

Ice snarled "Everyone is alive and in one piece No hters Yet"