Blackbourne, nephew to the head of the magical Council, had stepped forward and agreed to mate with Tabitha.

Older and well-connected, Sean sought a companion and heir now that his mate had perished without breeding. He would be better for Tabitha and the child. To protest the match would have been selfish, so Raiden had swallowed his pride and wished her well. That had been the last time he’d seen her, over two months ago. God, how he’d love to turn back the clock. Even if he could, he didn’t know what he’d do differently. Nothing changed the fact that her parents had been right.

Raiden turned to Bram. “Help me take her family to my house.”

“Tabitha is there?” When Raiden nodded, Bram shook his head. “She’s going to be too grief-stricken to see their bodies now.”

Did Bram think Raiden was daft? “I didn’t plan on displaying them. I’m going to take them to the gardens, prepare them for burial.”

With a nod, Bram took her father and middle brother. Raiden lifted her eldest brother as well and closed his eyes, focusing on home. Moments later, he found himself in his gardens, freezing in the December chill. Carefully, they laid her family out inside the gazebo, protected from the elements.

“I keep wondering, why the Lowerys?” Bram murmured. “It seems so… random.”

Impatience chafed at Raiden. He wanted to see Tabitha, but this question had crossed his mind as well. “I haven’t a clue.”

“Random is unlike Mathias. Lowery hadn’t spoken publicly against Mathias, hadn’t lifted a wand to fight. Tabitha was to be joined to Blackbourne, a family with ties to Mathias. I can’t imagine what Mathias would have sought from Lowery. He was a bloody historian. The information he collected is public to all of magickind. But by the looks of the ruins, Mathias wanted something badly.”

Indeed. And Raiden wanted to get to the bottom of that mystery—after he’d seen Tabitha.

His heart pounded overtime as he ran toward the house, each step bringing him closer to her, to seeing for himself that she was alive and well and the baby was still safe.

As he reached the back door and threw it open, Tabitha stood waiting, her long skirts torn, her pale cheeks sooty. The air left Raiden’s body in a giant rush.

Her fiery hair, which he’d loved to spread across white pillows, had come loose from its usual upswept do. A tear in her soft cinnamon blouse bared her shoulder. Her hazel eyes looked wide and stricken.

She was the most beautiful sight he’d ever seen.

The moment she saw him, she ran toward him. For safety and comfort only, he knew. Still, Raiden opened his arms and wrapped them around her, clutching her small frame tightly.

“T-they came so quickly. I… I didn’t know what to do. Father told me to run. Mathias made it impossible to teleport and—”

“Shh,” he comforted her. “I know. I… saw. Take a deep breath.”

Wildly, she shook her head, and more of her fiery hair escaped its knot. “He killed them, didn’t he?”

Oh, God. She didn’t know her entire family was dead? And he had to be the one to tell her. She already despised him for walking away. The pain of her hatred already hurt so damn bad….

But she deserved to know. No one else would break it to her as gently.

Lifting her in his arms, he carried her to a nearby sitting room, shutting the door against his curious father. He set her on his lap, then used his magic to pour her a bit of water from the nearby bar and levitate it to her.

“Drink this.”

“Answer me!” That temper of hers flashed hot and suddenly. “Are they dead?”

What the hell could he say? “Yes. I’m so sorry, Tabby.”

Tears immediately flooded her eyes as pain crested over her face. “A-all of them?”

He nodded. “I brought them here for burial.”

Her hazel eyes were twin wells of anguish, and Raiden didn’t know what else to do but hold her as long as she needed him.

Tabitha buried her face in Raiden’s neck and did the one thing she’d sworn never to do again: she clung to him. As always, he was solid. Hard body, substantial shoulders. His long golden hair pulled away from the masculine angles of his chiseled face. The sight comforted her.

Everything she’d ever known, everyone she’d ever loved—except Raiden—was dead. Now she was virtually alone in the world. Scarcely knowing her intended mate, she really had no one else to turn to. And certainly no one else who knew anything about fighting Mathias.

Sobs overwhelmed her. Raiden could be a real bastard, and she didn’t expect him to do more than protect her now—likely more for the baby’s safety than her own.

Still, she couldn’t help sinking into him as he held her tightly, caressing her back, whispering assurances. No, it wasn’t going to be all right. Since the attack just after dinner, she hadn’t felt safe for a moment. Until now. This Raiden was the considerate lover who’d seduced her several months ago, not the unfeeling cad who’d broken her heart.

Tabitha shoved that thought aside. That no longer mattered, only the here and now did.

“I-it was terrible,” she muttered. “So unexpected. We’d just finished eating. Mother was pouring wine, Father informed me that Sean would be over for dinner tomorrow, then…”

Raiden’s hand tightened on her. “You don’t have to say more if you don’t wish.”

But she did have to. The danger wasn’t over.

“The windows crashed in. There were men everywhere. Wizards and half-rotted human corpses.” She shivered.

“The Anarki. Mathias’s army.”

She nodded. “I-I… they swarmed like locusts. Everyone scattered. My father grabbed my arm and whispered in my ear, then used his body to protect me as he shoved me through a hidden door in his office.”

She shook with fresh sobs as grief wrenched her all the way to her core. God, she could remember that last look at his face, so frighteningly resigned. “I… ran until I was far enough from Mathias’s power, then I teleported here.”

“I’m sorry you went through that. And I’m sorry about your family, Tabby.”

“I didn’t know where else to come. I know you and your friends fight Mathias…”

“You did the right thing.” He held her even tighter, and through her grief, Tabitha wondered why. Raiden didn’t love her. When her parents had demanded that he leave and never come back, he’d complied easily enough. If this hadn’t been a life-or-death prospect, Raiden would have been the last man she sought.

But only he could help her now.

“What did your father say before you ran?”

“I-I don’t understand it, really. It makes no sense. Maybe I misunderstood…”

“What?” Gently, he wiped her tears away.

Tabitha replayed her father’s voice, filled with forced calm, in her head. Then she frowned. “He told me to protect the secret tree.”

Chapter Three

The secret tree?” Raiden paused, his thoughts clearly churning. “Did you have such a thing on your property?”

“I’ve no idea what he was talking about.”

“Do you know where he might have grown a secret tree? Or why it’s so secret?”

Tabitha shook her head. Frustration warred with panic. She must figure out what her father wanted her to protect or his death would be in vain.

She sucked back her tears and forced herself to focus. “He never mentioned a secret tree previously.”

“We will figure it out,” Raiden soothed her, cradling her against him. “Had he behaved differently of late?”

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