He nodded. “What will you do?”
The shock of Adella’s explanation was so immense that it took a second for Mark to realize Caster was no longer by his side. He started to go after him as his long strides ate up the distance to the door, but the Queen blocked his path.
“He needs a moment.” She reached for his hands, holding them with a delicate touch that belied the enormous strength characteristic of her species. “I’ll speak with him, hmm?”
His acquiescing nod was hesitant at best. Was this the end of their everything? Is this where Caster drew the line?
“You stay here. Let Edie show you who you are.” She squeezed his hands, leaning closer, her voice dropping to a whisper. “I’ll make sure he comes back to you.”
Mark thanked Edie for denying him the room to think. She took his arm and pointed to the nearest chair, urging him to sit. She turned to Riley. “Could you guys give us some room?”
Riley ushered the others out with little hesitation, and he thanked him for it. Mikey was resistant, only agreeing to follow James when the Alpha convinced him they’d only be next door.
“Do you want to find out?” Edie asked as soon as all the silent stares were gone.
Mark wasn’t sure. The idea of a soulmate was one he’d never entertained.
That would mean believing in fate, and his mother had drummed such foolish notions out of his head too long ago.
It was hard to believe the same mother who was certain witches were the devil’s playthings had interacted with a witch enough to alter the course of his life.
But how else could he explain his reaction to Caster, the witch’s fixation on him?
He nodded. “What will you do?”
Edie reached out, and he didn’t hesitate to place his hands in hers. The touch was a comfort that untangled the mess of emotions he fought, chief among them the anxiety that Caster would reject him. Does anyone survive rejection from a soulmate?
“It’s a simple tracking spell.” Edie’s calm voice eased his anxiety. “We will try to find the magic in you and trace it back to the witch who cast the spell.”
Mark nodded even though none of what she said made sense to him. He was still stuck on Anima Alterum. If Caster was his soulmate, what did that make Zeke?
Edie’s smile remained indulgent. “Close your eyes and try to breathe.”
That he could do. The second deep breath he’d taken whooshed out of him as Edie’s power drew all the energy from his body.
She chanted in Latin, the individual words familiar, but their collective meaning indecipherable to someone only acquainted with the language.
The louder her chant grew, the more tired he became, until he could no longer hold on to his consciousness, and he slipped under.
When he came to, his head lay against the conference table, Edie smiling at him. “You are. There is a lot of magic in you.” Her smile grew wider, her energy almost giddy. “And thank the Goddess for its source.”
“What?”
“I feared Ethel had cast the spell. But it wasn’t her.”
“Who was it?” His voice was distant, his mouth dry.
“A friend. Her name is Amelia. She is an Earth witch. One of the strongest of her kind.”
“OK.” Mark didn’t understand why that would make Edie so happy. “Why am I so sleepy?”
“The spell was a little strong. I’m sorry.”
He sighed. Everything in him wanted to go to Caster, but that would mean getting up, and he couldn’t feel his legs.
Edie touched his hands and whispered something he couldn’t make out, and all vigor returned in an instant.
He frowned at her.
“Healing spell.” She patted his hand, an action reminiscent of a caring grandmother, even when her youthful appearance denied it. “We can’t have you falling asleep now.” She waved a hand around them. “Not when Ethel is determined to have you and destroy the world in the process.”
Mark sat up, renewed energy invigorating his muscles. “If she didn’t cast the spell that made me, why would she want me?”
“The spell didn’t make you, honey. It only enhanced you.” Adella’s explanation compounded his confusion. She pulled a chair closer and sat, determination in her stare. “You were always going to be special. I suspect your mother was aware of that from the beginning.”
“Your kind was prophesied a long time ago. Out of a pure bloodline would be born a one-of-a-kind wolf, impervious to magic. But needing a dose of magic to awaken,” Edie said. “I suspect your transformation will come even faster, with a little practice.”
“You’re saying that if this Earth Witch…”
“Amelia.” Adella’s nod was small, her expression patient.
He nodded. “If Amelia hadn’t done what she did, I wouldn’t have been born?”
“Yes,” Edie answered. “Your mother must have struggled through the pregnancy, and she sought help from a witch.” She smiled. “We should thank the Goddess it was Amelia she found.”
Mark shook his head, a misplaced laugh bubbling past the mess of his confused feelings.
“That’s not…” He sat straighter, trying to find the words to make sense of it all.
“My mother hated witches.” More than she loved her children, if memory served.
Without his father, Dean, and later Mikey, Mark would have never known how to love or be loved.
Edie shrugged away the pity, chasing away her initial joy. “I wasn’t there, sweetie. I can’t tell you what happened. But the evidence is clear. You are Magicae Lupus, the only one of your kind. Only Amelia can tell us how that happened.”
“You know where she is?”
She shook her head. “Finding her wouldn’t be difficult. But we have to survive this first.”
The threat holding them prisoner in this house was significant enough to push away the weight of the new information. “Why would Ethel want me?”
Edie glanced at Adella, and both women sighed in unison. Whatever the reason for the witch’s fixation, it was sinister enough to scare two powerful witches. He held his breath. How much can one wolf endure? There had to be a reprieve, right?
“Only a Magicae Lupus can enter and leave the Underworld undetected and unscathed,” Adella said.
The invisible hammer he’d seen coming fell with tremendous, undeniable impact.