“Couldn’t you do a locator
“We need to find her.” Mark refused to allow the memory of that day to drag him into the depths of his pain.
With his permission, Riley had shared a watered-down version of what their trip into his memory had revealed, and even without the details, it was enough for the others to shower him with concerned looks, bordering on pity.
He reached for Caster’s hand again, anchoring his determination in his reason for confronting his past. He couldn’t love Caster the way he wanted, the way he needed, if a fundamental part of himself remained stuck in the past.
Caster squeezed his hand under the imposing table they all crowded around. “Do you know where she might be, or how to find her?” His gaze was on Edie.
The subdued shake of her head was discouraging. “She broke away from the coven a long time ago.” She pushed out of her chair. “But there might be a way…”
“Amara?” Riley asked, and Edie nodded. “You think she went there?”
“It’s the only place Ethel’s magic wouldn’t be a factor,” Riley’s mother said, drawing his attention to her, even as the meaning of their conversation drifted away from him. She looked at him. “If she has been your protector, she would be Ethel’s greatest enemy. I wouldn’t blame her for hiding.”
“She protected us that first night we went looking for Ethel, when those same creatures attacked us,” Caster said, and Mark frowned at him. He shrugged. “It was the same magic.”
“That makes sense,” Riley said. “But it doesn’t mean she was there. The spell she tried to use to heal you was part of a practice outside of the Grand Coven’s magic.” He sighed. “She must have still been learning, that’s why it didn’t work?”
“What do you mean?” Mark asked.
“If she’d succeeded, you would have lost all memory of that day. Everything, including Zeke and his existence. All she did was fracture the memory, breaking it into pieces.” Riley’s intense stare was as unsettling as his words. “You have nightmares, don’t you?”
He could only nod.
“Couldn’t you do a locator spell?” Dean asked, and Mark couldn’t avoid his gaze any longer.
The pain he’d been avoiding was on his brother’s face when their eyes met, but so was a determination like he’d never seen before.
No pity. His brother, above everyone, knew he didn’t need his pity.
He thanked Marcus for sending Mikey and Ben to England, where they would be safe with the King.
Mikey’s pain on his behalf would be too much to bear and unwanted if he was going to break free of Ethel’s bonds.
Amelia may have saved his body, but Ethel still held his soul captive.
Riley shook his head, killing the budding hope. “She’s likely hiding very well. The magic where she is, if we’re right, is different, stronger. We can try, but it will take a long time. Time we don’t have.”
“So, we go there?” Marcus asked.
Riley nodded. “It’s the only way.”
“We could also summon Amara here. She would come.” The Queen said, and he chanced a glance at her. He’d also avoided her gaze, knowing her concern would tear away at his resolve. But his courage was rewarded with a subdued smile that only enhanced his courage.
“That would be a better option,” Edie said, and she too smiled at him. “There is a chance Ethel is watching us, and we can’t risk leading her to Amelia. Not when she is the only one who holds all the answers.”
“Someone is watching.” The chill in Damien’s hardened tone, more than his words, stilled the room, a silent hush descending.
“What do you mean?” Marcus didn’t move, but Mark got the impression that he was coiled for action, ready to strike at any threat that materialized.
“I thought so too,” Dean said. “How did she know to attack you the day after I left. The day after”—he pointed at Marcus— “you recalled the Queen’s detail?”
Mark gripped Caster’s hand. How many threats would they deal with before this was over?
Marcus’s coiled energy tore through the room as he stood, his towering figure adding to his domineering persona.
“The only day Julian was not with me.” Damien’s assessment seemed to agitate Marcus further.
“Are we safe here?” Marcus’s question directed at Riley was calm, too calm for comfort.
Riley didn’t skip a beat. “Everyone here is protected.”
“And the house?” Marcus didn’t raise his voice, and Mark got the impression he didn’t need to very often.
The tiny widening of Riley’s eyes was the answer they didn’t need.
“How the fuck could this happen?” Marcus’s voice remained almost subdued, but he was far from calm.
“Someone is manipulating us.” Caster said.
“We are right where they need us to be.” Damien’s jaw hardened as he finished a thought everyone had dreaded.
The low growl from Dean, into the space his wolf occupied, was further confirmation. His skin prickled with awareness as his wolf followed the Prime Alpha’s lead in sensing a threat that was still in the distance. He couldn’t contain the gasp.
“What?” Caster asked, and he turned to him as his wolf raised the alarm in a howl that filled the room.
Caster grabbed his shoulders. “The witch?”
“Yes,” Dean answered.
“Transform, now.” The command was unmistakable, but his scramble to obey was hindered by the Prime Alpha’s influence on his wolf.
He shook his head. “I can’t.”
“What?”
He glanced at his brother, Caster’s eyes following. “He won’t let me.”
Dean sighed. “Shit, sorry.”
His influence disappeared, and Mark breathed a sigh, his wolf finding its feet. It wasn’t like Dean to lose control of his Alpha like that.
You’ll tell me about that later? Caster’s voice floated through his mind, and he nodded.
“Wait.” Riley stopped him just as he allowed his wolf to take control. “It may not be a good idea to give her what she wants.”
Mark frowned, failing to follow Riley’s train of thought.
“She wants your lifeforce, which is strongest when you’re in wolf-form.”
Edie nodded. “Yeah. It is safer for you if you remain in human form. She—”
James, already in wolf-form, and Julian burst in, interrupting Edie. Whatever Julian said was distorted by the screaming effect of Ethel’s power as it raced through the house, leaving in its wake a mess of broken windows, shaking the mansion to its foundation.
It propelled him forward, Caster’s strong grip on his shoulders the only thing keeping him upright.
The walls crumbled around them, Caster pulling him out of the falling ceiling’s path, the heavy debris missing his head by a whisker.
The sound of a demolition in progress, one instigated by magic, was drowned out by a hush, a misplaced silence, and he opened eyes he hadn’t known he’d closed to find a shield around them.
Somehow, they’d all been drawn together in a circle, a red orb of protection over them.
Ethel’s power continued to tear the house apart, but the debris bounced off the shield.
He glanced at the source of their protection to find a determination that bordered on terrifying.
Riley’s gaze was hyper-focused on the large gaping hole that was once a wall, trained on Ethel, who stood just beyond it, an even larger army of her twice-dead Made-Vampires behind her.