Their new companion laughed, the many voices he’d concealed so easily returning to fill the space. “I don’t doubt that you will try. But you are running out of time. It won’t be long before you start to hear the call yourself.”
Mark gripped Caster’s hand tighter, the dull ache his clawscaused rising above his rage and fear. He remained on his knees, unwilling to leave Caster, but ready to spring to action. “What call?”
The demon smiled, and Mark gasped. That smile, the same animalistic baring of teeth, invaded his nightmares every night. He sprang to his feet, ripping his hand from Caster’s grip. “You…”
The demon tilted its head. “Whatever you are accusing me of cannot be accurate.” He pointed at Caster. “He’s slipping away.”
Riley moved to Caster’s side, and Mark abandoned his need for answers, the need to save Caster from an enemy they couldn’t yet see overriding all others.
“He’s right. Caster first and then answers,” Riley said.
Mark nodded, his full attention on Caster. The threat he sensed from the demon was real, and both sides of him were alive to it, his wolf growling its mistrust.
“Take his hand.” Riley didn’t wait for him to comply, whispering the same chant in that foreign language as his power engulfed them. Caster looked at him, the haze in his gaze replaced by recognition, before Riley’s power propelled them past the light in the room and into the darkness that would lead them home.
The same force that had ripped him out of his body and into the darkness pushed him back into it, dragging his wolf behind the barrier that separated them. He took a second to take stock of himself, both sides of himself. His wolf whined but retreated to its comfort, present but subdued for the moment.
He caught Riley’s momentary stumble, the way Ben andEdie rushed to his side, and the disappointment on Ben’s face when he waved them away. Caster was his only concern, though, and fear immeasurable in its extent chased away the hope he’d brought with him. Was he still stuck?
He turned to Riley, ready to beg him to send him back, but the powerful witch smiled at him. “He’s back. It will just take time for his body to recognize it.”
Hope bloomed, and he matched Riley’s smile. “How long before…”
“Soon. But it’s up to him.”
The Queen reached for his hand, and he accepted her support, but the demon they’d left behind threatened to derail his newfound hope. He glanced at Riley, and the witch shook his head.
Don’t worry them, not until we know more.
Mark gave him a small nod.What if he comes here?
He can’t, or he would have by now.
Mark accepted Riley’s explanation. He still held back from the complete trust his wolf seemed to have granted the powerful witch, but this was not the time to assess his wolf’s acceptance of someone so powerful.
He would hold back the joy threatening to explode out of him until he could see Caster’s eyes again, until he could hear his voice.
His whole body ached, the delicious burn of life’s energy coursing through him as the magical essence that made him a vampire responded with healing. He sighed his relief, unwilling to open his eyes, in case this was not real.
Caster balled his hands into fists, calling on the divine Goddess to give him the strength to endure, and again the energy moved through his body. He opened his eyes, adjusting to the light, more light that had been in the space he’d shared with Pierce. He glanced at the corner that would correspond to the demon’s hiding place, relieved to find it empty of him and his darkness.
The bed was unfamiliar, and so was the room. The body in the grip of peaceful sleep beside him was as familiar as his own.
Mark. The reverence of his name reverberated through his mind, joy like he’d never experienced, never thought he’d ever experience, following in its wake. He focused his senses on Mark’s heartbeat, its steady rhythm the only song he would ever need to hear.
He turned to the side, the ache in his bones that had followed him from the void easing with each passing second, and gave in to his need to touch him. His fingers found the wayward strands of his perfect hair on his forehead, and Mark shifted in his sleep, moaning in recognition.
Caster couldn’t have subdued his smile at that reaction if he’d tried. Even in the depths of relaxation, Mark’s body remembered his touch. He should let him sleep, but he was impatient for those brown eyes. He touched his hair again, this time allowing his fingers to graze his forehead with purpose.
Mark moaned again, his eyes fluttering open. His gasp echoed in the unfamiliar room, his eyes widening to comical proportions.
He started to move, but Caster shook his head.
“Caster?” The crack in his voice tore at Caster’s heart.
“Yes, baby. It’s me.” The same crack infected his own voice as he fought back the emotion threatening to overwhelm him. In the grip of the unrelenting darkness and the Underworld’s call, he’d resigned himself to his unbearable fate, to the idea that he would never see him again, never touch him.
Mark gripped his wrist in a tight hold, squeezing as if toconfirm his presence. “We have to tell—”