He shrugged.I’m hoping Riley says it’s not.
He’s the chief cause of your distress?The smile in his words shone through the telepathy even as his face remained impassive.
Caster could only nod.
Still want to talk about it?
Yes.
First, we make sure nothing happens to him.
“…then I’m coming with you.” The growl in the Prime Alpha’s emphatic pronouncement reached through his mind as Marcus’s words faded.
Caster had missed most of the argument, but he smiled, having predicted the Prime Alpha would not let his brother go through it alone, not again. It was the primary reason he trusted Dean. His love for his family, the chief reason he’d chosen the treaty over a protracted war, was dependable.
“Can you do it?” Mark asked Riley, and Caster saw the new understanding between the two. Mark had grown to trust the powerful witch. He also didn’t fail to notice the tension radiating off his younger brother or the subtle change in his heartbeat. He glanced at his brother, but Ben shuttered his expression.
Riley’s nod was automatic. “It is a simple spell.” He looked atCaster. “I assume you’re going too?”
“Of course.”
Riley’s sigh seemed tired. “OK.” His full attention was on Mark. “Are you sure? Your subconscious may have had a good reason to bury those memories.”
Mark glanced at him. “I am. It’s the only way.”
His courage, the determination to face his pain, made Caster’s heart swell with love and pride. Whoever had aided the witch in inflicting that pain would suffer consequences like they’d never imagined.
Caster had been on the receiving end of Riley’s full power before, but as it carried his essence through time, he found renewed respect for it. One second, he’d been holding on to Mark’s hand, the tingling effect of Riley’s power raising goosebumps on his skin, the next, he was flying. His body, their bodies remained rooted to the Prime Alpha’s living room with the others. Their essence, their life force, traveled past the confines of time.
He didn’t question how Riley knew where to go. He’d learned long ago that the answer would be too complicated for words. But he trusted Riley enough that he experienced no fear. Mark seemed to have also grown to trust Riley, a fact that could mean improved relations between their species.
The first indication their journey was complete was the sound of Mark’s voice coming from outside Riley’s power. He opened eyes he’d been holding shut, and an unfamiliar scene invaded his senses. It was a clearing, surrounded by a forest. In the middle of it stood a nude Mark and another wolf. Zeke?
Mark had never described him. He was as tall as Mark, the perfect coif of muscles that every wolf concealed in human form sculpting his nude form to perfection. His blonde hair glowed under the diminishing light of the early evening. His smile was warm, lighting up his blue eyes with an expression Caster understood well enough. He felt it every time he looked at Mark.
They spoke to each other with a familiarity that brought unwanted envy to the fore. Zeke moved behind a lush bush and pulled out a bundle. They continued to speak, but the content of their words was unwilling to penetrate Riley’s magic.
Riley’s whispered Latin words drew his attention from Mark’s memory as they covered their nude forms in quick actions. Riley repeated the words, and a howling wind reached his ear, as did the words on Mark’s lips. “…you’re not going to tell me?” The smile in those words, the smile on Mark’s face, a version of Mark he hadn’t met yet, made his heart ache. This night had made his joy rare, a state of affairs Caster wished to remedy.
“No.” Zeke reached for Mark’s hand, and Caster glanced at present-day Mark. His face, detached from his body, was devoid of expression, of the emotion the memory had to invoke.
He wanted to reach for his hand, but in this form, there would be little comfort in that.
Zeke drew Mark away from the clearing, the considerabledistance to their waiting vehicle passing in a blur as he floated along to follow. He didn’t release Mark’s hand even as he drove to their destination. Caster knew it. Mark’s recollection of the park, of what was coming, had made it plain. It had been the theater of the witch’s evil.
Darkness had descended, twilight replaced by moonlight, by the time they made it to the location. Again, he glanced at Mark, wishing he could reassure him, but he’d left his corporeal form in the distant future. In this form, all they could do was witness the past, witness Mark’s memory of it.
Zeke and Mark, the memory of them, laughed as they walked away from their vehicle, Mark’s full trust on display as he allowed Zeke to lead the way.
Mark started to sit on the bench in the middle of the park, but Zeke grabbed his arm, pulling him closer. “You know, I love you, right?”
The frown on Mark’s face was familiar. “Zeke, what’s wrong?”
The other wolf shook his head, his expression one Caster had seen before. Whatever he wanted to share with Mark weighed on his conscience. He closed his eyes, took a breath, and opened them. But just as he seemed to gather his courage, a strong gust imposed its presence on the scene, so strong, the wolves swayed into each other.
Mark’s description of a weighted air made sense as the unnatural wind continued to howl its intent. Caster could not have contained his gasp or his desire to grab hold of both versions of Mark and never let go if he’d wanted to. The gust sharpened as vampires materialized from the weighted air.
The memory of Mark gasped, tearing away from Zeke’s hold, his stance a signal he was ready for battle. The vampires, seven, not six, all Born-Vampires, moved through the park in a blur that even Riley’s magical bubble could not sharpen.