Her chant lacked the contemptuous confidence of Ethel’s former display as she materialized between James and Mark. Her choice of dark green clothing, the dark brown color of her hair, and eyes indicated she was an Earth witch. Her magic seemed familiar, though Caster couldn’t quite place where he’d encountered it before.
It wasn’t until her chant created a barrier that kept the creatures from advancing any further that he recognized it. It was her magic that had protected them from a similar creature that night in the forest. He glanced at his companions. Mark’s face remained focused on the scene, as if he studied every detail. Dean stared at the memory of his brother, unable to hide his pain even in this form. Riley nodded, answering a question he hadn’t voiced.
The witch’s chant affected the creatures like the barrier had that night, keeping them from reaching Mark.
She turned to Mark. “We cannot leave, not until she calls them back or until daylight chases away her darkness.”
James, in wolf-form, did not see her as a threat, his focusremaining on the creatures that whined their frustration.
The Earth Witch’s expression was one of deep concern as she approached Mark, whose attention had drifted back to the pieces that used to be Zeke. “I have failed you.”
He turned to her, but his grief prevented him from speaking.
“Your mother charged me with your protection, and I let this happen to you.” Her voice cracked, her shoulders sagging. “Please forgive me.”
Mark continued to stare at Zeke, the silent tears flowing unabated, making Caster want to tear at the magic, distance, and time keeping them apart.
“What can I do?” the witch asked, moving close enough to Mark to almost touch him, but holding back.
Mark didn’t turn. “Make it go away.” The pain in his whisper, the grief it unleashed, tore at Caster’s heart.
The witch’s gasp was small. “I can’t do that again.”
Again? He turned to Riley, who shook his head.
Mark turned to her, confusion marring the grief on his face.
“Honey, this has happened before.” She sighed. “Well, not this.” She stepped closer to the stained ground, closer to Mark. “She has tried to take you before. You were too young the last time, and your mother asked me to erase the memory and hide you from her.”
Mark’s gasp drowned his own.
“I told her she would only try again.” She shook her head. “I don’t know how she found you this time. It took all my power tohide you.”
“You can make it go away?”
The witch nodded, her demeanor defeated. “I promised your mother I would, but I don’t think it’s a good idea.”
“Please…” He fell to his knees, his hands clutching on to what was left of Zeke. “Please, bring him back.”
A sob escaped the witch’s lips as she reached for Mark’s shoulder. “I am not powerful enough to do that. I fear I may not be powerful enough to heal this pain.”
“Please…”
He could understand Mark’s need to be free of this pain.
The witch knelt by his side, the blood coating the otherwise pristine grass seeping into her dress, distorting its green color. “I can try.”
Mark nodded.
She closed her eyes and took a breath. “If I am not strong enough, the pain will fight its way back to you. When it does, find me. My name is Amelia.”
Her chant disappeared into a haze, the creatures, the darkness they’d brought, and James joining her in that haze. Caster turned to Riley, ready to demand answers, when the sensation of his form moving through space and time drew his attention.
The weight of Mark’s hand in his was the first indication they’d returned to the present. The silence loud enough to shake the walls of the Prime Alpha’s living room was evidence of the significance of their trip.
“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.