Caster nodded.
A niggling sense of danger prickled his senses, interrupting his latest attempt to get away from the temptation posed by the vampire staring at him. A warning whine from his wolf permeated his senses, and he shot to his feet, ready for a fight he couldn’t yet see.
“What?” Caster was next to him in a microsecond. “What is it?”
Unsure of how his hand found Caster’s forearm, Mark tightened his hold, dread permeating the space with an intensity that caused his wolf to howl. Dean’s influence on his wolf was torn to shreds by a piercing pain tearing through his skull, and he doubled over.
Caster caught him before he hit the ground. The intense roar accompanying the pain in his head was followed by a stabbing pain that had him crying out. His wolf moved further away, the elixir of healing hormones that would counteract the pain retreating with him. He searched Caster’s worried expression for any assistance. Caster’s lips moved, but the rush of combined pain and pressure overwhelmed his senses.
His eyes registered Riley’s presence. He too said something, but it dissipated into the pain whose intensity increased bythe second. He called out to Caster as the darkness overtook his senses. A sense of floating in space invaded his mind, the intense pain he’d experienced only moments earlier replaced by surreal calm. Then a rush of reality flooded in, and with it, an unfamiliar location.
He looked at Caster, whose tight grip still held him, and he closed his eyes, searching for the pain’s origin. Calm was all he found. He exhaled his relief, worry replacing it when the flood of comfort he expected from his wolf didn’t come. He reached past the barrier to find his companion, but he wasn’t there. As if sensing his distress, or perhaps because he could, Caster drew him into his arms. The initial hesitation dissipated as Mark lost all hope of fighting him. He closed his eyes and chose to focus on the safety of Caster’s embrace, even if just for the moment.
§
Caster did not want to think about how good Mark felt in his arms. It was in poor taste for his mind to go there, given what had led to this. One moment, he was content to watch him from across the room; the next, something sinister and invisible attacked him. What was going on?
Mark’s breath seeped through their connection to join his, his body trembling in his arms. He tried to put distance between them to see his face, beg him to take even breaths, but Mark held on tighter. Caster squeezed back, communicating his support the only way he could.
“Breathe for me, Mark.” His own voice sounded alien, and although he hadn’t meant it as a command, the werewolf in his arms obeyed without question or hesitation.
Mark drew away from the embrace, and Caster allowed him the distance he needed. He looked around the room and then back at Caster, the question in his mind obvious.
“Riley brought us here.” Caster owned the cabin in the English countryside. It was his hideout when he needed to get away from his often-overcrowded court.
“Where are we?” Mark asked, his voice strong considering the debilitating pain of whatever had attacked him.
“England.”
He nodded, his focus on something else.
“What happened? Can you tell me?”
Mark shook his head, walked to the couch in the small living room, and sat. He stared at the wall for so long, Caster became comfortable in the realization that this may be another thing they wouldn’t talk about.
“Pain out of nowhere. I don’t know…” His voice was a faraway whisper, but the significance of what he tried to convey filled the room nonetheless.
Caster sat in one of the two armchairs furnishing theliving room. He wanted more than anything to sit next to him, reassure him, but in the short time he’d known Mark, he’d learned his beautiful wolf was too proud for that.
Mark turned to him, a frown distorting his handsome face. “My brothers?”
“They’re fine. Whatever it was, it seemed to affect only you.”
He reached into his pocket only to be disappointed when he didn’t find what he was looking for. “I need to call Dean.”
Caster nodded and reached into his pocket for his phone. He dialed Dean’s number and handed it to Mark. His entire body was awash with a nervous energy he couldn’t hide from Caster. He longed to still his bouncing leg, but he was certain his attention would not be welcomed.
“Yeah!” Dean’s voice floating through the device was impatient.
“Dean…”
Mark stared at him and then took the phone with him into the kitchen. The unguarded Mark, who seemed to give his trust with little hesitation, was replaced by the secretive werewolf who held back too much.
Caster could have overheard every word if he chose to, but it was best to give the brothers their privacy. Instead, he reached out to Riley. The familiar flood of his friend’s power surged through the mental connection, and for the first time since they’d teleported here, he relaxed.
What was that?
The witch.Riley’s automatic reply made little sense.