The kitchen, everyone in it, and even the sinister dark magic surrounding it, dissipated into a whirlwind that was unreal. A blur of movement too fast for his mind to decipher delivered him to the familiarity of his brother’s study.
Dean looked up from the papers in front of him, but it was unclear if he could see him. He started to return his attention to the papers on his desk, but then he narrowed his eyes, jumpingout of the chair so fast, Mark was afraid it would break.
“What the fuck?”
Under any other circumstances, he would have laughed at his brother’s reaction. He couldn’t contain his smile, though. “Dean, it’s me.”
“No shit.” His brother regained some of his composure. “Why are you…” He gasped, drawing closer to Mark’s formless body. “Are you…”
“No. Oh fuck, no. I’m not dead.”
He saw the relief sag his brother’s massive shoulders before he heard the sigh.
“What happened?” Dean was never one to waste time.
“The witch. She’s surrounded us. We can’t get out…” Dean was already moving out of the room, down the stairs, and even in this form, it was a chore trying to keep up with his energy. “Would you stop? I don’t know how much time I have.”
Dean stopped at the front door, his hand on the handle.
“No one can get into the house either.”
A pained expression crossed his brother’s face. An out-of-control Dean was not a good thing. He opened his mouth to say something or curse up a storm from the look on his face.
“Listen to me, just this once in your life.” He didn’t wait for a response. “Here’s what you can do. Damien said to contact Marcus.” Mark didn’t know who that was, but the others seemed confident he could help. “He can then contact the Grand Priestess.”
Dean nodded. “Are you OK? Is Mikey?” He pushed a hand through his hair, radiating enough frustration to worry Mark. “I knew I shouldn’t have left you there.”
“We’re fine.”
“Tell Caster we’ll be there as soon as we can.” He paused. “Who else is with you?”
“Damien, Riley, the Queen, Riley’s mother and aunt, Kyle, and James.”
“Good. The witches will hold everything in place until we can find reinforcements.”
His body, the one still in the kitchen, jerked, and Edie’s voice floated into his mind.Time’s up.
“I have to go.”
“Fuck!” Dean’s anger, ever-present but always controlled, shook the room enough for even this projection of himself to feel it as he punched the door, breaking it off its hinges. “You tell Caster that if anything, and I mean anything, happens to you or Mikey, I will finish what I started.”
The sudden pull back into his body made him dizzy, and Dean’s threat followed him into the room, which was dead silent. Had everyone been listening to their conversation?
Yes. And I don’t doubt your brother’s threat.Caster answered a question every vampire in the room had no doubt heard.
He breathed through the unfamiliarity as he adjusted to the reality of his body and re-fortified his mind from the intrusion. The last thing they needed was a return to the hostilities of thewar years. And this time, it would be his fault.
Despite the ominous nature of Dean’s threat, Caster had little doubt the Prime Alpha would come to their rescue. His love for his brothers all but guaranteed it. And he couldn’t blame him for threatening war, not when he would do the same if anyone threatened his family. He glanced at Mark, who was engaged in deep, hushed conversation with his younger brother and James across the room, a world away. He would do anything to protect him too, even if he had yet to earn that right.
Riley had suggested they move to a more closed-off section of the house, away from the gaping hole that was once the kitchen’s wall. They’d chosen the conference room, the sameone that had been the setting for their first meeting. That first time he’d seen Mark had only been a little over two weeks ago, an eternity when measured by the seismic changes it had brought to his world. Still, he wouldn’t change anything about it if he could.
“Is she still here?” Damien asked. In the wake of Dean’s anger and threat to the peace they’d worked so hard to forge, Caster had lost sight of the main threat.
Riley nodded. “Yes, but she’s staying back.”
“There is one thing I don’t understand,” Kyle said, his focus on Riley. “Did she think you wouldn’t be here?”
“Yes,” Edie said. “Her boldness is too much, even for Ethel. Her power has grown, but it still doesn’t compare to yours.”