She wasn’t sure what she was about to get herself into, but it was time she stopped hiding behind others to fix her problems.
This was her fight. It had all started with her ties to Hector.
She should be the one to finish it.
Chapter 21
Alaric had hoped that Marlene might join him for dinner, but she had sequestered herself in his aunt’s sitting room.
He should be glad that she was taking such a keen interest in Lady Erica upon her return. It was, after all, what she had initially been employed to do. And yet, Alaric found that he missed her company. He longed for it as he would his next breath.
He inhaled sharply. He had to push aside these emotions and concentrate on the meeting about to take place. He had donned his black cloak and made his way to the herbal room. When he walked inside, he saw the rest of his coven with hoods in place.
Except one.
Although her head was bowed, it was not one he had expected to see there.
“This meeting is not for you,” he snapped, as Marlene’s head raised.
The rest of the coven did the same, drawing back their cloaks and exposing their faces.
“Something tells me you are upset by our new arrival,” mocked a cunning feminine voice.
He pinned Lady Catharine with a dire look of warning. Of course, she would be the one who would dare to challenge him.
“She is not one of us,” he countered hotly.
Gerald was standing beside Marlene. He reached out and grasped her hand in a comforting fashion. “She wishes to accept our thirteenth position, to make our coven whole once again.”
“No. I forbid it.” Alaric finally shifted his gaze to Marlene, unsurprised to see mutiny in her gaze at being told what to do.
Instead, she smiled. “I thought I might meet with some resistance from you,” she replied evenly. “Which is why I have already begun the initiation.” She held up her hand, and he noted the cut across her palm. “I have gained the acceptance of the rest of the coven. I just need our blood to commence the rite.”
Fear actually started to flow through his body. “You don’t want this. You don’t fully understand what it means to be a witch. Once you do this, there is no turning back. You are doomed for the rest of time.” He swallowed hard. “Any children you have will bear the mark of the wicca—the same tattoo that adorns my back will be imbedded into you.”
She lifted her determined chin, and Alaric wanted to kiss her and take her over his knee in the same instant. “I realize what I shall be giving up, but also what I shall be gaining. Everyone in this room has been forced to fight a battle they may not have asked for, whereas I am going into this circle with my eyes wide open.” She shook her head. “I’m tired of being told what to do. I’m tired of living in fear of the unknown. At least this way, we can be assured victory against Hector. I choose to do this so that I can use this power for good, not evil.” She looked at him without hesitation. “I choose to do this for you. All this time, you have vowed to keep me safe. Let me do the same and promise to rescue you in return.”
“I don’t need saving,” he countered, but he could tell that his voice lacked conviction.
“Everyone needs saving at some point,” she whispered. “Let me help you, Alaric.”
Although everything within him refused to accept what she was doing, he found himself grabbing the knife on the table and moving forward, as if she had cast some sort of spell over him. He sliced the center of his palm and set it against hers, closing his eyes as he did.
Love truly was a powerful thing.
It created monsters of all.
Marlene gasped as she opened her eyes.
She hadn’t been sure what to expect when she’d offered to join the coven. Her only thought was of Alaric and how he couldn’t change who he was to be with her, so she would have to be the one who made the ultimate sacrifice. But it was one she was willing to give to enter his world. For so long, they had both been alone, forced to fight their own demons, but no longer. She wasn’t running anymore.
After her chat with Lady Erica at dinner, where she had confided what she’d planned to do, Alaric’s aunt had fully supported her decision. “You know that my nephew would accept you without changing who you are.”
“I do know that, but I also know that he is less powerful without a full circle. I am choosing to step up and fight for us all. Alaric was the one who gave me a chance at life, happiness, and a future when I came here. The least I can do in return is offer the same when he is faced with desperation. We don’t know what Hector has become. If it is anything like that meadow, where I stood in the field of bright red poppies, we shall need every strength we have.”
Tears had filled Lady Erica’s weathered eyes. “He is lucky to have you.”
If Marlene had been harboring any reservations before that, the emotion she saw was enough to wipe it all away.
