Page 66 of Only You, No One Else

His eyes opened to find a warm smile on Amara's face. She patted his hand and then moved to the table; a map he hadn’t noticed before laid out on it. Her hands hovered over it, and gasps filled the room as a blue flame covered the map, burning but not consuming it. The flame moved, as if directed by a power, an intent that remained invisible to them. Then it settled over one area, growing dimmer, changing color to a brilliant purple before singeing a single patch of the map.

“That’s where he is.” Amara’s voice rose over the loud silence in the room. Dean and Cy stepped closer to the table.

“Shit!” Cy's shock didn’t inspire much confidence. “He’s at Uncle Lucien’s?”

“That makes sense. They’re working together…”

“No.” Caster interrupted his mother. “It doesn’t.”

Cy looked at Mark. “My uncle has a tremendous hatred for werewolves. If Zeke is there…”

“Then this has escalated further than we know.” Dean’s subdued whisper landed with incredible impact, even when Mark was sure he hadn’t meant to say that out loud.

“They are setting us up for war,” Cy said.

“We didn’t capture Bastian; he was there to test us.” Damien, who had remained a spectator until then, moved closer to the map as if willing it to show him something different. “He’s not a prisoner here. He’s either a well-placed spy or he’s here for his safety.”

“Then we lure Zeke and the witch somewhere else, somewhere neutral,” Caster said. “Make it seem like we want a truce…”

“But how do we keep my father from joining that fight?” Damien asked, his demeanor more frantic than Mark had ever seen him. “Bastian bragged of an army, remember?”

“I’ll be the bait.” Mark grabbed Caster’s wrist to halt his objection and gave Dean his most admonishing look for the same reason. “He wants me, and he doesn’t know that my wolf’s connection to any Alpha is gone. We use that. Once we strip the witch of her power, any undead army she has would be useless.”

Dean surprised him by laughing. “My Goddess! I missed that fucking beautiful mind.” He looked at Caster, his brilliant smile lighting up his face. “I want him back.”

Everyone laughed, and the tension in the room lifted if only for a fraction of a second. Mark wasn’t under any illusions. What he proposed was beyond dangerous. But a war between the other side’s army of twice-dead Made-Vampires, werewolves loyal to Zeke, and the considerable army he was sure Marcus would amass would mean a lot of death.

“OK. But we still need a location.” Damien nodded at him, an understanding settling between them. “It can’t be my house.” He chuckled, even though there was no joy in the sound. “My other house.” He waved a hand. “Too many protection spells on this one. They’d see the trap miles away.”

“The cabin.” Mark hated suggesting it. But he and Dean were without a home. He sought Caster’s permission, and he granted it with a nod.

“But we need to bring this to Marcus,” the Queen said, the command in her tone unmistakable. “The only way I am letting any of my boys anywhere near that witch again is if Marcus can assure me of your safety.”

CHAPTER 42

Caster was certain of two things as Mark explained the plan to Marcus and his father. He loved him more than he thought possible, and the Goddess’s wisdom was undeniable. He was perfect for him in every way. His grasp of strategy, the way his beautiful mind put everything together with incredible precision, made him the perfect person for him. The pressure that came with being the Crown Prince of a race that expected him to be on top of his game at every turn was too much to bear sometimes. But would they accept a werewolf as co-ruler? That’s what he wanted Mark to be.

He smiled at the look of pure admiration on his father’s face as the details of the plan tumbled out of Mark with enough enthusiasm to give him hope that they would win this fight. The Mark who had begged him to make the world stop, too scared of the influence Zeke had on his wolf, was gone. It was easy to see where the courage came from. In that memory of their encounter, Zeke proved himself the weak despot who desired power, but was unsure what to do with it once he had it. Those were easy to deal with. And as much as Caster wanted to wring the life out of him, he could see the wisdom in letting Dean handle that. Instability in the werewolves’ ranks would not help any of them.

“Yes,” His father said over the silence that had ensued once Mark was done with the basic layout of the plan. “But I am still rather concerned about your safety.” He looked at Marcus, who nodded, their ability to communicate without words a testament to their centuries of friendship. The King then turned his attention to Dean. “We were having the same problem with vampires who chose my brother’s side, but like you, we have that handled.”

Dean’s nod was emphatic enough that Caster was sure any revolt in his ranks was dead and buried. “On my side, it was mostly Zeke’s family and friends. They’ve all been persuaded to see the error of their ways.”

“What are we doing with our traitors?” Cy asked, and Caster thanked his brother for seeing aspects of this he failed to.

“You know the penalty, and I suspect everyone knew it, which is why your uncle failed to get too many recruits.” Marcus’s answer was reassuring. “I am more concerned with the Made-Vampires he mass-manufactured. This will be a major PR issue.”

“The witch just wanted them for her power. I think she killed them again to speed up the process,” Riley said.

Turning a human into a vampire was a process that took too much time and effort to justify the payoff. Most humans didn’t survive the initial turning, and even if they did, it took months, sometimes years, to come to terms with the Vampire as it overtook their humanity. Caster had only seen it a few times, and he wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy. Magic had to be involved in the way Ethel and Uncle Lucien had managed to make so many.

“That means we have an edge with the numbers,” Marcus said. “But we still don’t know how to counteract the witch’s power.”

“We know where it comes from,” Mark said. “Those red-eyed demons are the source somehow, but she is unable to replenish it.”

“There is someone we can ask.” Riley looked at Caster and tilted his head as if begging him to understand. “I know you don’t trust him, but he’s the one who saved us. I don’t know how.”

“You mean Pierce?” Caster could not muster the energy to counter the shiver running down his spine at the thought of the demon. They’d shared space for a brief moment when his soul had been trapped a step away from the Underworld, that shared experience a moment he didn’t wish to revisit.