Witch’s Mark Read online

  “What is this place?” I asked. “The compound? Is that where you really live?”

  He swallowed and nodded.

  “Yes. Everyone who is a member of the Disciples lives there,” he said. “It’s a total of about ten acres of land with a large magical barrier around it, including a wall made of thick stone. Inside the barrier, there are about a hundred houses, all occupied by large families.”

  “So what does Elisha want with me?” I asked.

  “His health is fading as he gets older. Warlocks aren’t meant to be immortal, and he’s already lived far longer than most humans should. I don’t know exactly why he needs you, but I would bet it has something to do with his loss of power,” he said. I eyed him, but he put his hands up in his own defense. “I’m telling the truth about that. The details are above my paygrade, so to speak. As far as he told me, he loves you since you are his youngest child, and he wants you there with him.”

  “But you don’t think that’s true?” I asked.

  “Elisha doesn’t love anyone. Not really. He only loves them for what they can do for him,” he said. “If I had to venture a guess, I’d say you were right. He needs you in some way. Either to extend his life or increase his power.”

  “A blood sacrifice?” I asked with a shudder.

  “Maybe,” he said. “I’m not sure.”

  “And you were going to bring me to him?” I asked. “That was your plan all along? To seduce me and convince me to run away with you?”

  The truth of it put a bitter taste in my mouth.

  Everything I thought we shared was a lie. A manipulation.

  And I’d fallen for it so hard, it was embarrassing.

  “I’m sorry,” he said. “I didn’t feel I had a choice.”

  “There’s always a choice,” I said.

  He shook his head, looking out toward the willow tree that hovered over the town square.

  For a long time, neither of us said anything. The truth was out there now, and there was nothing beautiful about it. Nothing true about what I thought we’d shared.

  Finally, Slade spoke, but what he said was not at all what I’d been expecting.

  “My mother’s name was Lisa,” he said. “She was young when she met one of Elisha’s recruiters. You see, he doesn’t always go out to find new witches to bring into the Disciples. There are a handful of us who are tasked with recruiting innocents to join us.”

  I swallowed back hatred, thinking of all the women whose lives had been ruined because they trusted a charming young man like Slade.

  “My father hated recruiting just as much as I’ve always hated it, but Elisha doesn’t give us a choice,” Slade said. “He always has something to hold over our heads. In my father’s case, it was his younger brother and five younger sisters.”

  I gasped, not wanting to understand what Slade was implying.

  “He wouldn’t hurt children, would he?”

  Slade avoided my eyes, but the pain in his voice was enough to know he was telling the truth.

  “He has no problem hurting anyone if it suits his needs,” Slade said.

  “Sounds like a great guy,” I muttered.

  How many nights had I lain awake at night, praying to know my true father? Wishing I could have a chance to talk to him? Imagining some secret and passionate love affair he must have had with my mother.

  I was better off with my fantasies, which was usually the way with fantasies, I guess.

  “He’s a horrible man,” Slade said.

  “Then why doesn’t anyone fight back against him? Why would any mother allow him to hurt her children? Surely he’s not powerful enough to fight the entire group of women who now live there.”

  I didn’t understand it.

  “That’s the reason for the mark we both were branded with as babies,” Slade said. “The magic contained in that mark works as a type of protection spell for Elisha. No one with that mark can hurt him with magic or physical weapons of any kind. Believe me, many have lost their lives trying.”

  “Your mother?” I asked. He’d been about to tell me something before we started talking about Elisha.

  Slade nodded. “She died because of me,” he said, his voice wavering as he spoke. “I was only twelve when Elisha tried to name me as one of his recruiters. He wanted me to go out on a few hunting trips with my father, even at that young age, to learn how to charm women and convince them to join the Disciples.”

  I winced at the words “hunting trip” but didn’t interrupt him.

  “My mother didn’t want me to have to go through that. She knew what being a recruiter had done to my father, and she didn’t want to see me become a bitter, hard-hearted man like him,” Slade said. “They had truly loved each other once, I think, but lying to women and having to watch them be abused and used the way they were at the compound is unimaginable. I didn’t want to do it anymore than my father did, but after a while, you learn to turn off your emotions just to survive it.”

  For a minute, I actually felt sorry for him. But then I thought of all the women he and his father must have brought into that compound, knowing they were being turned into slaves for Elisha.

  It made me sick to my stomach.

  “My mother fought Elisha on the issue for a long time, but eventually, he got fed up with her. My father warned her to stop, but she refused. She said she would rather die than watch me be destroyed by that man.”

  Slade grew quiet, and after a moment, I realized he was crying. A single tear fell down his cheek, but he quickly swiped it away.

  “Once she knew there was no way to convince Elisha not to send me out as a recruiter, she made a plan to get me out of there,” he said. “It took her weeks to set everything up, but in the end, the night we were supposed to leave, Elisha was already waiting for us on the other side of the wall.”

  “What?” I asked. “How?”

  “Someone she trusted must have told him about her plan to escape,” he said. “It had taken the work of several witches to make it happen, and I guess one of them must have betrayed her. I could never figure out who it was, but if I ever do…”

  His voice trailed off, and I wanted to reach for him.

  I kept my hands to myself, though. This was a guy who’d been taught how to manipulate, and I wasn't going to fall for that again, no matter how hard it was to hear the sorrow in his voice.

  “That night, Elisha killed my mother, not only for her attempt to escape, but also because the way she escaped made it clear that my mother had been a part of a much more important escape years earlier,” he said.

  I turned toward him, my mouth dry.

  “What do you mean?”

  He looked at me, the truth there in his eyes.

  “Mom was one of your mother’s best friends when they lived at the compound all those years ago,” he said. “It was my mom who arranged to get the two of you over that wall to safety.”

  Knots formed in my stomach. His mother had helped us, but something had still gone wrong. Otherwise, my mother would be here in Willow Harbor with me now.

  “Do you know the truth about what happened that night?” I asked him.

  “I’m sorry. I don’t know,” I said.

  “It just doesn’t make sense that he managed to capture her and not me,” I said. “Why wouldn’t we have been together?”

  “No one knows exactly what happened,” Slade said. “And I don’t know how you still managed to escape, even after your mother was caught. All I know was that I was watching from the top of the wall, hidden in the shadows when my mother passed you into your Gran’s arms that night.”

  “You were there?” I asked.

  “Yes, and as soon as Elisha found out that I had been the only witness to your escape, he made it my job to find you,” he said. “He’s been sending me out to look for you since I was only fifteen years old, Anna. It was never something I’d wanted to do, but I watched him kill my mother right in front of me. He told me that if I didn’t find you, he woul
d kill all of my sisters, too. And my father. I didn’t have a choice. Not an easy one, anyway.”

  I closed my eyes, imagining what kind of life that must have been for Slade. To be forced to do something you didn’t want to do and threatened with such horrible violence against your family? It was unspeakable.

  “How many sisters do you have?” I asked.

  “I know I said there were only two, but the truth is that I have seven half-sisters, ranging in age from one to seventeen,” he said. “It would destroy me if anything ever happened to them, but I don’t know how to save them.”

  “What were you planning to do with me, then?” I asked. “Drug me and force me to go with you? Or convince me that you were falling in love with me and ask me to run away with you?”

  “At first, I planned to try to get you to come away with me,” he said. “I was going to try to lure you on some grand adventure.”

  “And if that didn’t work?”

  He shook his head and ran his hands through his hair.

  “I don’t know,” he said. “There’s a spell Elisha taught me to cast on the more reluctant girls. It makes them believe they are deeply in love with me so that they’ll follow me anywhere. I’ve never used it, though, Anna. Not once.”

  I cleared my throat, not sure if I believed him or not.

  “You need to know that I was willing to walk away from you tonight,” he said. “Not because I don’t care about you, but because I do. It was an accident that you saw the mark. I never intended for you to know anything about this.”

  “And I’m supposed to believe you were just going to leave and risk the lives of your sisters for me?”

  I stood and paced the sidewalk in front of the inn, noticing for the first time that Mrs. Finnygood was watching us through the small window of the parlor.

  I gave her a pointed look, and she quickly turned around and walked away.

  Slade stood and stepped close to me. Close enough to touch, though he didn’t dare reach out.

  “I have never felt this way about anyone before, and I know that after what I’ve just told you, you won’t believe me, but it’s the truth,” he said. “I was going to come back, pack my things, and leave this town. I figured I’d come up with some excuse as to why I couldn’t find you and tell Elisha that I’d discovered a clue about where you might be hiding. Lead him on a wild goose chase.”

  “So, he doesn’t know that you’ve already found me?” I asked.

  “He doesn’t have any proof that it’s really you,” he said. “I stupidly confessed to my father that I was almost certain I’d finally found you after that night at the bar. I told him not to tell Elisha, but then one of my sisters got into trouble. In order to save her from a worse punishment, my father distracted Elisha by telling him about you.”

  “And you don’t think that’s enough to make him come here looking for me?” I asked.

  “I was never able to tell him the name of this town. Only that I’m somewhere in South Carolina along the coast,” he said. “My coming here really was an accident, Anna. I had never heard of this town before, and it doesn’t seem to exist on any map. I just ended up here one night after getting lost.”

  “And you just happened to see me and know who I was?”

  He shook his head. “It’s hard to explain,” he said. “It was late, so I got a room for the night, planning to head back out in the morning. I saw your truck outside, parked on the square, and I thought I’d grab a quick cup of coffee before I left town. Only, the minute I saw you, I knew I couldn’t leave. You’re different than you were at four years old, but I still recognized your smile, Anna. Your eyes. I couldn’t be sure, but somehow, I knew it from the second I laid eyes on you.”

  I turned away from him, wrapping my arms around my middle.

  Maybe I’d somehow brought this on myself. Ever since Eva had crashed her car outside Drifter’s and fallen in love with Nik, I’d been romanticizing the whole scenario.

  People had told stories for years about the willow tree’s magic bringing people to this town. People who belonged here for one reason or another.

  The tree had brought Eva here specifically for Nik, and I had watched them fall in love and make a life together. I had wanted that for myself, praying that if there was a man out there who was meant for me, he would somehow be able to find me here.

  But not like this.

  What kind of magic brought a man like this here to find me?

  I had prayed for love, not heartache.

  “So, what do we do now?” I asked, not even turning to look at him.

  Instead, I watched as the branches of the willow fluttered in the soft breeze. If this was the work of fate, I wanted nothing to do with it.

  “I don’t know what else to do but leave,” Slade said. “If I can convince Elisha that I was wrong about the woman I found, maybe he’ll just send me out again and leave my sisters alone.”

  “Do you really think that’s possible?” I asked.

  “I don’t know. He gets worse with each full moon, and my dad thinks we are running out of time, but I can’t take you back there. I won’t bring you into that life, Anna.”

  “So you’ll leave, and I’ll never see you again?”

  I wanted to hate him, but the thought of never seeing him again was tearing me apart.

  “Elisha will never let us out of the Disciples of Light. Not unless I deliver his daughter to him, and that’s never going to happen. You’re better off without me in your life, anyway,” he said. “The only person who ever truly cared for me is dead because of me. I’m no good for anyone.”

  I wanted to tell him he was wrong. That I had seen a part of him, even through the lies, that was good and wonderful. That I knew he deserved happiness just as much as anyone.

  But I couldn’t bring myself to say it. I was too angry. Too hurt.

  “I guess this is goodbye, then,” I said, holding back tears that threatened to fall.

  “Let me at least drive you home,” he said. “I never should have let you walk away in the first place, but I was scared that if I ran after you, I’d never be able to leave. I didn't want to put you in that kind of danger, Anna. I never did.”

  His words caused an unwanted hope to spark in my chest. Was he saying he truly did care about me? That he’d meant it when he told me he wished he could stay here in Willow Harbor with me?

  Or was all of that just part of the game?

  I shook my head. It didn’t matter. He couldn’t stay, and I couldn’t ask him to. I wasn't sure I’d ever be able to trust him again, anyway.

  Still, the thought of him going home to face my father’s wrath was not a pleasant one. What if Elisha didn’t believe him? What would happen to Slade’s sisters if Elisha found out he’d lied?

  I shuddered at the thought, but I couldn’t think of any other solution. I certainly wasn't going to go with him to that compound. Not after my mother had lost her own life to set me free of that place.

  “You don’t have to drive me home,” I said. “I have a friend who lives close to here. I’ll get her to drive me back.”

  “Anna, please—”

  “Don’t,” I said, turning to face him one last time. “I know it sounds ridiculous, because I just met you, but I thought there was something between us. Something real.”

  “There was,” he said. “There is. I don’t want to leave here and never see you again, but I don’t know what else to do. Tell me what to do. If there is any way to keep my family safe and keep you safe at the same time, I’ll do it. Even if it means my own life. You have to believe me.”

  I wanted to believe him. And maybe he was telling the truth. But it was an impossible situation.

  My heart was breaking, but I had no real way to know if he was being truthful, or if he was just adjusting his technique after I saw the mark. If he was still trying to get me to leave with him, and this was all just more manipulation, it would break me forever.

  “I have to go,” I said, holdin
g back more tears. “Goodbye, Slade.”

  I walked away, refusing to look back.

  Eighteen

  Anna

  I walked the entire way home in the dark, too upset to stop by Drifter’s and ask Nik or Eva for a ride home. And I didn’t want to bother Lucy, either.

  It was a stupid thing to do this close to the full moon, but I didn’t care. A wolf could have jumped out from the shadows of the trees that lined the road, and I would have torn him to pieces out of sheer rage.

  I couldn’t believe Slade had done this to me.

  My whole life, I had felt like there was no one out there who was truly meant for me. I had tried dating other guys here in Willow Harbor, but I’d never really felt connected to anyone as more than just a friend.

  Until Slade.

  I had felt something for him from the moment we met, and I wanted the feelings that were growing between us to be genuine. To be the start of something that might last.

  And it was all a lie this whole time.

  I sobbed the entire way home, alternating between fury and heartache as I thought about his story. He’d been there the night my mother died. He’d seen me being passed into Gran’s arms and whisked away.

  Hell, he knew more about what had happened to me than I did, which only made it hurt worse.

  When I finally climbed up the steps to Gran’s house, most of the lights were off, and I was hoping to find that she’d already gone to bed.

  But the moment I walked into the house, she stood up from a chair in the corner of the living room.

  “Goodness, Anna, how on earth did you get home?” she asked as she walked over toward me. “I didn’t hear a car pull up out—”

  Her eyes widened when she got close enough to see my tear-streaked face.

  “What did he do?” she asked. “I’ll put a stake through his heart if he hurt you.”

  “He’s not a vampire, Gran. He’s a warlock,” I said.

  “I don’t care what he is. Are you okay? Let me get a look at you.”

  She flipped on the light, and I squinted against the sudden shock of it.