Echoes of the Past

AUTHOR’S NOTE: Okay, things should be picking up here in this story. The clash is going to happen soon. Tell me what you think.

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Chapter 15

“She’s awake!” Gwendolyn said as she shook Eric’s shoulder. “You two did it!”

“Wh-what?”

“You found the amulet and woke her!” the woman said with a smirk. “You took your sweet time doing that though.”

“Uh … yeah, well, the amulet wasn’t easy to find, you know.” Eric fought the shame that was trying to stain his cheeks red.

“Mm hmm.”

David groaned as he, too, returned to consciousness. He blinked his blue eyes a few times then his gaze found Eric’s and he smiled gently. Gwendolyn tsked them both and walked back into the adjoining room, followed by the still-waking guys, where Annie was rubbing her eyes.

“What … happened?” she murmured, blinking and looking around. “Where am I?”

“You’re safe for now, child,” Gwendolyn replied, fluffing the pillow behind the blonde and urging her back against it.

“I … am?” Annie didn’t look convinced and Eric couldn’t blame her, though he did keep his distance from her as Charlene’s spell still produced nausea when Eric was too near to the blonde woman.

“She cannot locate you within these walls.”

“She can’t?” Eric asked skeptically. “She seems to be a hell of a formidable witch so far.”

“Gwendolyn’s spirit guides taught her early on how to protect her home from demons and witches,” David said stoically. “That’s why we’re staying out until this is all over.”

“Staying put?”

Eric looked at his best friend like he was crazy. How the hell were they supposed to look for the missing amulet and fight Charlene from here? Did he realize there was still someone in danger?

“Deirdre,” Annie squeaked, giving David a helpless, forlorn glance. “She’s the new powerbase and mist … Charlene’s finished training her on how to respond.”

“Even more reason you need to stay here,” he replied firmly and crossed his arms. “She wants to destroy your mind before you can tell me everything she’s done.”

Annie looked distinctly uncomfortable under David’s sharp gaze and Eric understood why. Though David was the proverbial good guy in this battle, it didn’t change the fact that Annie was his mate’s ex-girlfriend. And David had waited many thousands of years to get to the point where Eric would become his.

“I didn’t want to do what she made me do,” Annie said softly, looking away from David. His eyes never wavered though, and Eric was sure she could feel the weight of his stare. “I … don’t really like …” she fumbled around for an explanation to appease the powerful sorcerer. “It’s … It’s not what you think.”

“You don’t date men,” Gwendolyn answered for her, nodding sagely. “This explains much.”

“What?” Eric fumed. “This explains NOTHING!” He turned to Annie and fought off his revulsion. “What do you mean you don’t date men?” At her shrug and recoil he continued in irritation. “You seemed to like everything we did together.”

David glared at him for a bit before returning his eyes to the girl in the small bed. He said nothing to stop Eric, but he didn’t seem comfortable with the questioning.

“She … she made me.” Annie finally answered. “She cast some spell to make it happen.” She looked away, mortified that she had to discuss this with him in front of witnesses … particularly David. “She said it would make my reactions seem … real.”

Eric felt sorry for her now and ashamed that he’d added to her embarrassment. Who was he to judge her, after all? He’d been played the same way himself. At that thought he turned his attention to his so-called mate, who was still watching him. As if he could read Eric’s mind, David’s eyes widened and he moved his gaze to the ground guiltily. Eric was only afforded a moment’s satisfaction though, before his conscious weighed on him again. It wasn’t as if David went through this lifetime knowing what he’d done … and watching Eric, who was supposed to be with him, date all of those women knowing that he’d suppressed his mate’s natural inclination. It was unfair to judge David now, especially in light of the fact that he’d saved Eric from a horrific fate … well, so far anyway. Charlene was far from finished with him.

“Exactly, Eric,” Gwendolyn said offering a benign smile. “You see the smarter course in letting go of the past. You are much wiser than you give yourself credit for.”

Eric shot her a glare bereft of any malice or anger and her smile only widened. He sighed and looked back to David who was glancing back at him now.

“Annie’s no more to blame for this than I am … or you for that matter,” he said. “Let’s not beat that poor dead horse now, and figure out what to do.”

David nodded and slanted Annie an apologetic look. She gave him a wan smile in return and pushed her hair back behind her ears.

“She’s going to use a summoning spell on you,” the redhead said to her after a moment of silence. “She knows I can block a locator spell even without my amulet.”

“Can she get a spell through to me here?” Annie asked, eyes filled with fear and dread. “The last thing I remember her telling me was that she was going to finish me.”

“I won’t let her get you,” he replied. “And I can sense the spell blockers Gwendolyn used. As long as you don’t leave the house, you should be safe.”

“Provided we keep the windows closed,” Gwendolyn added.

“Oh, yeah,” David said. “I forgot the windows. The blocker only works on the actual walls.”

“Why does the revulsion spell still work then?” Eric asked.

“You inhaled the fumes of the candle and heard the words she spoke,” David said sadly. “The blocker can’t undo spells already cast. Until I get my amulet when we’re awake, or kill her, she will continue to have that power over you.” David’s eyes burned red for a second with the fury Eric knew he felt. Apparently Charlene having any power at all over his mate at all infuriated him.

Annie looked down as she picked at a string hanging from the blanket on the bed. “If I stay inside though, she can’t get me … right?”

“Right.”

“Please don’t let her get me,” she whispered, looking up at David imploringly. “She hurts me so much! And I know she won’t stop until I don’t have anything left. And I nearly don’t!” Teas streamed down her cheeks now. “I’m so weak!”

“You were strong once though,” David assured her. “You had to be or she wouldn’t have kept you around for so long.”

Annie shrugged.

“She fed off you for a long time. But if you stay away from her, you can build your strength back again.”

“I can?”

David nodded. “Now, let’s try to piece together something we can use against her … okay?”

Annie shrugged again.

“We have to save Deidre from what happened to you,” Eric said softly. “You don’t want her to make Charlene any stronger, now, do you?”

Annie shook her head.

“Okay then.”

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“Damn it!” Charlene muttered. “She must be somewhere behind a blocker.”

She blew a tendril of her mousy hair out of her eyes and smacked her fist against the floor she was kneeling on. Where had her brother taken Annie? She had to find her! Maybe she could cast a summoning spell that would hang in the air, waiting for Annie to come out. She couldn’t stay behind a blocker forever. It would only protect the building she was in, not the woman herself.

She’d also done a quick seeing spell just before and noted that David was gone as well. So, Eric was on to her and spirited him to safety as well. Interesting. And quite useless, she added silently. She would have David no matter what her brother had to say about it. He was the key to her ultimate powers, and he would become her final feeding victim before the planet fell to its knees before her. The great sorcerer that Eric was would be no match for the witch she would become with David’s power.

She would not fail this time! Her demon relations had already spent far too long in hiding below ground while these puny and powerless humans ruled everything. She turned to look at her silent slave, still kneeling in the corner, waiting for orders. That was what all humanity would be doing for her and her demon kin soon. All of them! They deserved to be slaves anyway. Useless mortals that they were! She crawled over to Sally and sat before her. The woman bowed her head meekly, her vacant gaze on the ground.

“I need more power to cast stronger spells,” Charlene barked at her.

“Yes, mistress,” Sally whispered.

“You have no more to give me.”

“Yes, mistress.”

Charlene contemplated the slave as she thought. Where could she get her hands on another disposable woman no one would miss? She wasn’t even sure yet if Sally would have anyone coming to look for her. She’d better ascertain that first.

“Will there be anyone looking for you when you don’t come home, slave?”

“Yes, mistress.”

Shit! Now she hoped wouldn’t have to do a mind eraser to keep a low profile.

“Who?”

“My roommate.”

Roommate? This could be promising.

“Female?”

“Yes, mistress.”

Charlene reached up and grabbed the phone lying on the desk next to her, dropping it into Sally’s lap.

“I have need of more power,” she said. “And you’re going to lead her to me.”

“Yes, mistress.”