by Celeste Raye
Cira was still unsure about the story that she was hearing. The women were convinced that Marl Stein would come to them. They had twenty to thirty shifters that had come in from all over; combined with the leftover clans that Marl Stein had not killed, they made up quite a force.
After about a week, though, it started to become clear that the Stein witch was not doing as expected. Instead of going after them, they had heard nothing from her. Everyone was starting to worry that maybe she wasn't going to come after all. Cira was only thinking about Broch and the fact that he was with her. Her mind came up with so many bad things that she was making him do. It hurt Cira to even think about it.
Cira became close to Connie in the time that she was waiting. The woman seemed to be as out of place as her sometimes, and it made Cira feel better. The other two were forces to be reckoned with, and Cira was still getting used to Dahlia in particular. She could be pretty intense.
After ten days of Cira going to see the witches, she couldn't take waiting anymore. All she could think about was what was happening to Broch, and at some point, she confided in Connie that she wanted to go search for him.
Connie immediately told her that it was a bad idea.
“Look, Cira, you are a strong witch, I could tell it the first time that you came to us, but none of us are strong enough to take her on by ourselves. That is why we have to stick together. Dahlia knew that you were going to be our fourth before she even opened the door. But it has to be done with all of us. None of us can do it on our own.”
Cira found that hard to believe but considering she had premonitions about it ten years before, it wasn't that hard of a stretch for her to imagine Marl that powerful. Seeing things before they happened wasn't always the greatest gift to have, but it was certainly one of the most interesting. The premonitions would come out of nowhere, and many of them wouldn't make any sense. And some of them, like this one in particular, had taken a decade to come to fruition.
“I know that there is some danger involved, but I can't just sit around here, waiting for her to show up. What if she never shows up?”
Connie and the rest of them were assured that she was going to come for the potion.
“She has come back twice now for it. It is the only thing that is going to give her what she truly wants. Trust me when I tell you that she will be back. She is running out of options, and the potion is her main one.”
Cira believed her, but not because she wanted to. She worried that she would be too late. What if all of the waiting around for Marl was only guaranteeing that when she finally found Broch, he wouldn't be alive?
Connie could feel the worry coming off of Cira, and she finally agreed that the four of them would do a locator spell that evening and see if they could find him. Cira started to feel a little relief at the prospect.
“We have tried many times in the past, but it seems like maybe now that you're here, we can get better results. I sure hope so, because whether you believe it or not, she is coming.”
The four women were outside in the elements. It was cold out, but some spells needed to be done outdoors. The best results were always done that way and Cira tried to still her body from shivering.
Cira was new to that sort of magic. She had worked with a larger coven before, but even they had not tried to do so many things. The magic that they were trying to accomplish, the power of the witch they were trying to find, was something that she never thought she would experience herself.
Connie smiled at Cira and tried to reassure her that everything was going to work out just fine. Cira wanted to believe it, she really did, but it was hard to imagine going up against someone like Marl Stein and everything being okay in the end.
“I know that you guys think this is fate, Connie. I just don't know if I believe that or not. I have this really bad feeling and that something happened to Broch. I don't know what I'm going to do if that is true. And if I do find him, how am I supposed to tell him that seven members of his clan died? Either way, it doesn't seem like it's going to end well.”
Connie told her that she had felt that way before, but if she just had a little bit of faith in them, then everything was going to be fine. Cira was still skeptical, but she knew that she was going to have to try to pretend like she had some sense of positivity.
“How can you be so sure?”
Connie's smile faltered for a moment.
“Honestly?”
“Yeah, honestly.”
Cira felt like she had to steel herself for the truth. If she hadn’t been getting it so far, there was no telling how it was going to be.
“I am scared shitless, Cira. I know that if we don't do something, she is going to hurt other people, and I don't want that on my conscience. If there is some small sliver of a chance that we can entertain, how can we not try?”
The truth was that Cira agreed with it. After what she had heard about the orphanage and the other things the Stein witches were capable of, there was no way that she couldn’t at least try.
She wanted to be in the midst of getting Broch out of whatever mind control Marl had him under, but now at least she didn't have to go alone. Cira certainly believed that she had a better chance of getting a good outcome if she had the other three women by her side. They were powerful, and she was learning a lot from them. Maybe it was fate that brought them together, but if that was the case, Cira wanted fate to bring Broch out of it and bring him back to her. He didn't have to be with her; he just had to live.
If Cira could ask for one thing, that would be what she would ask for. Just let Broch be okay.
Chapter Thirteen
Broch found that the only time he was able to have any control over his body was when he was sleeping or supposed to be sleeping. The control that Marl had over him seemed to weaken while she was asleep as well. At first, he was only able to move his fingers and his toes. The longer he worked at it, though, and more efficient he became, and it wasn’t long until he was able to get out of the bed.
He had to move slowly, afraid that she would find out his secret and do something to take away even the tiniest freedom he had. Broch hurt all over, but just being able to move around on his own made all of it worth it. All he could think about was getting far away from Marl Stein and all of the horrid things that she had made him do. Things that could never be unseen, and he would never be able to forgive himself for. Broch was mad that he wasn't strong enough to fight it.
Tonight though, the feeling of control was coming back a little stronger. Broch did not know if his will was getting stronger or her hold on him was weakening. Either way, that evening, he was able to take a few steps out of the room. There were many other shifters around, some that were on patrol to make sure that they were not ambushed, and he had to avoid all of them. Each step felt like his feet were weighed down in cement, but he fought for every step. The further away he got from the witch that had ruined his life, the better he started to feel.
Broch managed to get outside, which was in and of itself a small miracle. It was the first time that he was able to take a deep breath of fresh air of his own accord. To Broch, that was the turning point. That little tiny taste of freedom told him that he never wanted to lose it again.
His feet got heavier from fatigue. At some point, he didn't know if he was going to be able to keep going, but then he heard a noise and then a voice in the distance. A woman was saying his name, and Broch was sure that he had been caught. He didn't even want to think about what would be done to him because of his disobedience. It already felt like punishment.
His first instinct was to run. He started to do so, but his name was called again, and this time he recognized the voice. It was the voice of a ghost, because he watched her go down. There was no way that she could have gotten up from that.
Broch turned around, somehow expecting to see a ghost or some sort of apparition. Maybe the girl was going to haunt him because it was his lack of action that had caused her death. Broch had a million thought
s going through his mind, but they all stopped when he saw her.
Cira wasn’t a ghostly apparition after all. She was flesh and blood, standing in front of him and then launching herself into his arms. Talking about how happy she was that he was okay and alive.
“You don't know how worried I was, Broch.”
He was so happy to see her that before he could think straight enough to stop himself, he pulled her in for a kiss. Her body was already up against his from their hug, but now the kiss made him feel every detail that much more.
The kiss turned into something more, and he wasn't even sure exactly when it happened. One moment he was kissing her and hugging her, because he was relieved to see her alive as well, and the next moment, there was an intensity to it that took his breath away.
He thought that kissing Marl had been magical, but he had no idea the meaning of the word until now. Everything that he had felt for the witch was wrong. It was manufactured. What he felt for Cira, though, was very real. He remembered the old witch's words about love.
Cira had loved him the whole time, but he hadn’t seen it until now. Why was he just now realizing it?
Someone cleared their throat not too far for them, and he was convinced that it was one of Marl’s lackeys that had spotted them. He was prepared to go in shifter mode to attack whoever it was, but Cira stopped him.
“Don't worry. They’re with me. We came to save you.”
“Well, here I am, but we need to take care of that witch inside of there. It might be our best chance. She wants you guys bad, and as soon as she realizes that you are here, she is going to kill all of you. There are many hiding all over in the woods. Shifters. They will rip you apart on her command.”
All four women came into view, and Broch did not recognize the other ones. He wanted to ask questions, find out who they were, but at the same time, he wanted to get the hell away from Marl. He was worried that she would take over again and he would be forced to kill Cira with his bare hands this time. Broch just wanted to make sure that Cira wasn’t one of his victims.
Cira told him that they were not ready for the witch yet. “We're here for you, Broch. We will come back for her as soon as we are ready. Now we know where she is.
Broch felt relief. He then immediately felt guilty, but he just wanted to get the hell away from there. As far away as possible, and as quickly as possible, even if he should stay and fight.
“Fine, but we have to come back for her. Someone like that should not be able to live.”
One of the women, who introduced herself as Connie, smiled his way and told him that they all felt the same way. “Trust me, Broch; you are in good company.”
Broch didn't usually feel that way about witches, but he actually believed her words. All of a sudden, Broch felt like everything might be alright. It was the first time he had felt anything like that an almost two weeks. Ever since Marl had taken over his body and his mind, Broch had gotten listless, worried that it was never going to get better. Now he knew that there was at least hope. He was then able to breathe again.
He followed them through the woods, and it wasn’t long before they were out of the woods and back into civilization. Broch had always been the type that liked to stay hidden. He liked the traditional way of life, where everything was separated, but now he was starting to finally appreciate humanity. At this point, it felt like the only thing standing between him and his animal side was a very small thread. He would never admit it, but Broch would rather go through pretty much anything else than to ever be controlled by that which again.
He thought about the kiss with Cira as they were escaping. It had come out of nowhere, and the implications were too much for him to think about at the moment. All he knew for certain was there had been something there, and once they were alone, Broch owed Cira a lot more than an apology. It wasn't just the last incident that he had to apologize for. It was the way he had reacted so long ago when she had told him her feelings. Now, he was starting to think that Cira had been right the whole time.
How was he ever going to pay her back for this? She had saved his life, and now Broch realized that he actually loved her. Maybe he loved her for a long time but just couldn’t see it because of the circumstances.
Cira asked him why he was being so quiet, but he just smiled at her and left it at that.
“It has been a really long couple of weeks. You can't imagine how happy I am to see you. I didn’t think I ever would again. I thought you were dead.”
He kissed her another time. It felt good to press his lips against hers because he wanted to, not because he was made to do it.
She whimpered and then asked what he was doing.
“This is something that I should have been doing the whole time, Cira.”
He felt her trembling in his arms and kissed her some more, never tiring of the feel of her lips on his.
Chapter Fourteen
Cira was the one that had to pull away from him. It was harder than she would have imagined to finally kiss the guy she had fantasized about for so long.
“We're here, Broch. We need to go inside and meet with some people. There are a lot of questions that need to be answered on both sides, don't you think?”
Cira was still reeling from the kiss, but she was trying desperately to pull herself together. Losing her shit right now was not going to help anything.
“I think that we need to have a talk, don't you?”
“You've already apologized. It looks like you want to do it again, and there's no need for it.”
“Not just about a couple of weeks ago. You came to my clan a long time ago and warned me that all of this was going to happen. Granted, I never would have imagined it would take so long. But here we are. You were right the whole time.”
Cira felt a little satisfaction from hearing his words, but it certainly didn't erase the ill feelings she had felt for the last decade.
She needed a few minutes to herself because Dahlia, Jazz, and Connie, had already gone into one of the dwellings. There were many cabins that had been constructed in the mountains, and Cira wanted to go in from the cold air as well.
“It's okay, Broch, really. I probably wouldn't have believed me either. It was a lot to take in, and I was really young then.”
“Not anymore. You believed it enough that you came to us, even though we ridiculed you for it. I will never forgive myself for that.”
“It’s nothing really. At the end of the day, I survived, and so will you. I probably needed a talking to back then. Made me better at dealing with all of the visions. I became more discerning.”
“Why are you letting me off so easily?”
Cira knew that it was because she wasn't thinking straight. The kiss was still ever-present in her mind, and the man, of course, was standing right in front of her. How could she act any other way?
“You've had a rough enough day. I will yell at you later for it if you want.”
He smiled wide and chuckled. “Good, that sounds like a deal that I'm willing to make. I will tell you what, though: we are certainly going to address the kiss tonight. Let's go have this meeting, see what everybody has to say, and then me and you need to have some alone time to figure out what that was about.”
Cira agreed, but she had no idea what was going on between them. Cira had always had something for Broch, a sort of draw that had been inexplicable, especially after he had been so rude to her about her premonitions. But now, she was just nervous. The kiss opened her eyes to the possibilities, and Cira was now freaking out. She needed to talk to someone that would understand, and the first person that came to mind was her mother. But her mother wasn’t there. Cira was going to have to get someone else to hear out, and her mind went instantly to Connie. Connie would know what to do.
“I saw you guys kiss. I figured that you were together. You said that you wanted to save someone you loved. Remember?”
“I know, but it's not really like that. Or at least, it wasn’t before.”
“Wow, it certainly sounds complicated.”
“It is. I have had this thing for Broch for a very long time. At first, I was too young, and then all of the premonitions started. I used to be a part of the Clendon clan, I still am by blood, but I stopped going over there as much. I know that it was because of how Broch reacted to it. It broke my heart if I'm honest with myself.
“And now you two are kissing?”
Cira shook her head. “Yeah, it is hard to get my head around. I keep thinking that this is a dream, but it is way too messed up to be a dream.”
Connie told Cira a little bit about how she met her husband.
“When I tell you that there were moments, I didn't think we would ever be together, that would be an understatement. We had several black moments before we finally both realized it, we are meant to be with each other. That kiss, that tells you about everything you need to know.”
That's how Cira felt about it, but at the same time, she was worried that it would be dangerous to think that way. That he would somehow have changed his feelings after all this time was rather hard to believe.
“I don't know what this is going on between us. If I'm honest, I'm afraid to find out. This isn't even the best time, not with everything going on. I still haven't told him about Fred and a couple of the other people that were lost in the clan. It was all my fault because I thought that I could talk some sense into him. But he was too far gone. I should have known better.”
