Page 22 of Fateful Reunion

“You mean how dangerous Ilaria is,” Zane interrupted, a hostile tone in his cutting voice.

Charles glowered at him. “It’s not Ilaria who’s dangerous. It’s the mark. The evil inside her.”

“Same thing!”

Roxanne lifted her hand to stop her colleague. “Let him explain.”

Charles nodded, grateful that Roxanne wasn’t condemning him outright. After all, she had every reason to do so: he’d kept a vital piece of information from her, lied to her in fact, though he’d hated doing it. But the time for lies was past now.

“The mark Ilaria carries on her back is something every witch fears. Generations of witches have tried to eradicate it, because it spreads pure evil in this world and it turns its host into a willing participant once he or she has given up resistance. The way to stamp out this evil has always been to kill the witch who carries it. It’s our duty to do so. So that all of us and all of you will be safe.” He looked straight at Zane, then at Roxanne. “I know that Scanguards has collaborated with witches before. Had I told you about the true meaning of Ilaria’s mark, any witch in your acquaintance would have advised you to kill Ilaria immediately.”

“Seeing how the mark pulses, I wouldn’t have needed somebody to tell me to shoot it,” Zane growled.

“The first time it started pulsing, I was afraid, too. But fear only makes it worse. It gives it power.” He looked at Roxanne, his heart warming at the recollection of how she’d comforted his niece. “You weren’t afraid. It helped Ilaria fight it. I thank you for that.”

“Haven warned me,” Roxanne said.

“Haven?”

“A colleague. I had him do some research for me. He found writings about the mark. He called just as I realized you were gone. I went into Ilaria’s room, looking for you and found her sleeping, but the mark wasn’t.”

Charles’s heart stopped. “It was active while she slept?”

“What does that mean?” Roxanne asked, clearly anxious.

“You’d all better sit down.” All three bodyguards remained standing, and all three suddenly seemed to widen their stances as if preparing for battle. Their instincts were solid, and he hoped they’d be on his side once the inevitable battle ensued. Shrugging, Charles corrected, “Well, I guess standing works, too.”

Charles looked at the ceiling, listening, but upstairs everything was quiet. Then he lowered his gaze and looked at the three vampires. “One in a thousand witches is born with the mark. It looks like a perfect tattoo at first. A tiny pentagram. It has no power when it’s that small. But as it grows, it matures, developing more symbols, more signs. Getting stronger. And it starts influencing the child, exerting control over it. The child becomes difficult to handle. It lashes out at its parents, its siblings, anybody the mark perceives as a threat.” He sighed deeply. “When Ilaria was put in my arms as a three-month-old, I knew it would be difficult to keep her on the right path and give her the strength to reject evil. But I never knew how much it would cost me.”

He looked at Roxanne, searching her eyes, trying to make her understand. It had cost him Roxanne’s love.

“I knew the reasonable thing would have been to kill my niece, so she would never have to suffer, and never hurt anybody.”

“It was fucking selfish of you to let her live!” Zane growled.

“Selfish? You can call it what you want. But I made a promise to her mother. I was torn, and in those moments when I wavered, Ilaria gave me the greatest gift: the love of a child for her parent.” He felt tears rise to his eyes and turned away, pretending interest in the old fireplace. “I knew then that I could never kill her. I hid what she was as best I could. We never stayed anywhere for long. And all the while I searched for the other witches of the mark.”

“There are more like her?” Roxanne echoed.

“Yes. The same, yet different. They’ve conquered the evil, and now they control the mark on their body. It doesn’t control them.” He turned to face Roxanne and her colleagues again. “Don’t get me wrong, they’re still powerful witches, more so than I or any other witch I know. When they’re present, you can feel their power. It draws you to them, puts you at their mercy. But they don’t hurt people, not unless they feel threatened. They’re not controlled by evil any longer.”

“How?” Roxanne asked.

“I don’t know. Maybe it’s their combined willpower, maybe a secret ritual. Nobody knows. It’s their secret, one they’ll only share with their own kind. I only know that I have to deliver Ilaria into their care. It’s her only salvation. And ours.” He sought Roxanne’s eyes. “I lied to you when I said that the witches that were hiding us would have killed you, because you’re a vampire, had I taken you with me. That’s only partially true.”

“What?” Grayson croaked, tossing a confused look between Charles and Roxanne as if playing ping-pong. “You know each other from before?”

“Oh, please, keep up,” Zane grunted. “Anybody could see that, but clearly you only have eyes for the girl.”

“Jerk!” Grayson hissed at Zane.

“How Roxanne and I know each other is a story for another day,” Charles said, addressing Grayson, before looking back at Roxanne. “I didn’t know if I could control the evil in Ilaria. Had I taken you with me on the run, Ilaria could have killed you during one of her fits.” And he would have never been able to forgive himself for that.

“Fits?” Grayson now said.

“Moments when the mark is trying to exert power over her. She lashes out at everybody in those moments, gets violent. The more fear and hatred people around her exhibit during one of those episodes, the stronger the mark reacts.” He smiled at Roxanne. “By trusting her not to hurt you, you helped her fight against it. I saw her aura change right before my own eyes—from a volatile red to a calm blue.”

“I couldn’t see the changing colors in her aura,” Roxanne said.