A Witch's Path (32 page)

"It may be within a demon's abilities to make you feel her death without killing her."

He looked at me, with tears welling up in his eyes. "If that is the truth, I failed her."

"How could you save her? You didn't know she needed to be saved."

Elron shook his head. "I made a vow to her. I failed to keep my word. I failed her in many ways."

I grabbed his shoulder, shaking him. "Elron, you are not God. There is nothing you could do."

"I begged the earth to switch our places, to fix what I was not capable of preventing. I pleaded with the sun, sky, and stars above. My cries fell on deaf ears. Now, there is a chance I abandoned her," he snarled, flashing teeth and pulsing with power.

"You don't know that. This entire book could be trickery. Even if your wife's body has survived all this time, there is no guarantee that she is the same woman you married."

"Do you have anything to support your claim?" Elron whispered.

"Only the book. Read it, think about it." I held it out, and he carefully removed it from my hands.

Tears gathered in my eyes as I watched Elron page through the book. His hair blocked my view of his face, but I could see his hand shaking. While I watched, he turned the last page and back cover, closing the book. Elron held the book between his hands, shoulders shaking, and I watched a strong man I'd come to know regress into a youth stricken by his first broken heart.
 

"Do you want me to stay?" I blinked rapidly as the tears escaped my eyes.
 

Minutes passed with us sitting in silence.

"Do you want me to get Landa?"
 

Elron's shoulders continued to shake, but he still didn't answer.
 

I scrubbed the tears off my face. "I--I'll be next door if you need anything. D-dd-don't hesitate to ask. I'm… so sorry."
 

Through the closed door I heard him sobbing. I leaned against the door, wishing I could go back and undo his pain.

My brain briefly moved past his pain, my pain, and patched a few coherent thoughts together. Demons could create sorceresses. It stood to reason Gremory had created Carrie. The creature breeder had references to Gremory in her house. Carrie and the creature breeder worked for the same person, Gremory.
 

I didn't have an angry troll lover hunting me. I had a demon threatening to kill me because I'd ruined three parts of its plan.
 

A demon was after me.
 

The strength left my legs and I slid to the ground, crying my own tears.
 

Thank you for taking the time to read A Witch's Path. If you enjoyed Michelle and Elron's story, please post a review. Reviews are a valuable way for authors to connect with readers. If you're interested, the following pages contain information on upcoming books and my contact information.
 

I live in a small town in Oregon, with my dog and a mountain of books. It rains from October until June, and everyone rushes outside when it's sunny.

For fun, I play with my dog, read, knit, crochet, paint, tie-dye, and do origami. I make a great pizza. I didn't get the sea monkeys, because I couldn't figure out where to put them in my new place.

I'm currently working on the sequel to A Witch's Path.

Twitter: 
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Website:
www.neconneely.com

If you'd like to email me:
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