The Responsible Witch (The Ward Witches) (7 page)

It didn't work.

If this was where Gage's memories were, it must be tied to him. So she conjured up all the feelings she had about him, all the memories she could muster from their short time together, and blasted the lock again. It gave.

The chest hissed as she opened it, and inside was a bright technicolor light. She couldn't even really look at it, but she knew his memories were free. Now if only she could find him.

Dymphna looked around. On one corner, the ceiling was cracked enough to let some light in. That's where she concentrated her force spell. The wall took on a spiderweb crack, and piece by piece, it fell into rubble. She stepped through.

The next room resembled a place Dymphna had only seen pictures of. It looked precisely like the spaces the Dark Order used to conduct their sacrifices. An image of Gage sat on each spoke of the pentagram where a victim would have gone. The last spoke was empty.

She moved to talk to the first one. Before she could say anything, he spoke.

“
I am a fire witch. I have come to this place to be sacrificed.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but he just repeated himself.

“
I am a fire witch. I have come to this place to be sacrificed.”

Dymphna moved to the next one.

“
I am a water witch. I have come to this place to be sacrificed.”

Then the next.

“
I am an air witch. I have come to this place to be sacrificed.”

And the last.

“
I am an earth witch. I have come to this place to be sacrificed.”

She stood in the middle and considered all of them. Gage had all four types of magic. So none of these images were him. But they were all him at the same time. Inspired, she stepped to the middle of the pentagram, where the Master of Ceremonies would stand in a sacrifice.

“
I am Dymphna. I call upon you to release your differences and become one. You must each sacrifice yourself to be complete. I ask this of you as your bond-mate.”
She wasn't sure where the words came from, but there was the strongest feeling to speak them aloud as they materialized into her mind.

As one, they nodded. Then each of them crumpled into a heap and disappeared
in turn
. On the last empty spoke of the pentagram, another Gage appeared. She spoke to it.

“
Who are you?”

“
I am Gage Redman. I am of all four elements, and they are me. I am your bond-mate, and I have responded to your call.”

Grateful, she closed her eyes. “Then are you ready to go home?”

“
I am.”

Dymphna reached out to Fiona with her mind. “We're ready to come back.”

Fiona's approval rang like a hum in her head, and then they were both ripped from the room and propelled back into their bodies.

Gage opened his eyes and waited for the world to stop spinning.

“
Did it work?” He heard Dymphna asking. “Is he cured?”

“
Yes.” Fiona's word conveyed her pride. She was smiling when he sat up and looked at her. “Your eyes are violet, but your hair is still brown. That's a good sign.”

And he remembered. It was odd, as if the memories were there, but not really part of him yet. He described as much to Fiona.

“
You'll need time. It's as if the memories are in a catalog, and you'll have to pull them out. I suggest a good long sleep. Your unconscious mind will do much of the work for you.”

“
Thank you, Fiona. You've saved me.”

She blushed. “I did my best. Now I'm tired too.”

“
You saved me too,” Gage said to Dymphna.

She waved it off. “It was the least I could do.”

Leo helped Gage stand up while Skylar helped Fiona. Dymphna, proud as ever, stood on her own. “Let's get our witches to bed, wouldn't you say Skylar?”

“
Yes indeed. We cleaned out the guest room enough so you can sleep there, Fiona, until you're ready to go home.”

“
Call my husband and tell him it worked?” She asked.

“
I will.” Skylar replied. “Now let me help you upstairs.”

Gage was able to shake the aftereffects of the spell off faster than Fiona. Leo walked with them up to Dymphna's room, and left them at the door.

“
You'll be alright?”

“
I'll call if we need anything,” Dymphna assured her twin. “I think for now we both just need some rest.” With all the magic going about recently, she'd been needing an insane amount of rest. Hopefully this would be the last of it.

“
Alright. I'll be downstairs.”

As soon as Dymphna closed the door, Gage started kissing her. She kissed back, grateful that she really had him now, free of the blood magic. They ended up on the bed in a tangle of arms and legs.
She hadn't thought she had any energy left, but she felt it surge again as soon as Gage's lips met hers.

“
I want you so badly, Dymphna.”

“
And I you.”

Almost without a thought, their clothes disappeared into a heap on the floor. She ran her hands all over him, as if she couldn't get enough. And she couldn't. She probably never would be able to. And for now, that was alright. He fumbled with his jeans on the floor and withdrew a condom.

“
Apparently Skylar thought we could use this and left it in the pants she gave me.”

Dymphna laughed. “Then put it on already!”

“
Are you still sore? I don't want to hurt you.” He looked desperate for her to say no, but she knew too that he would stop at a word from her, even as ready as he was.

“
I'm still sore, but I'll kill you if you don't get inside me now.”

Gratefully, for both of them, he didn't need further prompting and sunk into her. They both groaned. Dymphna was vaguely aware of being sore, but she rocked her hips to make him start, and he did. After what had happened earlier, neither of them was able to hold back.  It wasn't long at all before Dymphna found her release. Gage came quickly behind her. He got up and disposed of the condom, then returned to her side.

“
Are you ready to sleep?” He asked, spooning in behind her again and pulling her close. It was incredible how comforting that felt.

“
I don't think I have another choice. I'll see you in the afternoon.”

“
I'll see you then. Good night.”

“
Sleep well.”

65

CHAPTER FIVE

Gage had barely drifted off to sleep when the nightmares hit. Apparently his memories were coming back in force because he was buffeted by a wave of memories, almost like video clips. As soon as he seemed to get a hold on one, another took its place.

He was partially aware of Dymphna waking up beside him, but he couldn't pull himself to consciousness. Then he felt her put a sleeping spell on him, and the dreams stopped. He was finally able to get some sleep.

When he woke up again that afternoon, he knew. He had his memories back, and he felt like a whole different person. And they made him sick. He ran to the bathroom to get rid of everything he had eaten in the last twenty four hours. Unwilling to face other people for the moment, he pulled on his boxers and a pair of sweat pants, pulled a chair over to the window, and contemplated the sunrise.

When he had met Dymphna, he was afraid to bond with her because he had nothing to give her. Now he knew he had something to give her, but it was all bad. She wouldn't be pleased, and he'd be lucky if she didn't call it off and leave him. Sure they had the bond, but it wasn't unheard of for badly matched couples to separate. He remembered her being uncomfortable with his last name, and there was worse to come when he finally told her all. And he would, because he believed in the whole truth. She deserved to know, so he'd tell her even if it meant losing her.

A few hours into his brooding, she woke up gradually. She blinked at him from the bed. “Good afternoon,” he said, still staring out the window.

“
Good afternoon. I can tell you're troubled. What's wrong?”

“
My memory came back. In some ways, I kind of wish it hadn't.”

Fully awake now, she got dressed. He had noticed she wasn't comfortable naked around him, so he didn't look as she put on her clothes. She came up and massaged his shoulders. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“
No. But I need to. You deserve to know the truth about me.”

“
Then come sit on the bed. I'd like to be able to look at you while you talk to me.”

He obliged her, and she settled in facing him. “As you know, my father was Thomas Redman.”

“
I know.”

“
I'm his firstborn, and I was supposed to take over the family business and be leader of the Dark Order. Much like how Seb became Duke. Blood magic users can't bond, but he had found some way to get past that to make a child with another blood witch. They killed three other witches to give me their powers. Three people were dead because of me before I even reached one year old.”

“
Gage, you can't blame yourself for that,” Dymphna said softly, grabbing his hand. She rubbed her thumb across his palm and he wanted to believe her.

“
I was heir to it all, which is why they did it. Then one day it got too much for my mom,
Denise
. They asked her to bring her sister, a powerful air witch who believed in pure magic, to be sacrificed. She objected, but my father
said she was
a traitor if she didn't. It was a test, and she failed. She said she'd bring her sister along the next day when she could get in contact with her. But then in the night,
Denise
slit his throat. She made sure he was dead, then took me and ran.”

Dymphna's thumb briefly stopped moving on his palm when he said his mother was a cold-blooded killer, but she started up again after
a short
pause. Hopefully that meant she didn't think too badly of him or his mother.

“
She kept track of the Order, but they were so disorganized after my father's death that they couldn't muster forces together long enough to track her down. It was officially an unsolved homicide because the other members of the Order botched the crime scene so badly that the cops couldn't get enough evidence against my mother. I was heir to it all legally too, from the house to the money. The money helped get us through until my mother found a job and set up a home for us in Florida.

“
But
Denise
was addicted, like Fiona talked about. She had been part of it all. She had killed people, and not just my father. She managed to stay alive on blood we got from the local butcher, and she never took more than enough to survive. The money my father left me also got me through college. But I'm the one to blame for the Dark Order coming back.”

“
What do you mean?”

“
The properties my father left me. I never went to them, in fact, I stayed away deliberately. The new generation of the Dark Order re-purposed them for sacrifices again. The home I grew up in was the same place they kept me and tortured me in the basement. They wanted to make me use the blood. I wouldn't. So they took my memories, hoping that if I didn't have my mother's example anymore, I'd use it. But I still wouldn't.”

“
How is this your fault again?”

“
I didn't follow up. I didn't make sure that they were totally gone. I was neglectful of my duty to do something with the property, and I just used the money for personal gain.”

“
You didn't know. I'd bet you didn't know they'd regrouped until you were captured.”

“
That's true. I didn't even know I had a brother who could reform the Order.”

“
Fiona went through much of what you're going through. She thought that if she had spoken out, that she could have prevented this. But neither of you knew that there was anything to be done. What Seb told her is appropriate for you as well. It doesn't matter what you did or didn't do when you didn't know there was something to be done. What matters is what you do now and in the future. She helped to bring down some of the leaders of the Order who were doing the kidnapping. But you know more, and you can do more. You just need to think about whether you'll do it or not.”

“
I'll do it. I don't need to think about it.”

“
Then that's good. But tell me something else good. Surely not all of your memories are bad.”

He smiled. “That's true. My mother and I had many good years. She's still alive too.”

“
I'd bet she's worried about you.”

“
You're probably right. I should call her.”

“
I'd like to meet her.”

Gage was startled by that. “What? She's a blood witch.”

“
But she's your mother. I believe in redemption, and she's clearly tried to make up for her crimes. Not to mention that when you speak of her, you do so affectionately. You must have been close.”

“
We were. We are. She's the one who pushed me to be a teacher.”

“
You
are
a teacher?”

“
Yeah. I
teach
third grade at the local elementary school where we lived near Miami.”

“
So you were good for the community.”

“
I'd like to think so.”

“
See? You're a good person. You can't be blamed for what the Order did when your back was turned.”

He smiled, and it felt good. “Maybe you're right.”

“
Of course I'm right. Is there anything else that you've supposedly done badly?”

“
Not really. Besides getting the blood for my mother and neglecting to stop the Dark Order, I've tried to live a good life. I've tried to make up for what my family has done.”

“
There you go. Now let's get dressed. I'd bet Skylar's left something in the hall again. Then you'll have to go with me to the Coven House to tell Justin everything you know about the Order.”

“
I will.” It certainly sounded like she wouldn't be leaving him. That took a weight off his shoulders. “I need to call my mother first though.”

“
Of course. And see if she'll mail you your birth certificate and another piece of identification so we can get your driver's license and a marriage license.”

“
A marriage license?”

“
You do want to marry me, right? We're bonded now.” She looked uncomfortable and awfully unsure of herself, two things Dymphna rarely showed.
He knew her well enough to know that.

“
Of course I do. I just wasn't sure if you'd want to marry me. Marry a Redman,” he said with disdain for his own name. The name of a murderer.

“
No, I don't want to marry a Redman. I want to marry you. It'd not unheard of for the male to change his name, you know. If you wanted to, you could become a Ward.”

Hope lit his eyes. “You mean it?”

“
Sure. I know you'll live up to the name.”

“
Then it's settled. Can I use your phone?”

She got up and handed it to him. “I'll go find you some clothes.”

“
Thanks. For everything.”

She blushed, then tried to brush it off. “It's no problem.” But he had already seen that she was touched by his words. That's what mattered.

He dialed the number that he now remembered and prayed she'd pick up. He wasn't totally sure what he was going to say, but he needed to let her know he was alright. The phone rang almost to voice mail before she picked up.

“
Hello?”

“
Hi Mom, it's Gage.”

“
Oh my lord, Gage! Are you alright?”

“
Yes, Mom, I'm fine. I'm sorry I haven't called.”

“
I've been so worried. What happened?”

“
They caught up with me in the parking lot of a gas station. They kidnapped me and they tried to turn me.”
He didn't even need to say who for her to understand.

“
Oh no!”

“
I got free,
and I don't know how that worked. But
I never touched
their magic
. I was tainted, but I never used the stuff. I lucked out, and I found the witches of the National Coven. They helped me, and they got the taint of it off of me.”

“
Thank goodness. Are you safe with them?”

“
I'm fine. Miraculously, they don't blame me, even knowing the truth that it was my neglect that caused this problem.”

“
I told you that it wasn't on you.”

“
Well they agree. On another note, do you have enough from the butcher to keep you going?”

“
I do. I'm running low though.”

“
I'm up in Boston. I'll try to get down there and get you resupplied.”

“
Don't worry about me. I can drive over there and get more myself. I'll be fine. Will you be staying in Boston long?”

“
I think so.” He didn't want to tell his mother that he wouldn't be living in Miami anymore.
Yet.
He hadn't spoken about it with Dymphna, but he knew she had her family ties and her work ties in Boston. He had a job and a mother in Florida but ultimately, he was more than willing to move for her. And then he was hesitant to talk about his new bond. As a blood witch, his mom would never have one of her own. “I met someone, Mom. Since I didn't use the blood, I'm still an elemental witch. And as a witch, I found my match.”

His mother was awfully silent. He felt like he needed to tell her everything, but clearly his news was hurting his mother.

“
We sealed the bond. That was what let her save me from the blood magic taint. She risked her future by making the bond with me, and she risked herself when she did the spell to bring me back from the taint. I'm going to need my documents so we can get married.”

“
You've got a bond-mate now? And you're going to marry her?” His mother's voice was in that calm and controlled tone that he knew meant she was trying to conceal her emotions. And she was doing it well.

“
Yes. She's an amazing woman, and I'm dedicated to making this work.”

“
Then that's that, huh?”

“
I suppose so.”

“
Do you want me to move to Boston?”
She easily picked up on what he deliberately wasn't telling her.

“
You'd do that?” He asked, startled.

“
I would. You're my son, and you're important to me. I'm not tied to Miami beyond my job and you. I can find another job, and if you're in Boston, then I can be too. But I'll warn you, I want to stay away from the Coven there.”

“
I'm honored you'd want to be with me at the sacrifice of your home. But why don't you want to meet the Coven?”