“I know,” she whispered, lifting her face into the wind. “But, Torin, I had to do it.” Her gaze met his, silently asking for understanding. His support. “I had to do what I could to find the answers we need.”
He did understand. He didn’t like it one damn bit, but he understood the call of the moon to a witch. Knew that a woman like Shea would never be satisfied for long wandering in the darkness. She had a need to be in charge of her own life—and who was he to try to keep her from it?
“Did you discover what you were searching for, Shea?” he asked, pulling her closer, ignoring the insensible mortal at his feet. “Did you find the truth?”
“Yes,” she said, moving into him, snaking her arms around his middle. “I did. My memories are awake now. At least, most of them are. They’re just so jumbled together, I’ll need time to sort them out.”
He rested his chin on top of her head and cradled her to him in a gentle embrace. “We still have time, Shea.”
“Not enough,” she whispered. “Not enough.”
The local chapter of Ohio Seekers met in the basement of a church.
The big room was mostly used for bingo, but tonight balloons and streamers decorated the paneled walls for the upcoming Father-Daughter Dance. Tables and chairs were scattered around the room and a stereo had been set up in the corner for the DJ. Long buffet tables stood decorated, but empty of the food that would soon be delivered.
The dance wouldn’t start for another two hours, so the Seekers had plenty of time for their emergency meeting.
“I call this meeting to order!” The president, Martha Chapman, slapped her gavel against the dessert table for order.
She looked out over the crowd and smiled to herself. They weren’t many, but they were proud. And determined. The handful of the righteous who showed up every week for the Seeker meeting were people she could count on. People she’d known most of her life.
Her pastor, the local hairdresser and the best mechanic in Ohio among them. There were a few teenagers who had seen the light and her daughter’s pediatrician was attending his first meeting.
“Please, everyone!” she called out, smacking the gavel again. She loved it when they all came to order and turned smiling faces toward her. “The caterers will be arriving in a half hour to set up for tonight’s big dance and there are a few things we have to go over before they get here.”
The crowd subsided good-naturedly, eager to get on with the business of the evening.
“First, I want to thank so many of you for turning out on such short notice. Clearly, our phone tree is working well and a big thank-you to Shauna for being in charge of that for us.” Martha applauded along with the crowd as her hairdresser took a bow.
Then, still smiling, Martha said, “We have good news. According to reports from our sister organizations, the escaped witch is somewhere in Ohio right this very minute.”
Excited whispers rushed across the room like a sweeping wave.
“Do we know where exactly?” someone shouted out. “Ohio’s pretty big, Martha!”
“Oh, Hank, hush now,” she chided, wagging her finger as if the burly firefighter were a naughty six-year-old. “Would I come here and not have information to spread? Now, the word is, she and the man with her—”
“The guy made out of fire?”
“Yes, Tessie, him,” Martha said, frowning at the interruption by the head cheerleader. “They were last seen in a motel just outside Brecksville.”
“Why, that’s no more than twenty miles from here!”
“Exactly!” Martha grinned, pleased that they were as anxious as she to prove themselves worthy of their Seeker charter. “Now, what do you say? Why don’t we go catch that witch and turn her over to Dr. Fender?”
“Isn’t there a fat reward on her?” one of the teenagers wistfully asked.
“Yes, Christopher, there is,” Martha said, her tone ringing with disappointment. “But only if you turn her in to the authorities and we don’t want that, do we?”
Suitably chastened, Christopher shook his head. “No, ma’am.”
“Remember now,” she said, turning her attention to the whole crowd again. “We don’t do this for the rewards, but for the satisfaction of doing God’s work. What we do, we do for humanity. For society. For God.”
Cheers erupted and Martha basked in the appreciation for a long minute. With the threat of witchcraft taking over the world, Martha had finally found her voice. Most