“The command was to keep her safe, Asher. Not love her,” she replied.
“Quick question,” Rowan said, “If a witch dies, shouldn't her hold on anyone be broken?”
“Yes, it should.” Juniper replied.“However, Esme's mother was dying, and she knew it was stupid to cast the spell without a living vessel to contain it whenshe was gone. It would have been a useless effort. So, she channeled the spell to baby Esme, making her the vessel.” She paused. “That's pretty smart if you ask me.”
There was utter silence in the room as Asher thought about how Esme must have felt seeing her mom for the first time. He knew that it was meeting her mother that had made her so emotional.
He'd have been emotional as well if he werein her shoes. Asher turned to her as she slept.He didn't blame her one bit. Esme had been through a lot, and she did itall alone in this cruel world. Seeing her mother and thinking about the possibilities of life together must have triggered her powers. That much, he understood.
“Thank you, Juniper,” he said to her. “My Pack and I owe you our lives today.” He rose to his feet.
“It's an honor to help out with what I can,” she replied, rising to her feet. “Do take good care of Esme. She's special, that one.”
“We have to get going now,” Rowan said to him, and they embraced each other.
“Thank you,” Asher said to him.
“Anytime, man,” he patted his shoulder. “Elder William.” He smiled and nodded subtly.
“I'll walk you to your car,” the elder replied.
“I'll figure out a way to help Esme,”Juniper said to Asher, and a smile brightened up his face. “It won't be easy, but I'll try.”
“Thank you, Juniper.” He hugged her.
Asher watched the elder see them out.
“Tell Esme that I'll be back,” Juniper said before leaving with her husband and the elder.
Asher sat on one side of the bed and gently took her hand in his as he watched her sleep.
Chapter 14 - Esme
Esme's eyes fluttered as she gradually regained consciousness. She winced at the ache in her head, groaning slightly as her blurry vision caught a crack in the ceiling. She could hear the sound of her own breath, and her head was seriously pounding.
Asher’svoice echoed as he said, “Hey.”
There was a ringing in her ears, and her eyes were stinging. She didn't understand what was happening, but she felt so weak and exhausted. Her bones and literally every muscle in her body were achingterribly.
Her vision was becoming clearer, and the ringing gradually faded away.
“Are you okay?” Asher’s voice, filled with concern echoed, in her heavy head once more.
With a faint grunt, she managed to pull herself to rest her back on the wall.
“How do you feel?” Now, his voice was loud, her vision had cleared, and the ringing in her ears had stopped.
“Like I've been run over by a truck,”she replied amidst groans. The aches all over her body were very much hurting.
“What happened?”she inquired.
“You don't remember?”he asked, adjusting closer to her as he sat on the edge of the bed.
“Hmm. No.” She shook her head.
“You happened,” he said softly.
“W…what do you mean?”she stuttered.