Free Mark of the Witch (Boston Witches) by Jessica Gibson

like they used to when she was young. Her mom was telling her to trust in herself, that the answers were within her. She also told her to keep watch over Caroline; her life would be taking her in a different direction than anyone had thought. Her mom said to love Caroline and help her on whatever journey she chose. It felt so comfortable and right to Jilly, sitting with her mom, even just hearing her mother’s soft voice.
    She must have been crying in her sleep because when she woke up two hours later, her face was wet from the tears. Her heart ached from missing her mother as she sat up in bed crying.
    William must have heard her because there was a light knock on the door followed by his gentle voice. “Can I come in, Jilly?”
    “Yes,” she said, quickly wiping away her tears.
    He sat down next to her on the bed and folded her into his arms. She tried to pull away, but he held her a little tighter and she finally relaxed.
    “You need to let me in, Jill. I want to help you. You can’t take all of this on your shoulders; it’s not good for you,” he murmured into her hair as he held her.
    “How can I let you in? I don’t even know you,” she said, tears streaming down her face.
    “Don’t you? Look inside yourself and tell me that you don’t know me.”
    There was such tenderness in his voice, Jilly melted into his arms. She cried harder now, for the loss of her mother, and for the feeling of helplessness she felt now. She cried until finally she was out of tears, and William gently let her go and wiped away her tears with his hands. He looked deeply into her eyes, and kissed her softly on the lips before standing up.
    “I’ll be downstairs when you’re ready to come out. I’m going to scrounge around for something for dinner.”
    When he was gone, Jilly got up and took a long hot shower, letting the hot spray wash away all her doubts and fears. She felt immensely better when she walked out of her room thirty minutes later. Whether from the crying or the shower, she wasn’t sure.
    She found William in the kitchen, reading the cooking instructions on a frozen pizza. He looked up when she came in. She eyed the box when she walked over. “It was either this or sandwiches again, and I figured since we had them for lunch this would be better.” He raised his eyebrows in question.
    “That’s fine. At this point I’m so hungry I would probably eat the box it came in and be happy,” Jilly said with a laugh. William smiled at her and started rummaging in the cabinets for a pan. Jilly rounded the island and pointed him in the right direction before perching herself on a bar stool.
    Once the pizza was in the oven and the timer was set, he grabbed a few Cokes out of the fridge and joined her at the counter. “Feeling better now?” he asked with a voice dripping with concern.
    “I do actually. I’m not sure if it’s from the crying, or the shower, but I feel like a weight has been lifted off my chest. Thank you for being there. I didn’t realize how much I had been holding in and how alone I was feeling.” She looked down at her hands as she spoke, feeling the flush of embarrassment on her cheeks.
    “I’m here, and I’ll be here as long as you want me to be. I have nothing but time,” William said with a wry smile.
    Jilly changed the subject and asked him to tell her about his travels.
    “Well, let’s see, first I was in England, and I traveled north into Scotland for a while, and then I stayed in London for a time. I enjoyed my time there very much; I met a great many people whom I will never forget and whom I’m proud to say were my friends. After that I went to France, as you know, but I didn’t stay long because of Sabine. Then I traveled as far east as I could go, ending up in Russia. I stopped in many tiny countries that no longer exist along the way; I met a few people like myself, one in particular in Russia named Nikolai. He and his wife Katya were the first of my kind who I had met that