Asher sensed Emma's presence before he could visually detect her. One of the spies he had keeping an eye on the siblings alerted him as soon as Emma and Ethan emerged from the witch's cabin and headed toward the center of the village. He told himself that he had to drop everything and go see them because he needed to find out what they were up to.

Asher arrived just in time to witness the exact moment when Ethan hit Emma. When he saw it, he couldn't control his anger, and only the worry of seeing her on the ground, suffering, kept him from jumping on the bastard and ripping...