Deak unlocked the door to their hotel room and held it open for Vita. Vita, with her arms folded across her chest, let out a huff before she walked into the room. Deak looked at Tabitha and Marco, who stood idle in the hall as they waited for Deak to enter his room before making their way to their own. Deak sighed, slumped his shoulders, looking defeated as he turned and followed his mate through the door and closed it behind him.

He stayed close to the door, watching Vita pace around the room. She walked into the bathroom and looked through the cabinets and drawers aggressively. As much as she was angry at him, she still cared deeply for him and wanted to ensure his wounds were cleaned properly. After all, he was still her mate.

Deak watched his mate scramble around the room as he leaned against the door frame, holding the thing she was looking for with mild amusement and a smirk across his face.

Vita glanced up and over at Deak when she heard a cough come from the doorway and saw the very thing she was looking for in his hands, the first aid kit. She narrowed her eyes at him as she walked over and snatched the kit from his hands. “I would have found it myself,” she snapped at him as she smacked the first aid kit down on the counter in the bathroom.

Vita whipped her head toward him and commanded, “Sit,” pointing at the toilet seat next to the counter. The tall Hungarian obeyed and did what Vita asked without hesitation. She zipped open the first aid kit and pulled out the gauze pads and alcohol to clean the wounds. Vita turned to Deak and applied the gauze to clean his wounds.

“My wounds will heal on their own; you don’t have to do this,” he calmly insisted.

“Just let me clean them so I know they will heal properly,” she told him.

Deak nodded and sat quietly as his mate tended to his wounds. Vita continued to clean the wounds and smiled whenever he winced from the pain she caused when she touched his wounds.

“Does my pain give you enjoyment?”

Vita pressed her lips into a thin line as she pressed the soaked gauze against the wound above his brow. “No,” she answered. “Why were you even fighting in the first place? How did you get there? And why have you been avoiding me all day?”

“I’m sorry; I didn't mean to ignore you. I was deep in my thoughts and lost track of the time. I ran into a man, and he took me to the arena where the fighting was taking place and thought it was something that could help me,” he explained.

“Did it?” Vita asked, her face filled with worry as she looked at him.

Deak sighed as he rubbed his forehead, trying to find the right words to explain. “To a certain degree, yes, but I don’t know for how long.”

“What do you mean?”

Deak got up from the seat and walked out of the bathroom, and headed out to the balcony without answering Vita’s question. He leaned against the railing and looked out at the glittering city.

Vita leaned against the glass door that led out to the balcony. “Deak, what are you hiding from me?” she asked him softly.

Deak didn’t want to admit that the voices inside his head were getting worse. In the beginning, he was confident that with the strength of his wolf and the love he had for Vita, he could resist the urge the voices were coaxing him into doing. But now he wasn’t sure.

Deak shook his head as he answered, “It’s nothing, just talk about me being the new Lycan king and the intruder in my house. I also was told that Emil is the Vampire King. I just needed to let off some steam.”

Vita stared at Deak’s back as he refused to turn around and look her in the eye when saying all this. She didn’t know whether or not to believe everything he was telling her; she felt like there was more he wasn’t confiding in her.

“It’s been a long day, and I’m tired. I’m heading to bed,” she told him. Vita pulled out her phone on her way to the bedroom to let the others know that she wasn’t up for a party right now but to be careful and to text her when they got back from the event.

Deak stayed out on the balcony. He could start to feel the distance he was driving between him and Vita, but he didn’t know what else to do because he didn't want her to worry. He needed to figure out how to rid himself of this curse, but he didn’t know who to ask.

***

Emil pulled away from the woman beside him in bed and creeped out of the room. He walked across the penthouse floor and into his study, where he had left the book. His eyes glimmered with excitement as Emil picked up the thick leather-bound book and opened it up. His brows furrowed as he turned the pages in the book and realized it wasn’t the same book he thought he had taken from her coven all those years ago.

He found the book across the room, and he yelled, “It's a fake!”

The thick book smashed against the wall and dropped to the floor. Emil swiped off everything on his desk, not caring where it landed or if it broke.

Emil stomped the floor angrily as he called out to his faithful servant. “Quincy!”

A moment later, Quincy walked into the study to see what his grace needed.

“Get me, Reece; I need an update from him about what we discussed earlier today,” he demanded.

Quincy bowed as he said, “Yes, master. Is there anything else you need?”

Emil glared at Quincy with red eyes. “I don’t want to be disturbed.”

Quincy bowed once more before he left the room and made his way down the hall. On his way, he found the troublemaker Rita slinking down the walkway, making her way toward his master. Quincy rolled his eyes as he grabbed the wrist of the silly girl and warned her, “I wouldn’t go in there if I were you. The master isn’t happy right now, and you will only make it worse.”

Rita huffed as she yanked her wrist away from Quincy. “We’ll just see about that,” she sneered, ignoring the warning she was given, and continued to walk into Emil’s study.

Quincy shook his head as he put distance between himself and the yelling that was about to commence. As Quincy picked up the receiver to call Reece, he heard a shrill and a sad cry shortly behind it. Quincy sighed as he clicked his tongue. “I warned her,” he muttered and started to dial the phone number.