Gretchen stepped out of her room to check in with her grandmother to see how she was doing. She was about to knock on the door when she heard giggling around the corner. Gretchen’s curiosity was getting the best of her as the young witch peaked her head out to see what was happening. She sighed, and her right brow lifted as she watched Tabitha leave with Esha. What were those two up to?

Gretchen crept down the hall and watched the two get into the elevator. She didn’t like the feeling she was having about Tabitha going out without Marco. She hadn’t seen Marco and Tabitha separated. They were always together. They didn’t do things separately. So where was Marco?

Gretchen waited until the elevator closed before she stepped into the lobby and pressed the button. It wasn’t long before another elevator showed up and took her to the lobby floor. She leaned her head out and looked around before stepping out entirely from the elevator. Not far ahead, she saw Tabitha and Esha walking out of the hotel. Gretchen started to follow and then stopped. She should have let Colson know where she was going; Gretchen didn’t want to make him worry. She began to check her pockets and did a mental head smack. Her phone was still in the room. Gretchen couldn’t allow too much distance between her and the girls, or she would lose track of them.

Gretchen followed Tabitha and Esha out of the hotel; and watched them step into a town car to leave. She flagged down the next available car and got in, telling the driver to follow the vehicle in front of them. The driver nodded and pulled away from the curb. Gretchen leaned back against the seat and sighed; she was worried about not letting Colson know where she was going or what she was doing, but she was even more afraid of what Tabitha was getting herself into.

***

“Hey, Gretch, do you want to head down and get something to eat?” Colson called out as he stepped out of the bathroom from taking a shower. A cold shiver went down his body as he waited for a response from his mate. “Gretchen? Are you here?” he asked again to the empty room. Colson picked up his phone to call her, and his eyebrows furrowed as he heard the familiar ring coming from the other room. He quickly dressed and headed to Madeline to see if Gretchen was there.

“Good morning, Colson. How are you this morning?” Madeline asked when she stepped back to let him into her room.

“Good, I’m doing good. I was checking to see if Gretchen was here. She had mentioned that she wanted to check on you,” Colson answered.

Madeline shook her head. “No, I haven’t seen her this morning. Let me ask Zachary and Ruby,” she told him as she walked over to the adjoining door and knocked on it.

Colson pulled out his phone and texted Deak to see if Gretchen had visited their room with Vita. He thought Gretchen would have at least told someone where she was going. His wolf howled in his chest at their missing mate. Colson ran his hand through his hair as he tried to breathe. His over-protectiveness for his mate was starting to affect his thinking. He needed to rein in his thoughts and keep control of his emotions.

A knock was heard on the door before Vita and Deak stepped in, with Marco following behind them.

Vita shook her head at Colson as concern crept over her face.

Where could Gretchen have gone?

“Tabitha is not in our room either; maybe the girls are together,” Marco suggested, pulling out his phone to text Tabitha.

He waited for a response, but nothing came through; he tried to get ahold of her through their mind link. Still nothing. What was this girl up to now?

“Deak, can you go down to guest services and see if they have a city map?” Vita asked.

“What are you going to do?” Colson asked.

Vita looked at him and smiled. “I’m going to do what I do best. I’m going to find Gretchen through magic.”

***

Pemberly hated being in the position he was in at the moment. He needed to report back to the Vampire King about the wolves’ progress in finding the book and pendant. But he didn’t want to betray Luna Cynthia. Pemberly had known Cynthia when she was growing up when he worked for her parents. It was his job to keep an eye on Cynthia as a teenager and keep her from getting into trouble.

“Pemberly, I don’t understand. Why didn’t you stay with my family? How did you end up here and working for the Vampire King?” Cynthia asked. She was so confused; the last time she saw Pemberly was at her mating ceremony with Benjamin. Cynthia assumed he would stay with the family and watch over her siblings like he had for her.

“It’s a long story. Your father and I didn’t see eye to eye on a few things. Your father thought it was best for me to leave and find a new family to watch over. Work has been hard; there’s not a lot of work out there for Pixies. The best line of work I could find was being a spy,” he told her with a shrug.

Cynthia’s heart broke as she listened to Pemberly tell his story. She should have offered him to come and live with her pack. Cynthia would have ensured Pemberly was cared for and not just left out in the dust.

“I’m so sorry, Pemberly. I wished you would have called me,” she admitted.

Pemberly patted Luna’s hands that rested in front of him. “It is what it is; we can’t look back and fix the past. We can only learn from it and move forward, which brings us to our current problem. I’m supposed to report in if you find the book and the pendant. Clearly, you have found the book.” Pemberly pointed to the glass case across the room. “It’s only a matter of time before you find the pendant.”

“Yes, but we haven’t yet. What if you report that you saw us go into a room behind a hidden entry, but it closed before you made it through,” Amanda suggested.

Pemberly turned and glanced at the clever girl, but she knew nothing about dealing with vampires. “Who’s this?” Pemberly asked as he pointed his thumb in Amanda’s direction.

“Pemberly, I would like you to meet Amanda. Amanda, this is Pemberly, a close friend I grew up with.”

“Nice to meet you,” Amanda answered.

Pemberly sniffed a little and eyed Amanda as he took her in. “So, how are you connected in all this?” he asked as he twirled his finger.

“Amanda is a Hybrid; she’s a half-wolf/half-witch and mated to my son Hudson,” Cynthia explained.

Pemberly’s eyes widened when he heard Hybrid. “So, you’re the one everyone is trying to get their hands on.”