Deak sipped his drink as he watched his girl laugh and talk with the people around her. He was anxious that Vita had spent most of the night keeping her distance from him. They hadn’t had a chance to talk about what happened when she astral projected back to his place in search of small girl. He assumed she would have told him what happened if she had learned anything. Unless something did happen, and that was causing the distance she was putting between them.

Deak moved toward his girl and wrapped his fingers around her arm. “I apologize for interrupting, but I would like to dance with my girl,” he told them.

Vita smiled softly as she let Deak pull her away and onto the dance floor. He lifted one of her hands and kissed the top of her hand before placing it on his shoulder; as he took the other into his hand and placed his other hand on her waist.

“What’s your plan, Deak?” Vita asked with suspicion.

Deak shrugged. “I can’t dance with the woman I love? I told you I wanted to make this night unforgettable.”

Vita lifted a brow at him as she looked at him skeptically. What was Deak up to?

“We haven’t had a chance to talk about what happened while you were gone,” he told her.

Vita sighed. How would she tell him about the omens that she learned about and the one that could force him to live with this curse forever? Vita didn’t want to lie to him. “Well, I found Amanda in the secret room where she found the book that she had been talking about.”

“And?”

Vita sucked in her breath as she continued, “Umm, well, there was this moment where Amanda and I were transported to this odd oasis where we met the woman they called Merga.”

Deak pulled back and narrowed his eyes at Vita, “What? How did this happen? What did she say to you? Did she threaten you in any way?”

Vita smiled as she watched the man she loved get protective of her. “She wasn’t anything like we had heard her to be,” Vita admitted. “We weren’t able to talk to her for long since I was rudely pulled back to my physical body,” she chimed.

Deak shook his head. “You looked upset and had tears running down your face. What was I supposed to do?” he whispered in her ear. He leaned back and cupped the side of her face. “It killed me to see you like that, and I didn’t know how to help you.”

Vita tilted her head and leaned into his touch as she stared at the handsome man in front of her. Her heart swelled, hearing the reason why he brought her back. She had to tell him what she had found out. But not now, not here. Vita turned her head and kissed his hand. “Thank you for looking out for me. I’m sorry I got upset.”

“I’m always going to want to protect you, make sure you are safe and happy,” he confided.

Vita looked away when he started to get sentimental. She wanted to tell her how much she loved him and wanted more. Vita felt guilty for keeping things from him. But she felt she needed to.

Deak grabbed Vita’s chin and pulled her face to look at him.

“Is there anything else I should know about?” Deak asked her.

Vita opened her mouth to try and lie to Deak, telling him there was nothing else. No words came to her lips. She shook her head instead to calm his nerves.

Deak looked at his mate with uncertainty. There was something that Vita wasn’t telling him. He could feel the anger start to rise as his hands clenched around her. A snarl erupted from him as he spoke to her, “Vita, I will do whatever is necessary to keep you safe. I only want what’s best for you.”

***

Madeline sat as she watched all the younger members of their group dance and have a good time at the event. Seeing them all happy with their chosen partner made her feel good. She looked over at her son and Ruby. Madeline wondered when they would settle down and have a family. She wasn’t getting any younger and wanted to ensure that Zachary was well cared for. Madeline was happy to see Ruby back in her son’s life. She was the only woman Madeline saw who made her son truly happy. Madeline sipped her drink slowly and continued to watch them one by one.

A dark shadow fell across her as her old friend Abigail came and sat with her. “I’m surprised to see you here tonight, Madeline. I assumed you would stay away from all this.”

“The faction council invited us; I was under the impression we couldn’t decline the invite.”

Abigail laughed. “The council couldn’t care less about you and why you’re here. Everyone knows that Merga is just a fable tale you tell your children at night to scare them. I think there’s something else keeping you here in our city. A tall, handsome man of the sort.” She leaned in closer and whispered, “He’s not really into you, Madeline. It’s all just a facade. Once he gets what he’s after, he’ll leave you, just like you did to him all those years ago.”

Madeline sighed. “Abigail, what did I do to you to get you to hate me so much? We were friends for so long. What changed?”

Abigail looked at her wildly. “You did, Maddy. Everything became all about you. You were picked to marry the most eligible man in the coven, which wasn’t good enough for you. You wanted all the attention. Leaving nothing but scraps for the rest of us.”

Madeline shook her head. That wasn’t true.

“I was so happy when they asked us to stay here and participate in something amazing. I couldn’t wait to get away from you and that wretched coven we belonged to,” Abigail confessed.

Madeline rubbed her fingers across her throat as she started to cough. She felt light-headed, and the room began to spin. “What, what’s happening?”

“Oh, Maddy, did you drink too much? Can’t hold your liquor like you could when you were younger? You should have never come back here, Maddy,” Abigail spat as she got up from the table and left.

The room blurred as Madeline tried to keep herself from falling to the floor. She reached for her cane; she thought she had been resting against the table, but it wasn’t there. Madeline could feel herself heading for the floor, and a pair of strong arms wrapped around her and stopped her from hitting the floor.

“Madeline?”

She recognized the voice as soon as she heard it. “Logan?”

Logan picked her up into his arms. “I’ve got you, Madeline, and I’m not letting you go.”