Rita watched with delight as chaos and destruction between the factions grew. She was impressed with how easily she could spread the spell through a simple mask she held in her hand. Anyone wearing the mask would be affected; at the last minute, she added something more for good measure. Blood would be shed, and the city's unity amongst its community would be severed.

The lights flickered above her, and she eyed them suspiciously. Rita looked back down at the action and found Emil staring at her dangerously. That was her cue to leave; it was a shame she couldn’t stay and watch. Rita waved her fingers in his direction and disappeared before anyone could get to her.

***

Deak pushed his way through the crowd as he searched for Vita. He heard screaming from outside the venue and returned to find her. His brows furrowed as he watched factions tare into each other. What was happening? What was causing them to behave like this? He needed to find Vita and get her out of there.

“Vita!” Deak yelled out to the crowd.

There was nothing.

Deak kept to the corners of the room and made his way to the other side. Hr ran his fingers through his hair as he spun around the room, trying to find his mate. Deak's focus landed on the women’s bathroom door and moved toward it. He tried to push against the door, but it was jammed.

“Vita, you in there?”

“Get away from me,” Vita yelled through the door.

He was relieved to hear her voice, but it panged him to listen to the fear in her voice. “Vita, it’s Deak.”

“It doesn’t matter, can’t you see? The factions are going after each other. Tabitha and Marco had already tried to attack me, and I was able to knock them out. What’s going to stop you from hurting me?”

“I could never hurt you, my Vita.”

“I can’t trust you; I should have never believed this could work between us. You’ll always be a wolf, and I’m a witch. Something is always going to come between us.”

Deak’s heart stopped as he heard the painful words that Vita was telling him. He looked around him and saw Tabitha and Marco knocked out on the floor. They still were wearing their masks. Deak had taken him off the moment he walked out of the venue. He walked over, pulled their masks off, and shook them to wake up.

Marco was the first to wake up. “Whoa, what happened?”

Deak extended his hand to help pull him up. “I’ll fill you in once we get out of here. I need to get Vita out of the bathroom. Watch my back.”

Marco nodded as he turned to check on Tabitha first.

Deak moved close to the bathroom door again and yelled. “Vita, open the door.”

“No, I’m done. I don’t want this anymore.”

Deak snarled and started to kick the door. He could feel the door begin to weaken against his force.

“Don’t do it, Deak. I will use my magic on you and won’t take it easy,” she threatened.

“Stand back, Vita, or door will be crushing you,” he warned as he pushed against the door one last time before he busted through. Vita was thrown back by the debris from the door bursting. Deak walked over, picked her up from the floor, and slammed her against the wall. He pinned her arms above her head.

Vita tried to wiggle out of his grip, but he was stronger.

“I was a fool ever to think I loved you,” she spat at him.

Deak’s temper rose as he looked at the woman he loved. He yanked the mask off her face and threw it across the room. Deak wrapped his fingers around her neck and growled at her.

“What did you say?” Deak snarled.

Vita shook her head as the cloud of smoke broke away from her eyes. She looked at Deak with fear, not understanding where she was or why he had her pinned to the wall. “Deak?” she called out as her lip quivered.

He looked deeply into his mate's eyes and saw the woman he’d fallen in love with looking back at him. He leaned forward and pressed his mouth against hers. Vita was quick to respond to the kiss. Her heart raced as her body quivered at his touch.

Deak removed his hands and pulled Vita into his arms. For a moment, he thought he was about to lose her, afraid she would reject him.

“Deak, what’s going on? What happened?” Vita asked, her voice filled with concern.

“Later. Now, we find way out,” he told her.

“That’s going to be a problem,” Tabitha spoke out.

Deak turned to find Marco and Tabitha standing in the doorway. “It’s getting pretty bad out there, and all the exits have been blocked. Have any ideas on how to get out?” Marco questioned.

“What’s happening out there?” Vita asked.

Deak rubbed his head. “It’s a faction war out there,” he answered. He picked up the mask he'd flung across the room. “This seems to be cause of all chaos.”

Vita looked at the thin mask, and her brows furrowed. She assumed it must be a spell, but she had never heard about a spell like this. Vita had to think quickly. She looked around the bathroom and spotted her purse. She picked it up and started to look through it. She pulled out her little spell book and what potions she had stocked in her bag.

Deak walked over and picked up one of the potions. “What is this?”

Vita shrugged. “I told you I can take care of myself.”

Deak's eyes narrowed. “We'll talk later about this too,” he warned as he pointed to all the toys she pulled out.

Vita tried to hide her smile, but it did no good.

Deak shook his head. “Make something work,” he muttered.

***

Gretchen didn’t look back as she continued to move through the crowd. She saw Zachary and Ruby arguing in the corner and made her way over to them.

“Uncle Zachary, Ruby, we need to get out of here,” Gretchen told them.

“I’ve been trying to tell him that, but he won’t listen,” Ruby retorted.

Zachary pinched his brow. “That’s because we still haven’t found my mother.”

The lights started to flicker again. Gretchen looked up at the lights and missed when Colson had caught up with her.

“Gretchen,” Colson called out.

Gretchen stepped back as she yelled, “Stay away from me, Colson.”

“Gretchen, you have to listen to me,” Colson demanded.

Gretchen shook her head. “No, I don’t have to do anything you say. This, what we have is done.”

Colson sucked in a breath as he felt the sharp dagger of her words puncture his heart. “Gretchen, you don’t mean that. Stop hiding behind the mask and tell me to my face you don’t want me,” he challenged.

Gretchen pulled off the mask and looked him squarely in the eyes. “ I … I can’t …”

The lights flickered again, but something outside caught Gretchen’s attention. As the lights flickered inside the building, the lights outside also flashed. “Guys, I think we have a really big problem.”