Logan attended to Madeline, ensuring she was comfortable while waiting for everyone to return to the hotel. He was concerned about when they would return and hoped everyone was okay after the earthquake. It was the first time he had experienced an earthquake in Silver City, and he didn’t know what was causing all the chaos. Things were getting bad, and Logan felt it was time for them to leave Silver City.

The only problem was, would they be able to?

“What’s going on in that head of yours?" Madeline asked. Her head was beaded with sweat, and her eyes could barely stay open.

“We need to find a way to get out of here,” he told her.

“Aren’t you one of the keepers of the portal? Can’t you open it for us?”

Logan shook his head. “I can’t; I’m not a keeper,” he admitted.

Madeline looked away from Logan and around the room; she was having difficulty focusing. Madeline closed her eyes to try and gain control. She opened up her eyes and blinked a few times to get clarity. She shook her head. For a moment, she thought someone else was in the room with them but brushed the thought away.

“Madeline?”

“I’m just going to close my eyes and rest for a bit.”

Madeline closed her eyes and tried to rest. She felt a cold compress against her head and sighed in relief. Opening her eyes, she saw her husband sitting beside her bed.

“Peter? What are you doing here?” she asked as she tried to sit up in the bed.

Peter pushed her back down into the bed. “What kind of husband would I be if I didn’t sit with my wife while she’s ill?”

Madeline rolled her eyes. She could hear the sarcasm in his voice. “Peter, we both know you would rather be anywhere than by my side. You can leave. I’m going to be fine.”

Peter stood up and slapped her across the face before he left the room. Madeline held the cheek that burned as she glared at the man she was married to. It was a loveless marriage, and she was miserable. She couldn’t wait for the day he died, and she would be free.

Logan’s heart ached as Madeline called out for her dead husband. He didn’t know if she still had love for the man or if she was hallucinating. Logan wished for the latter. He watched as her brows furrowed and her cheeks grew red.

“Madeline?”

Her face relaxed when she heard Logan’s voice. “Logan,” she whispered.

Logan crouched down beside the bed and cupped her hand. “Yes, I’m here.”

“Logan, take me away. Please, take me away. It’s time,” she pleaded.

Logan frowned at what she was asking him. He shook his head before answering, “No, Maddy, you’re going to be okay. Everything will be okay.” he told her as he kissed her hand.

Madeline quieted down and went to sleep.

Logan thought about what Madeline had been asking her. It reminded him of when he had visited her when she was ill. Madeline had become delirious and called out to him, begging him to take her away, thinking it was her time to move on. Back then, he knew it wasn’t her time to go, but now he wasn’t sure.

Logan was startled when he heard a commotion in the living room.

“Mother?” Zachary called out.

Logan walked out of the bedroom to see everyone had returned safely. “Can I talk to you?” he asked Zachary.

Zachary walked over to Logan and calmly told him, “Your mother’s lying down in her room; she’s been poisoned.”

“What?”

Zachary pushed past Logan and barged into his mother’s room. He stopped dead when he saw his mother lying in her bed. Her skin was pale and looked very weak.

“Ruby?” Zachary called out.

Ruby walked in with Vita and Gretchen right behind her.

“Grandmother,” Gretchen cried out.

Zachary blocked her from going closer. “Gretchen, maybe you should stay in the living room with Colson,” he suggested.

Colson put his arm around Gretchen and pulled her away.

Ruby walked over and started to smell toxins. Vita poked her finger and pinched a few drops of her blood to test.

“Ruby, can you smell anything?”

Ruby focused as she tried to focus and decipher what she was smelling. She leaned over and took a whiff of Madeline’s hair. “I’m getting scents from two different poisons attacking her system. Bella Donna and Wolfsbane from what I gather.”

Zachary panicked as he heard what she had been poisoned with. “Her drink must have been tampered with, but who would want to poison her?” he questioned.

Vita went through the grimoires that Madeline had on hand with her, but she couldn’t find anything to help them.

“Vita, anything?” Zachary asked.

Vita shook her head. “I might be able to come up with something if we were back at my house. But I can’t find anything in these books that will help us right now. I can only think of putting her in a deep sleep. It will slow down the poison from killing her.”

Zachary looked at Logan, who nodded his head. They both agreed that they would do anything to keep his mother alive.

“Do it,” Zachary ordered.

Vita walked over and held her hands above Madeline as she recited the spell; a blue glow surrounded Madeline’s body when she was done. “Now, we need to figure out how to get the heck out of this place.”

***

The portal opened at the entry of the sparkling city, and Merida walked through Amanda’s body with little to no concern.

“Ahh, Silver City. Still, the shiny city that never sleeps. Let’s shake things up a bit,” she said aloud.

Her fingers sparked as she wiggled them and uttered a spell. The lights flickered one by one as each building faded to black. The city was going dark, and in the morning, it would see a new light.

“Yep, nothing like starting a little trouble to let the people of Silver City know that I’m back,” she threatened.

She strutted down the walkway as street light after street light darkened behind her.

Pemberly flitted out from his hiding spot and stared at the back of the woman walking into the city. He shook his head as he debated what he needed to do. As much as he didn’t want to betray his friendship with the Luna, he felt he needed to let his boss know who was back in town. In the end, he pulled out his little phone and pressed a button.

“Yes, sir. I wanted to give you an update. Uh, she’s here, sir. Merga is back in Silver City.”

“Thank you, Pemberly; I appreciate the update. Thank you for being on the lookout. I’ll take things from here,” his boss told him.

“Thank you, sir,” Pemberly said into the phone before hanging up. “Oh boy, looks like we’re all in a heap of trouble now.”