Merida slammed another book closed and huffed another dead end. She got up and walked over to the case of books that Madeline always took with her whenever she traveled. Merida recognized a few of the books that were collected by the coven. She was about to close when her eye caught a zipper she had overlooked. Merida pulled back the zipper, and she found smaller black leather-bound books.

Merida smiled triumphantly. “Bingo.”

“Do you think they’ll have what you are looking for?” Amanda asked.

Merida sighed.

“I hope so. What are you doing awake? I thought everyone was asleep,” Merida inquired.

“No, I couldn’t sleep. Something was keeping me awake,” Amanda confessed.

“You should try and get some rest. Once we are done here, I will need your strength to help me with Emil.”

“Have you told Vita about your story with Emil?” Amanda asked.

Merida shook her head. “No,” she answered as she picked at the side of one of the books that she pulled out from the secret spot. “Let’s just focus on helping them first, and then we can worry about my stuff later.”

Amanda stayed quiet and allowed Merida to continue what she was doing. She was worried that Merida was in over her head; she would do something reckless and hurt people she didn’t intend to hurt. Amanda needed to warn Vita; she just didn’t know how.

***

Deak slowly walked through the empty house he remembered from his childhood. It had been years since he had been there. Why would he be here now? In the distance, he sees a woman that he recognized. “Anya? (Mom?)” he whispered.

He walked toward her, but when he got close enough, she fell. He rushed to the edge to grab her hand to save her but ended up too late and watches her fall to her death. “Anya!” he cried

He dropped to his knees and stared into the abyss of nothing.

“It’s all your fault,” the voices whispered. “You’re the reason your mother’s dead.”

Deak shook his head. “No, it’s not true.” He leaned over and held his head in his hands as he pushed the voices out.

“It’s only a matter of time before you kill Vita,” they taunted.

“No, I would never,” Deak swore.

“Deak, help me,” he heard Vita’s voice call out to him.

Deak scrambled to his feet and ran toward her voice, “My Vita, I’m here!”

“Deak, rescue me.” Her voice came again from upstairs and he climbed the stairs quickly to find her.

He reached the hall, and it extended farther than he remembered. Each door he tried to open was locked.

“You’re running out of time,” the voices provoked.

Deak snarled at the voices and started running down the hall. A ticking sound echoed through the passage. When a door finally opened when he turned the knob, he didn’t like what he saw behind it.

Vita was lying limp in the bed, blood sprayed all over the white room.

“No, it’s not happening. It’s just dream,” he told himself. He walked closer to the body lying on the bed. A sigh of relief went through him went; it wasn’t Vita.

The head of the woman lifted and looked at him with red eyes. “I may not be Vita, but I could be the one to help you kill her.”

Deak couldn’t hold his temper any longer and leaped on top of the woman and started to choke her. He could hear the woman yell out his name as she reached up and tried to pull his hands away from her neck. A burst of power surged through him and threw him across the room. He was knocked out for a moment but when he woke, he was in the hotel room he shared with Vita. His body froze as his eyes shifted across the room, and he saw his Vita looking back at him with fear in her eyes and her hand holding her throat as she tried to catch her breath.

Deak’s heart shattered seeing this sight. The voices warned him. Deak picked himself up off the floor and kept his distance.

“Deak, wait,” Vita tried to say, but her throat was still soar from what happened.

Deak closed his eyes and turned away. He couldn’t see the damage he caused to the one woman he loved. “I’m sorry,” he whispered before leaving the room.

Vita scrambled out of the bed and tried to stop him from leaving. When she reached the living room he was nowhere to be found. She saw a shadow cross from the side of her eye and turned to look out at the balcony. Deak was crouched on top of the railing.

“Deak, what are you doing? Come back in here.”

Deak turned, and his eyes were no longer crystal blue but a tarnished yellow. “Leave me be,” he snarled before leaping off the side of the building.

Vita screamed as she rushed to look over the balcony. She was relieved when she didn’t see his body lying on the ground, but was heartbroken as she watched him run away. The tears burned her cheeks as they fell.

Gretchen and Colson rushed out to their balcony to see what the commotion was all about.

“Vita! What’s wrong?” Gretchen asked, her voice filled with panic and concern.

“Deak, he’s gone,” Vita said as her lip quivered and her heart filled with sadness.

“I’m coming over,” Gretchen told her. She turned to return to the room when she heard Colson say, “I’ll go after Deak.”

Gretchen froze for a second, then turned around. “Colson, no, please don’t,” she asked him.

Colson looked back over his shoulder, “He shouldn’t be alone right now. Deak needs us.”

The tears filled her eyes, and her heart filled with panic. Gretchen feared something bad would happen, and she didn’t want that. “I need you,” she muttered.

Colson turned back around and looked at his mate. “What did you say?”

Gretchen sighed and repeated what she said, “I need you.”

Colson walked over to Gretchen, picked her up into his arms, and kissed her. Gretchen returned the kiss with the same amount of heat and passion he was giving her. Colson pulled away and rested his forehead against hers and confided. “I’m always here for you, and I’m not going anywhere anytime soon. I’m yours for as long as you want me.”

Gretchen's heart beat frantically against her chest. She could feel the love she had for him swelling inside her. “Go help our friend,” she told him.

Colson smiled. He kissed the top of her head before putting her down. He walked over to the railing. Colson looked back at Gretchen and said, “I love you; I’ll be back soon,” and hopped over the railing heading toward the ground. He landed on his feet with ease and took off running.

Gretchen rushed over, pulled Vita away from the railing, and took her back inside. “Vita, it’s going to be okay.”

Vita shook her head. “I don’t think it will be.”