After a while, Jen finally began to calm down – that or she was just out of tears. He pulled back so he could look at her face. Jen was not allowing herself to think of what she had learned in her dream. She was burying it deep beneath a lie.

“Baby, did you have a nightmare? Are you okay?” he asked her gently as he wiped the tears away.

Jen nodded. “It was a nightmare. I..I was just dreaming about the worst outcome possible for all of this. I’m worried about Jacque and how we haven’t heard from them, I’m worried about Sally and Costin, and I’m worried about Sorin and Elle. I guess everything caught up with me and it’s just a lot, ya know?” She couldn’t believe the ease with which she told him the lie, but she knew that in that moment she would not be able to handle the his disgust if she told him the truth.

“I’m okay now.” She tried to pull away from him but he wouldn’t relent.

“Jennifer, you were shaking and crying. At one point you said, 'he’ll never forgive me'. Who were you talking about? Who won’t forgive you?”

Jen closed her eyes, pulling her mind back from his, and felt his breath hitch at the pain of it.

“Why?” he growled.

“I just need a minute, Dec. Please let me collect myself. It was a very realistic dream.” She shifted against him. “Let me go wash my face and then I'll show you what I dreamed, okay?” She tried to keep her voice gentle.

He nodded and let her pull away from him and stand. She walked to the bathroom and shut the door behind her, then she turned on the sink and locked the door. Pushing reality to the back of her mind, she thought up some of the fears she had regarding the coming days. She thought about the plan that Mona had set in motion, about the possible outcome for her pack, for their future. She splashed water on her face and pulled herself together.

Jen didn’t know who she could talk to about this. She was so ashamed that her child would pay the price for her selfishness. How do you tell your mate, your best friends, your pack something so horrific?  No, she had no idea what she was going to do; she had no idea how she would survive this. She did know that she would do anything it took to save the life of their child. Whatever it took to see what she imagined as the amber eyes and dark, thick locks on their daughter's face, she would do.

Once she'd completely pulled herself together, she opened the bathroom door to find Decebel on the phone. Her stomach dropped when she saw the look on his face. She walked over to his side and sat down and waited.

When he finally ended the call he looked at her. He brushed some wisps of hair from her face and let out a long breath.

“Fane is missing,” he said roughly.

Jen inhaled sharply. “Jacque?” she asked.

“Unconscious. She was lured into a pond with magic. Fane went inafter her and never resurfaced. Jacque came back up right after Fane was taken under.”

“He isn’t dead if Jacque is still alive,” she said. Though, even knowing it, she still wasn’t confident in the truth of her words.

“That is correct,” Decebel agreed.

“What is Vasile going to do?”

“Right now they are waiting for Jacque to wake up. They need to see if she can contact Fane through the bond. We are going to begin heading their direction in the morning.”

Jen nodded. “Good, I want to be with Jacque and I know Sally will also once she finds out. Should we go tell them?”

“No, let’s let them have their one night.”

Jen agreed with that as well, and couldn’t help the heavy weight in her stomach at knowing her nights with Decebel were numbered. She unconsciously rubbed her stomach.

“Is your stomach upset?” Decebel asked her.

She jerked her hand back with a small gasp. “Oh, um, maybe a little.”

“Lie back and rest, baby. It’s a few hours 'til we have to leave.”

Jen did as she was told and closed her eyes. Her heart was breaking. She didn’t know how long she could keep this from him. She was more afraid of telling Decebel her fate than of any evil she had faced or would ever face. The thought of seeing the love for her fade and turn to hate was more than she could bear. She fell into a fitful sleep and even when Decebel’s strong arms came around her, peace still eluded her grasp.

~

Mona looked into her scrying bowl and smiled as she watched the wolf prince howl in agony. That was too easy, she thought. Now all she needed was to get the other males out of the picture, and based on how Fane reacted to his mate being in danger it wouldn’t be too difficult.

There was one day left until she met with the warlock King. One day left until she rained down her wrath on a world unworthy of her. She had been surprised at how well Lilly had been taking everything. She expected the human to freak out and go into hysterics, but she had totally kept her cool.

She might actually make a pretty good witch, she thought. And then with a rueful smile, said out loud, “Nah.”

Mona cackled a laugh into the empty room.

~

Lilly awoke to a gentle knocking on the door of the room she had slept in. She sat up and wiped the sleep from her eyes.

“Come in,” she said in a clear voice.

The door opened and Cypher stood there, towering in the entrance.

“How did you sleep?” he asked in his deep voice.

“Not too bad, considering I’ve been kidnapped by a crazy witch, am being held by a handsome, albeit somewhat scary, warlock King and I don’t have a clue how my daughter is. So, all in all, I slept decent.”