Amanda brushed her fingers along the books as she passed them individually. She could feel the connection of each one pulse against her fingers as she touched them. Amanda's eyes glowed with excitement. Her ancestral grimoires. They all called out to her, wanting to be opened and read—so much untapped power waiting to be used.
She continued touching each spine until she found a black book wrapped around gold trim. Amanda stopped and looked at the curious book before pulling it away from the others. A sad whine was heard around the room.
Amanda walked over to the desk in the room and placed the book in front of her before sitting down. She turned the hardcover over and looked at the front. There was no title, only letters, maybe initials. It was raw power whispering to her, pleading to open it. The book wanted to share its power and knowledge with her; all she had to do was open it. She t

Vita’s eyes flash opened as she sucked in a breath, and her hand went to her throat.
Deak crouched before her as he watched her try to calm down. “Vita, what happened?” he asked softly.
It took Vita a minute to answer as she tried to gather her thoughts on what happened. “I was in your house and standing in front of a door to which I assumed was the library. My hand was on the handle, ready to open the door, and then I was spun around, and something had me by the throat and told me I wasn’t supposed to be there,” she told them.
Deak let out a growl and stood up. He pulled out his phone and clicked on the app to check the security cameras around the house; he was rarely home and didn’t want squatters trying to invade his space. 
Zachary walked up behind him to watch the footage. “Wait, go back a little. I think I saw something.” 
Deak rewound the footage by a few second and rewatched the 

Deak pushed with force against the swinging door forcing it to smack against the building as he stormed out of the small voodoo shop. It was the fourth one they had gone into trying to get guidance to get rid of this curse from him. Thoughts of chewing his wrist off entered his mind, but his wolf pushed them away. Malakai was just as anxious as he was to be rid of the curse as he was. Deak twitched his head as twisted thoughts entered his mind of the freedom he would have if he just rejected his mate. Deak snarled at the thought and stormed down the street.
"Deak!" Vita called out.
A part of Deak wanted to stop and wait for her, but he needed some distance, at least for a minute. The voices started to dissipate the farther he was from Vita. He was angry with himself. He was weak, allowing the votes to get the best of him and putting a wedge between him and his mate. His Vita. The woman he was crazy about, with or without the bond. There was a connection to her he couldn't explain. He refused to allow the voices to win. Ultimately, he knew they would find a way through this without hurting her. He would do anything as long as he didn't hurt her. That was his biggest fear.
Deak came to a stop once the voices were gone, and he was able to catch his breath.
Vita walked up and stopped right behind him. She started to extend her hand to touch him but stopped halfway through and lowered her hand. "It's starting to get worse, isn't it?" she asked him.
Deak closed his eyes when he heard the pain in Vita's voice when she asked that question.
"It's fine. I can handle it. I won't let this curse destroy us," he told her.
Vita knew Deak loved her; he had repeatedly proven his love for her. Vita didn't have doubts about their love. She was worried about what this curse was doing to his mental state.
"Let's go back to the hotel and regroup. It's been a challenging day, and we need to rethink things," Vita suggested.
Deak didn't like hearing the tone in Vita's voice; it didn't sound like her usual self. He turned around to look at his beautiful mate. "Ok, please… don't give up on me?" he asked her as he brushed the back of his hand against her cheek.
Vita's eyes burned with tears as she looked up at Deak with her eyebrows furrowed. "I'm not giving up on you. I love you, Deak. I'm just concerned about what this curse is doing to you mentally and physically. I can't stand to see you hurting because of me." she admitted.
Deak smirked at his little mate.
He picked Vita up in his arms. "It seems that we both have similar concerns for each other."
Vita tried to pull away from Deak. She was hurting him every time he touched her. She didn't want that. "Deak, put me down. The curse causes you pain when you touch me."
"It would hurt me even worse not to feel the touch of my mate," Deak confessed to her.
The tingles rushed through Vita; she leaned forward and pressed her lips against Deak's. Deak was more than willing to reciprocate with just as much heat and passion. Vita pulled back as she tried to catch her breath and felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket. Vita pulled out her phone and looked at the message. Her brows furrowed; she looked at Deak and said, "We need to get back to the hotel right now."
***
There was a knock on Madeline's hotel door as she slowly walked across the room to answer it.
Madeline's eyes widened when she saw the person standing on the other side. "Felicia."
"May I come in?" Felicia asked as she looked down the halls to ensure no one was there.
Madeline stepped back and allowed her once friend into the room. "What are you doing here?" she asked after closing the door.
"There are a few reasons that I have come here to talk with you. But we have to be careful. They have ears anywhere and everywhere." Felicia said as she searched the room, ensuring the space was safe. Once she felt the room was good, she turned to her old friend and hugged her. "It's been a long time. It's so good to see you."
Madeline was caught off guard by her friend's kindness. Felicia wasn't one to show affection for others.
Felicia pulled back and grabbed Madeline's hands. "There has been talk among the witches about a couple going around and asking questions about a mate curse." 
Madeline seemed confused at first about who she was talking about, and then realization hit her when Vita and Deak walked through the adjoining door from Zachary and Ruby's room.
Deak let out a growl when he sensed the unknown wolf standing next to Madeline.
"Stop, she's an old friend. It would seem you two have some explaining to do," Madeline demanded.
Felicia held up her hand. "They are not the only reason I'm here. I'm worried about what you told the council about the return of Merga. When she was in reign, she terrorized many of the factions; my pack was one of them," Felicia confessed. "The council won't step in to help until it's too late."
"What should we do?" Madeline asked.
"You need to figure out what the omens are. Without them, we can't do anything," Felicia explained.
A loud crack of thunder boomed through the sky and rumbled for several minutes.
Felicia looked at Madeline with confusion etched upon her face. 
"What's wrong? It's thunder."
"We don't get thunder here in Silver City," Felicia told them as she walked over to the window to look at the city.
***
The thunder shook the ground where Gretchen and Colson sat.
"Maybe we should get inside," Gretchen suggested.
Colson shrugged. "A little rain never hurt anyone." He leaned back in to capture Gretchen's lips with his own. Colson quickly pulled back when he felt something burn him.
"What the heck?" he called out as he looked down at his arm.
Another drop came down and hit Gretchen. "Ouch!" she yelped when it touched her skin. "I don't think that's water," she said as she got up from the bench. "We need to find shelter, quick."
"Why, what is it?"
"Not sure exactly, but I also don't want to hang around to find out. Come on, let's go," Gretchen pleaded.
Colson got up, scooped Gretchen into his arms, and ran across the park back to the hotel as quickly as possible. Once under the awning, he put her down and turned around to look outside.
People were starting to scream in pain from the water that was hitting them.
"Acid rain can't burn the skin," Colson said.
Gretchen crossed her arms over her chest as she watched the ground sizzle from the drops hitting it. "I guess this one can."

Amanda brushed her fingers along the books as she passed them individually. She could feel the connection of each one pulse against her fingers as she touched them. Amanda's eyes glowed with excitement. Her ancestral grimoires. They all called out to her, wanting to be opened and read—so much untapped power waiting to be used.
She continued touching each spine until she found a black book wrapped around gold trim. Amanda stopped and looked at the curious book before pulling it away from the others. A sad whine was heard around the room.
Amanda walked over to the desk in the room and placed the book in front of her before sitting down. She turned the hardcover over and looked at the front. There was no title, only letters, maybe initials. It was raw power whispering to her, pleading to open it. The book wanted to share its power and knowledge with her; all she had to do was open it. She took a deep breath as her fingers touched the edge; it whispered to her, "I have the answers you se

Chapter 19