“So let me get this straight,” Chloe said, “the demon that was after me, Karr, is dead. Though Telal doesn’t look as though he believes that. Before he died, he made a pact with another dead demon named Dura. What a stupid name that is—

“Chloe,” Tyrian interrupted.

She looked at him. “What? It is. Anyways, so now in order to fulfill her end of the bargain for getting resurrected herself she must kill Willow. Then...Karr will somehow come to life again?” she said unsure. She looked at Telal to fill in the gaps.

He only shrugged. “I have no idea. These are all guesses based off rumors of rumors I’ve heard.”

Lyonis’ harsh voice interrupted him. “That’s not good enough.”

“It will have to be,” Telal said.

“Well I was able to kill Karr with that blade and spell. We’ll do the same and give the stuff to Willow. Whenever the time comes, she’ll be prepared,” Chloe said.

Telal sneered at her. “You think it will be that simple? Already the demon has infiltrated the pack and the girl and boy are merely the only two you know about. It could be controlling dozens and you’d be none the wiser. It’ll watch, plan, then kill her and resurrect Karr again, completing its part of the pact.”

“It does not control my pack,” Lyonis growled.

“That you know of,” Telal said.

Lyonis stood with a roar and launched himself at the demon. Right before he was about to tackle him, Lily stepped between them. The demon was quick though and grabbed her by the waist. Together they disappeared and reappeared in the corner of the room. Telal shoved her behind him and took a hard step forward.

“Your fight isn’t with me, Alpha. But if you wish for a brawl I’ll gladly accept.” His words were as cold and hard as his eyes. The gold of his skin seemed dimmer than it had been a minute ago as if his dark emotions swam through it.

Lyonis collapsed into the chair, the air whooshing out from him on a defeated sigh. He’d almost hit a woman. Shaking his head slowly he said, “I’m sorry. I respect all of your help. Lily, forgive me?”

She peeked around Telal’s body and winked at him. “No biggie.”

Telal’s eye twitched. “I’ve had enough of this.” He disappeared with a quick dissolve.

“Isn’t he dreamy?” Lily sighed wistfully.

Chloe snorted. “If you say so.”

As conversations picked up and plans were made Lyonis sat back in his seat in contemplation. His mate and child were in danger. The Atal Warriors were coming into his pack and he honestly had no idea if he could protect her.

He flinched as he thought about it. Bitterness engulfed him. He’d die before he’d let her go. Lyonis wrapped up the meeting and knew. He had to kill his demon.

At the sight of her sisters, Willow almost dissolved into another babbling mess of tears. Somehow she managed to force a smile though as she hugged them and led them into the living room. Her sisters refused to sit though, too engulfed in rubbing her belly and gushing.

“A baby, God I can hardly believe it,” Chloe said.

“I know! We’re gonna be Aunts!” Lily squealed.

Willow tried her best to appear excited, happy. It was hard though with the black cloud hanging over her. Lyonis hadn’t returned. She had no idea where he was or what he did but his actions spoke volumes. Finally at about nine o’clock her curiosity got the best of her and she went out front to ask the guard where he was. He’d merely shrugged and said he didn’t know. Great.

When her sister’s finally calmed down they spotted her dark look and frowned.

“What’s wrong?” Chloe said.

They sat on the sofa together and Willow spilled the beans on everything. The pregnancy, the mating, the fight yesterday morning. A part of her yearned to tell her sisters about David so they could truly see why the fight was such a big deal to her, but she couldn’t do it. Her ego refused to suffer the blow of them knowing.

“Oh honey, he’ll come around. He’s just worried about you,” Chloe said.

Willow scoffed then laughed bitterly. “So he forces me to stay in this house? I tried to leave and the guards actually blocked me off, said they had the right to use force to keep me in here if necessary. What kind of relationship is that?”

“You love him,” Lily stated.

Willow felt her cheeks flush and tried her best to force it away. “Maybe,” she grumbled.

“He loves you too. I’m sure he’ll come around,” Chloe said confidently.

“You don’t know that.”

Both of her sisters turned to give her a hard stare.

“That man is so toe up for you he was about to start a fight with Telal, Willow. He loves you,” Lily said.

“Telal? When did he see Telal? I thought you guys just came to see me.”

Chloe shook her head. “Lyonis called us in. Tyrian and the whole gang including Telal came to discuss the demon.”

“And I wasn’t invited,” Willow said coldly.

The sister’s grimaced. “We believe that the demon after you is trying to kill you in order to satisfy her end of the demonic pact she made with Karr.”

“Tell me something I don’t know.”

The sisters shared a glance. Chloe said, “Telal believes that if he does succeed in killing you, which he won’t, then Karr will be resurrected.”

“And if he doesn’t kill me?”

“Then its end of the bargain will be unfulfilled and it will go back from where it came,” Lily said.

“How do you know that?” said Willow.

“Because I did my research. When a revargen isn’t kept then things resort back to where they were. Dura the demon will go back to its magical shell.”

“Have you had any dreams about this,” Willow asked, unable to mask the hope in her voice. Her sister shook her head grimly.

“But I did have a dream about you and that girl in the bathroom. The demon spoke to you didn’t it?”

Willow nodded as she remembered that moment; it sent cold chills down her body. “She said that I’ll die next and the baby will become a demon.”

“Have you told Lyonis?” Chloe said. She ran an agitated hand through her hair that only made the thick mass knotted.

“How could I? I didn’t know if he’d think I was nuts. I don’t want Stephanie to get into any trouble. I didn’t know what to do.” Admitting she didn’t know was as painful as having her teeth pulled, one by one.

Lily wrapped a comforting arm around Willow’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, sis. I have a spell made up for you and a weapon. I enspelled it with magic. We’ll take care of that pesky demon.” She talked about it as if it were a little cockroach.

“Did that work for you, Chloe?”

Her sister hesitated. “Well...kind of.”

Willow’s stomach churned with unease. “Tell me.” She was beginning to sound like Lyonis giving out orders.

“When I was attacked at the castle, I didn’t have time to grab the spell. I had it memorized though and when I finally thawed out from fear I started chanting it.”

“And what did the demon do?”

“Laughed.” Chloe saw her sister’s crestfallen face and quickly added, “But not at first. It stumbled away.” She frowned, her eyes getting a faraway look to them. “It seemed like it was weakening it or hurting it in some way. When I finally axed its head off, I was still saying it.”

Gaping, Willow stared at her sister.

“What?” she said defensively.

“You axed the demon’s head off?”

Her sister grinned, her chin coming up. “Sure did.”

Willow couldn’t help it—she laughed. She’d never been more proud of her sister than she was in that moment.

“God I wish I could have seen that.”

Lily sighed. “If only we’d gotten it on tape. She’d be a YouTube sensation. Viral I tell ya.”

They all howled with laughter. When the chuckles finally stopped, Willow felt better than she had all day.

They spent the rest of the night until the early hours of the morning talking and laughing. Lily gave her the same enchanted spell she’d given Chloe. Go back whence you came, I unsummon thee demon! Apparently she’d had the same response Chloe’d had when she first heard it—it was the stupidest spell she’d ever heard.