“Katie? You okay back there?”

Katie looked away from the scenery and saw Wilder, Amelia’s personal guard, turned around in the front passenger seat.

“Yes, I’m okay,” Katie replied.

“Good, we won’t be too much longer,” Wilder said. “The Duca said we’ll stop in the village for a short while to pick up the keys to the cabins, and then we’ll get going.”

The Duca. Was she the same person as the one who helped save her and brought her tea each night until her parents arrived?

Katie had thought she was finally seeing beneath that protective wall Alexis kept around herself, but then she just disappeared. Maybe she had just felt sorry for her after the attack and come back to her senses. If that was the case, then the truth would sadden her. Maybe the connection Katie thought they finally had was all an illusion.

* * *

The village of Burley hadn’t changed much over the years, Alexis thought as she stood beside the Rolls-Royce. They had stopped in the centre of the village to pick up the keys to the cabins Byron had booked from the pub owner.

One thing that had changed in the small village was the embracing of all things witch and paranormal. From what she could see, there were two witchcraft shops that appeared to be popular with the tourists coming and going. Nowadays the paranormal was vaunted by humans—they were desperate to know the truth of this world, but if they did, it would keep them up at night.

Alexis looked to the SUV parked behind them and had to fight the urge to go check on Katie, but she couldn’t. She knew that Katie would most probably be angry at her lack of visits over the last week.

The truth was that she couldn’t face Katie’s parents, knowing that she nearly forcibly turned their daughter. It was unforgivable, and Alexis almost wished the Principessa or someone would tell Katie what happened. Then she’d only have to avoid her, not face her.

As it was, everyone was leaving it to her, but she didn’t have the courage.

Byron emerged from the pub carrying keys.

“Any problems?”

“None,” Byron said.

She passed a set of keys to Alexis. “These are yours.”

Alexis took them and nodded.

When Byron had told her the plan to only take Amelia, Katie, and herself into the forest and leave the guards at the coaching inn and hotel in the village, she had been dead against it for security reasons, but the more she thought about it, the more she realized that it would give her the chance to look after Katie and try to make up for her mistakes.

“Thanks, I’ll take good care of her.”

Byron smiled and slapped her on the shoulder. “I know that. Let’s get going.”

Behind Byron she saw a middle-aged woman standing outside the witch and witchcraft shop.

“We have company,” Alexis said.

Byron turned to look. “So we do.”