As promised, Remi felt better by the next morning. Well, her headache was gone, at least. All through the night, Gideon woke her every four hours - exactly - to feed her more pills. By nine pm, her headache subsided, yet the werewolf insisted she take the medication as prescribed on the bottle.

It was understandable that Gideon felt guilty for causing Remi so much pain, but at five am, she finally snapped. There was no longer a need for him to interrupt her sleep. And that's what she needed because after the headache, overpowering fatigue set in, making her too tired to even lift her eyelids.

Remi was currently in the shower, not having been able to sleep for as long as she wanted. It was just past seven in the morning. Although she was expecting the witcher to join her in the shower, he never did. Likely, she thought as she shut off the water, Gideon was still pouting. But if he couldn't understand her position a couple of hours earlier, that was on him, not her.

Ayida-Weddo's advice floated up through Remi's anger. She pushed it away, not wanting to examine her feelings. They'd tell her she should feel guilty for snapping and apologize. Due to lack of sleep, she wasn't in the mood to listen.

By the time Remi came out of the bathroom, Gideon was gone. They hadn't slept apart since her first night in Vârcolac Turn. She'd mostly moved into his bedroom. When Aeddon arrived with her things, they were delivered to the rougarou's larger suite.

After dressing in warm winter clothes, Remi went downstairs in search of the witcher. Instead, she found an empty dining room. Spirits plummeting further, she filled her plate and took it up to her old room.

Once she finished eating, Remi fired up her laptop and went to work on the song she'd been fiddling with since coming to the fortress. Hours passed before she noted the time. Lunch had come and gone, yet she still made her way downstairs. The only one left in the dining room was Keilynn.

The redhaired witch greeted Remi with a smile. "Gideon took Laris and the others to check the walls," she was informed as she sat at the table with her plate of food. It would've been nice to hear it from the werewolf, but yeah. The at least three-hundred-year-old man was still acting like a stubborn, put-out toddler.

As they ate, Keys droned on about her findings on Stilla. Remi tuned her out until she said, "I need to look at this gateway. But Gideon won't take me to see it."

Perking up, Remi told Keilynn, "I know where it is." Sneaking out and going there would be better than waiting for Gideon to get over his hurt feelers and grace her with his presence.

"Really? You'll show me?" One thing Remi liked about Keys was that she was decisive. There was no, "Oh, but we shouldn't," or "We should wait for the menfolk," nonsense.

"Yes, I'll take you there. Punct needs exercising anyway."

After putting on their winter gear, the two women met in the front hall. "Ready?" Keys asked as she tied a long, dark green scarf around her neck.

"When you are," Remi replied as she pushed between the fingers of her gloves to fit them more snuggly. Not since she was a teen, sneaking out of Memaw's house to go to a kegger, had she been this excited. Her heart raced, and her stomach leaped up to join it as they opened the front door. The possibility of being caught stalked them with each step they took toward the stables.

A wide grin split Keilynn's face on their journey. But her excitement stemmed from another source. Remi couldn't imagine any man telling the little redhead where she could go and with whom. Not if he didn't want to end up maimed, anyway.

"Does Gideon know you're heading out?" The head groom, Jason, was leaning against a stall, arms crossed over his chest. Since she'd first met him, he'd reminded Remi of Clark Kent.

Glancing over her saddle, Remi gave Keys a, "You better not blow this," look before she answered. She needed to be creative since werewolves could smell lies. "I wanted to surprise him." And boy would the witcher be when he found out she'd gone outside the walls without him!

Jason's eyes flicked to Keilynn. The witch's chin lowered, and she gave him "resting bitch face." Wisely deciding not to pursue the topic, the non-bespectacled Superman look-alike broke eye contact and straightened.

"He's on the north side." With that, Jason left to oversee the cleaning out of a stable further down.

Keys shot Remi a, "Holy shit! I thought we were busted," look. Remi replied with a, "Me too!" one.

Silently, the petite female duo led their horses from the stables. When they reached the south gate, the guard there tried to stop them. Keys repeated her look, and he decided he didn't want to engage his queen's sister. Minutes later, they were on their way to Lake Bolboci and the gateway hidden on its banks.

Once they came off the hidden, snow-covered path and neared the lake, Remi directed Keilynn to turn left. Towering pine trees gave way to rocky shore as they made their way south. The sun shone above, and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky. The temperature was freezing. With every exhale of the horses, a puff of smoke drifted upward, dissipating before it reached their riders.

"It should be somewhere around here," Remi announced. They slowed to a stop and dismounted. When she spotted the stone that led to Stilla, she pointed it out to the witch. Keys ventured closer, and Remi gathered both horses' reins.

The forest green knit hat in front of Remi tilted to one side. "How in the world did you see the ouroboros? This is so weathered; it almost looks like a natural imperfection."

Lifting her shoulders in a shrug Keys couldn't see, Remi told her, "It was enhanced by a vision, I guess? Maybe Ayida-Weddo helped? I don't know. The image just glowed."

A, "Huh," was huffed out with a trail of vapor trailing from the utterance. Then, Keilynn bent, so she was within a couple of inches of the ouroboros. Silence stretched.

"Damnit," the redhaired witch suddenly cursed, startling Remi. "My magic isn't working. I can't see it as well as you."

After a few more minutes, each spattered with creative curses, Keys threw up her hands in defeat. "Since my magic won't cooperate – damn the block on it to Hell and back – I wonder if I can still open it with my blood?"

"If you do open it, you're on your own," Remi warned. "I'm never stepping foot in there again."

"I might just poke my head inside."

"Just remember, it closes quickly."

Keys did a backhanded wave, but otherwise, there was no response to Remi's reminder. The little witch pricked her finger and touched it to the faded carving. The rockface before them dissipated into what looked like water. "Oh, this is so cool!" Keys exclaimed. She removed her finger and timed how long it took for the water-like air to turn back into an opaque solid.

As Keilynn continued her experiments, Remi looked away. The witch was testing whether more blood would cause the gateway to stay open longer. It was becoming a cringe-worthy, gory sight.

Resting the back of her head against Punct's shoulder, Remi gazed across the lake's calm surface. Its northern end was narrow, thinning even more into the Lalomiţa River that fed the lake's waters. They were on the eastern bank, not far from the narrowing.

The observations Keys made with each test faded as Remi thought on the current state of her and Gideon's relationship. Their bubble of bliss had been far too short. Maybe with Aeddon gone, they could find it once more - after she apologized, of course.

Blowing out a breath, Remi watched as it dissipated in the air in front of her. Who was she kidding? She knew good and well what Gideon needed. Ayida-Weddo's advice rose in her mind for the second time that morning. It felt right to be with him, no matter how long they might have together. The aging thing, well, she'd be a cougar in appearance only. If the witch bond didn't take, that was.

As resolve settled in her mind, Remi became eager to return to Vârcolac Turn. Once there, she'd hunt down Gideon and let him know what she'd decided. Her thoughts then turned to what it'd be like to be "mated." She'd read the fiction, seen the movies - anticipation built within her.

Remi was about to let Keys know it was past time to leave when a now-familiar, slight headache formed. Then, her vision blurred for a moment. When it cleared, she was on the opposite shore. Before her, coming from the south, a group of men galloped on horseback. At their lead was Trystan.

Snapping back to herself, Remi turned to inform Keys of the vision. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted something on the distant shore. It appeared as if smoke were not only rising from but traveling along the shoreline. The delayed sound of horses' hooves striking rocky shore traveled across the lake's waters and reached her.

"Dammit," Keys swore. "I seem to have overloaded the gateway."

"Never mind that," Remi interjected through a throat that felt tight. "We need to leave." She scrambled onto Punct's back. "Now," she urged as Keilynn remained fixated on the gateway.

Something in Remi's voice must've clued the witch in on the imminent danger. She looked over her shoulder, gaze skidding past Remi and the horses. "Oh shit," Keys swore. "I don't think they're from Vârcolac Turn."

"They aren't." Remi tapped Punct's sides with her heels. "They're my ex and what's left of Gideon's mother's pack," she called over her shoulder.

The tree-lined shore, mixed with rocks, made a quick escape impossible. Added to that, Remi was an amateur horsewoman. The lessons with Gideon these past few days hadn't rectified that. By the time the women came to where the lake met the river, Trystan and his men had gained on them.

"Damn this block on my magic," the witch huffed out behind Remi. "If it weren't there, I'd be able to deal with these idiots."

Remi saved her breath. The hidden path had dangers that required her full attention. It was steep, narrow, and rough. Still, she urged Punct on to perilous speed.

Less than halfway up, just before a sharp bend in the road, Remi paid for her haste. Her mount stumbled on a large, rounded boulder. Before she knew it, Remi was flying over Punct's head. On the downward trajectory, she lost hold of the reins. The ground came up to meet her with unrelenting force.

For a few moments, Remi could do nothing but stare up at the treetops and blue sky beyond. Air wouldn't inflate her lungs, and she began to panic, which only made her struggle to breathe more difficult. Closing her eyes in a bid for calm, she tried again to fill them.

Suddenly, Remi was being lifted from the ground. Over the pounding in her ears, she hadn't heard the approach of others. Were they friend or foe? One thing Remi knew as her eyes popped open was that it wasn't Keys lifting her. The only thing she could see through the glare of the sun was dark hair and features. The black blobs in front of her eyes wouldn't allow her clear sight.

Lord, please don't let it be Trystan holding me, Remi prayed. Lack of oxygen made her light-headed. Even so, she struggled for freedom.

"Calm down," Gideon uttered gruffly. "It's me," he added unnecessarily.

As Remi was held tightly to Gideon's chest, air finally made its way into her lungs. That first breath was doubly sweet, for it was filled with his familiar sandalwood and musk scent. She sucked in more as he carried her to his mount, Gírin.

"Punct is uninjured," Laris informed them. Then, he gathered the gelding's reins and remounted his horse.

Remi spotted Keys a little further down the path. Her head was turned toward the way they'd fled. "We need to hurry. They're gaining on us."

"Who?" Gideon demanded.

"Trystan and Liam's former men," Remi explained, coughing on the last word.

"Cachu," Gideon swore in his native tongue. "The wards at Vârcolac Turn should stop them," he continued in English. As he thumped Gírin's sides with his heels, he shot Remi a look that clearly said, "Your defiance of my wishes has had grave consequences." She knew they'd be having a difficult discussion once things settled.

By the time they reached the outer walls of the fortress, Trystan and his men were nipping at their heels. Laris had called ahead, so the south gates were open. Their small party sailed through, and the entrance was sealed, nearly catching the last horse's tail.

Once they were inside the protected courtyard, Gideon took his foot out of the stirrup and dismounted. Remi, still in his arms, was set onto the paver-covered ground. The rougarou left her standing there and went into the gatehouse to view the cameras along the walls.

"The wards will hold whatever your ex is at bay," Keys assured Remi. The witch put an arm around her shoulders. "My father helped to strengthen them."

"I will never give you up, Remington Dixon!" Trystan's shout caused Remi to start. His next words made her stomach drop. "You are mine!"

A vicious, echoing snarl erupted from the gatehouse. Remi's eyes widened, and her breath caught at the animalistic sound. Keilynn's arm hugged her closer to the redhead's side.

Moments later, Gideon exited the structure. Taking the steps two at a time, he made his way toward Remi and Keys. "Let him waste his breath," he snapped, stopping in front of the women. The angry werewolf eyed their embrace from his towering height. "Come," he said after a few seconds. "The wards will keep your ex and Liam's pack out of Vârcolac Turn."

"They're now Trystan's pack," Remi corrected as she walked beside the towering mass of pissed-off werewolf. It was something she knew from her vision.

Gideon grunted and led the way into the fortress' main building. Keilynn briefly grasped Remi's hand and gave it a comforting squeeze before they entered the library. The cheery fire in the fireplace did little to warm the chill that'd settled into her bones since realizing Trystan had discovered her whereabouts.

Spinning about just before the bank of windows, Gideon pinned Remi with an accusatory stare. "How did he find you?" he asked, echoing her thoughts.

"You sound as if you think I invited him here," Remi spat.

"No one thinks that," Laris interjected, trying to play diplomat. He'd followed them into the library. The Viking shot Gideon a "Cool it, would you?" look.

"Could Liam's wolves have told him about Vârcolac Turn?" Keys asked, refocusing the discussion. Remi bit back the urge to correct the misconception that they were still the dead alpha's pack.

Gideon's dark brows dipped in the middle. The jealousy and rage that sprung to life within him upon hearing Trystan's shout had yet to leave. After the man's loud vow, his initial thought was that Remi had been in secret contact with her ex. No matter how Gideon tried to deny it, it wouldn't leave him. This caused him to lash out at his little mystic. Keilynn's question helped him to refocus and consider other possibilities.

"I don't know," Gideon answered honestly. Staring out one of the library's large windows, he gazed into the courtyard below. "They certainly know where it is. But did they also know I oversee it for the king? That this would be where we'd flee?" The Snowdonia pack had broken with all others long ago.

"You're right," Keilynn mused. "There must be an easier explanation. One that is a better fit."

The petite witch went to the chairs bracketing the fireplace. Gideon glanced over his shoulder and watched her sit in the wingback across from Remi. He knew, ever aware of his little mystic's movements when Remi had first settled into her current location.

The need to claim Remi rose within Gideon. Jaw stiffening, he tamped it down with brutal force. It was becoming increasingly difficult to curb the compulsion. Before long, he feared he'd snap and take the decision away from her.

Dropping his gaze to the rough-hewn dark hardwood floors, Gideon turned around. "Any ideas?" he asked, bringing up his hand and studying his thumbnail as if it held the answers he sought.

Silence fell, and minutes ticked by as they all wracked their brains. Then, Olofsson offered offhandedly, "Perhaps he put a tracking spell on one of you."

"He didn't cast one on me," Gideon said low. "Remi?" he asked louder, raising his gaze to spear her. She'd been alone with Trystan for a handful of minutes on the train. That was more than enough time to do all sorts of things without his knowledge.

Dropping his hand, Gideon closed it into a fist at his side. The urge to rid the world of Trystan and never think of the other man again nearly had him marching from the room and crossing the wards to confront him. It wouldn't be wise, but it'd be satisfying.

The woman who was keeping Gideon on the precipice of salvation or damnation met his gaze. Remi's light brown tinged with green eyes widened, and he consciously smoothed his features. She'd caught a glimpse of his inner torment. Perhaps now she'd finally put him out of his misery one way or another.

Breaking eye contact, Gideon turned back to the window. There was always a third option: do nothing. Remi could continue to string him along.

"I don't remember him – um – casting on me." Remi wisely didn't put a name to her ex. Gideon would've likely punched the window if she had. This need to claim her was turning him into a beast who only reacted, didn't think.

"He did touch me." Remi's voice was barely above a whisper as she admitted the contact. Gideon had seen the handholding himself. Before he could swallow it down, a low growl rumbled from his throat.

"Freaking unmated shifters in heat!" Keys exclaimed. "If you can't handle this discussion, Gideon, then I suggest you leave."

Taking a few deep breaths, the overly heated shifter tried to calm himself. "I'm good," Gideon eventually ground out between clenched teeth.

Laris decided he wanted to be elsewhere. "I think I'll see what our uninvited guests are up to." The giant Viking practically tip-toed out of the room. Ever-so-softly, he shut the door behind him.

"Back to the matter of how Trystan found us – did he speak words when he touched you?" Keilynn asked Remi. "Was there a powder or gel on his fingers?"

Twin, dark eyebrows pinched toward the bridge of Remi's nose. It was hard to concentrate on her memories and not the angry, towering man scowling out of the window. "Not that I remember," she admitted after a few heartbeats.

"Hmmm," Keys hummed. "Then, the likelihood of his tracking methods being magical are slim. That leaves non-magical means."

"Like?" Gideon barked at the window. Remi had seen the look of hunger on his face when he'd glanced at her. It was intense, nearly violent. Keilynn's exclamation clued Remi into its cause. Since she'd already decided to take Ayida-Weddo's advice and let the werewolf claim her as his mate, he needed to chill and show some patience.

Keys' black eyes narrowed at Gideon's tone. "Can I see your phone?" she asked Remi, gaze trained on the grumpy rougarou.

After unlocking her cell, Remi handed it to Keilynn. The witch switched her dark gaze to its screen. A few, long, silent seconds passed, then she announced, "Trystan put a tracker on your phone."

Remi's eyes widened as she remembered her ex asking for it on the train. She'd thought he wanted to check up on her conversations, read what she'd been saying about him. It never occurred to her that he'd used her phone to spy on her.

"Is that all that's on there?" Remi put a hand to her stomach. Had he been listening to her phone conversations, reading her texts?

Keilynn understood Remi's unvoiced worries. "I can't find anything else," the witch assured. Handing back the cell, she continued. "The safest thing would be to destroy this phone and buy a new one."

A grimace marred Remi's features. She didn't' have money for a new phone. Nor was she able to visit the nearest dealer. Not while her ex was camped outside, waiting to kidnap her at any rate. "I'll choose to believe he didn't put anything else on my phone for now," she reluctantly said.

Shooting Remi a sympathetic look, Keys rose from her chair. "I have to fill my sister and father in on what's happened. They may be able to help."

At the door, the red-haired witch turned back and faced the at-odds pair. "Whatever this is," she waved a finger between Remi and Gideon, "needs to be fixed." With a last, "I'll make sure you aren't disturbed," over her shoulder, she left.

After the door closed, Gideon faced Remi. "She's right," he said through a stiff jaw. "We need to talk."