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"Pa!" I screamed so loud the back of my throat strained. Tears clouded my vision, covering my eyes with a foggy haze. My teeth instantly chartered, my blood running cold. I knew Pa was here, so why wouldn't he answer me?

Where was Pa?

"Pa!" I screamed again, but my voice was choked up with tears. My knees buckled beneath me as I struggled to stumble forward. Soon, my feet gave out before me, and I fell to the ground beneath, knocking into a plush object.

Startled, I tried to wipe the tears away, a whimper escaping my lips. As my vision started to clear, I once again found myself screaming, recoiling back.

"Pa!" I broke down as his mangled body lay before me, my breaths becoming rapid.

I hoisted myself back to my feet and tried to run, but no matter what direction I ran in, I could not escape Pa's dead, decaying body. Pa was wearing his work clothes, clad in sturdy chainmail. His stomach was slit open, his organs spewed out as animals came over to poke and pry at his lifeless body.

Pa was dead.

"Pa," I cried out feebly. However, this time I was met with laughter.

Goosebumps blanketed my body, as I slowly turned around to find out where the laughter was coming from. In the distance, I could see a hazy figure walking toward me.

"Help!" I hollered to the figure, motioning for them to hurry. "My Pa, he - he - he needs help. Please."

The figure closed in, their steps long but calculating. When the person was a few feet away, they laughed maniacally. "Sage, the death of your Pa is on your hands. You couldn't save the Borderlands, and your Pa had to pay the price."

And then I broke down as laughter surrounded me.

"Sage." I was being shaken with great force, my eyes bursting open. My body was quivering, covered in a thin layer of sweat as I broke into a sob. While my body was sweating, I felt so cold inside, like the life had been zapped out of me.

My eyes shut as I was pulled into a warm embrace, a comforting, "shhh" was whispered in my ear.

"I've got you," Theo murmured into my hair while he was still holding me close to his chest.

Theo's presence helped calm my body down, as I was slowly unwinding from my terrifying dream. His voice was so calm yet stern at the same time — it was hard not to grasp onto each word he said. Soon, my body stopped shaking, and I was able to wipe the tears out from blocking my field of vision.

Theo tucked an untidy piece of hair behind my ear, "do you want to talk about it?"

"It was Pa," I got out before I had to stop mid-sentence to cover my mouth with my hand. I couldn't bear to say what happened in my nightmare for fear it may come to fruition, so I merely whispered again. "It was Pa."

Theo nodded his head, his eyes lined with dark circles. He didn't push me to elaborate more, so, instead, we laid down together, comforted by one another. We stayed like that for a while, bodies intertwined, only a thin blanket keeping our skin from touching.

Slowly, Theo went to wipe away my last stray tear with his calloused thumb, and our heads turned towards one another. As he wiped the tear away, a primal instinct overtook me, and I gently cupped the side of his face and pulled him into a warm kiss.

I do not know what had overtaken me — I had never been the one to kiss anyone before. I was always the one being kissed — all of two times, mind you — but I couldn't have stopped my fingers from pulling his lips towards mine if my life depended on it.

The kiss started out slow, almost hesitant as if I would break from too much pressure, but I picked up the intensity. As our kiss deepened, our mouths moved in perfect unison. Theo nibbled playfully at my lip, our tongues swaying in motion together.

My body temperature rose, and I felt like I was on fire. My body melted into Theo's touch as he gently guided my body to rest flat on the surface below while he hovered over me, our lips still connecting.

Begrudgingly, Theo slowly pulled away, his lips lingering on my neck. He left a little trail of kisses on my neck, his fingers running over my soft skin. We were both panting, the sound of our breaths filling the room. A faint smile was drawn on Theo's lips.

"One day," Theo's fingertips hovered over my neck lightly, "one day everyone will know you are mine."

I inhaled sharply, not saying anything as my mind started to clear from the trance I had been in.

In my fogged state, I had not noticed I was no longer asleep on the couch. Of course, Theo was adamant I should take his bed for the night. However, I insisted I would sleep on the couch; it didn't feel right to have him sleep on the couch in his own home. We went back and forth for at least an hour before Theo gave in. I should have known he would be up to something.

While it was sweet Theo was so hellbent on protecting me, I felt bad he had been the one to sleep on the couch and then get his sleep interrupted by my screams.

After our unsuccessful search yesterday, Theo came to pick me up. He – likewise – did not fare any better in his search for who left the doll under my pillow. He was able to locate Memphis, but that only led to a dead end. Memphis proved to be clueless; at the very least, I was happy to know Theo no longer had his sight set on investigating Memphis any further.

Guilt started to collect in the pit of my stomach. Theo's dark bags and five o'clock shadow signaled he wasn't getting enough sleep; he was not sleeping well because he worried about me. But, I could not possibly tell him I, almost without a doubt, knew who left the doll. The Council.

I could not tell Theo about the Council when Pa's life was on the line. In the back of my mind, I did wonder if Theo would be able to help. But, in the time I knew Theo, he liked to conduct business his own way. It was a task and a half to get Theo to open his mind to other routes. If I told Theo the truth, I knew the fate of Pa and the Borderlands would rest in his hands, solely.

Not only was the doll situation wearing on Theo, but he also seemed bogged down by the dead-end Levi and I reached yesterday. The possible different avenues we could take to find Ma were becoming non-existent. At this point, I was intent on bringing a witch into the equation. There were no other options.

Once we settled down, I sighed, opened my mouth then sighed again. I repeated this process, clasping my hands together, knowing the fate of Pa would be determined in the upcoming weeks. I had to try to convince Theo to allow us to use the aid of a witch.

"Theo," I spoke, breaking the silence that elapsed over us.

"Hmm," Theo's voice was groggy like he had dozed off and was just coming back. "Yes?"

Clearing my throat, I pulled myself up and leaned against the headboard. Shifting my weight around, I got as comfortable as I could. "I think we should bring in a witch."

Theo paused, his head whipping in my direction as he too propped his upper body against the headboard.

Theo did not hesitate to respond with, "no."

Slumping my shoulders, I asked, "why not? And, please, don't say you don't think things have become drastic yet, because they have Theo."

Theo exhaled, rubbing his hands over his face, scratching at the growing stubble on his chin. "No."

Wanting to scream, I instead tried my best to plaster a smile on my face. "Theo."

He perked his eyebrows up, waiting for me to continue.

"You can't just make these unilateral decisions and expect me to follow along," I huffed, the smile wiped off my face. "I mean, what is our game plan now? We've run out of options."

"We could leverage TV reports to have the whole country out looking for your mom," he wagered. This option was more of an offhand idea than a solid plan to find Ma.

"There's no guarantee that would work," I countered. "Nothing has worked so far."

"There's no guarantee a witch would be the solution either," he said, his eyes watching over me.

"It's worth a try," my voice became more desperate. Scouting closer to Theo, I reasoned, "what if my Ma can't be found because something – like a spell – is blocking us from finding her?"

"How would she have been able to do that?" Theo asked, amused.

"I don't know!" I threw up my hands. "But we'll never know unless we try to find out."

Theo sighed deeply, "it would be dangerous."

"What?"

I recoiled slightly. Theo's tone made me believe he was cautious, almost on edge about finding a witch. I knew witches were hard to come by – many people had told me this – but I did not think it would be cause for danger.

"Finding a witch," he said. "Witches are few and far between. Humans and supernaturals alike like to take advantage of a witch's power. Because of this, any witch worth their weight has made it almost impossible to find their location. It's too dangerous – too dangerous for a human."

I reached out to Theo, taking his hand in mine. "I've been told you're one of the most affluent Alphas in the world. I trust you could protect me."

Theo's head tilted, and his emerald eyes looked into mine. His eyes looked sad, a twinge of pain shining through. "I do know of a witch."

"You do?"

"I don't know her exact whereabouts, but I know what general location she's in," he bobbed his head with each word. "No one has ever been able to successfully get to her, though."

"We could be the first," my heart sped up as Theo's reluctance was slowly fading away.

Theo was silent as he thought; his face scrunched up, and I knew he was deep in thought. "Under two conditions."

I bit my lip, taking a deep breath in. I readied myself for Theo to propose ridiculous conditions I would not be able to abide by, so I skeptically asked, "what conditions?"

Without missing a beat, Theo's response was, "one: if at any point, it gets to be too much in any way, we give up the search. Two: you have to train before we go."

"Train?"

"With Heath. I cannot leave the pack with an Alpha or Beta, so we cannot leave until Flynn returns. That should give you a couple days to prepare your body for our upcoming journey. Take it or leave it," Theo was solemn as he waited for my response.

"Okay, we've got a deal," I smiled, proud of myself. "We're going to find a witch."