Five minutes had casually ticked on by and still Jeffery hasn't uttered a single word to her.
Danielle intentionally glanced at her watch and when she wasn't checking the time, she was looking at every corner and nook of the tent except directly at him.

'You won't even look at me?' Jeffery's hurt voice didn't bother her in the least. She only felt a coldness all over.

'Lets get this over with Jeffery.'

He remained silent for a few more heartbeats.
'I'm sorry. For lying to you, for manipulating you, for everything. I just needed you to know that.'

'I know you killed Mystique.' There was no use for her to keep the fact that she knew a secret.
She wasn't fishing for excuses from him, just letting him know that she wouldn't be forgiving him or becoming his friend anytime in this lifetime.

'That wasn't me. It was Baron.'

'Still you blamed Osei and then you tried to make me into an accomplice in murder.'

'Being with him made you an accomplice for all his murders.' Jeffery was getting too excited so he brought it all the way down, he was scared his throbbing neck might open again.
'I'm sorry.'

His apology was a little redundant right now. It meant nothing to her because unlike her, he wasn't oblivious to the truth. He had willfully used her.
'If you're finished...'

' I couldn't let you be with a monster.'
Oh God, was that how she had sounded that fateful day when she'd lost Osei?
She was ashamed.

'And What are you Jeffery? Tell me?'

'I lost my way. I can't say anything to justify my sins against you . But I'll still hope that someday I can make it all up to you.'

'Start now by telling Osei everything.'

'I will.' He paused prolonging the silence.

'Why did you do all this Jeffery? Osei never hurt you.' Since he was talking he might as well tell her and ease the burning curiosity she'd had to suffer all those months alone.

'You forget the night of the wolves.' He said in an attempt of a joke.
'You're right. He never hurt me but everything I did was for you, Dani.'
He smiled .
'I loved you, I was in love with you. Still do, still am.'
His confession would have caused her to care and feel very awkward once upon a time.

'I'm sorry Jeffery. I love and I'm in love with Osei.'

'He has a new mate.' He reminded her as if she didn't wake up to that fact everyday. He had a new mate who he was starting a new family with.

'I can respect that because I don't think I deserved to be with him then.' Now was a different matter. However, She wasn't going to take what wasn't hers Like Semi had. She regretted thinking about Semi that way but that was the truth. She'd evaluated the fairness of her accusations when she got over the hurt of what Semi had done to her.

Danielle in all honesty was hurt by Jeffery's betrayal as well because he really was her friend.
'You really were my friend Jeffery. And truth is I don't think I can ever trust you. But I'll have to try. We're going to help him out however we can, you and me. We're going to make this right, even if it's the last thing we do.'
The conviction in his nod made her hope he was being true.

Jeffery would help her, he needed to right every wrong. And he'd regret a good many things in his lifetime, except that one thing. That one thing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Osei was getting anxious.
He stood on the porch listening closely to his wolves chatter.
Nicholae ... not Nicholae....
Harris... Harris! Harris the demon!
It still didn't make a lick of sense to Osei, none of this did and it was driving him up the walls.

'Stop thinking about it.' Semi said to Osei. She stepped out onto the porch and sat on the seatee.

'How can I? He might get away.'

'I'm glad you listened to me, babe.'
Osei's ears picked up at the term of endearment which he barely heard in the light recent events.

Semi also realized her misstep but she didn't take it back.

'I saw the wisdom in your advice. You're right, I would have killed him just on impulse.' He openly confessed. She was still his voice of reason when they weren't fighting and he needed her to know that he valued her counsel. Too bad he couldn't ask her what to do about the whole Danielle coming back situation.

'Loki and Malaki can handle him when they do catch him. And they will. For now take your mind of it and think of something else.'

Like Danielle alone in the tent talking to Jeffery? That made him slightly furious as well if he was being honest. That man didn't deserve any favors from him, and yet he allowed Danielle to speak to him because they needed whatever intel he possessed.

Osei followed Clarissa who aimlessly paced a few feet outside the tent.

'I invited her in for a cup but she didn't trust that you wouldn't kill him.' Semi stood him following the direction of his gaze.

'I'm guessing she knows the story.' Osei drily stated.

'A few minor details.' Semi responded.
It baffled Osei how easy it was for women to share their stories with others.
Clarissa was new to the crew and she already knew his deal. Honestly, that made him uncomfortable which  meant he would have to keep a closer eye on her. She was Nicholae's person too after all and so he'll trust her only when she proved herself. He still didn't know what her story was, besides being a witch Nicholae saved from some thugs in Chicago and he'd been taking care of her ever since- for three years. Enough time for loyalties to remain with the bastard even now.
Osei quickly caught himself.
Nicholae wasn't the villain here, it was Harris.
'Oh dammit it all to hell.' He said out loud.
'Who'd have guessed that this would all come and bite me in the ass.'

'You're referring to Harris again.'

'I wanted him dead Semi and I thought I'd achieved at least that since I couldn't kill the son.'

Semi nodded.
'I know exactly how you feel. Sometimes it's better to just leave well enough alone.'
And just like that they weren't talking about Harris or Nicholae.

A thick slab of tension landed with a thud into the atmosphere around the porch.
Osei has been trying to avoid talking about the Semi induced miscarriage but like an elephant in the room, it could not be ignored.

'Let's not..' He tried to push the subject back under the rug but Semi wouldn't let it slide.

'I'm not going to ignore this till it festers into something we don't want to touch.'

Osei lowered his head in a sigh, his arms tightened their hold on the railings.

'Again Semi you're right. But i doubt this is the right time to talk about this.'

'This is.' She begged to differ.
'I nearly lost you again. And I'm not going to wait until it's too late to say what I have to, Osei.'

Osei wanted to say he understood.
'But you didn't lose me.'

Semi spotted Danielle as she emerged from the tent and she didn't look happy.
'I've already lost you.'

Osei had time to rebut the statement but the right words escaped him.

Danielle walked up to them carrying news.
'He's ready to talk to you now.'

'What did you two discuss?' Osei asked.
Danielle looked from Semi to him and then back at the tent.
'He was apologizing to me. For the lies and for the way things turned out.'

'Among other things.' Semi muttered.

'At least he's willing to make things right.' Danielle glared at Semi who was ready to spit fire.

'Let's hear what he has to say.' Osei said to both of them.
He watched Danielle attempt to help Semi get on her feet. To his surprise, Semi accepted her hand. It was a wildly confusing moment.
Osei walked away scratching his head even more, he couldn't and wouldn't think about anything save what Jeffery had to say to him. That was the best route to keep him sane for the moment.

Clarissa was already beside him helping with his feeding.
'I don't care.'
That was all Clarissa said to Osei for him to ignore her and look straight at Jeffery.

'We're here, speak.'

'We went to a strip club, that's where we always met the witch. It was never the same woman that met us. And according to my father, he never seen a similar face twice either.'

Osei rolled his eyes at the pile of shit Jeffery was handing to them: it was useless and didn't help their case.

'They called her the Mistress. And with what she was able to do, it was no doubt she is a powerful witch.'

'We figured that much out, Jeffery.' Semi spoke impatiently.

'Well. She knew everything about Osei and his father. She knew that only his mate could kill him.' He glanced at Danielle with softened features and Clarissa followed it a passing sign of hurt flitting behind her eyes. 'Also that I needed Orion silver to kill him.'
This was all news to Osei and now he had so many questions.
So from what Jeffery was saying, this mistress knew Aaron, his father had been successful with finding the wolves and bonding with them.
Osei was a hundred percent sure that his father didn't go around broadcasting his adventures with just anyone, so how was this mistress so knowledgeable?

'It was she who used Danielle's blood and the casings of the Orion silver we found at Mystique's shop.'

Danielle sighed. She'd better confess this now.
'Baron got excited. He killed Mystique.'

Osei remembered the old psychic and Shepherd's creek most prominent gossip, the woman never kept her nose out of anybody's business. But she'd kept it to herself when it mattered. So maybe Mystique had helped him out once or twice but he still blamed her for his mother's death. Somehow she'd gotten her hands on Orion silver.
Osei would have loved to ask her how she cane across them, too bad Jeffery and his dog Baron killed her before he had the opportunity to hear that story.
They'd killed her and then tried to pin the blame on him. The damn bastards.
That had been the moment Danielle had turned against him.

'The club will be a dead end now. But we could always try going there.' Semi offered a makeshift plan.

'That won't work. Her people met us only by appointment and my father was the only one who knew which strings to pull.' Jeffery said sinking their plan before it even took form.

'Now we know he used Orion silver and Danielle's blood. It's more than we knew thirty seconds ago.' Semi said looking on the brighter side of things.

'So your own father tried to off you?'

'Aside from trying to kill you, my father also wanted to recruit me as his demon buddy. What the mistress is doing is she's making a whole bunch of deals with humans in exchange for their souls. I thought they were kidding but, it was real. I did sign over my soul.'

'So when you die, you become a demon.'
Semi stated.

'It's not automatic, according to my father, the Mistress has a say in who comes over from the other side.'

'She has that much power?' Semi exclaimed.

Jeffery nodded.

'Nicholae was on the right track after all.' He begrudgingly admitted.
'And I have a suspicious feeling his digging made him a prime target for her goons.'

'Babe... uh, Osei, I don't think she only has demons on her payroll. Remember the vampires and werewolves who went after Nicholae?'
Osei's face turned grimmer.

'Why did your father possess Nicholae? Did he say?' Semi asked.

'He made the best target I guess. And this way, the mistress can control her most troublesome pest. It's common sense.'

Osei groaned.
'And now with the demon at Nicholae's helm, imagine the damage she could wreak.'

Semi quickly caught on.
'Our alliance, our secrets.'

'And our marriage.' Valentina added from the entrance of the tent.
'We haven't found him yet?' She asked Osei.
Her hair was in a tangled mess no doubt from all the worrying and thinking.

'We'll find him soon, Val.' Semi went to hug her.

'This is all your doing Lynch, you are aware of that.' Jeffery said.

'We could play the blame game, and trust me you'll lose, but I don't have the time or energy.'
He stormed out barking orders at his wolves.
No one was to enter of leave the territory without coming through Osei: not travelers nor animals, not even a mosquito was allowed to breath in his territory without his say so. They were on total lockdown.