Page 41 of My Mate

“I know what they might consider it,” Klaus said. “But they are not going to know unless Lucinda is the one to tellthem.” He ran fingers through his hair.

There was a soft moan and Dex glanced down to see Lucinda had started to move beneath the blanket.

“More,” Lucinda said.

His mother had been so focused on the conversation that she hadn’t put the additional blankets on Lucinda. The witch began to shake, and his father quickly grabbed the blankets and placed them over her body.

“We’ve got you, Lucinda,” he said. “We’ve got you.”

Dex moved closer and Lucinda turned to look at him.

“I know you,” she said.

This wasn’t good.

“Dad?”

“Don’t, son. Don’t panic.” Klaus moved in closer. “Do you know your name?”

Lucinda frowned and then turned toward her mother, who took a step toward her.

“Water?” Lucinda asked.

His mother nodded her head and quickly left the bedroom.

“It’s okay. I promise you, whoever did this is going to pay. I will not let anyone hurt you.” There was a brief pause, and Dex saw his father’s anger. “Again. I will not let anyone hurt you again.”

“Dad, you didn’t do this,” Dex said.

Klaus turned toward him. “I did.”

Dex frowned.

“Anyone who gets hurt on our watch is our fault, son. There is no way out of this blame game. We’re the ones to blame, no one else.”

“You couldn’t have known.” He didn’t want his dad to feel any guilt.

“It doesn’t matter. All that matters is that Lucinda getsbetter,” Klaus said. “That is all I care about and not because of what the coven can do to us. Lucinda is one of us, and whoever did this will pay for it.”

****

Casey stepped out of their new bathroom and glanced toward the bed to see Dex lying on top of the covers.

“Are you okay?”

“I’m just trying to figure out who could have tried to kill Lucinda. I get that not everyone likes her, but she’s not a bad person,” Dex said, rubbing at his temples.

“It has to be the person you saw in that premonition,” Casey said, moving toward the bed. She lifted the covers and slid inside.

She knew she didn’t have to wait long before Dex reached out and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her in close. She loved when he did this.

Their parents had been so happy that they loved the house, and they were more than happy for them to move in. At first, Casey didn’t understand why their parents were so enthused with them leaving the nest, but in the last three days, they had not been able to keep their hands away from one another.

And then she realized their parents knew how they felt. While they lived with their parents, they did show a great deal of restraint but it hadn’t been a lot. Their parents could only give them privacy for so long, and with it getting colder, having sex outside didn’t have much appeal. Their own place was the only solution, and she was thankful their parents had granted it to them.

“Yeah, but none of us know who that could be. Lucinda didn’t even recognize my parents, Casey.”

She felt Dex’s arms tighten around her.

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