As Varga reported what happened to Selene, Michael noticed his face was drained and it took him visible effort to keep standing. While listening to Varga he got a bag of blood out of the fridge. Eve noticed as well and guided Varga to a nearby chair.

'What..' Varga started as Michael handed him the blood.

'Drink this, you need it.' Michael ordered Varga.

Varga did as ordered and finished the bag quite fast.

'Feel better?' Michael asked as he saw some color return in his face.

'Yes actually, I didn't know I needed it.'

'You looked like a ghost!' Eve smirked.

Eve and Michael had been listening at the sounds coming from the bedroom, but he had no idea what happened. Seeing Varga this drained added to his worry for Selene. Varga had reported what happened, but Michael knew he left out pieces of the story.

'What happened in there?'

Varga looked very reluctant to tell Michael. It seemed to Michael that Varga was debating what to tell him.

'Well…' Varga started. 'A side effect of Black Dusk is a terrible headache. Connar asked me to, uhm, hold Selene's arms so she couldn't crush her, well… skull.'

Varga spoke slow and hesitated a lot. When he finally got everything out, Michael was furious. Poisoning her with Back Dusk he could barely tolerate, but this was too much.

'She didn't! I made sure of that! She's completely fine!' Varga tried until Michael locked eyes with him. 'Ah never mind.'

Something snapped inside Michael. Before he knew it, he was in front of Varga. 'The only thing that keeps me from killing you right now is the fact that you can go in there and I cannot.' Michael hissed. 'But if you ever keep things from me again, I will make sure your life is a living hell.'

'Leave him alone!' Connar intervened and Michael shot him a look. 'It was my order not to tell you. I knew you would flip out like you just demonstrated. Selene is fine, although she will be a bit drained for a few hours.'

'For now, you're off the hook.' Michael grunted as he gave Varga one last furious look and turned back to Connar. 'Can we go in and see her?'

'If she's fully awake you can. Varga, follow me please.' Connar ordered.

'Yes, sir.' Varga said and he hurried into the bedroom.

Michael was beside himself. He trusted Connar and Varga to do what was best for Selene, but he never thought they would keep vital information from him. He wasn't too happy about Selene getting poisoned but the added risk of Selene killing herself was just too much for him. He looked over at Eve and he saw his own fear in her eyes. Michael pushed his own fears and anger aside and took her hands in his.

'We can see her soon, sweetheart.' He tried to sooth her.

'But this is only the start. Mom has to do this again to draw out the leak.' Eve stated. 'Why does it always have to be mom?'

'She does have a big target on her back, doesn't she?' Michael admitted. 'But next time will be different. I will be there every second.'

'Will Connar allow that?' Eve asked.

'He will have to fight me to get me out of the room.' Michael smiled.

Eve smiled back. They sat back down as they waited for Connar to call them in. They were listening at the conversation in the bedroom and heard Selene talk. She sounded tired. When they heard her say to let them in, Eve was at the door and stormed in. Michael followed, but he stayed in the doorway.

'Don't excite her too much.' Connar advised Eve and Michael. 'I will be back in an hour to check on you.'

'Thank you Connar.' Michael said out of habit as he walked out of the room. 'Varga you can go too.'

Varga looked him in the eye, nodded and walked out as well.

'What was it like? Are you ok? What happened?' Eve started firing her questions.

'Give your mother a break sweetheart.'

'It's ok Michael. It wasn't as bad as expected.' Selene said. 'There was a cold feeling and I passed out. Not much to say to be honest. Just a headache.'

'I am glad you are ok.' Eve smiled.

'Me too, honey. Come here and give me a hug.' Selene smiled.

Michael watched Eve and Selene lay together from the doorway. He always felt so lucky seeing them together. But this time the knot in his chest couldn't be eased. He felt betrayed by Connar and Varga. Selene looked him in the eye and raised her eyebrow. Michael smiled, but Selene wasn't fooled. He could never hide anything from her.

'Eve, do you mind giving me and your father some time?'

'Sure.' Eve said and kissed her mother's forehead.

'What was that about?' Michael asked when Eve was out the door.

'I can ask you the same thing.' Selene said as she sat up. 'What is it with you, Connar and Varga?'

Michael sighed and sat in the chair next to the bed. 'Did you know about all the side effects? Did they tell you about the headache? About…' Michael hesitated. He didn't want to stress her as it had stressed him.

'You mean the terrible headache which could make me crush my skull?' Selene asked. 'Varga told me the minute before Connar injected me. They didn't tell you either, I thought you knew.'

'And now you know why I send them away. Varga told me after he apparently had to sit on your arm to prevent you from killing yourself.' Michael sighed. 'I trusted Connar. He convinced me to step down when it comes to you and Eve and the first time I do that, he pulls something like this. I cannot believe it. He even ordered Varga to keep his mouth shut.'

'Don't be too hard on them. Connar was very reluctant and quite nervous to go ahead with the plan. The decision to do this was probably easier on him than the actual action. And you know Varga follows orders without questions. One of the reasons he is so good at his job.'

'Do you still want to go through with the plan knowing this?' Michael asked.

'Only if you are willing. We still don't have a better plan.' Selene sighed.

'We came this far. But next time I will be there.' Michael stated.

'Wouldn't have it any other way.' Selene yawned. 'But now I would really like to get some sleep.'

'I will check on Eve and be right back if you need anything.'

Michael kissed her forehead and left the room. When he knocked on Eve's door, there was no answer and Michael knew where she would be. He turned around and headed for Vargas' office.

All eyes turned to Michael when he walked in the room. All except for Eve's. She was shooting her bow in the corner. He nodded to everyone and headed for Varga instead. Michael entered the office and Varga shot from his chair.

'At ease. I came here to apologize.' Michael sat down. 'I shouldn't have yelled at you, you were only following orders.'

Varga eased up and sat down as well. 'It's fine. I prefer you yelling to me over David any day.' Varga said. 'How is Selene?'

'Asleep.' Michael sighed. 'Unfortunately, she was right, she will be fine.'

'Unfortunately?'

'There will be a day she won't be fine and until that day, she will keep putting her own life at risk.' Michael sighed. 'She's so stubborn.'

'You would do the same if it were up to you.'

'I would not.'

'Yeah, you would.' Varga smirked. 'Actually, you already did when you jumped in front of a gun for her. How many bullets did Connar had to remove from your back? Twenty-something? Anyway, you both want to protect the ones you love even if it costs your own life.'

Michael thought about it and Varga was right. They both protected what they loved most in this world. His eyes focused on his daughter again. She had inherited Selene's beauty, except for her eyes, those she got from Michael.

'Go and shoot some arrows with her. She will love it.'

'Just one last thing. In the future, don't hold information from me regarding Selene or Eve. Since I am higher in command than Connar, it's an order.' Michael smiled.

'Wasn't planning on it.'

Michael walked to the archery range and picked up a bow. They never used them in battle anymore. Michael had picked it up a couple of months after he joined the coven and noticed he was quite good at it. After that Eve wanted to try and she too, had a neck for it.

'How's mom?' Eve asked when Michael stood next to her and started shooting.

'Asleep. How are you?'

'Good. A recruit promised me the fight of my life in a few minutes. He came to the coven a week ago, I'm not sure if he knows who I am.' Eve smirked. 'I think it will be the fight of his life instead. You want to watch?'

'Try and stop me. I want to see the look on his face when he sees who you are.' Michael laughed.

They shot arrows until the recruit came back for the fight. Michael almost laughed when the recruit noticed him standing there. He had no idea how to act around Michael and looked at Eve for help and to rescue him.

'Ready for the cage?' Eve asked to relieve him from his suffering.

The recruit just nodded and tried to walk away casually. Michael mouthed to Eve he would be right there. He was planning on joining the crowd when the recruits were too busy watching the fight to look who was watching with them.

Michael shot a few arrows, but his eyes kept averting to the cage. More people started to watch the fight and Michael joined in as well. He saw Eve holding back to give the guy the feeling he was winning. She even let him hit her a few times.

The recruit started to get cocky about his fighting and Michael noticed he was dropping his defenses too much. In a real fight he would have been long gone. Eve noticed too and gave Michael a quick wink, barely noticeable for anyone other than her father. She barely dodged a few of his blows by acting slow.

Eve got a smirk on her face and the next punch he threw at her, she caught it with her hand. She looked at him with piercing eyes and moved to throw him over her shoulder. She knocked the wind right out of him as he hit the ground. The recruit got a confused look on his face when he got up. In a split second, he advanced toward Eve. Eve responded by jumping to the top of the cage. He clashed into the cage and hit the ground again.

This time his eyes turned furious. He spat on the ground and stood in a fighting stance. He looked at Eve and dared her to come down. And she did. Michael was impressed by the grace of his daughter. She landed softly on one knee with her head down. She's a natural, just like her mother.

Eve had landed with her back toward Michael, but he knew her eyes would be pitch black. She slowly looked up at the recruit. He took a step back with a horrified look on his face. He knew he had made a mistake by challenging Eve.

Eve got up and started circling the cage with the recruit backing up. Based on her face, Michael could tell Eve loved this part. Almost as if she was stalking her prey. She charged and the recruit had to deal with a lot of punches. They both picked up the pace and the people around the cage got excited seeing them fight. The recruit couldn't get past Eve's defenses no matter how hard he tried.

It didn't take very long before the recruit lay flat on his stomach with Eve on top of his back. She twisted his arm in surrender.

'That's about enough Eve.' Varga spoke.

He strolled through the room and the crowd made way. He pushed the controls on the screen to open the cage. Eve let go off the recruit and rolled out of the cage to stand beside Varga.

'What Eve has demonstrated here today is overconfidence is your enemy.' Varga spoke. 'Zack thought he would win because his opponent was younger and more fragile looking. He underestimated her, dropping his defenses. When Eve showed him her true nature, he had already lost the fight. Never underestimate your opponent, they might downplay in a fight to draw you out.'

'Zack, get up!' Varga said forcefully and he waited for the recruit to roll out of the cage and stand next to Varga.

Michael did not feel sorry for the guy. In the beginning of the fight, he had acted like he was a superior over Eve, without knowing who she was. When she gave him the upper hand, he got even cockier. Eventually, it became his downfall when Eve decided she was done with him. He was lucky, if Michael had been his opponent, the recruit would have ended up in the infirmary to teach him a lesson.

'Zack, meet Eve. You might not have known, but she is the daughter of Elder Selene and Lord Michael here.' Varga said to the group of recruits. 'She has inherited a killer instinct and when fully trained she will be the strongest person in this coven. She might look sweet, but never underestimate someone's strength by their looks as they might be a force of nature. Dismissed.'

The recruits dispersed through the room to continue their training. Michael walked up to Varga and Eve. Eve was smiling from ear to ear.

'Well done sweetheart.' Michael said.

'Thanks! I enjoyed that. Especially the look on his face.' Eve said with a sparkle in her eyes.

'But you too have to learn not to be overconfident.' Varga said. 'You are stronger than a lot of people here, but they learn quickly and you might underestimate them.'

'Well, I know a solution to that.' Eve smirked. 'Let me train to become a Death Dealer.'

'Don't look at me. You have to convince your parents for that.'

'Let's not give Selene a heart attack on top of everything just yet.' Michael laughed. 'She's really the only one you need to convince.'

'Really?!' Eve said surprised. 'You're ok with me training? Really?'

'Yes, I am. You need to learn at some point. I'd rather you know more than just basic skills before you go on missions like you do now.'

Eve hugged Michael and went back to shoot more arrows.

'I think you made her day.' Varga laughed.