"I thought we hated him." At a complete loss and more than a little irritated, Cori stood in the doorway to Sam's bathroom with her arms crossed. "When exactly did that change?"

"I never said I hated him," Sam replied over the sound of her hair dryer. "Called him a jerk, sure, but I never said I hated him. Besides, I'm still mad at him, but," she moved the hair dryer away from her hair and gave Cori a mischievous grin, "wouldn't it be much better to be mad at him while he watches me dance with some other guys who aren't going to insist that they're not interested?"

If she was still feeling a little shaken after the incident in the woods, Sam would never have let on, although she was planning another trip to The Black Cat, so she was at least intelligent enough to take precautions.

Cori didn't look nearly as convinced at the idea of inviting William and Damien, but before she could protest further, the doorbell rang. With a scowl, she slammed the door to Sam's bathroom to indicate her discontent and went to let them in. She opened the door and greeted the two men with her meanest glare. "You're here."

"It's very nice to see you as well, Cori," William greeted with a smile, stepping through the threshold. "You look lovely."

She felt herself blushing at the compliment and closed the door with a little more force than necessary. "Yeah, that would be the point."

Shooting Damien a look that could kill, she fought the urge to punch him simply on principle. "You'd better stop messing around with her."

"I assure you, he will be on his best behavior," William drawled, not bothering to hide his amusement.

"I don't think there's any need for silent threats," Sam laughed, walking into the room, her hair frizz-free and perfectly curled. She wore a flowy green halter top and a pair of dark jeans with silver heels. Her mischievous gaze settled on Damien with a bright smile. "We're all just going out to have fun, right?" 

The temptation to look into her head and see what she was thinking was there, but Damien found he regretted that invasion more often than not when it came to her, so he looked away with a scowl. "Yeah."

"Great, then let's get going." She sailed right past the lot of them, grabbed her purse from the table by the door, and walked out. Damien followed her out the door with something akin to dread. He had the distinct impression that he was far from forgiven.

Cori walked down the hall back to her room to grab her own purse and nearly screamed when she turned around to find William standing in the doorway. "What are you doing?"

"Samantha had a run-in today while she was wandering through the woods. She seems to have taken care of it on her own and there was no need for us to step in, however, we are here now to ensure that nothing else untoward happens tonight."

Surprise and concern showed on her face and she studied William warily. "You're not going to let anything happen to her, are you?"

"Or you."

That surprised her, and she found herself studying him consideringly before shouldering her purse and giving him a short nod, adding a small and hesitant smile. "Alright, well then we'd better get to the car, but," she shot him a look over her shoulder, "I still don't like Damien."

"Damien means well, he would never do anything to jeopardize Samantha's welfare," William said as they walked toward the front door.

Cori found herself blocking him before they could both step out of the house, and her expression was no longer hostile, but serious. "Sam keeps to herself. People like her; she has no trouble being liked. It's just something that comes naturally to her, they rarely mean anything to her. She likes him. I've known her almost my entire life, and she has never looked at a guy the way she looks at him. If he hurts her, it's not going to be physical."

William considered what she said, and then nodded. "I understand." He didn't think it would be wise to tell Cori that nothing either of them did would influence what was going to happen between Sam and Damien, so he kept it to himself. Still, as they walked to the car, he was surprised to find himself watching the girl with more interest than he could remember feeling for a mortal in several centuries.

***

Cori and Sam wasted no time finding a booth the second they stepped through the door. Neither girl seemed concerned about leaving their stuff unattended. "We're going to join the crowd down there near the DJ," Sam informed the men. "Feel free to follow if you want. Otherwise, we'll be back in fifteen minutes or so."

Neither William nor Damien were interested in dancing, so they both grabbed a beer and slid wordlessly into the booth to watch. For the first few minutes, the girls danced alone, but it didn't take long for some guy wearing a fraternity shirt to slide up with a charming grin and place his hands on Sam's hips. Although Sam wouldn't typically have allowed it, she just smiled up at him and let herself be pulled closer.

"Don't do anything stupid," William warned softly, taking in Damien's furious glare and clenched fists. "Remember you're at more of an advantage in a fight than anyone else in this place. It wouldn't do to raise suspicion by flaunting it."

The words had barely left his lips before he spotted Cori walking back in their direction, a guy trailing behind and grabbing at her arm with a grin. William watched as she yanked her arm away a few times before the man managed to yank her around fully to face him. Before she could do more than sneer, William was standing beside her with a pleasant smile, his warning to Damien seemingly forgotten. "Cori, does there seem to be a problem?"

The man barely bothered to shoot him a glance. "Get lost, she's with me."

William's eyebrows rose, "I think you must be mistaken."

"William I'm more than capable─"

The man finally made eye contact with William, an insult on the tip of his tongue, but he went surprisingly still as William spoke. "You should leave." The man walked away without so much as a glance back.

Beside him, Cori's eyes were huge and interested. "Did you just compel him? You didn't need to do that, you know. I could've taken care of it." He didn't bother with a reply, just turned and walked with her back to their table which was suddenly empty.

It would've required a miracle for Damien to stay away from the scene Sam was so clearly looking to cause. It hadn't escaped Sam's notice when Damien stood up and started making his way toward where she was with angry eyes trained on her and Mike, the frat guy with his hands all over her. There had not been a single time in her life before now that she'd ever found herself going through the manipulative efforts of making someone jealous, but she felt that if anyone deserved to be knocked down a peg, it would be Damien. Besides, if he wasn't interested in her, there was certainly no reason to be jealous, was there? Giving Mike another flirtatious smile, she was ready to let him have a kiss, but the opportunity was promptly taken from him when Damien reached the dancing couple and gave Mike a good shove.

"Find someone else," he growled. Mike looked like he considered fighting for a moment, but something in Damien's gaze had him reconsidering so he simply turned and walked away.

Despite this being precisely what she'd been waiting for, Sam looked ready to commit murder. "What do you think you're doing?"

Damien grabbed her hand and pulled her to a corner of the dance floor. "Exactly what you wanted me to do from the start. Congratulation, it worked, you pissed me off."

She stiffened and her eyes flashed as her chin came up and she pulled her hand away to cross her arms. "You made it abundantly clear that you were not interested. I see no reason why no one else should be either."

"Because you know damn well that guy was a tool and you didn't like him touching you any more than I did," Damien snapped, towering over her, but she wasn't the kind to be cowed, so she stood her ground.

"I think my actions state otherwise."

Damien ran a hand through his hair and barely suppressed a growl, he felt his fangs beginning to appear and forced himself to breathe. "What do you want from me, Sam?"

"A little honesty would be nice."

"Honestly, you are the most frustrating person I've ever met," he laughed with absolutely no humor.

"Well you're not exactly Gandhi," she drawled, but her hostility lost its edge as she took in the struggle she saw in his expression. Deciding to extend an olive branch, she took his hand and smiled at him. "But you could just dance with me yourself."

"I don't dance."

Shrugging, she took the liberty of placing both of his hands on either side of her waist and put her own around his neck. "So we'll go slow and sway. I'm sure you can manage that."

"This is a mistake, Sam," he said quietly, but he didn't pull his hands away.

"It doesn't feel like one."

He couldn't even disagree with her. Not when she was smiling at him like no one else existed. "You're really good at making any way but your way impossible, you know that?"

Her smile widened, "You like me."

"I don't know you."

"But you want to."

***

"You have to admit," Cori commented from her spot at the table beside William. "They do look good together." She wasn't exactly pleased with the observation, but she certainly couldn't deny it as she watched the two sway in their corner, paying absolutely no attention to the pace of the music or the crowd of people around them. "But when she remembers..." she trailed off, feeling uneasy. They'd all have a lot to answer for when Sam remembered.

"She would be stupid to allow that to be the reason that drove them apart if it comes to that. Samantha does not strike me as a stupid woman," William replied, watching the couple as well.

Cori slid him a look that she hoped was sly and studied his profile. "She's not, but people have a tendency to disappoint her. She finds it hard to forget that kind of thing."

Of course, Sam would've never said such a thing to anyone, not even her best friend, but after eighteen years together, Cori liked to think she'd been able to make a few insightful observations of her own. Her mother abandoning her had been the first, and undoubtedly most ground-shaking disappointment, but Cori knew there were others. Although Sam didn't remember it now, there had been disappointment in her eyes when she'd looked at her grandmother after finding out she'd been hiding things from her as well. The disappointment would be directed towards all of them now. Cori wasn't exactly ecstatic at the thought of hurting Sam, but it had been for the best, hadn't it?

"You did the right thing," William said softly from beside her. Surprised, she met his gaze. "She was in danger for knowing before she could hide her thoughts from prying eyes, and she may very well have tried to get involved before she was strong enough. Added to that, do you really think that Rebecca and Kaitlyn wouldn't have done it if you hadn't agreed? You'd be just as clueless as she is. You did the right thing."

"Thanks." She swallowed and looked away from him. Things were changing, and she wasn't at all sure how she felt about it. "Looks like they're coming back."

Sure enough, Sam and Damien were making their way back over to the table, Sam's arm locked through Damien's as if ensuring he didn't attempt to bolt again. "Hey William, aren't you going to dance?"

"I'd prefer to watch," he said, looking over at the crowd with what could only be considered a look of intense distaste. Sam's gaze shifted to Cori with a thoughtful smile. "That's just as well I guess. I would've suggested you dance with Cori, but there was this really cute redhead who was eyeing you up when you were out there last, so you could probably get him to dance with you and then..." she laughed, "Well who knows? He's really cute."

"Sam, I really don't─" Cori started, her face turning red in embarrassment as she shot William a panicked glance.

"If he hasn't come to ask her by now, I'd imagine he would not be worth it," William said standing. Holding his hand out to Cori, he smiled, "It would be my pleasure."

Her eyes widened in surprise, "Oh, well...thank you." Accepting his hand, Cori let him walk with her to the dance floor. "I thought you didn't want to dance."

"This is not the kind of dancing I would typically take part in, however, I'd imagine even I can pull off what we witnessed Samantha and Damien doing, if that's alright."

"But they weren't even dancing to the music, they were slow dancing!" Cori looked around uncomfortably. "No one else is slow dancing."

When she looked back at him, she found herself unable to look away as he smiled at her. "Does that matter?"

"No."

"Good." From the table, Sam watched them with an almost smug smile, and Damien watched her with a sinking feeling that she was going to turn out to be much more significant than anyone could have ever imagined.

***

"She was getting supplies for potions, mom. Protective potions, and she bought a stake." Kaitlyn paced back and forth in her room anxiously, clutching her phone to her ear.

"Something happened. Something happened, and no one was there to protect her. Did she call you? Have you talked to her since she left?"

"Of course, she's talked to me," Rebecca snapped from the other end. She stood in her kitchen, one hand clutching the counter so hard her knuckles were going white, but when she spoke again, her voice was calm. "She never mentioned any sort of run-in with anything from the immortal world, but then she wouldn't. Not only do we have Cori with her to call us if anything were to go awry, but I have every reason to believe that both Damien and William are keeping an eye on her. Belinda seems to be keeping you informed whenever she visits her shop and there have only been those two visits. 

 "She is fine, Kaitlyn. We do not need to worry that Sam cannot take care of herself, she's a very strong young woman. She has more than proved that to us so far, it would be an insult for us not to have a little faith in her. She doesn't remember anything about her father or that last week here. There is nothing else we can do for her right now."

Sinking down into her king-sized four-post bed, Kaitlyn let out a tired sigh. "She's got two and a half more years. I never wanted her to be a part of this."

"It was never your choice to make."

"Jacob will kill her."

"It was never your choice to make," Rebecca repeated, even though she felt the same fear. "You can't hide her away forever, Kaitlyn."

Before she could reply, her bedroom door opened, and a girl with golden-brown hair poked her head in, her brown eyes hopeful. "Mom, it's time for dinner."

Kaitlyn looked up, distracted, "Yes, I'll be right there. Close the door please." Kaitlyn looked away before she could see the hurt in the girl's eyes. "I think that one of us should just pay them a visit. Check that protection spell and see how things are."

"She'll be coming home for Thanksgiving. I'm sure she'll be fine until then," Rebecca assured her.

Standing up suddenly, Kaitlyn scowled, "Fine, then I'll go. I'll talk to you later."

"Kaitlyn," Rebecca said sharply. "You need to think before you─"

Kaitlyn didn't hear the rest.

***

Belinda studied the woman before her with more than a little interest. "It's nice to see you alive and well."

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and ran a finger over the crystal ball sitting prominently on Belinda's dining room table. "Yes, I'm sure. I'm just going to cut to the chase."

With an amused smile, Belinda made a gesture with her hand, "I'd appreciate it."

"My daughter cannot be found. If the information were to get back to the wrong people, they would kill her." Kaitlyn's brown eyes met Belinda's with a dangerous glint. "If I were to find out that ever happened and you were any part of it─"

"You would kill me," Belinda finished with a nod, and then after a thoughtful purse of her lips, she shrugged. "All of your secrets have been well kept throughout the years Kaitlyn. Not only do you have quite a bit of power backing you, but we witches tend to stick together. Rest assured, no witch will betray you. Or either of your daughters."

Kaitlyn's attention returned to Belinda sharply, and her lips curled into a snarl. "I will hold you to that." She didn't bother with a goodbye as she stood and made her way to Belinda's front door.

"You watch out for her." Because her mother had been right, Kaitlyn did not go to her daughter. Despite her hostility towards the woman, Belinda was well known for her kindness; she would watch out for Sam. Still, Kaitlyn drove to Lucky and watched Sam and Cori as they laughed in the living room in front of the window from her spot on the sidewalk. That would have to be enough.