THIRD PERSON POV:
“Now you’re getting it,” Mindy chuckles, and Veronica shakes her head in disbelief.
“How? What did you do to Lila, where is she?” Veronica asks, still coming to terms with the fact that Mindy is in Lila’s body.
“How about you get your hands off me first,” Mindy snaps, forcefully pushing Veronica away, causing her to fall to the floor.
“Much better,” Mindy smiles sweetly. “Now, where were we? Right, about what I’ve done to Lila. But I don’t think that’s what you want to know right now, is it, Veronica?”
“Blake’s sickness. You poisoned him, didn’t you?” Veronica asks from her spot on the floor, and Mindy giggles.
“Close.” Mindy replies casually. “Do I feel bad? I don’t know, but there wasn’t any other way, really. You’d know that,” Mindy says.
“Why would you do that to him? Was it to punish me because I wouldn’t help you? Fine, leave Blake out of it… please, this is between you and me,” Veronica begs.
Mindy frowns. “I couldn’t care less about Blake. He’s just a pawn. Since you decided to ruin my plan, I devised a new one and ruined yours. There’s nothing I love more than killing two birds with one stone,” Mindy giggles again.
“I’m such a genius,” she adds.
“Please, you have to stop this, cast the spell on Blake again,” Veronica pleads, now mad at herself for the way she treated Mindy earlier. How could she not have known that Mindy wouldn’t take no for an answer? She knew Mindy better than that.
“And why would I do that? I asked for your help, and you threw me out,” Mindy says.
“I’m so sorry about that. I wasn’t thinking,” Veronica begs, and Mindy rolls her eyes.
“That’s what you losers always say once you’re losing,” Mindy says.
“I could lose everything,” Veronica says.
Mindy bursts into laughter. “No shit, Sherlock, that’s part of my plan,” she says, then groans in frustration. “Are you even paying attention?” Mindy asks.
“I know this is like some huge joke to you, but this is my life on the line. Any minute Blake is gonna realize that Kiara is gone, and what will happen to me, then?” Veronica asks, hoping there is a little humanity left in Mindy, but it shows she doesn’t know Mindy as well as she thought.
“You know what that sounded like? None of my business. And, Veronica, next time I ask for your help, you’d better be at my beck and call,” Mindy says and leaves Veronica devastated as she goes to retrieve Isabella’s body.
Almost immediately, two guards barge into the kitchen.
“Luna Veronica, Alpha Blake requests your presence,” they announce, and before Veronica can react, they scoop her off the floor by both arms and carry her out.
“Let go of me! How dare you lay your hands on your queen!” Veronica screams, but they pay her no attention until they drop her before Blake, who has finally managed to get himself out of bed with help from his men.
“Blake, how could you embarrass me this way?” Veronica asks in tears. She can’t hold them back any longer now that she is hopeless.
“I do not know what madness this is, but I hear I banished Kiara. I have sent the guards out to search for her, and now I need an explanation from you, because she is your best friend.” She swallows hard at Blake’s words.
“I… I don’t know what any of that has to do with me. I have loved you, Blake, I’ve loved you more than Kiara ever will,” Veronica says. Her heart is racing, and she is engulfed with fear. Although she knows there is no use fooling Blake any longer, it wouldn’t hurt to try. Anything to get her out of this terrible situation-eyes that once looked at her in love now look down at her with so much anger in them.
“Keep her name out of your mouth!” Blake roars, and she flinches as if he’d hit her, but he recoils because of his aching head.
“Oh, don’t act all innocent. You’re the one that sent her away after all; you made me your Luna,” Veronica reminds him. She may have cast a spell on him, but he carried out her plan single-handedly.
Blake frowns. “I would never… why would I ever hurt Kiara or make you my Luna? What did you do to me?” he asks, and Veronica stays silent.
“If you want to live to see the light of dawn, then you’d better answer me!” Blake growls, scaring Veronica into speaking because she knows Blake is capable of taking her life.
“I cast a love spell on you. It made you love me so much and hate Kiara,” Veronica says, and Blake shakes his head in disbelief and disappointment.
“How could you be so selfish? She’s… she’s your best friend, Veronica,” Blake says.
“I guess I wanted more,” Veronica says, hot tears streaming down her face. She doesn’t know what she is feeling-regret?
“Is she… alive?” Blake asks, tears welling up in his eyes, though he fights them. He doesn’t want to think of the possibility that she could be dead.
“Where is she?” he asks.
“I don’t have the answer to either of those questions,” Veronica admits, and Blake nods.
“Guards, lock her up and get the cars. We’re going to Efla,” Blake orders, then goes back into his room, ignoring Veronica’s screams.
“You can’t do this! Please don’t kill me!” she wails, struggling against their grips as the guards carry her away.
Meanwhile, Mindy has returned to Isabella’s body.
“Oh my god, where am I?” Lila asks as she regains consciousness.
Mindy groans, already hating the sound of Lila’s voice.
Lila glares at Mindy. “What have you done to me, and why can’t I remember anything?” Lila asks as she approaches Mindy.
Mindy sighs. “Lila, you need to calm down, and I’ll explain it all.”
“Don’t tell me to calm down,” Lila snaps.
“I needed your body to poison Alpha Blake, so I’ve been in it while you were in Isabella’s body,” Mindy says. She figures that if she is going to kill her anyway, the least she could do was tell her the truth, even if she doesn’t believe it.
“What the actual fuck have you just said, Isabella? You’re sick, and I’m making sure you’re behind bars,” Lila says, heading to the door.
“Lila, wait!” Mindy calls as she grabs a glass vase from the table and shatters it on Lila’s head. Lila falls to the floor.
“That one was for insulting Isabella… twice,” Mindy says, mostly to herself, since Lila is already unconscious.
“And this one is for… I just don’t like you,” Mindy says, trying to remember why she has a beef with Lila. It must be the fact that Veronica cares about her.
Mindy drags Lila’s body out. A single spell can have you lifting the heaviest objects like a feather. She makes sure no one sees her as she carries the body to the river at the back of the mansion, which is close to the sacred temple. She doesn’t have much trouble, since more than half of the guards are out searching for Kiara while the rest are preparing Blake for his trip.
“Bye, bitch. This is why you have manners-they go a long way. Everyone knows this, except, of course, Veronica and her minion,” Mindy says to herself as she pushes Lila’s unconscious body into the water and watches as the waves drown her.
“God, I wish I had a drink to watch this,” she says to herself. For Mindy, the saddest part of every scheme is the end of it. She would love to stay back and kill Veronica, but she doesn’t have time for that, and Isabella is waiting right outside the gates for her.
Mindy slips past the guards and finds Isabella waiting, as they’d planned, and returns to her body.
“Thank you for your help, sweetheart; you’re a gem,” she says to Isabella, who is happy to have helped. Isabella hugs her.
“I’m glad you were able to pull it off without getting caught,” Isabella says, as that has been her worry since they switched bodies.
Mindy chuckles. “Getting caught? Not even if they tried. I’ve gotten away with worse.”
“So, what did you do? There’s a rumor that Alpha Blake has come down with a terrible illness, and Luna Veronica is in jail,” Isabella asks, concerned for his safety.
“He’ll be fine, and you got what you wanted,” Mindy assures her, and Isabella gasps.
“So, you did make him sick? What about Lila? Did you hurt her?” Isabella asks.
Mindy thinks she is overreacting when she should be praising her for a job well done.
“Listen to me, sweetheart. I say you get in there and see for yourself. You don’t want me to ruin the surprise. Trust me,” Mindy says.
“If you say so,” Isabella waves, and Mindy watches her disappear through the gates.