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Chapter Text

The faint dribbling of rain outside her bedroom window woke her up. The witch sighed blinking against the bright sunlight stinging her eyes as she began to untangle herself from the heap that was her two lovers, who had spend the night plastered to her sides. Hector was still asleep and snoring ever so slightly, she found herself mesmerized by the sight of his sleeping face half buried in the cushion. His face so unbelievable soft with the scar on his cheek and temple blending almost perfectly into the rest of his skin, his brows furrowed and his dark hair sticking up in every direction. She smiled to herself.

"Your up early." Lee's soft voice startled her. He was sitting on the other side of the bed, a book propped open in his lap. "Shush." She said, feeling Hector stir in his sleep. "Did the rain wake you up?" Lee continued in more of a hushed voice. She nodded while turning to her other side to give her boyfriend a quick kiss on the mouth. "Careful. We might wake Hector, you know how much he hates being left out." Instead of deepen the kiss she withdrawed and picked the book up to read the title. "Dracula? Are you serious?"

Lee huffed and took the book from her. "What? This is like reading a history book to me."

"Bullshit." Maeve told the vampire. "First of all you just turned 106 and second we both know that this-" She held the book up for him to see. "Is pure fiction." He took the book from her for the second time and grumbled to himself. "You should write a book." Maeve pillowed her head on the vampires slim shoulder, feeling his bone pressing against her head through his thin shirt and skin. It's not the most comfortable position but it's the best they can manage as long as Hector is asleep.

"I can't write a book. I'm having a writers blockade." He closed the book and set it aside before he tangled his fingers in Maeve's dark curls, she sighed at the feeling of his fingers on her scalp. "You've been saying that for years, darling. You claim to have a blockade since 1989!"

"I know." He groaned and rubbed his face with his free hand. "But I just- I can't. Not after the mess that was odyssey on red river." Maeve doesn't respond she knows arguing will lead to nothing and she's not in the mood to have this conversation. "Alright darling." They fell into a comfortable silence, Lee still massaging Maeves scalp, the witch's eyes drifting shut. She didn't quite fell asleep, only napped for what felt like twenty minutes, but when she opened her eyes again Lee was gone and there was something standing over her, warm air blew right into her face making her pull a face.

A dark shadow had fallen over her and something fuzzy was touching her arms and shoulders making them itch ever so slightly. "Hector, down." She commanded the werewolf without even looking up. "I'm not going out smelling like a dog!" The werwolf crooked his head from side to side. "Not a dog, a wolf." He corrected her and got up only to sit down right next to her, crossing his paws before he laid his head down. His wolf form was smaller than expected, fitting perfectly on one side of the bed, but then again most movies got the size wrong, he was just a tad bit bigger than a regular wolf, with dark brown, almost black fur and dark eyes. It wasn't that often she saw him shifted in his wolf form, not because he didn't liked it but because it was difficult to move through their apartment like this, Hector spend most nights shifted in a park near their apartment, where he could run free with his small pack instead of being trapped inside. His tail would constantly knock things over in their apartment, his sharp claws had ruined their sofa twice already and occasionally a rug, but the worst was the hair.

Maeve looked down at the soft, eggshell colored sheets and groaned. "This is a nightmare." The wolf whined high pitched. "Sorry, 's not my fault. I woke up like this." She started to shake out the sheets, dark hair falling everywhere. "I know, full moon is coming, darling." When she was done she sat up petting the wolf's head. "Just be careful next time, what if you had shifted in the middle of a store?" Hector nodded in agreement. "I'll make you a portion that prevents you from shifting so suddenly." The wolf waggled it's tail, tongue rolling out of his mouth. "You are the absolute best have I ever told you that?"

"More times than I can count, my love." The air seemed electrified between them, one moment she was staring into the round eyes of a wolf, the next Hector was back in his human form, beaming at her. "I love you." He grabbed her by the slim hips and carefully pulled her closer until the witch was lying on top of her lover, straddling him. "I love you too." She kissed him just like she did with Lee, quick but passionate with the promise of more to come.

"Now come, we both need to get up." The werewolf followed her lips as she pulled away, chasing after her touch. She gave in and went in for another kiss before throwing the sheets off their bodies and crawling out of their shared bed. Lee was nowhere in sight, he was probably in their kitchen, preparing breakfast for all of them.

After the warmth of their bed was gone, Maeve's body shivered against the cold, but only for a brief moment until she got dressed in a very form fitting black dress. Hector preferred a cool room temperature and Lee probably just went with it. Even though Maeve had managed to cast a spell that would allow the vampire to stay up during the day without burning to his death he hardly left the house and when he did, he was dressed in dozens of layers of clothes.

The witch opened the door to their bedroom, the smell of tea and burned toast filled her nose thrills.

"Bloody hell!" Lee's cursing could be heard from their kitchen. Hastily, she crossed the hall and entered the kitchen. The stove and cutting area were covered in a cloud of dark smoke, one snap of her fingers had it dissappear into thin air. "Darling, as much as I love it when you cook, I'm not quite sure if this is going to work." She held up the almost black slice of toast and laughed. "Argh, fucking hell, I'm sorry, I had everything under control I swear, I was just looking through the fridge for a second, next thing I know this shit is on fire and your bursting in here." Maeve listened closely and patted the vampire on the shoulder. She decided not to remember him that this was the third time this week the vampire had let something burn while he was cooking.

"Are you sure your alright, darling?" "Yes." Came the prompt answer. He sat down at the kitchen table and watched her fix the mess he made. "Thanks for saving breakfast." Maeve simply shrugged and took a sip from the tea he made. It's a strong herbal tea, one she taught him to brew, it doesn't hold a special power to it, not like her potions, but it's still nice. Although Lee couldn't stomach anything else than blood, he enjoyed pampering his lovers with simple gestures like cooking for them or cleaning the apartment every once in a while.

"Ew, what's that smell?" Hector came into the kitchen after getting ready in the bathroom, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist. His hair was damp and still dribbling water droplets everywhere. "It's nothing, Lee burned some toast." The werwolf flopped down next to the vampire and gave him a kiss on the cheek. "Morning." He mumbled before going in for another kiss, attacking the vampires throat with sloppy kisses. "Stop it you affectionate puppy." Lee giggled as he pulled away. Out of the corner of her eye Maeve could see him crossing his legs almost lazily. "He's grown quite affectionate these past few days, don't you think?" She asked the vampire, turning the stove down as she finished preparing their breakfast. "Absolutely. Must be full moon coming soon." Hector looked amused between his lovers. "I'm still here and I can hear you." He remembered them, stealing a slice of toast from Maeve's plate.

She made a sound of disappointment and walked over to the fridge, grabbing the can of fresh blood to fill up a cup for Lee. The vampire thanked her as she handed it to him in a porcelain cup, it was macabre but he loved it, whatever that said about him. Breakfast was filled with chatting and laughter and all three of them cleaned up afterwards with Maeve slipping out of the room shortly to get ready in the bathroom.

"Felix should be here any minute." She remembered the two men when she walked back into the room, glancing at the clock just as they were putting the last plates aside. "I know." Hector said sniffling in the air. "He's coming up towards the front door, smelling like human again." Before she could reply the doorbell rang. She moved her hand in a swift motion. Moving or opening things was no problem for a witch as experienced as herself. Felix was the exact opposite. A young wizard who had recently discovered his magic powers, he was talented, Maeve saw that, but he was also inexperienced. The high council had decided to give him to Maeve as some sort of protégé, but so far they had only taken baby steps and it didn't exactly helped that he fell in love with a human.

The door opened soundly and the wizard stepped in, there was the sound of clothes rustling as he got rid of his dark coat before poking his head through the kitchen door.

"Good morning Maeve!" His eyes wanderd over to the two men. "Morning Hector, morning Lee." He smiled politely and stood in the door looking lost. "I- sorry for being late I uh- picked up some papers from work." Hector raised his brow at that and looked at Lee. It was clear that he wasn't buying it.

"How's the human?" Felix blushed ever so slightly. "Good, yeah Sylvester is working right now." Lee lifted his head in interested. "Oh, he's working? In the hospital?" Felix frowned. "How did you-"

"I can smell blood on your clothes and presuming it's not from either of your…" The wizard lost his frown again. "Yes, we're working at the hospita together." Lee's eyes lit up. "At the hospital? Let me guess... Pediatrician?"

Felix looked to the ground. "Actually, we're working in the morgue." The room went silent for a moment. "Oh." Was all Lee managed to say. "That's interesting, yeah absolutely. I was hoping for some free blood samples but okay maybe we can still manage something." The wizard looked horrified for a moment until he realized it wasn't his boyfriends blood the vampire was after. "Yeah, uhm, of course." He replied more slowly.

Maeve decided to step in and told her apprentice to follow her. "You did good with them." She reassured, pulling out the key to her study. "Really? I feel like I did terrible." The young man sounded tired and they hadn't even started their training. She waved him off. "Believe me. Hector is just messing with you because he could smell your boyfriend's scent on you." He flinched. "He what?!" Felix's eyes grew big.

"Werewolf's and their senses, right?" She unlocked the door and stepped in, motioning the younger man to follow her. "Come in, we'll focus on a simple potion for preventing headaches today." The younger man stepped in a bit more cautiously. The door swing shut behind him. "Shall we?"

___________________________________

"I said; where. is. the. maze?!" The huge werewolf hissed fangs mere inches from the older man's face, papers flew through the air as the wolf whipped his tail through the air, one of his claws came down on the wood table next to the older man. Dr Ford remained stoic at the sight. "I already told you, William. The maze is not meant for you. It is meant for talented, young magical creatures who are planning to do good with it's power. You can go looking for it, but you won't find it." William growled loudly, behind him, his pack grew restless.

"Now that is not exactly true isn't it, Robert? We both know Arnold knew a way to find it, and God knows he was far from good. If you give me his research, I'll let you go and we can forget about all of this." The two men stared at each other, nobody dared to do so much as breath until Ford nodded slowly.

"I… agree. I will give you his papers, but only because I know you won't be able to see behind them."

"Fuck you, Ford." The wolf shifted, a men dressed in a black suit, with black shoes and black leather gloves appearing in it's place. He looked sternly at his pack, motioning them to attack the moment something was going wrong.

The older wizard disappeared beneath his desk for a moment and came back with a leather bound book. "This is all of his research." He hesitated. "William, I do not recommend searching for the maze. Lots of people went insane searching for it. Arnold himself changed into a whole different person." The werewolf waved him off. "Arnold was weak, but I'm not. So leave me the fuck alone." He grabbed the book out of the wizards hands and turned on his heels, holding the book high for his pack to see. The wolves howled in triumph, the sound echoing through the lecture room.

"Let's go." Most of his pack stayed in their wolf form as they walzed out of the room, except for Lawrence, his right hand. He shifted into a man with dark hair and dark eyes and the hint of a beard on his tanned skin. The man eyed the book suspiciously. "Not a word." William ordered, stuffing the damned thing inside his jacket. "Okay. I'm just saying it's bad luck to go looking for the maze." William rolled his eyes. "I know the stories, Lawrence. But this is too big to let it go. You have to trust me." Lawrence crooked his head slightly, looking at his boss. "Alright, your the boss." He went ahead to get the car, leaving William on his own.

The werewolf pulled the book out again and opened the first page, revealing a pen drawing. A human-like figure inside a round maze, unlimited power, the chance to make this world even more real. They'd be able to step out of the shadows into the human world. Mortality was an interesting concept, one that could be played with should he find the center and he was going to find the maze no matter the cost.

William closed the book again and stepped out of the university into the storm going on outside.

Chapter Text

"I'll see you on Friday, don't be late again!" Maeve called warningly after Felix as the young wizard left the apartment hours later. She closed the door and sighed tiredly, leaning against the door frame.

Today hadn't been too bad, they had actually managed to make some progress. Felix asked lots of questions and even took some handwritten notes, God forbid, and she felt like the wizard wanted to learn as much as he could about the world he was now a part of. But normally a witch or wizard was trained from their childhood on to control their power, Felix had to catch up on years of training. Thank God they had given him into such experienced hands.

"Tired?" She hadn't even realized Lee was standing behind her, dressed in a comfortable looking dark blue sweater and a dark jeans, last time she had seen him he was still wearing his pyjamas.

She waved him off. "It's fine, I'll make myself a cup of tea and then we can cuddle." Lee raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have to be somewhere else tonight?" Her eyes wandered towards the clock. It was almost 6pm on a Wednesday, that was usually the time of the week they'd get together and cuddle on the couch while watching some tv. "Who's taking care of the Mariposa today?" Lee helped her patiently to finish his own thought. "Oh! Of course, I gave Clementine the night off!" How could she forget about that? Lee nodded and handed Maeve her coat and an umbrella. "You have twenty minutes so it's fine if you go now." He pulled her in for a long kiss. "I love you."

"I love you too." She grabbed her keys from their place next to the door. "I'll be back before you know it!" The witch rushed out of the door, leaving the vampire to himself. Hector had left the apartment hours ago to get some fresh air and knowing her boyfriend he would only be back around midnight.

Only ten minutes later she spotted the Mariposa from afar, a neon sign led the way. It was a simple square building with red brick walls that used to be a warehouse in the nineties. About ten years ago she had brought the building and renovated it into a bar for all kinds of creatures like witches, werewolves, shifters and even sirens. Clementine Pennyfeather was a siren herself, she was a beautiful brunette woman with big greenish blue eyes and a friendly face and a voice like satin, soft and full of love. She had been there from the start on and became somewhat of a close friend and second hand to Maeve, helping out where she could. Especially now that she was training Felix and had less time on her hands. Tonight through she had decided to take the night off to spend it with her family. It wasn't often Clem got to visit them outside the city on their small ranch so naturally Maeve had offered to take her place, although it was rare for her to still take a shift herself, she had more than enough employees to work shifts without her having to check on them every few hours.

The music was booming and could be heard from outside the building, a long queue had formed outside waiting to be let in. She entered through the small side entrance only she and a handful of other people had the code for. "Welcome back Maeve!" Carmen, another bar woman and siren greeted her when she spotted the witch coming in. "Good evening Carmen. I suppose everything's going well?" The dark skinned woman nodded, setting a couple of empty glasses aside to rinse them out. "There was a problem with some random drunk werewolf but that's it." Maeve smiled, knowing she had made the right decision to give Carmen the responsibility to look after the bar. "Did someone get hurt?" Carmen shook her head. "No, just a scratch on the inventory. I already called someone they'll have it fixed by tomorrow."

"Alright thank you for doing that, but now it's time to go home, get some sleep, Clem is coming again tomorrow." Carmen grabbed her purse and patted Maeve on the shoulder. "If you need any help just ring, I can come down to the club in a couple of minutes." She said and closed the door behind herself. Maeve was left to tend to the bar herself. Well partially herself, the barkeeper was there as well but he was currently busy with a literal pack of wolves.

Something strange catched Maeve's eye. Someone had carved a human shape into the wooden counter. She frowned, her fingers gliding over the strange drawing. Memories flashed before her eyes. She was a child sitting in her teachers class. Doctor Ford stood in front of her, holding up an old leather bound book that looked like it was going to be falling apart any minute. "This young lady, is the maze." She used her fingers to trace over the round circles cautiously as to not destroy the book. "What does it mean?" The wizard smiled. "It is an ancient symbol, not many know what it truly means." She looked up from the drawing with big eyes. "But you do, right Doctor Ford?" He hummed. "Of course I do. But… I'm not sure if this is the right time to talk about it."

"Why not?" He closed the book again and let it disappear into thin air. "The maze is a dangerous thing, too many people lost their sanity to it." He stopped in his tracks as if he himself got lost inside an old memory. "Perhaps I will teach you another day, now let's focus on the potion we were making. Healing mortal wounds-"

She quickly withdrew her fingers, staring down at the maze in a mixture of curiousness and horror. It was no coincidence someone had drawn it on the counter, the maze meant nothing good. "Could you please cover this up?" She asked the barkeeper once he was done serving his guests. He nodded. "Of course. Damned werewolf carved it in here while I was busy. We're lucky Carmen noticed and threw her out." Maeve only half listened. "Yeah what a shame if we'd had to replace the entire thing." She stroked the mark one more time before turning on her heels. "I'll be in my office. Call me if you need help at the bar."

The witch hurried into the back of the club and opened her laptop. Just because she was a witch didn't meant that human inventions were banned from using, in fact Lee was quite fascinated by the tablet they had given him last christmas and Hector was constantly sending her goofy messages on her phone so yeah technology had it's perks.

She opened the camera they had installed at the bar after the last robbery, the funny thing about it was that Hector had been the last person that tried to robb her but he was a different man back then. Wild and unsettled, smelling like woods and nature, he lived practically on the street, spending almost the entire day in his wolf form, hunting or traveling. The scar on his cheek that went all the way up to his temple remembered them about these times every day. He hadn't choosed to let the wolf take over, but after Isabella's death-

Maeve exhaled shakily. If it hadn't been for her patience and good will, the werewolf might had gone back into the wild and never returned. But after she gladly took him in, gave him a bath, three regular meals and showered him in unconditionally love he choosed her and a couple months later he choosed Lee as well and their small apartment that was way too overpacked with flowers and antiques and sunday brunches at their favorite restaurant and lazy morning sex with all three of them enjoying themselves, laughing and talking in hushed voices.

A beeping from the computer reminded the witch about her current mission. Find whoever carved the maze into her counter. She went through hours of material in a couple of minutes, skipping uninteresting parts. Then about two hours ago, a person had entered the bar. A woman, young, with shoulder long brown hair and brown eyes. She was wearing a long, black dress, that didn't really fitted into the Mariposa her wavy hair was in a braid. She didn't looked suspicious at first, not until she took out the large hunting knife that was hidden under her dress and looked straight into the camera. Her eyes seemed to stare right at Maeve, as if she knew the woman would see this, sending a shiver over the witches back. Her lips moved. "Be careful." She mouthed at the camera before ramming the knife into the wood in a couple of quick strokes. Minutes passed until Carmen spotted the woman and threw her out which was met with no resistance from the strangers side. Maeve repeated the sequence again and again and again. Who was this woman?

If it hadn't been for the barkeeper she would have forgotten about the time altogether. "Maeve, it's getting late, we should close up." The grey haired man said, drying his hands on the apron tied around his waist. "Yes of course." She turned the computer off and grabbed her belongings. Locking the room behind her. "Oh, one more thing, if you see the werewolf again that did this." She pointed at the carving. "Please don't throw her out, contact me instead. I need to talk to her." The barkeeper nodded and held the door open for her to slip out. She thanked him before calling a taxi home.

The lights were dimmed in her shared apartment, some leftovers forgotten on the table. Maeve tisked and quickly put them in the fridge before they'd turn bad on the kitchen table. Neither of her lovers were still awake, instead they lied naked on top of each other in their king size bed, sleeping. Lee barely cracked an eye open when she entered. "Your late." He slurred. "I'm sorry, I was held up. Did you two had fun?" Lee looked down to were his and Hector's hands were interwined, not meeting her eyes. "Would have been more fun with you joining." She giggled, shoving off her shoes before getting rid of her black A-line dress. Lee watched her without blinking. "What?" She asked curious. The vampire startled. "What? Nothing, it's nothing. You- you just look really beautiful like this." The witch blushed at her lovers words. "Come to bed, it's been a long day."

"I know." She somehow managed to wriggle her body into the mess of limbs and sighed satisfied as the warmth seeped into her body. Hector mumbled something neither of them could understand before going back to sleep. "Lee, do you know what the Maze is?" She whispered into the darkness. The vampire made a surprised noise. "I have not a single fucking clue." He yawned. "But I'm sure it's nothing."

She didn't responded. "Maybe your right." Maybe she was exaggerating. But she just couldn't shake the feeling off that something big was going on, something neither of them knew about. Maybe it was time to visit Doctor Ford and ask him about the Maze. Whatever it was he had keep from her all those years ago, it had to be important.

Chapter Text

The sound of growling echoed through the large warehouse. The lights had been dimmed long ago, most of his pack had wandered off to get some sleep or to hunt for themselves in the woods that loomed behind the building. William stayed up, studying the leather bound book Ford had given him.

It held lots of informations about all kinds of creatures. Vampires, Ghouls, Demons, all kinds of legendary ones like selkies, unicorns or merfolk that people hadn't heard about in ages let alone encountered them. Arnold had collected every bit of information he could find. There was lots of other things written as well. Dates of importance, doodles, things he tried to remember. One page was almost completely whipped out, but he had managed to decipher the first few words "My beloved Robert, I can feel how close I am to discover the Maze, we made huge progress I know you don't-" After that the words got too smudged for him to read. He flipped to the next page, it was a hand drawn portrait of a young woman. She looked younger in the drawing, even younger then when he first met her, almost like a child. It had been years since he last saw her but he recognized her in an instant. Dolores Abernathy. The werewolf sucked in a sharp breath, he always knew the past would eventually catch up to him.

…

He was younger back then, a man in his prime that had graduated college a few years prior. With witty blue eyes and full, light brown hair, slim and not exactly muscular, maybe that's why he had enjoyed reading books in front of the gigantic library window, bathing in the warm sunlight, instead of joining the other students in their football game outside the building while he was still studying. Some people liked to call him a nerd. Logan did.

Logan was his fiance's brother. He was beautiful, even William had to admit that, with dark hair like Juliette, he was fell fitted and a total heartthrob. Juliette was not much different to her brother. He met Juliette in college and was instantly smitten by the young woman. Only half a year later he was asking her to be his wife. They moved into a small house at the edge of town, not far from her father's estate, went to fancy dinner parties every weekend and made plans for a baby. Life was good for William. Until the day his car broke down before he went to work. The damned motor wasn't starting and he was in a hurry so he decided to say fuck it and take the train, just like he did back when he was in college, because it was less than an hour to get to work so everything was fine, the train wasn't too full and he got there on time. Work was boring but the pay check was worth it so he didn't minded.

It started to rain just when he walked out of the office, sighing William had decided to wait a few moments longer to see if it would stop. It didn't. In fact it only got worse and soon he had to hurry through the streets, his jacket soaked, hair wet and sticking to his forehead. When he got to the train station, his train had just departed and the next one was supposed to arrive in four hours. And he decided that he could just walk back to Juliette's and his house and yes, he could have called a taxi or even called Juliette's father because he had more than enough cars that he could send over to help him out. But after waiting at the train station for half an hour he noticed the rain had stopped pouring and instead decided to walk the couple of blocks. "Some fresh air will be good for you." He had told himself, grabbing the messenger bag more firmly. The darkness that creeped over the houses didn't bothered him.

He was never the athletic type, but he managed to walk for good twenty minutes without breaking into a sweat. A trashing sound made him turn around. "Hello?" He stood still for a moment. His breathing the only sound audible. Of course nobody answered. "Probably just the wind." He had told himself, mostly to calm down his nerves and started walking again. Another sound that made his heart race. Steps. Steps that came closer.

William started to run, throwing the messenger bag off his shoulder, he bolted down the street. His attacker was apparently underestimating him. The steps grew faster but William just kept on running, he made it an entire block down before his attacker got a hold of him.

The first thing he felt was a sharp knife to his upper leg that made him scream in pain. He fell hard on his side and slipped in a puddle of his own blood when he tried to get up, not able to apply any pressure to the hurt leg. Something dribbled onto his cheek, warm and wet, and with a metallic smell, he felt nauseous. His attacker was holding him down, face pressed into the concrete he was going through William's pockets, a voice croaked into his ear. He couldn't understand the words it was like this person was talking some sort of gibberish. Another sharp pain that made his vision turn white and his eyes water as he was stabbed in the back, this time the knife didn't pulled out and instead tightened it's grip and to his horror he realized that it wasn't a knife holding him in place, it was a claw.

William screamed when the claw retreated and he was turned around and looked into the eyes of a wolf. "That's impossible!" He screamed hysterically trying to throw the wolf off. He didn't wanted to die, especially not like this, torn apart by a wild animal. The wolf lowered it's head blood and saliva landing on his chest, growling it's eyes focussing on something in the distance.

"Huh?" William asked shakily when the wolf hastily stepped off of him and speed away into the nearest alley, howling in defeat. The brown haired man didn't trusted the wolf, he knew some animals liked to play with their prey. A pained groan escaped him when he tried to get up, his back aching. The pool of blood around him was growing bigger and bigger and he knew it would only take a couple more minutes until he'd die of blood loss. "H-help! I need help!" He tried to scream in a broken voice doubting it would alarm anyone. The wolf was watching him from the alley with it's huge yellow eyes glowing in the darkness.

He moved his legs again, shutting his eyes against the pain. "Shhhh." A soft voice said before a warm hand was pressed onto his body. "It'll be okay." He opened his eyes slowly, doubting his vision. This had to be a dream.

There in front of him kneeled a beautiful woman, she couldn't be much older than he was, her long blonde hair was flowing like gold over her shoulder, blue eyes focussed on the wound on his leg, her eyebrows frowned slightly as she took in the sight in front of her. Despite the immense pain he was in, William couldn't help but feel his stomach warm at the sight of the beautiful woman. "It's going to be alright." She said and her voice sounded so confident, he believed her, feeling himself relaxing.

Maybe he was a bit too relaxed because his eyes fell shut on their own accord and he was pulled into a dreamless sleep.

When he woke up after God knew how much hours, he was lying inside a small crampy bedroom that looked like it belonged into a different century. An easel stood in one corner of the room, different sets of acrylic paints were lying around it. Next to the easel was a small bookshelf, overflowing with books and papers. The window was open and fresh air was blowing steadily inside. He rolled onto his side, feeling his back ache dully as the bed creaked under him.

"Oh, your awake." A voice said in a gentle tone then a person slowly entered the room. William turned his head, aching in pain over the enormous headache he only noticed just now. "Wh-" His mouth was dry and voice broken. "What happened?" He slurred, swallowing a few times around the lump in his throat. "How did we get here?" Shouldn't he be in a hospital? The woman closed the window and sat down on a chair next to the bed and handed him a mug. William was instantly drawn to the woman. "I- thanks for saving me from that animal. I didn't knew there were wild wolves in the suburbans." He took a tentatively sip before deciding it was okay to drink whatever this woman had given him. She didn't responded to his words but instead looked confused for a moment. "They're not. You were attacked by a werewolf not an animal."

He nearly spit the drink right out of his mouth and on himself. "I'm sorry I might have a concussion because I just heard you say the word werewolf. I mean that can't possibly be-" She sighed and snipped her fingers. The acrylics next to the easel moved.

At first he thought he was hallucinating. A brush was picked up by some invisible force and started moving up and down the blank canvas that stood against the easel, dipping into various colors. "How-" He opened and closed his mouth like a fish gasping for air. This went on for at least three more minutes, then the brush came flying over towards them and landed in the woman's hands. And a second later everything was back to normal, the acrylics stopped moving and the room stood still once more.

"I-" She held out her hand. "I never introduced myself. Dolores Abernathy, I'm a witch." He took Dolores hand carefully still doubting this strange encounter. A witch? And werwolves were real? That was hardly possible. "William…" He said slowly, not breaking eye contact. "I'm sorry, it's not often I talk to humans." He nodded. "I noticed." Just roll with it, William. He told himself. "That wolf shouldn't have attacked you. Humans are off limits for them. For everyone. But not all creatures stick to the rules. I guess we're not any different to your kind." He crooked his head slightly, strands of brown hair falling into his eyes. This whole story was fucked up, but for some reason he started to believe her. "So your a- a witch." Dolores nodded. "Did you move those paints?" She beamed at him. "Did you like it? It's an easy trick, my daddy showed it to me when I was a little girl." He smiled warmly at her tone. The witch seemed like a honest person.

"What did you draw?" She blushed slightly, turning away. "I- It's not finished yet." He shrugged. "I don't care." She stood up slowly and crossed the room, grabbing the canvas with both hands. "Promise you won't get mad." He frowned.

"Dolores, why would I get-" She turned the canvas. It was a picture of himself and it was absolutely stunning. The picture showed him lying on the bed, still asleep. It looked so lifelike that he could almost picture himself opening his eyes any moment to look at himself. "Oh wow. That is amazing." Dolores didn't met his eyes. "You think so?" He nodded in earnest. "Dolores, I've never seen a painting as good as this one. You're amazing." He couldn't stop himself from saying those last words, instantly regretting them.

The tip of his ears burned as did his cheeks and he could feel a blush creeping up his neck. "I- I mean…" The witch lowered the painting and walked over to him. Gently, she took his hands into her smaller ones. "I'm glad I saved you from that wolf." Her thumbs stroked over his skin. "Your something special, William."

…

He shook his head, trying to get rid of the memory. Whatever he and Dolores had shared all those years ago, was long gone.

"Lawrence!" William called out into the darkness knowing his second in command was hiding somewhere in the warehouse. A dark grey wolf slipped from the shadows, smaller than most of his packmates, with gentle, dark eyes and soft, long fur. "You called, boss?" He showed the drawing to the wolf. "We need to visit an old friend of mine."

Chapter Text

It was pretty chilly when Maeve got out of the taxi she and her partners had used to get to the university Doctor Ford was teaching at. Lee was covered in layers of clothing, a thick wool sweater, jacket, soft grey pants and elegant shoes. A stark contrast to Hector, who was dressed in a simple black t-shirt, dark jeans and boots, despite the cold wind.

The werewolf had his arms drapped over both of his lovers his thumb caressing Maeve's cheek almost lazily. He stopped and sniffled the air before they opened the old wooden door. "Something's not right. I can smell another pack." Maeve frowned. "Someone we know?" He sniffled again. "I don't know. It's… hard to describe, I don't think I've ever smelled this pack before, but there's something else…" He trailed off, inspecting the door, hands stroking over what looked like a claw mark. Maeve decided not to comment on it, despite the bad feeling in her gut and went inside. The room looked exactly like the last time she was here as a young girl. Wooden tables and stools stood around facing the huge blackboard at the front. It looked totally normal for any human entering, only Maeve and her partners could see the secret door at the back that would lead to another room in which she had learned different potions and curses, only the harmless stuff of course.

"Ah. Miss Millay, I was already expecting you." Doctor Ford had appeared almost out of thin air from inside the attached room. He looked up from the book in his hands. "I see, you brought some friends." He studied Lee for a long time which didn't exactly helped against Maeve's bad feeling. "Yes… friends." She parroted slowly and prayed Lee would let it be. She knew the vampire didn't liked to hide their relationship. Hector had catched up with them and was now standing on her other side, scanning the room for any threats. "I come to talk about the Maze." She took a few steps closer, holding up her hand to motion Hector and Lee to stay where they were. Doctor Ford took off his reading glasses and folded them in his hand. "I see…" He put the book down onto the table in front of the class and held out a hand. "How about we go somewhere more private?" The witch looked back at her lovers before she nodded and took the older wizards hand. The next moment they where in the wizards study on the other side of the campus.

"Tea?" He held up a white porcelain cup. She thanked him and took it. "So you want to know more about the Maze." The wizard frowned slightly and rummaged in his desk drawer. "Tell me, Miss Millay, do you remember a man named Arnold?" He handed her an old photograph. It showed a much younger version of Ford, arm in arm with another man. He looked nice, with short dark hair, dark skin and a friendly face. The glasses on his face looked like they threatened to fall off any moment and he wore a simple dark suit and tie. At the bottom of the photograph it read "Arnold and Ford 1980". The witch tilted her head. "I'm sorry I- I've never seen this man before." The older wizard took the photograph back with a hum, his thumb stroking over the worn piece of paper. "That's quite alright my dear, no need to worry. Arnold has long been forgotten by everyone. Except for me. He was a teacher, much like me, we studied magical creatures together. He was my partner. In more ways than one." Maeve blinked in surprise. "But you never told me-"

"Because, Arnold choose a different path. A darker one. He was a gentle man, the students loved him, but then his son Charlie got sick. He lost everything. Charlie, his wife, the house and then he learned about the Maze, and wanted to use it to bring his son Charlie back from the dead. You see, the Maze holds the key to unlimited power, imagine you could choose to be say, a shapeshifter, or a witch. The Maze gives you the power to change your magical abilities. Even humans can get magical powers through it. But it comes with a price. See, the Maze itself doesn't have the power to give you all these abilities, it provides you with strength and all the knowledge you'll need to get more powerful but to get them you'd have to absorb another person's power."

Maeve's eyes widened in shock. "I never heard that that's even possible." Doctor Ford nodded and proceeded. "It is. That's what Arnold was after, he was hoping that one of these creatures was able to bring his Charlie back. But he got lost on his way. The good cause was replaced with his wish to be more and more powerful. Until he went insane." The wizard sighed when he was finished, looking unbelievably sad. "So he died?" It was a hard question to ask but she needed to know. "No, not exactly. Arnold is dead, but his body is still on this earth. I'm surprised you haven't met him yet-" The door opened soundly to reveal a man with short dark hair, dark skin and glasses. "Ah Doctor Ford, I was looking for you all over the campus. See I got these papers that need to be signed by you." Maeve had to remember herself to breath, her heart hammered in her chest. The man in front of her looked exactly like Arnold had in the picture. Not a day older.

"Bernard! Right on time. Of course, just put them on my desk and I'll hand them back later." The man nodded and smiled at Maeve as he put the papers next to Ford's steaming tea cup. "I'll be on my way then." He left the room without anything else, closing the door soundly. "I- that was him!" She studdered once she was sure Bernard was gone. "How can this be? And how can he look like-"

"Like a ghost? A perfect copy? In a way that's what he is. Once Arnold had gained enough power, he created a spell that was supposed to bring back his son, he created a passage into the underworld. But he overestimated his powers. When the portal closed and Charlie was still dead, Arnold had lost his mind. He tried to convince me, that the Maze was helping him create something of a great beauty. But I turned him away, maybe that was my mistake. A week later he killed himself."

"So you brought him back?" Maeve ushered unsure. Did the older wizard use the Maze's power to bring Arnold back? Ford smiled sadly. "No my dear. Arnold brought himself back. I never figured out how he made it, maybe he had help. Or maybe his powers did helped him retrieve a dead person after all, who knows. Bernard appeared on the campus one day, he was muddy and looked like he'd just crawled out of a grave. He had no memory of his past life and no magic, he's was just… human. I called him Bernard. Bernard Lowe."

Maeve repeated the name slowly. "Arnold Weber. Bernard Lowe. It's an anagram for his own name!" Ford nodded. "You've always been one of my brightest." Although he had explained everything she needed to know Maeve felt like there were things the older man kept from her. "Now, shall we?" He took the empty cup from her and gently took her hand into his. "Oh. One more thing. The werewolf and the vampire are-"

"Just two good friends." She reassured hastily. Ford took his time to reply. "Good." A moment later they were back in the classroom where Lee and Hector were sitting on a bench, talking. "Your back!" Hector had to visibly hold himself back not to kiss her. "I got what I needed. Thank you Doctor Ford." The older wizard waved her off slightly. "I want you to take this." He handed her a small leather bound book he had picked up from underneath the table he had sat on. "I did my own research on the Maze. It's not as detailed as Arnold's research but I'm sure you will find everything you need in there." The witch pressed the book firmly against her chest. "Thank you." She breathed.

The car ride home was silent. Maeve felt dizzy and she let her head rest against the cold passenger window. The book laid firmly in her lap. Untouched.

The taxi stopped and Hector opened the door for both of his partners to get out. "Are you alright?" He asked the witch softly, pressing his face into the nape of her neck. "Just a bit sick. I'll be fine. Let's-"

"Hi Maeve!" A familiar voice called out from across the street. Lee's shoulders slumped against Maeve's chest as he mumbled under his breath.

"Oh for fucks sake."

Across the street stood Felix, dressed in a long black coat, jeans and black boots, one arm was interwined with another man, slightly broader, with ginger hair and a beard. The stranger was looking skeptically to where Maeve and her partners had just gotten out of the car, his lips pressed into a firm line. They quickly crossed the street to get to them. "Felix! What a surprise, I wasn't expecting you." The younger wizard waved her off. "We were close by and I thought we could stop around. I- actually I wanted to talk to you about something." The way his hands fidgeted nervously showed her it was serious so she pushed the nauseous feeling in her stomach aside and unlocked the door.

"This is my partner, Sylvester, by the way." Sylvester waved at the group but didn't said a word. He looked quite uncomfortable. "So- you're a- a witch?" He asked as they made their way up the stairs. "And these two-?" Maeve unlocked the apartment door, which swung open with a loud squeak. "These two, have names and they're not exactly fond of being talked about when they're around. But if you insist." She motioned the two men to hang their coats up before striding into their living room. "This is Hector Escaton, a werewolf, and my partner." Hector had flopped down on their sofa and looked slightly annoyed about the visitors. "And this is-"

"I'm Lee. Lee Sizemore." The vampire held out his hand and smiled, showing off his fangs. Maeve could have sworn Sylvester flinched before he took the hand and shook it. "I'm also Maeve's partner." He said briskly and interwined their hands. "See, that's the vampire and the werewolf I told you about. No need to worry. Just take a seat and I talk to Maeve." Felix's hands were on his boyfriend's shoulders as he shoved him gentle but firmly further into the room and sat him down in a chair before looking back at Maeve.

"Alright, Felix and I are going to talk, you three, behave!" She ordered, fearing not only for her decor but the safety of their human visitor. She lead the way into the small kitchen and sat down at the table, motioning Felix closer.

"Alright, spill it. What's going on?" She took both of his hands gently into hers to try and calm him down. "Something weird happened yesterday. You know how I work in the morgue? Well there was a guy yesterday, his relative or something had died, so we let him see the body. He looked at the body and then he went to me and told me he was a werewolf and could smell human on me. He- jesus- he was really freaking me out. He asked me some really personal questions, I didn't knew what to say, I was terrified."

"So what did you do?" Felix's head sunk. "Nothing. He got so loud that the hospital noticed and send security in to get him. I never experienced that before, what was that all about?" Maeve braced herself for the talk that was about to follow. "Alright, I suppose now is as good as it gets." She took in a deep breath. "Felix, do you remember how I told you to move out of Sylvester's apartment when you told me you two were seeing each other? Or how Hector reacted when he smelled him on your clothes?" The wizard nodded. "I didn't do it out of spite. It was to protect you. What I really was trying to tell you was that human - non human couples are frowned upon, if your in the wrong place you can get into serious trouble for it." Poor Felix opened and closed his mouth like a fish that had been pulled out of the water and Maeve felt even worse than she did during the car ride. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I- I didn't wanted to cut you loose from your past life. I know how hard that would have been on you. It's just not fair. Besides, being in a relationship with both a vampire and a werewolf isn't exactly any better."

She could feel the young wizard squeezing her hands in empathy. "So what do we do now? Erase his memory?" He took in a sharp breath, tensing. "Are you going to hurt him?" And the look in his eyes showed clearly that if she'd try anything like that he'd be there to pick up a fight. "Don't be silly. I would never. I'd say we let everything be just the way it is. I can make you a potion that hides your smell from other creatures." She smiled brightly as an idea formed in her head. "Actually, why don't you make the potion? With my help of course."

The wizard seemed sceptical. "Oh no, I don't think that's a good idea."

She ignored the doorbell ringing and Hector calling "I'll take it!" As she snapped her fingers to teleport the huge spell book over from her study. "Give yourself some credit, darling. You've made some amazing progress in the past-" Before she could flip it open though, her eyes catched a glimpse of blonde, almost white hair that flew past the open door. Armistice was rushing right into the living room with their human visitor in it.

"Oh shit!" There was a loud banging sound and then someone screamed.

Chapter Text

"Jesus fucking Christ!" A male voice screamed loudly, then the sound of footsteps and something falling could be heard, alarming both Maeve and Felix. "Oh please no!" Felix groaned and hurried out of the kitchen and into the living room, Maeve hot on his heels.

The door swung open with a loud bang. Armistice had pinned Sylvester to the opposite wall, despite the fact that she was much shorter than him, her head snapped back when she heard Maeve entering. "What is this human doing in here?" She pressed out through gritted teeth. Her wife Hanaryo was standing in the door next to Maeve staring helplessly. "Calm down, Okiniiri." She tried in a soft voice inching closer. "Shhh." Her hand touched Armistice's shoulder, inching her off the human slowly. "We don't want to spill any blood in Maeve's house." The white haired woman sighed, the tension started to leave her body as she leaned into her wife. "I'm sorry for that." She mumbled, voice muffled by Hanaryo's shoulder. Her blue eyes stared at Maeve as she said that. The witch nodded. "Thank you for releasing him."

She knew that Hector's pack wasn't too keen about meeting humans. They preferred to be left alone. Which wasn't too hard considering they were only three people. Hector claimed to be the leader, but everyone knew it really was Armistice. The woman was a force of nature. Blonde, almost white hair and blue eyes, she wasn't the tallest but her body was muscular and trained. She had a giant tattoo that ran all the way down from head to toe. Starting at her temple it disappeared down her throat, but Maeve suspected it to extend all the way around the rest of her body as well. It was a masterpiece. A snake, red and beautiful. Her wife was the exact opposite. Dark hair and dark eyes, with a giant, ink black dragon tattoo on her face that travelled down her chin, Armistice had met her on a travel to Japan many years ago. Armistice was young, she had lost her parents as a child although she never told Maeve what happened, and Hector kept it a secret, she suspected it was something truly horrifying that had happened on that day. The woman didn't trusted so easily so whatever Hanaryo had done when they first met it had to be something big.

After she came back home neither Armistice nor Hanaryo could stop thinking about each other and only four months later, Hanaryo flew all the way to live with Armistice. They had met Hector shortly after he came to live with Maeve and Lee, in the Mariposa. Armistice got into a bar fight, Hector helped her fight of half a dozen men with bare hands. When they were done, Armistice took his hand and thanked him and then she left, Hanaryo in tow. They came back the next day, ordered three beers, one for Hector, and talked. They left when the bar was about to close and returned the next evening. And the day after that and somehow, somewhere in-between decided to hunt together at night as their own small pack. Maeve didn't knew what they saw in going out into the woods at night, hunting small animals or just pacing through the wilderness, but it was good for Hector to get out with friends, and she knew Armistice was strong and capable of keeping them save, if she needed to, she'd harm anyone who'd dare to disturb their freedom.

Apparently that's what Sylvester was doing right now in her eyes. The poor human was shivering, he didn't dared to move, not even when Felix went up to him and tried to calm him down.

"Keep this… psychopath off me!" He pointed towards Armistice who growled in response, which had Sylvester shutting his mouth rather abruptly. Felix looked beyond uncomfortable. "I- shit- Maeve I think it's best if we'd leave." The witch nodded and stepped out of the doorway to let the two men pass. All eyes laid on them as they made their way through the corridor, put on their coats and left through the apartment door. "Your friends are fucking psychos." Was the last thing that could be heard before the door clicked shut and the five were on their own.

"Well that went wonderful." Lee said sarcastically as he grabbed an old book and seated himself on a rocking chair. "Lee!" Maeve warned her lover through gritted teeth. "What? It's the truth!" Hector nodded in agreement.

"Humans and Werewolves… this can't go well…" And Maeve had to stop herself from groaning in frustration because they were right, how could she ever think that bringing a human into their world would be a good idea?

"I'll talk to Felix again next time he gets here."

"If he even does that. Poor guy looked pretty shaken in my opinion." Yes, thanks for your positivity Lee, Maeve thought sarcastically. "Armistice… why did you reacted so badly? Was there a reason?" The blonde woman looked towards the ground, her hands balled into fists. "It's okay, we can trust Maeve." Hanaryo reassured her. Even Lee looked up from his book and leaned forward slightly.

The blonde woman took in a deep breath. "When I was a little girl, my parents were killed by a group of… other werewolves. It was a- strange pack. The leader was rumored to be born human but changed into a werewolf. He had a companion. I don't remember their face, or if it was a men or a woman, all I remember is their name. Wyatt." She spat those last words out, lifting her eyes to stare into the distance, as if she was beginning to get lost in a memory. "They killed my mother first, tore her into pieces, I had to paint myself in her blood to make it look like I was dead as well."

"No." Maeve said softly, her eyes going wide. "I've been on the hunt for them since that day and when the time comes I will paint my skin again, in their blood." She ended her story, leaving the rest of the group shocked and silent. Maeve didn't knew what to say. She couldn't remember much of her own parents, but Doctor Ford felt like the closest she had to a father figure. She tried to imagine what it would have felt like to go through what Armistice had. It was heartbreaking and finally she understood Armistice's hatred for humans and why she preferred to be alone.

"But.. that doesn't explain why you attacked Sylvester. I mean sure that man was annoying but I can't see why he would trigger such a reaction in you. I mean your surrounded by humans all the time." Lee said, the book lying on his lap, forgotten.

Armistice nodded, her eyes still held on a spot somewhere only she could see. "It wasn't him. It was… something on him. I thought I smelled Wyatt there for a minute and I guess I just lashed out." That was interesting. Maeve remembered Felix words about what had happened in the morgue. Could it be possible that the werewolf had been in Wyatt's pack? She decided not to say anything until she had proof, there was no need to worry their pack. Armistice would be cautious enough the next few days.

The witch held her hand out in sympathy, Armistice took it and squeezed. "We're here for you."

"Thank you, Maeve." The blonde woman leaned back to snuggle against her wife's front, turning her head to inhale her scent. "It's getting late, how about I'll make us some drinks and we can order take out?" The witch instantly grabbed the telephone from where it had laid on the coffee table.

"Remember, no garlic." Lee told her as she waited for her call to be taken, the witch rolled her eyes half hearted and shushed him when she heard another voice answering her.

- - -

"Dolores!" William walked back into the small house he had slept in last night, a bunch of wild flowers held in his hand. He had wandered out during the day to have a look around. To his own surprise it didn't looked like they were anywhere close to the suburbans, in fact, Dolores home seemed to stand somewhere on the outskirts of it, the brunette had sighed and closed his eyes for a moment when he remembered that he practically threw his bag away which held his wallet and keys.

He had roamed through the gardens for some time, inspecting the bushes and trees. It was the beginning of spring but Dolores garden seemed overflowing with life already. He had sat underneath a tree for some time, inspecting his leg where not even a bruise was left from the terrible flesh wound he had suffered just over a day ago.

After what felt like an eternity, William had gotten up and decided to walk back towards the house, picking up a bunch of flowers on his way. They would look nice on Dolores kitchen table, he decided.

Upon entering, the witch was nowhere to be seen. The kitchen was empty and so was the living room and the spare bedroom he had slept in last night. William frowned. "Dolores?!" He tried again, noticing a ray of light shining from underneath him. There must be some sort of cellar. He thought, hands reaching out to feel for a knob. He found a statue that wouldn't move off the shelf in front of him and decided to pull it towards him. The entire shelf suddenly gave way and he stared, mouth agape at the sight of stairs leading down into semi darkness. He walked slowly, mindful of the dust and spiders above him, the flowers still held in one hand. "Dolores?" He asked once more when he reached the end of the staircase, finding the witch sitting on a chair. The room was completely emtpy expect for that and another chair that faced the first one.

"Oh!" Dolores startled at the sound of his footsteps behind her. "I'm sorry I forgot you were here. I was talking to an old friend." She motioned over to the other seat. William raised an eyebrow. Maybe it was because he was human but it didn't looked like there was anyone else in the room. Maybe Dolores friend was just shy and hid himself. He decided and handed her the flowers. "Oh my!" The witch took them hesitantly and closed her eyes as she inhaled the scent. "They're beautiful. Thank you, William." A blush was spreading on her beautiful face and William couldn't help the warm feeling from spreading in his belly.

"So..." He cleared his throat. "You have a secret cellar." The witch set the flowers on the chair she had been sitting on. "I'm sorry I forgot to mention, it can only be seen by other witches or wizards. This is were I go to-"

"To brew potions in a giant pot while laughing manically?" He joked and she laughed. It was a beautiful laugh and William knew how wrong it was but he felt himself falling deeper and deeper for the witch. "No, silly, I have lots of books down here, herbals and yes, a pot to brew some mixtures. Here let me show you-" She reached out a hand towards one of the walls. A book appeared out of the blue in her hands. "This is a book about different spells." She flipped through the pages, and William watched her with a smile on his face. Then he noticed something else.

There was something drawn on the last page. "What's that?" He asked curiously, pointing at the small hand drawn drawing. "Oh that? That's nothing, just something my friend and I have been experimenting with."

"Really? How did it go?"

The witch looked away not sure if she should tell him or not. "Hey, I'm not pressing you, if you dont want to tell me that's fine." The human said gently, but Dolores waved him off.

"No, I- Arnold said I shouldn't tell anyone, but- I- I feel like I can trust you." She pointed at the drawing. "This is called "the Maze"…"

- - -

A knock on the door had Dolores look up from the painting she was just working on. "I'm coming!" She announced setting the brush aside and walked down the old staircase to open the door. Maybe Teddy was coming over to visit her?

The door opened soundly, revealing a face she hadn't seen in a long time.

"Hello Dolores."

Chapter Text

The teapot came flying by itself.

Lawrence had to dodge out of the way before he'd been hit by the colourful ceramic pot as it made it's way through the kitchen into the sitting room. Dolores was still standing in the kitchen, humming to herself prepared some coffee to set the table. "I'm sorry William I didn't knew you would bring friends." She apologized innocently and there was something deeply unsettling to Lawrence. Sure, William was his boss, but he was starting to question the werewolves methods. "You sure this is a good idea, boss?" He murmured close to the other man's ear, who waved him off and pulled a face of annoyance. "Yes, you dumb idiot, I planned this for weeks now if you could stop asking such dumb questions, I fear we might accidentally disable the spell I put her under if she starts getting suspicious." William shushed him sternly.

The smaller henchman nodded and leaned back against the wall, taking in the view of the witch serving William some coffee and cake, it looked wrong. "Does your friend want some?" She asked, holding a piece of cake in front of Lawrence face. The cake looked delicious and made his mouth water but he wasn't sure if he should take it. "I uh-"

"Sure, why not, come take a seat." The older man said and basically dragged him onto a chair. Dolores smiled as if nothing happened. "It's nice that you came to visit. How long has it been? Two months?" William went with it and nodded, not showing any signs that their latest encounter had been years ago. "Yeah, sorry I couldn't come here sooner." His voice was softer then normally and somehow it send shivers down Lawrence back. He hurried to eat his cake before he hastily got up and excused himself. "Sorry boss, gotta do some calls." He nodded at Dolores and rushed out of the house feeling nauseous. Somehow he had started to question his leader and considering what happened to the last person who questioned him, he sure as hell wasn't going to let his doubts grow.

Was the Maze worth all of this? All the violence they had been spreading the past few weeks, he felt like something wasn't right. But William had told him he had a plan, and he trusted his boss. The werewolf took out a pack of cigarettes but hastily put them away again when he remembered that William told him not to dare so much as breath. He found a bench right next to the entrance and sat down heels kicking in the gravel below. It didn't took William long to return to him through, Dolores in tow. The witch had changed out of the dress she had been wearing and instead wore a simple pair of brown trousers and a white shirt. "Alright William. I'm ready." She announced and Lawrence wondered what exactly the two had talked about in the short time. He decided to ask the werewolf once they were on their way back to the car.

"So, she's on our side?" William shushed him and turned to look at Dolores for a second. "Course she is, that was a powerful spell, thank fuck that stupid idiot Arnold wrote everything into his diary, he opened the door for Dolores to enter, catching a glimpse of the two of them in the mirror. He was old, much older than Dolores by appearance. The man in the mirror wore all black, topped of with a black hat that concealed what was left of his hair, but to Dolores it must look like only days hat passed since she had last seen him. He had returned to tell her some sweet, sweet lies and luckily, she took the bait.

"Dolores, I need your help. I was doing my research on the Maze but I can't go on, not without you. I need you to take me to the high council. I want to ask them to let me study the Maze." The witch had gladly agreed and changed into a different outfit. "Alright William, I gave you these informations, it's only fair that I'll help you. Especially since you have no magics. We'll get you to the council and I'll ask if there's anything they can do. We might need to make a run for it, they might not even take us in for an audience." The werewolf had simply smiled. "Don't worry Dolores, I know about the dangers." This isn't the first time we're doing this. He had nearly added, but pushed past these old memories, that was years ago. He had been a different person back then.

"Here let me." He opened the passenger side for Dolores and let her into the car, leaving only the back for Lawrence. The henchman had to suppress a groan of frustration when he hopped into the backseat, checking if his gun was still on his hip. It was. Not that he was planning to use it. They needed brains to get into the high council, not brawn's. William shot him a look through the mirror. "Alright Dolores, uh, please show me the way…"

- - -

Maeve rubbed her eyes tiredly as she set the dishes aside. Armistice and Hanaryo had left about half an hour ago, leaving only Hector, Lee and Maeve. They had sat in silence for some time before Maeve had went into the kitchen to finish washing up. She was so fixtated on her work, she didn't noticed the gentle pair of hands that landed on her hips.

"What are you doing?" A soft voice purred into her ear. She turned in Hector's grasp. "Just doing the dishes." He nipped at her throat playfully. "Bed?"

She nodded, feeling a deep blush creeping up her neck she leaned in closer towards the werewolf. "Missed you." He murmured against her skin, inhaling her scent. "Missed you too." She replied as he lead her towards the bedroom. Lee was already waiting for them on the bed, wearing only black boxers. "There you are." He smiled brightly and opened his arms widely inviting both of his partners to join him.

Maeve jumped without hesitation hearing Lee doing a breathless 'oof' sound as both her and Hector's body collided with his. "What's going on in that head of yours?" Lee asked nuzzling into the crook of Maeve's neck as Hector did the same to him. "I don't know, I have this feeling that something really bad is about to happen." She confessed. It felt good to be able to share her thoughts. "I know, I can feel it too." Hector confessed. "First time I noticed it was in Ford's classroom." He closed his eyes, hands stroking through Lee's short brown hair. "And today was the second time."

"I know. What should we do?"

Lee frowned. "The question is what can we do? We don't even know if whatever it is you two are sensing is even going to affect us. What if it's someone else?" The vampire was right, after all, they had no clues apart from a notebook and some clawmarks on a classroom door. "We need more evidence. Maybe I should talk to Ford again." The two men nodded in agreement. "That's a good idea, ask him if anyone else had come to him. Or maybe you should go to an even higher instance."

Maeve's eyes widened. "Charlotte Hale? No, I don't think that's a good idea."

"Why not? She's somewhat of a leader for all of you witches isn't she? If anyone knows what's going on, it's her." Hector began stroking her arm slowly. "He's right, love."

A shiver went down her spine when she felt Hector's fingers going higher and higher, ending at her collar bone. "Fine, I'll talk to her." He stopped just above her breasts. "Enough talking for the night."

"Ugh, fucking finally." Hector groaned and placed a kiss on Maeve's lips. Lee somehow managed to slip out between them and let them have some fun on their own as he watched the witch and the werewolf deepening the kiss, Maeve was always the dominant lover, neither Lee not Hector had hesitated for a second before they had let her be on top the first time they did this. She just knew exactly what buttons to press to reduce both of them to groaning and whispers of her name.

She had already managed to get Hector out of the dark t-shirt he had been wearing and was now working on getting him out of his pants and boxers. "Lee would you be so kind?" She held the pieces of clothing up for him to take. The vampire nodded, grabbing the clothes and set them aside on a chair in the corner of the room. "Good boy." She hummed, it wasn't even a serious comment but the way he stopped in his tracks for a second there drew her to a conclusion. "You like being called that?" She asked, Hector was in the process of kissing down her throat. Lee started to blush. "I- I mean-"

"You just need to say yes or no, darling." He took a deep breath.

"Yes."

"Good." Hector let one of his hand travel down to her stomach, it tickled slightly. She grinned. "Now darling, if you would be so kind to undress so we three can get started…" Lee looked bewildered for a moment. "Oh. Oh! Of course!" She wondered what was going on his mind, that strange behavior of his was starting to get suspicious.

Lee grabbed his dark jeans and boxers and pulled them off in one swift motion. He shivered slightly in anticipation as she motioned him to come closer. "Now boys, let's have some fun."