And she wanted to keep him.

Van nodded. “What happened was not Monalisa’s fault. And she needs my help. But first, I need your help.”

“Mine?” Pandora asked.

“You and your sisters.” He looked at the other two women. “And yours too, if you can help.”

They all nodded.

“Sure,” Pandora said. “What do you need?”

Monalisa wanted to know too.

He gestured to the empty side of the booth. “Sit. This is important business.”

Pandora, Charisma, and Marigold slid onto the bench while Roxy and Willa pulled chairs over.

When they were all seated, he leaned forward. “I need you to find a spell that will rid me of this venom. I need you to heal me so that I can fight again. And I need you to do it now.”

The sisters looked at each other. Charisma spoke first. “Can we do that?”

Marigold shook her head. “I don’t know. I’ve never done it before. But I could make a tincture to dull the pain.”

“Not good enough,” Van said. “The venom must be gone. I must be whole. I must be able to shift.”

Willa tucked her hands under her thighs. “You three are very powerful together. There must be something you can do.”

Pandora nodded. “I’m not saying we can’t, just that we never have. We’ll have to dig into my mother’s library and do some research. That’s the best we can do.” She smiled at Van and Monalisa. “We’ll figure something out. I promise.”

Roxy straightened. “Maybe I can help. I’m great at research.”

Bridget joined them, bar towel still over her shoulder. “This has turned into quite the party, I see. You know, I could be closed right now. Y’all are the only ones in here. Besides me and Juan Carlos in the kitchen.” She turned to look out the windows. “But seeing as how no one can go anywhere…”

Van slapped his hand on the table. “If Juan is here, we should put him to work. And make this worth your while. Who’s hungry?”

Pandora grinned. “You buying?”

“Of course. I want you all well-fortified for the work ahead.”

“In that case…” Pandora lifted a finger. “I’ll have the petite filet and a side of the lobster mac and cheese. And truffle fries. Because, why not?”

The rest of the women started ordering and asking questions. Bridget laughed, pulled a notebook out of her apron, and began scribbling.

Monalisa tucked her arm through Van’s and snuggled up close to whisper in his ear. “Thank you.”

He turned and kissed her temple. “I told you, I am a protector. This is what I do. And you are who I want to protect. Always.”

She leaned in and kissed his cheek. “I hope they can find a way to help you.”

He patted her hand on his arm. “They will. You’ll see.” Then he smiled. “But first, we eat.”

“And then I guess we figure out how to get home.”

Bridget turned toward them. “That reminds me. The snow has stopped, and I just talked to my brothers. The plows are on their way. By the time you’re done eating, the roads should be clear.”

“Good,” Van said. “Then one of you can take Monalisa and me home.”

Willa grinned. “You mean you don’t want Nick to fly you back?”

They all looked at her.

She laughed and held up her phone. “He texted me.”

Van rolled his eyes while the women cracked up. “Maybe I will not buy dinner after all…”

Twenty-four hours of reading, researching, and talking to the most powerful witches in town and Pandora and her sisters had yet to come up with a solution to Van’s problem. He punched the heavy bag in a one-two combo, trying to rid himself of this new frustration.

It helped, but not enough.

And while the pain in his leg subsided a little more every day, it wouldn’t be gone enough by fight time. Five days. Four now. What a joke. He’d be the walking wounded and an easy target. Sweat trickled down his back as he continued to pummel the bag. All Ronan would have to do was land blows on the bite mark and Van would go down.

Monalisa’s father might not care about the results of the rematch, but Van did. This would be his last fight. And he wanted to leave the ring victorious.

“Still at it?”

He turned to see Monalisa walking toward him. “Just a little bit more.”

“You’ve been down here for two hours. How much more could there be left to do? Not that I’m complaining if you want to stay shirtless for a little longer.”

Grinning, he used his forearm to wipe the sweat from his brow. “The rematch is only four days away. I need to be ready.”

Her smile turned a little sad as her gaze slipped to his brace. “I know.”

“Don’t worry about me. I will be fine.” He wasn’t sure how, but Pandora would come through. She always did.

“Okay, well, I’ll let you get back to it. I just wanted to tell you that I’m going to take Grom out for a bit, then I was hoping we could go into town. Maybe get some dinner?” Her smile brightened. “I do have my father’s credit card, so whatever the most expensive place is, let’s go there.”

He laughed. “We can do that.” A night out with Monalisa would be good, especially if they could forget about the rematch for an hour or two.

She started back toward the steps, then stopped in front of the vault door. “Where does that lead, by the way? The way the floor above this is laid out, it’s like there shouldn’t be anything there. Unless it goes into the side of the hill.”