by Quinn Loftis
“Thank you, Perizada.” She bowed her head and stepped back.
“She died and cut her hair?” Jen continued.
“Do they touch?” Jacque asked.
“Surely not,” Jen responded and shuttered.
“Ugh, do they kiss?” Jacque asked as she covered her mouth with her hand as though she couldn’t believe she’d uttered something so terrible.
“No,” Jen shook her head. “No, there is none of that. Sally wouldn’t kiss someone else, I don’t care how jacked up her head was.”
Stralina started to say something but Peri stepped in front of the pixie. “I don’t think those are the things that are really important right now. She’s alive and relatively safe and healthy. That’s what counts.”
“Sure, sure,” Jacque agreed but then frowned. “But do they touch?”
Peri groaned and plopped herself down, ungracefully, in an empty chair. “Is it really that important?”
Jacque looked at Jen; they both shuddered. “It’s just the thought of another male wolf touching me,” Jacque started but Fane’s growl interrupted her. She patted the muscular arm that was wrapped around her. “Calm down, wolf-man, there is no other furball for me besides you.”
“What Jacque is trying to say,” Jen cut in. “Is eww.”
Jacque nodded. “Exactly.”
Peri looked at each of them and threw her hands up. “So now that you know your best friend is alive and relatively safe, all you can think about is her relationship status.”
“Now you’re catching on,” Jen sang. She looked over at Jacque and motioned to the fae. “She’s finally catching on.”
Jacque nodded. “Totally catching on.”
Peri glanced over to Stralina. “Now do you see why I didn’t want to tell them?”
“Is Sally’s relationship with the werewolf connected to her lost memories?” Thalion asked.
Peri clapped her hands. “Thank you, Prince. That is a question worth my time. Not, do they touch.” She shot Jacque a glare. “And, yes, I believe the two things are connected.”
“So she isn’t safe,” Jen countered.
“I said relatively safe,” Peri pointed out.
“Jericho, Jericho.” Vasile’s voice stopped Jen from responding. “Is that the same Jericho that went missing from the Missouri pack?” he asked Peri.
She nodded. “One and the same. I went and spoke to his former Alpha yesterday.” Peri went on to explain to them about her conversation with Wadim, and then the Missouri Alpha, as well as her talk with Jericho. “As bad as all of that is,” she said, after giving all the information. “It’s not the worst of it.”
Vasile’s eyes narrowed. “You still haven’t told us who is responsible for taking Sally and using magic on her. Certainly Jericho would not be capable of such a thing.”
“Bullseye, Alpha,” Peri chuckled and tapped the side of her nose. “You’re correct, I haven’t, and that is the worst of it.”
“Bloody hell, spit it out already,” Jen groaned. “Someone needs to die and I need to know who to kill.”
“You aren’t killing anyone,” Decebel rumbled.
“Watch it, butthead or I’ll put you at the top of my hit list,” she growled back. “Who, Peri? Who did this to her?”
“Your mate is correct, Jen. You wouldn’t stand a chance against this one, I’m afraid. He’s one of mine.”
“What?” Fane, Decebel, and Vasile growled at the same time.
Peri nodded letting out a sardonic laugh. “Yes, a high fae took your gypsy healer, cloaked her mind, and is a traitor to his own supernatural race.”
“Alston,” Cyn whispered and all eyes snapped to her.
“Ding, ding, ding,” Peri chimed sardonically.
“Why?” Cyn asked her.
Peri smiled but there was no happiness behind it. “You ready for this?” Her eyes narrowed and the power around her pulsed. “He works with the Order of the Burning Claw.”
Chapter 17
“The Great Luna created the werewolves because man had turned on himself. Families were divided, countries were crumbling beneath the weight of war, and humanity did not seem all that humane. Yet, the last few enemies I have faced have not been human. The current enemy I face is not human. What does that say about us?” ~Vasile
Vasile, for the first time in a very long time, felt as if the rug had been pulled out from under him and then shoved over his face to suffocate him. Alston. Of all those he knew in the supernatural world, he would not have picked Alston as a traitor. Pompus ass? Yes. Traitor? No. Perhaps, Vasile’s instincts were growing rusty after two centuries of life.
“Okay, forgive me for not knowing everything,” Jen said as she pushed on Decebel’s arm. “But what the crap is the Order of the Burning Claw? And why do I feel like I need some sort of dramatic music playing every time we say Order of the Burning Claw?”
“Dun, dun, duuuuuuuuuun,” Jacque sang.
Peri cleared her throat. “Thank you for that, wolf-princess.”
“I do what I can, Peri. I do what I can.”
“The Order,” Vasile spoke up, deciding that it was better to go ahead and cut the females off before they even got started, “is an ancient organization—”
“What isn’t ancient with you supernaturals?” Jen muttered.
Vasile glanced at her with a raised brow as he paused.
“Sorry, continue,” she said with a bow of her head and a wave of her hand.
“How gracious of you, Jen. As I was saying, the Order is an ancient organization of supernaturals that believe that the human race is inferior to them. They do not think that we supernaturals should have to live in hiding.”
“But they don’t want to just come out and say here we are, we come in peace, do they?” Jacque asked.
Vasile shook his head. “No, they do not. They believe that life is about the survival of the fittest—the strong prevail, and the weak do not. They consider humans weak. But that doesn’t mean that they believe all supernaturals to be equal, either.”
“Who’s the leader of this Order?” Fane asked.
Vasile noted that his son was able to speak again without growling and that was a good sign, though he still hadn’t let go of his mate.
“Who knows? No one has heard from the Order in a very long time. But, it was usually the strongest member at any given time. At one time it was a fae, at another, it was a vampire,” he explained.
“I thought the fae were the most powerful of all the supernaturals—end of story?” Jen piped up.
“We are, and don’t you forget it,” Peri told her. “But not all fae were created equal. Most of us with brains, and therefore power, would never consider joining the Order.”
“What about your father?” Decebel spoke up, his amber eyes turning on Thalion. “You said he’s involved with the Order. Could he be their leader?”
Prince Thalion shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. After seeing him today, I would not believe him to be of sound enough mind to lead such an organization.”
Jen laughed. “And what leads you to believe that any leader of a radical organization hell bent on the destruction of an entire species is ever of sound mind?”
“Point,” Jacque called out as she pointed at Jen. “She’s totally got ya there, elf boy.”
Peri rubbed her forehead. “Did I miss something while I was saving your life?” She looked over at Jacque. “I mean, did I knock some more screws loose while I was in there?”
Jacque pulled her shoulders up and scrunched up her nose. “I don’t know. It’s like these things just keep spilling out of my mouth and I can’t shut it off.”
“Soooo, there’s two of her now?” Thalion asked pointed at Jen.
Cyn elbowed him.
“Dude, B wishes there was two of me,” Jen said as she smacked her thigh and laughed.
Decebel growled and whispered something in Jen’s ear that had her frowning at him.
Vasile pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced as Pe
ri. She shrugged. “This is how they handle a crisis, you know this. We tell them that the world is being threatened and they turn into mouthy comedians. Roll with it, Alpha.”
“We need a plan,” Vasile said as he grabbed the chair from behind his desk and rolled it around to add to the chairs that had already been maneuvered into a circle.
Jen, finally breaking free of her mate’s iron grasp, rubbed her hands together. “Now we’re talking. The Order wants to jack with my best friend. Well, I’m going to jack back.”
Jacque smacked herself in the forehead as several of the males coughed to cover their laughs. “Jen, please, please think about what you just said and never say it again.”
Jen paused and then shook her head. “Yeah, I totally don’t have an excuse for that one. That was just poor execution.”
“And she’s back,” Peri muttered.
Decebel reached over and grabbed another empty chair, pulled it to his side, and then tugged Jen by the back pocket of her jeans until she sat down in it. He placed his hand on her thigh, as if that was going to keep her in place and then looked at Vasile. “Now, what plan did you have in mind?”
Peri glowered at the two females sitting across from her. She knew when the meeting ended, and Jen had regurgitated some bull crap about wanting to have girl time with Peri, that she and the wolf-princess were going to corner her.
“No,” Peri snapped for the fifth time.
“But—” Jen started.
“No.”
“What about—” Jacque countered.
“No. And how about no. Also, no.” Peri smiled.
“Wow, who crapped on your Oreo?” Jacque narrowed her eyes as she flounced back on the couch with her arms across her chest.
“Don’t you have a baby that needs a boob?”
Jen threw her head back and cackled—literally cackled. “I’m sorry, Red, but that was awesome.”
Jacque turned her scowl on her best friend. “Don’t you have a mate who needs a boob?”
Jen snickered. “No, he prefers two.”
Peri pressed her fingers against the spot just between her brows and squeezed her eyes shut. Patience, she told herself. Vasile would not be happy if she maimed the mother of his grandson. Decebel would probably forgive her if she only roughed Jen up a bit.
“What are you smirking about?” Jen asked her.
Peri chuckled. “Not a thing. Are we done here?”
“No,” they both snarled at the same time.
“Okay, you two are about to get shock collars if you don’t get that crap under control,” Peri warned. “I will not be snarled at in surround sound. You want to snarl individually, maybe I’ll give you a pass. But you do it together and I go all glowy on your asses.”
“Peri you know you want to take us with you.”
“What gave you that idea? The part where I told your mates I didn’t want to take you with me?”
“You were lying,” Jacque said as if it were the most plausible thing on earth.
“Uh-huh, and you’re still sitting here not giving your boob to your baby. Why?”
“What’s this obsession with her boobs all of a sudden,” Jen piped in.
Peri groaned. “What did I do!” She yelled up at the ceiling. “Great Luna, if you’re listening, I take it back. Whatever I said that caused you to punish me with them” —she pointed at the two girls across from her— “I take it back and beg your forgiveness.”
“Ha, ha,” Jacque said dryly.
The room was suddenly quiet as Peri stared back at Jen and Jacque who were in turn staring right back at her. The clock on Vasile’s wall ticked away as the seconds turned to minutes. Then, at the same time, both girls slid to the floor on their knees, hands folded together at their chests and begged. “Pleeeeeeeaaaaase,” they said in unison.
“Oh, good mother of pixie butts. Seriously? This is what you two are reduced to?”
They nodded. Peri was sure they’d choreographed this little show.
“Peri, we have to see her,” Jacque said, still on her knees.
“If you don’t take us, we’ll just sneak off on our own,” Jen added.
And they would do it. Peri had no doubt in her mind that if she didn’t take the two cows with her, then they would be on the internet ordering tickets on the first flight to Oceanside. They’d have to sneak away and get to the airport without their mates’ knowledge, of course, but they would do it. They probably had secret credit cards their males didn’t know about for just such an occasion.
“It’s too dangerous,” Peri told them, again.
“We aren’t scared,” Jen scoffed.
“I didn’t mean dangerous for you two nimrods. I meant for the people Sally has built relationships with,” Peri told them.
“We won’t mess with her new Beau,” Jacque huffed.
“And what about her new best friends?” Peri challenged.
“What best friends,” they gasped together, both of their foreheads drawing together as they frowned.
“What is with the talking at the same time? It’s beginning to creep me out.”
“You didn’t say anything about her having best friends. You said she had some werewolf she was swapping spit with,” Jen challenged.
Peri held up a finger. “First, I never said they were swapping spit. That was you and princess leaky boobs over there who had decided that she must be allowing Jericho to shove his tongue down her throat. Second…” She cut Jacque off who was no doubt going to refute the leaky boob comment. “I might have said something about best friends—in my head, to my mate.”
“Does she have new friends?” Jacque asked as she brushed away imaginary fuzz from her pants.
“Maybe…” Peri said, not that she had seen any evidence of new friends when she’d first scouted Sally’s new home.
“Are they nice?” Jen asked. “I bet they’re not nice. They’re probably really snobby, big mouthed, floozies.”
“So she befriended you guys again in a new life?” Peri laughed.
A rumbled started in Jen’s throat and Peri was surprised to see the Alpha female’s eyes glowing. Girl’s got claws.
Jacque put her arm across the front of Jen’s chest as if to hold the blonde back. “Peri, please quit poking the crazy she-wolf. We get that you have reservations about taking us. We get that you’re worried we’ll lose our crap and screw things up. But you know how much Sally means to us. We won’t do anything to jeopardize her life, or anyone else’s. We just…” She paused as she pushed herself back up onto the couch and ran her hands over her face. “We just need to see her, with our own eyes.”
Peri did know how much Sally meant to them. She meant that much to Peri as well. Peri had watched Sally die. And the healer had done so to save Peri’s life. She’d never met someone as brave and selfless as the young girl. Sally was one of those people that there just weren’t enough of in the world. She saw the good in everyone. She wanted the best for everyone and she was often willing to take second best if that’s what it took to make that happen.
“Dammit, dammit, dammit, dammit,” Peri muttered under her breath as she considered her options. If she took Jen and Jacque with her to keep an eye on Sally, their mates were going to turn her into puppy chow for their young. Vasile probably wouldn’t help them, but he probably wouldn’t stop them either. Not that they really could do that but they could be incredibly annoying with their snarling, growling, and overall obnoxious posturing. However, if she didn’t take them with her, they would find a way on their own and they’d probably get captured by some obnoxious vampire, or troll, or rogue werewolf, or something else unsavory. Then she’d have to waste time rescuing them, and then she’d still have to deal with their incredibly annoying, snarling, growling, obnoxious posturing mates anyway. It really was a lose-lose for her. “Dammit!”
“Finally realized it, didn’t you?” Jen said with a smile as she got up from her kneeling position and sat back down next to Jacque.
“What?�
� Jacque asked. “What did she realize?”
“That she has to take us with her.”
Jacque’s head swiveled comically between Peri and Jen. “Why? Why did she realize that and why does she have to?”
Jen reached over and patted her best friend’s leg. “Did I get this dumb when I first had Thia?”
Peri nodded. “It’s the over usage of boobs. That’s what happens when you have to use them for double duty. Your brain just can’t process it.”
Jen nodded. “Yep, totally make sense.”
“Why the heck are you two yapping about my boobs? And what does that have to do with Peri figuring out she has to take us?” Jacque huffed. “And who the crap says they’re getting double duty? I had a baby ten days ago. Fane has not gotten any action from the girls since his son took them over, so there is no double duty going on!”
“Whoa, TMI, wolf-princess. T.M.I.” Peri held up her hand.
“Jennifer,” Jacque growled.
“She has figured out that she has to take us because either way we will go, and either way, our mates will hold her responsible.” Jen looked over at Peri and smiled sweetly. “Sucks to be you sometimes, doesn’t it?”
“Sometimes?” Peri snorted. She shook her head unable to believe that she was about to say this. “Fine, I’ll take you with me.”
“It’s not like our mates are going to be around to miss us,” Jen pointed out. “They’re going hunting after Costin.”
“What about your babes?” Peri asked.
“Can’t you flash us back to see them?” Jacque asked. “I’m sure mom and Alina won’t mind taking care of them for a while.”
“Ugh, fine.” Peri huffed, knowing full well that huffing did not become a member of the high fae.
“Quit pretending that you’re upset about taking them with you,” Lucian’s voice purred in her mind.
“I’m not pretending,” Peri snapped, so annoyed that she didn’t even realize that she had responded out loud.
“Your wolf riding your tail?” Jen asked with a smirk.
“Let’s discuss the plan,” Peri told them without answering the Alpha female’s question.