Chapter 15

“So often things are not what they seem. People say one thing but mean another. They act one way in front of one person, only to turn around and act completely differently with someone else. Frankly, it’s damn annoying. Can’t we all just say what we mean, and behave in the same manner whether alone or with other people? Is that too much to ask? Well, apparently it is. Stupid free will.” ~Peri


Peri needed to be in Romania attending the meeting that she and Vasile had planned, but instead, she stood across the street from a bar called The Dog House and she wasn’t impressed. The pixie who had been staking out the place was standing next to her but was invisible to the human eye thanks to Peri’s magic. Apparently, strong magic, pack magic, had been detected in Oceanside and the trail led straight to the grungy, dilapidated bar currently standing before them. Of course, after her visit with history wolf and the Missouri Alpha, she now knew why there was pack magic in Oceanside. The possibility that she was dealing with those lunatics in the Burning Claw made her want to snarl, not unlike Lucian would do.
“What is it about liquor, pool tables, obnoxious music, and obnoxious people that attracts werewolves to bars?” Peri muttered under her breath.
“It’s only fitting,” the pixie spoke up. “Werewolves, after all, are rather obnoxious.”
“I knew I liked you for a reason.” The high fae grinned down at the little being. “Tell me why you think our Sally is in there.”
“Because the female I saw working here is new. She has long brown hair, brown eyes, just like you described. But most importantly, she isn’t a wolf, nor is she entirely human,” the pixie explained.
“Healer,” Peri whispered.
“That’s what I’m thinking. Funny thing is, I don’t think these wolves even realize the effect she is having on them. Their instincts to protect her were immediate, and all of them seem to be drawn to her in one way or another.”
Peri’s sharp eyes snapped down to the little pixie. “What do you mean, in one way or another?”
The pixie’s shoulders tightened and she swallowed. “There is one that has decided he wants to claim her.”
She let out a string of curses. If this was their Sally, and it certainly sounded like it was, then the last thing she needed was to deal with a wolf that thinks he has some claim upon her. Finders, keepers doesn’t work in the supernatural world.
Deciding there was only one way to find out what was going on in Oceanside, she crossed the street and headed for the door. She stopped on the threshold and considered whether to glamour herself or simply lay her cards on the table and allow the wolves and Sally to see who she truly was. But she still wasn’t sure that Sally would even recognize her. The pixie had made it clear that she was pretty sure that the girl was not aware that her companions were werewolves. It had only been nine days, nine measly days since Sally had gone missing and yet in those nine days it appeared that she’d suddenly forgotten the supernatural world even existed. That thought caused Peri to shiver. Only powerful dark magic could make someone forget herself and her past, especially someone as powerful as a gypsy healer.
Peri was sick of dealing with powerful dark magic. Why couldn’t it be light, powerless magic that she had to face? Okay, so that was ridiculous, but she was really tired of contending with the latter. Just once she’d like to kick evils’ dark butt and stand the victor for, like, ever. Her irritation grew as she stood there and thought about her past dealings against the forces of darkness. The growing irritation helped her make up her mind. She wouldn’t hide behind a masquerade. These wolves were about to learn that they weren’t the only predators in Oceanside—not anymore.
“Are you coming in?” she asked the pixie.
“Wouldn’t miss it.”
Peri smiled. “Jen would like you,” she said and then pulled the door open and stepped inside. Going from the brightness of the Spring day, to the darkness of the bar’s interior, was a shock to the fae’s senses, and she had to let her eyes adjust before being able to fully take in her surroundings.
She was immediately disappointed. The place was…typical. The drab drinking establishment could have been on any street in any coastal city in America. Peri didn’t know what she’d been expecting to find, maybe a powerful dark wizard holding court over an army of snarling bloodthirsty werewolves or, perhaps, a bunch of furry mutts walking around and peeing on the bar stools? Okay, so that was probably a little ridiculous, but after all the things she’d seen in the last two years since the Coldspring trio had come into her life, ridiculous was totally a given most of the time.
Her eyes settled on what she immediately knew was going to be a headache for her—and she did not need any more headaches—a large attractive bartender drying glasses on the other side of the bar. He was alone at the bar and, due to the early hour, only a few patrons sat scattered at various tables, each glued to their cell phones, none paying her any particular attention. Though Peri generally leaned toward causing as much drama as possible, she supposed confronting the beast now when there weren’t many witnesses might be the wiser course. It’s a pity the wiser course is always the most boring.
She walked toward the bar, her steps slow and measured, as she continued to watch the male. He was concentrating a little harder than was necessary on the simple task and Peri nearly laughed. He was well aware that she was there and he knew who and what she was.
Once she reached the bar, she took a seat on one of the many, uncomfortable stools. “I’ve never understood why the stools in these places are so damn uncomfortable. You’d think you’d want to keep patrons here longer, not torture their asses until they are finally forced to stumble home early,” she said, continuing to watch the bartender closely. His shoulders tensed ever so slightly, and, had she not been watching so closely, Peri would have missed it.
When he finally looked up at her, his eyes were glowing. Peri clucked her tongue at him. “Naughty wolf, do not challenge me here in front of the humans. You know what I am. And I will not hesitate to introduce myself to you in such a way that will be very unpleasant for you.”
“No introductions are necessary,” he growled out. “I know exactly who you are, Perizada of the high fae.”
“What are you doing so far from your pack, Jericho?” Peri asked the wolf hoping to elicit some reaction by mentioning his former Missouri pack.
“We live a long time, sometimes a change is necessary,” he responded and she detected a small amount of bitterness in his voice.
“Mmm, hmm. True, true. But it’s very strange for a wolf to leave his pack, isn’t it? The ties between the members are strong, not to mention the tie you have to your Alpha. Were you running from something? Perhaps, the death of your true mate?”
“Don’t,” he snapped. “Don’t ever speak of her.” She could see that the pain of his loss was still very close to the surface. This didn’t surprise the fae. It was unnatural for a wolf not to follow his true mate in death. For Jericho to still be here, alive—having not completed the Blood Rites, was an insult to his mate, or at least that’s how he felt about it.
“Have you moved on?” Peri asked nonchalantly. “You know that some mates left behind in this world still find love, despite the fact that their true mate is gone. No, it’s not like what you had with your female, of course, but it could ease the loneliness.” Why in the hell was she giving this fleabag advice? She mentally kicked herself.
“Are you concerned about my well-being, fae?” Jericho sneered. It was not a good look on him.
“I have more concern for an ingrown hair on a pixie’s ass than I have for you,” she shot back. “I’m here investigating other matters.”
“Since when did the high fae become detectives, sticking their noses into wolf business?” Jericho’s teeth were beginning to grow and his hands were shaking as he continued to dry the same glass he’d been drying since she’d started speaking to him.
“Oh come now, there aren’t any high fae detectives here, just little ole me—a gal trying to get herself a quick drinky-poo. There’s nothing wrong with that is there. It must be pure coincidence that I happened to come into the one establishment where a rogue wolf, hundreds of miles from his pack, is dutifully tending bar. Yep, pure coincidence.”
“Don’t insult my intelligence,” Jericho snarled. The words were garbled and slobber flew from his mouth as his canines lengthened. The glass in his hand shattered and claws began to grow from his fingertips.
Peri slammed her hand down on the bar and pushed her magic out in a flash of light. No, the light or sound wasn’t necessary, but she’d admitted already to having a flair for the dramatic. The room stilled. The humans, completely unaware that she’d suspended them and their minds, took no notice. In their own minds, they were still moving and talking. Nifty little trick, she smiled to herself.
Peri could feel the light pulsing around her body. She didn’t fully reveal her power, but it was enough to put the wolf in his place.
“Are you challenging me, wolf?” Peri said smoothly, as though she could flick her finger and wipe the floor with him—which she could. “I thought I made it clear at the beginning of this little encounter that it wouldn’t be wise to do such a thing.”
Jericho took a step back and averted his gaze as the glow receded from his eyes, and his teeth and claws returned to the normal human length. Peri might not be an alpha wolf, but she was more dominant and more powerful than the man before her and he knew it. So at least he wasn’t as stupid as she had thought. But she probably shouldn’t be giving him the benefit of the doubt just yet. Sometimes stupid took time to present itself.
“We’re not causing trouble, Perizada. We’ve done nothing to warrant your scrutiny, or anyone else’s.
“That’s where I would have to disagree with you. I have reason to believe that you have something very important that belongs not only to me but also to another pack and another male. And, well, I guess I need to add that she also belongs to her two psychotic best friends.” Peri made a motion with her hand as if to wipe the comment away.
“What could we possibly have that belongs to you?”
“And a pack, a male and—”
“The two best friends, I get it,” he snapped.
“Psychotic best friends. That is a distinction you cannot leave out, and I suggest that you remember it just in case they ever decide to visit Oceanside.”
Jericho crossed his arms in front of him and leaned back on the counter behind him. It was a deliberate pose to make him appear relaxed as if he didn’t fear the being before him. “We don’t have anything that is not ours.”
Peri nearly reached out and slapped the cocky wolf. He’d chosen his words carefully. He could have said that they didn’t have anything that belonged to her and the others, but instead he’d deliberately said that they don’t have anything that is not ours. It was a passive-aggressive attempt to put Peri in her place. He clearly knew who she was looking for and he was making a claim on Sally.
“So the pretty brunette with big brown eyes and the sweetest disposition, like, ever, who answers to the name, Sally, isn’t working here?” Peri held up a finger to stop him from answering. “Let me just tell you before you speak. If you lie to me—and I will know, believe me, I will know—it goes back to that whole high fae detective thing, then I will hurt you…badly. If you know me at all, then you know that I am not bluffing. I’m sure someone has told you before that it is a very, very stupid idea to lie to a high fae, especially this high fae. Don’t be stupid, Jericho.”
He was quiet for a few minutes before finally letting out a resigned sigh as he unfolded his arms and ran a hand through his hair. “Yes, we have a new employee named Sally, which is a very common name in the human world,” he added hastily. He paused before continuing. "And she does have brown eyes, but she isn’t a brunette, he added quickly. And she knows nothing of the supernatural world so she cannot possibly be the same girl. She is as completely oblivious as the rest of the human race.”
Peri sucked in a slow breath as she considered Jericho’s response. She stared at the wolf for a few silent moments, narrowing her eyes.
“It’s the truth, I promise,” the wolf said, holding up his hands.
But Peri had no doubt about the veracity of the wolf’s words. The fae’s mind was spinning with possibilities. Oblivious. He said that she was oblivious to the supernatural world. Her chest was tight as she considered the possibilities. Only a few supernatural beings were powerful enough to perform the kind of magic that was capable of wiping memories so completely. It sure as hell wasn’t done by someone who wanted to play nice and be friends. Whoever had done this wasn’t just powerful, they were desperate. The person or persons were messing with some big, big mojo—memory modification, bond magic, pack magic. They were opening up all kinds of Pandora’s boxes. This was not good.
Sucking in the breath she’d been holding, Peri composed herself and finally spoke. “Does this clueless, not brunette named Sally work today?” Peri asked, needing desperately to see for herself whether or not Sally remembered her.
He shook his head. “She’s off until tomorrow. She’s been working double shifts.”
“Then I will return. Thank you for your time, Jericho.” Peri snapped her fingers and suddenly the room was filled with chatter and movement once again. She placed her hand on the pixie’s arm and flashed them from the room and back outside. She didn’t want her back to the wolf as she left the room, and she didn’t want to look like a character in a bad western by slowly walking backward to maintain a visual on him. So better to just take her native form of travel. The humans hadn’t noticed because Peri hadn’t wanted them to notice.
“What do you think?” the pixie asked once they were outside.
“I think you need to take me to where Sally lives, as quickly as possible,” Peri answered as she mulled over the things that Jericho had told her.
“Follow me,” her little comrade said cheerfully. It was apparent that the pixie was quite proud of herself.
“Stralina,” Peri called. The pixie stopped and turned to look up at her with wide eyes. “You’ve done a good job.” The pixie continued to stare at her in awe. Peri’s brow drew together. “Everything okay?”
“You’ve never called me by my name,” Stralina told her.
Peri batted a hand at her. “Yes, I have.” She couldn’t have possibly been that oblivious to the little being, could she?
Stralina shook her head. “I would remember if Perizada of the high fae had called me by name.”
It hit Peri then why this was so important to the pixie. Names were powerful. To know someone’s full name meant that you could have some measure of power over them and Peri realized that Stralina had given Peri her full name when they’d first met. She’d trusted Peri that much already. She bowed her head ever so slightly at the young pixie and placed a hand over her heart. “My deepest apologies, Stralina Rivertree, you have earned my trust and therefore my confidence.”
Stralina looked as if she was going to cry and Peri really, really didn’t like it when people, or pixies for that matter, cried. “Okay, now that we’ve gotten that out of the way,” she said briskly. “Let’s go check out this chick that supposedly isn’t our Sally,” Peri snorted, thinking of how ridiculous it was that Jericho thought that he could lie to her.
She followed the pixie down the sidewalk wondering if they were going to walk the entire way. “Please tell me she lives close because my legs aren't used to carrying around my butt across long distances.”
Stralina laughed. “It’s not far. She walks to work every day and walks home every night.”
“Great,” Peri threw her hands up. “Costin is going to love that. Not only is his mate working in a bar as a bartender, fraternizing with her coworker bartender—who happens to be a werewolf, but she is also walking at night, alone. Yep, he’s going to be doing a jig he’ll be so thrilled.”
“Actually,” Stralina corrected her. “She has an escort. One of the bouncers always walks with her.”
“Male bouncer I’m assuming?”
The pixie nodded as Peri let out a string of curses. “How many bloody males is she hanging out with?” She made quotations around the words hanging out as she said them in a tone that suggested that it was the most repugnant thing a girl could do.
Peri couldn’t fix the issue right that moment so there was no sense in dwelling on the problem of Sally’s current playmates. Stralina was true to her word and stopped in front of an apartment building on the next block. It was a quaint building with flower pots on either side of the stairs blooming…something. Peri didn’t do plants—a flower was a flower to the high fae.
“Are we visible?” Stralina asked.
“I’m not an amateur stalker. Of course, we aren’t visible,” Peri said, giving the pixie a look of indignation.
Stralina held up her hands and took a step back. “No need to get testy. I just wanted to know if I needed to be hiding my true form.”
“I totally got you.”
The pixie’s brow rose as she looked up at Peri.
The high fae shrugged. “I hang out with American teenagers. It’s like learning a foreign language.”
Peri walked up the steps with the pixie in tow, pausing before she reached the top. She felt as though if she came face to face with Sally—their Sally—then everything would be real. It would no longer seem like the worst dream of her existence; it really would be the worst dream of her existence. But, as usual, life, AKA, the Fates, don’t give a flying fart if you need a moment to put your big girl panties on. It just shoves you right out there with your girl stuff waving at everyone.
Sighing, Peri continued on. As her foot hit the top step, the door directly in front of her opened and Peri was face to face, give or take a few stairs, with Sally—their Sally. And Jericho was right, she didn’t have long brown hair. She had chin-length, purple-streaked hair. And the kicks just keep on coming, Peri thought. Guess there’s no reason to pull your big girl panties up if the Fates are just going to keep planting their foot on your backside.
“Whoa,” Peri said, stumbling backward and nearly falling down the stairs. She watched as Sally dug through her purse, oblivious to the two supernatural beings staring directly at her.
“She doesn’t look like she did before,” Stralina said.
“So she didn’t have chin length hair with blonde and purple streaks in it?” Peri asked, unable to take her eyes off of their lost healer.
Stralina shook her head slowly. “Definitely didn’t have that.”
Even with such a radical change in her appearance, there was no denying that they’d found Sally Miklos. But this girl clearly didn’t know that she was mated with a new child. “She’s in for a shock,” Peri muttered to herself as they watched Sally head down the stairs.
Just as she was walking past Peri, Sally stopped. She put her hand on her head as though she was in pain. The high fae leaned forward and took a breath, about to whisper to her. But the scent that hit her nostrils gave her pause. It couldn’t be, she thought. Needing confirmation, Peri, in her invisible state, placed her hand on Sally’s shoulder. Some magic coated the young healer like an oily film and it was all too familiar—Alston. She concentrated on the way it felt and searched her memory, attempting to determine the exact type of magic he’d used. But it was unknown to Peri. Whatever it was that Alston of the high fae had cast over Sally, it was beyond Peri’s power to undo, at least not immediately.
Peri swallowed down the massive lump that had formed in her throat at the discovery of her comrade’s betrayal. She’d deal with him. Before the magic settled and the air cleared, Peri would strip him of his power. She had a fate worse than death in mind for the fae scum. He would become like the humans. He would know illness; he would know wounds that would not heal. He would experience growing old and then he would do the one thing that fae didn’t do—Alston would die a natural death.
Sally’s movement caught Peri’s eye and the fae snapped out of her revenge plot.
“She’s been having more and more headaches,” Stralina explained.
“Her own magic is attempting to fight off what has been done to her.”
Peri placed her hand on Sally’s head and whispered softly in her own language. Suddenly the girl’s shoulders relaxed and she dropped her hand from her forehead.
“Okay,” Sally mumbled. “Not that I’m looking a gift horse in the mouth, but that was weird.” She was talking to herself, so obviously some things hadn’t changed regardless of the altered memory. Peri stepped back and watched as Sally continued on her way.
“Can her memory be restored?” the pixie asked.
“Magic that alters the mind can be very dangerous,” Peri answered. “If tampered with by another magical being who didn’t cast the original spell, well, that can be deadly. The good news is her memory can be restored. The bad news is it can’t be restored immediately, not all at once. Her memory will have to be revealed slowly, over a period of time. And time, as always, is not on our side.”
The high fae and the pixie watched as the girl with short blonde, purple streaked hair, haunted eyes, and Sally’s face, walked away from them.
“Tell me why I am letting Costin’s mate walk away please?”
Stralina raised her shoulders to her ears and held her hands up next to them, palms up. “I got nothin’ boss.”
“You are supposed to lie to me. Give me some touchy-feely pixie encouragement about how we need to handle this delicately and that we can’t freak her out and I’m doing the right thing, yadda, yadda, blah,” Peri lectured, finally looking away from Sally’s fading form.
“Okay. Yadda, yadda, blah,” Stralina said as she patted Peri’s leg reassuringly. Then she looked up at the high fae and grinned, giving her a thumbs up. “As you say, I totally got you.”
Peri rolled her eyes and placed her hand on the pixie’s head. “There was no touching in my directions. You touched.”
“You’ll get over it.”
Peri smiled to herself as she flashed them from Oceanside. The little pixie was going to do alright if she could hold her own with the likes of Perizada.
They appeared in Jen and Decebel’s suite at the Serbian mansion. Peri knew that it would be empty. The Serbian Alpha and his mate would be on the way to their meeting with Vasile by now.
“Why are we here?” Stralina asked.
Peri’s smile was wicked as she answered. “Because this is the Alpha’s suite. It will annoy the crap out of Jen’s mate to have my scent all over his territory.” Just as quickly as the smile had appeared, however, it vanished as Peri computed all of the information she had gathered. The biggest kick to the gut had been finding out that it had been Alston who had cloaked Sally’s memory. “He was supposed to be a good guy, dammit,” Peri whined. “What is it with all these fae jumping off the good ship lollipop and hopping on to the bad ship rotten apple? Do they offer better health insurance? Perhaps, they have some company perks that the good guys just can’t compete with.” Peri ended her monologue with a very dignifying foot stomp.
She tilted her head back and squeezed her eyes shut. Sucking in a deep breath of air, filling her lungs to their maximum capacity, she held it. She held it until her body forced her to let it out. Peri managed to relieve a little of her tension but not anywhere close to all of it.
“Can I ask what we’re doing here, besides trying to annoy the Alpha?” The pixie said in a calm, soothing voice. It made Peri want to punt her across the room like a ball. She hated when others were calm when she was so far from it. But it wasn’t Stralina’s fault, so she refrained from kicking the little pixie.
“Stalling,” she answered as she began to pace the room. Her devious mind was always at work, so, as she paced, Peri touched everything she passed. Decebel was going to hit the roof. It would be hilarious. Focus, Peri, she growled at herself.
“Okay, here’s the deal,” she said, deciding that talking out loud would better keep her on task. She was pissed off about Alston, and was, for some reason, projecting her anger onto Decebel. Okay, she knew the reason, he was a butthead. Boom. Reason enough to take unwarranted anger out on him. “Sally’s memory is jacked up. It can be fixed, however.” She held a finger up. “It must be done slowly.”
“You’ve covered this,” said Stralina.
“Shh,” Peri snapped. “Don’t mess with my mojo. In order to uncloak her memories, we will need to take our time. If Costin finds out that we’ve found her, he won’t give us the time we need. He will simply follow his instincts and go take back what is his. So, Costin cannot know. Now—” Lowering her finger she tapped her chin thoughtfully. “The question is, who do we tell if anyone at all?”
“Do you think it wise to keep this information from Vasile and Decebel?” Lucian’s voice rumbled in her mind. “I understand why you can’t tell Costin. But the Alphas will be very angry if you keep the location of a lost pack member from them—not to mention her two friends.”
Peri was well aware that Jen and Jacque were going to have a barbeque featuring her as the stuffed pig when they found out that she hadn’t told them where Sally was or what had happened to her.
“The more people that know, the greater the risk that Costin will find out. If he tries to get to her while her mind is still so heavily affected by the magic, he could kill her,” she pointed out.
Peri could feel Lucian’s frustration at the situation. He didn’t like the idea of two powerful Alphas angry with his mate.
“Go to the meeting and feel them out. Perhaps, you should gauge their ability to handle the information before you decide what to reveal.”
“I will likely find that their ability to act rationally about their lost friend and healer is about as likely as your ability to do a striptease while wearing a tutu. Then what should I do?” She felt his amusement at her which brought a much-needed smile to her face.
“You might find that I’m perfectly capable of doing a striptease while wearing a tutu. But just because I’m capable doesn’t mean I’ll do it. You might find the same situation there. If they are not in a state to be helpful, then I suppose you should sit on the info for a few days. Decide if you should tell Vasile or Decebel in private. Vasile, certainly, can keep a level head.”
“Fine,” She huffed at him. “We’ll do it your way but in exchange, I expect that striptease. You better get to finding a tutu, Wolf.”
“As my lady commands,” he responded in that slow, sexy, voice that he knew made her want to kick saving the world to the curb and go home to him.
“Play fair,” she growled at him.
“Then I’d never win.”
She laughed out loud as she felt him pull back from her mind. He was wrong. Her mate was cunning and patient. All he had to do was wait for her to make a mistake in whatever little game they were playing and then he’d make his move. He only cheated because it amused her and he liked pleasing her.
“So have we got a plan now?” Stralina asked her.
“Was it that obvious that I was having a conversation in my mind with my mate?” Peri asked the pixie.
Stralina lifted one shoulder. “Well, your face sort of moves around. Like your eyebrows raise, or your mouth tilts up or down. Your forehead creases and occasionally you huff or roll your eyes. So it’s like you are responding with your face to something no one else can hear.”
Peri stared down at the little female for a few seconds before shaking her head. “You could have just said yes. I didn’t need the play by play.”
“Since you talked to your mate, do we have a plan?” she asked Peri again.
Peri held her hand out and tilted it from side to side. “Meh, we have a loosely thought out next step.”
“So, a plan,” Stralina added.
“A plan implies that you have looked at all of the other available options and decided the best possible action based upon likely results. We have not looked at all of the other available actions and we have no idea of the likely results,” Peri countered.
“What’s another option?”
“Going home and making wild monkey love with my mate.”
“And another?” Stralina asked again, un-phased by Peri’s response.
“Repeating the aforementioned option,” she answered without pause.
This time the pixie laughed. “Right, so we aren’t going to look at any other available options. I think we’re good where we are.”
Peri nodded. “I sort of thought that would be how you felt.” She placed her hand on the pixie’s shoulder once again and flashed them to Vasile’s office.
The normally calm, organized room was a big, loud chaotic mess, and Peri briefly wondered if she’d somehow flashed them to the wrong house. But then she heard Jen’s voice.
“Us standing around like a bunch of yapping hyenas isn’t helping us find him,” she growled at her mate. Decebel snarled back so viciously that Peri took a step toward the couple as though she needed to protect Jen from her mate. Which was ludicrous because Decebel, nor any mated male, would never intentionally harm their mate. They’d sooner rip off their own man parts.
“I know what I need to do in order to find my Beta, female,” Decebel said to Jen with amber eyes lit up like Christmas lights. “I do not need you pointing out the obvious to me.”
Okay, Peri had never seen Decebel like that, not with Jen. And by the look on her face, Jen hadn’t either. She’d had enough of the chaos. Where the crap was Vasile?
“ENOUGH!”
“Oh, there he is,” Peri whispered to herself as Vasile strode into the room, his power radiated off of him and reached out across the silenced room.
“Chaos divides. Disagreement, disharmony, keeps us idle. How many times have we faced the darkness together? We’ve never let it tear us apart and we aren’t going to start now.” His eyes roamed over each of them, pausing for a moment when they landed on Peri. She inclined her head as he held her stare. When he finally looked away, he didn’t speak immediately.
Peri took the moment to glance around the room to take stock of who was present. Alina was in the corner holding Slate. Decebel was leaning a shoulder against the wall, his arms folded in front of him, and he looked about as pleasant as a raging bull. Jen stood a few feet from him and her head refused to turn in her mate’s direction. Rachel and Gavril were standing with Zara, who was holding Titus’ hand. To Zara’s credit, she didn’t look like a scared rabbit. Good on her. Fane stood next to Jacque looking as brooding as ever and next to them was Lilly and Cypher. Peri’s eyes widened when they landed on the last two people present.
Vasile still hadn’t resumed talking so Cyn wasn’t interrupting when she stepped forward with the Prince of the elves at her side and spoke.
“We have news,” Cyn said in her matter-of-fact way.
Peri tilted her head granting the warrior to continue.
“The King of the elves isn’t dead. He’s very much alive, and with his resurrection, he has brought the Order of the Burning Claw to our doorstep.”



Sally stepped into The Dog House surprised to see that there was no one manning the bar. Granted, there were only a few customers and they were regulars so the lack of responsible employees wasn’t a big deal. But Jericho never left the bar, like ever.
She waved at the patrons who bid her hello, and she walked back to Cross’ office. Sally had just stepped into the hall that led to the office when she heard voices. They sounded angry and she immediately knew that she should back away and mind her own business. So like any person who was too curious for her own good and didn’t have good survival instincts, she stood there and listened.
“You’re sure it was Perizada?” Cross asked.
“Are you kidding me,” Jericho snapped back. “There’s no mistaking her and no forgetting her once you’ve crossed her path.”
“She can shift her form, glamour herself at will,” Cross pointed out. “Your eyes could have been fooling you.”
“The power coming off of her was too great to be anyone else. It was her.”
“Fine,” Cross growled. “It was Perizada. Now, what did she want?”
“Ugh,” Jericho made a disgusted noise. “I think you know what she wanted. She was asking questions about any new employees, looking for a female with long brown hair and big brown eyes. I told her we didn’t have any females working here that matched the description. It’s a damn good thing I convinced Sally to try something new with her looks.”
Sally rolled her eyes at his comment. As irritated as it made her to admit it, Jericho had indeed convinced her that maybe she needed a new look if she was starting a new life. Something bold and totally different. It was definitely different, but she liked it. Sally felt lighter with the heavy locks gone.
“Well, I doubt you fooled Peri.” Sally’s attention was drawn back to the room at the sound of Cross’ voice. “If she came here under the impression that Sally was here, it was because she had no doubt. She wouldn’t have wasted her time if she didn’t already know,” Cross explained.
“She said she’d be back. If she tells…” Jericho’s voice dropped lower and she couldn’t hear the rest of what he said.
Sally stepped forward, trying to get closer without alerting them that she was there. Her foot landed on a peanut shell, something that, under normal circumstances, certainly would have made only the slightest noise, if any. But of course, because Sally was trying to be quiet, the peanut made a loud crack that seemed to echo up and down the quiet hall. She froze, praying they wouldn’t come out of the door.
“Shut that door,” Cross barked.
And quick as that, her eavesdropping plan was thwarted. She stepped back into the bar area and grabbed a pad and pen. Sally wrote a short note for Jericho and left it under a bottle of vodka that she knew would be used a hundred times that night.
The sun was warm on her skin once she was back on the sidewalk as she headed toward the closest beach. She’d only been once since she’d been in Oceanside, but it had been so relaxing that she’d fallen asleep on the sand. As she walked, her mind went back to the moment outside of her apartment earlier that day. She could have sworn that she’d felt a breath of air on her neck. And not only that, but she had felt as if someone had been standing right there behind her, within touching distance. But no matter how much she had willed them to make themselves known, the air behind her remained empty. That experience alone had been enough to weird her out. But the conversation she’d just overheard between Jericho and Cross cranked the weird scale meter sky high.
Why had they been talking about her in secret and who could possibly be looking for her? Was it something to do with her parents’ estate and the will? Sally was pretty sure that she took care of everything before she ran off for her new life, but then again, any time she tried to remember the days and months before coming to Oceanside, everything seemed very fuzzy and unclear. It was like using a bottle of water as a telescope, everything on the other end was distorted.
As soon as her feet hit the warm sand, the eerie feelings and the disturbing conversation was pushed away. It was just her and the wind in her hair, the ocean roaring out its power—wave after wave, the sun beaming down proudly, and the earth steady beneath her, all communing together in perfect harmony. Sally sat down just a little out the reach of the crashing waves. She leaned back on her hands, tilted her face up to the sky and closed her eyes. She let her ears be her guide. Without realizing what she was doing, she began meditating, tuning out all of the noises around her. After some time, she began hearing only the call of the elements.
Her eyes popped open and she sat up abruptly. Call of the elements? Where had that thought come from? She’d never thought like that. She never imaged the water or air as elements, let alone the earth. An eerie feeling shot down her spine and she suddenly felt cold all over. A part of Sally didn’t want to acknowledge any of the feelings that she’d been having from the moment she’d arrived in Oceanside or the strange things that had gone on recently. But another part of her refused to let the feelings go. Some part of her knew that something was wrong—really, really wrong.



Jericho was shaking with the need to phase and let his wolf run free. The appearance of Perizada, and his own emotions, had changed the plans that had been previously set in place.
“Why is she affecting me like this?” he growled at Cross.
“Well, apparently you can take the girl out of the supernatural world, but you can’t take the supernatural out of the girl. She’s a gypsy healer, which is why we want her in the first place.”
“And?” Jericho prompted, his patience at an all-time low.
“And gypsy healers can have an effect on unmated males, well any wolves really. Don’t forget that the healers are filled with light, more than any other being in the world. Most of the time this light has a calming effect on the wolves of a pack. But this light is so pure, so beautiful, that it can also cause young wolves to be infatuated. It’s one of the reasons healers are protected so diligently and why they always mate with a dominant male,” Cross explained, sounding way too calm for Jericho’s liking. Cross sat on the other side of the desk and leaned back in his chair, his shoulders relaxed and his hands clasped together under his chin. Everything about his posture screamed I am in control and nothing can ruffle me. Jericho supposed that was why Cross was the Alpha of the Burning Claw wolves.
“And what if I really do want to take her as my mate, not feign affection in an attempt to draw her into our organization?” Jericho asked.
“Then I suggest you brush up on your fighting skills. She was a mated gypsy healer, under the protection of not only her mate but also the Romania and Serbian packs, and you know who the Romanian Alpha is. Obviously, her disappearance has not gone unnoticed. I’d be willing to guess that Peri is just a scout. The rest will be coming. Her mate will be coming and he will die before he lets you keep her,” Cross warned.
Jericho’s chest tightened at the thought of losing Sally. It angered him that he could lose her but it didn’t sadden him, a subtle reminder that she wasn’t his true mate. His true mate had died at the hands of a vampire before Jericho had had the chance to perform the Blood Rites, so instead of being able to join his mate, he was left on earth with only half a soul and no desire to carry on. The darkness had won and his only chance at redemption had been lost to him.
Cross motioned to the door. “If you don’t mind, I have some phone calls to make. The Order needs to be made aware of what’s going on.”
Jericho took his leave and made his way back up to the front of the bar. His nose twitched at Sally’s scent lingering in the hall. She’d been there very recently. As soon as he rounded the corner, he saw the note under the bottle of vodka; it was the only bottle out of line of the others. He snatched it up and unfolded it. His eyes scanned it and he let out a breath.
“Jericho, I know you wanted to do lunch but I really just want a break from the bar. I’m going to head to the beach for the day. I’ll call you when I get home. Xoxo, Sally.”
Nothing in the note aroused his suspicions. There was no hint that she might have heard their conversation earlier. He was actually glad she wasn’t going to be hanging around the bar today, just in case Peri or her little spies were watching.
Cross was right, Perizada was a game changer. He’d have to move up the timetable. When Sally called him tonight, he’d seduce her and claim her as his own. He didn’t have time to make sure she was head over heels in love with him. He already knew she was infatuated with him. That would have to do for now.