Chapter 21

“How is it that time can fly by and drag on at the same time? Time is flying as we build our friendship with Sally, hopefully spurring a slow return of her memories. But at the same time, it drags on for Costin as he suffers without his mate. I just want them back together. I want my pack whole again. I want the bastard who hurt them to pay. Time is dragging for those things to happen too. Stupid time.” ~Jen


Peri sat at the park bench table that had become their spot. Two and a half months had passed since that very first outing with Sally, and still, her memories refused to break through. She was still having the headaches and they were more frequent, but Sally had no idea that Peri, Jen, and Jacque were anything other than the sisters they claimed to be.
Sally was still seeing Jericho, which pissed Jen off to no end—well, pissed all of them off really. Sally had mentioned several times that she wanted to break it off with him, but she didn’t know how. She didn’t want to hurt him. Sally was still a bleeding heart, even with her memory cloaked.
Peri was getting desperate. If something didn’t click soon, she might have to try and magically restore Sally’s memories, despite the irreparable damage it might cause. Time was wasting and Jericho was getting bolder and more aggressive in his pursuit of Sally. Peri thought his affections were more than mere attraction to Sally. She theorized that his determined wooing had something to do with the Order and with the fact that Peri had surprised him a couple of months ago. Of course, he didn’t know that she watched him almost every day now because she’d altered her appearance so convincingly.
The males were still keeping an eye on Costin who had kept himself sequestered in the In Between. Peri could kiss the bartender for having a moment of clarity and making his wolf go into purgatory to protect those around him. She had a feeling the Great Luna was playing a part in keeping Costin from falling over the cliff.
Peri and the girls had gotten an apartment because Sally was asking too many questions and they needed to look legit. Their mates, of course, were ten kinds of pissed off, which just made the girls want to continue the charade even more. Peri took Jen and Jacque home to see their babies, but she made sure the males weren’t around when she did so. She didn’t have time to fight with the males every time she brought Jen or Jacque back to Oceanside. The girls understood her reasons and agreed with her, though they were catching hell from their males through their bonds.
She perked up when she saw Jacque and Jen walking across the park to her. “How is she today?” Peri asked them. The two had gone to check on Sally while Peri had flashed back to her own home, Faerie. She’d been sheltering some new gypsy healers and wolves from other packs there. She had too many damn irons in the fire.
“She’s good,” Jen said. “Though she’s a little worried about the date she has with Jericho tonight. She said he’s gotten more persistent lately about moving their relationship to the next level.”
Peri rolled her eyes, stupid wolf and his hormones—though she guessed that it wasn’t just his hormones. She was sure the Order had a hand in this. They wanted Sally; she just couldn’t figure out why.
“She’s decided to break up with him,” Jacque said as she sat down on the bench.
“About fracking time,” Peri said, but she had no doubt Jericho would finagle his way out of the breakup somehow.
“I’ve got to take your men to the In Between to check on Costin. I’ll drop you guys off in the woods on the way. If I drop you off in the house, they’ll hunt you down.”
“Gah!” Jen groaned “I miss my man.” She held up her hand. “Don’t—” She stopped Peri. “I understand why, and I’m in agreement. That doesn’t mean I don’t miss my mate in many, many different ways. If you’d like to take that as many, many different positions, by all means, run with it.”
Jacque snorted. “Oh, Jen. It’s good to know that some things never change…like your libido.”
“Glad I can be the solid rock that you cling to, Red. As always, you know I aim to please.”
Peri grabbed their arms and flashed them. If she let them, the girls would go back and forth like that all day. She left them in the woods, telling them to wait five minutes before going into the mansion.
She appeared in Vasile’s office and clapped her hands. “Let’s go, chop, chop. I got things to do.”
“Where are our females, Perizada,” Decebel growled. This is how their conversations always started lately.
“They’re safe. Neither one of them has flirted—much—with any of the males at the bar we go to…every…single…night.” She probably shouldn’t taunt them. But her life needed as many kicks as she could get lately. Their anger at her radiated off of them, but she simply ignored them, which ticked them off more.
They circled around her and put their hands on her shoulders and, in a blink, they were in front of the bridge.
“He’s still here,” the troll rumbled. “Although, there are some who wish he’d leave. He’s been yelling about some girl, and an ocean, and a bar, for days.”
Peri’s gut clenched as she looked at Vasile. “You probably shouldn’t leave this time,” she told them.
He nodded. “He must be getting some residual thoughts through the bond.”
Peri agreed. “I think that’s why Sally is having headaches. The bond is trying to reform. Their souls grow weary of being separated.”
She flashed back to the Romania mansion and smiled. Maybe things were finally going to move forward now. Being stuck in limbo sucked.
She heard Jen and Jacque arguing from the library and walked their way. When she entered the room, she found the girls sitting on the floor with their offspring. Jen was playing with Thia and Jacque was nursing Slate.
“What the crap are you two yapping about?” she asked as she took a seat on the couch.
“Jen wants to take bets on how long it will take Drake and Bethany to do the deed,” Jacque filled her in.
Peri rolled her eyes. “I’m betting it’s done been did.”
Jen laughed. “Oh man, you’ve been around us Southern chicks too long. And really? You think they’ve mated?”
Peri shrugged. “They’ve been holed up in their suite alone for the past two months. I’m betting they have a litter on the way by now.”
“Bethany was pretty eager when we had our little talk,” Jen said, looking at Jacque for confirmation.
“Totally eager,” Jacque agreed.
“You two explained sex to Bethany?” Peri’s eyes widened.
Jen nodded proudly. “We even had a book—with pictures,” she added.
“Pictures,” the high fae choked out.
Jacque smacked her hand to her forehead. “It was embarrassing.”
“Please. You were learning stuff too,” Jen scoffed.
Jacque’s head snapped up. “I was not.”
“What about that one position, where the male—”
“Only freaks would know that position,” Jacque cut her off.
“You calling me a freak?”
Jacque shook her head. “Nope, I’m calling you a super freak because I’m betting you didn’t just know about that position. I’m betting you’ve actually been in that position.”
Jen stared at Jacque, unmoving and expressionless. Then she held up her fist to her best friend with a grin. “I haven’t just been in that position. I’ve made that position my bit—”
“Stop,” Peri cut her off. “We got it.”
“How are the guys?” Jacque asked as she finished nursing Slate and laid him down in front of her.
“Quite angry,” Peri said. “But they won’t be home tonight. Costin is beginning to see things. He knows where Sally is or at least has an idea. We think the bond is trying to reestablish itself.”
“Does that mean we can chill tonight? Sally will be on her date, so no responsibilities in Oceanside. The men are away, the she-wolves will play.” Jen smiled.
“Get some sleep,” Peri growled. I’ll be back to get you in time to be at Sally’s in the morning.”
Jen and Jacque saluted her and laughed when she shot them the finger.
Jen stood up and picked up Thia with her. She was grinning like an idiot. Jacque followed and gave her an odd look when they made it to the stairs to their suites. “I know that grin,” Jacque said. “That’s your, Decebel has serviced me well, grin.”
“Is it?” Jen asked innocently.
Jacque’s mouth dropped open. “You are using the bond?” Jen knew what she meant.
“Maybe you should reach out to Fane, could make your reunion a little less growly.” Jen laughed as she waved to Jacque before entering her suite. “I’ll see you in a few hours. Hopefully, you’ll look a tad more relaxed.”
Jacque made it to her suite and laid Slate down. He was such an easy baby so far. He slept like a rock and rarely cried. She was very thankful for that. Once she was in the bed, the lights off, and covers pulled up to her chin, she considered Jen’s words. What the hell, he is my mate. We might as well take advantage of having something as cool as the mental bond.
“Fane?” She reached for him. She knew she had to be quick. She had to take him by surprise so that he didn’t have time to yell at her.
“Luna?” His voice was a little frantic.
Immediately, Jacque reached for her inner Jen and sent Fane some very un-mommy like thoughts.
“Jacquelyn, what are you…bloody hell woman,” he growled but he wasn’t angry. “Give a man some warning.”
She continued to bombard him with images of them together. It didn’t take long for him to catch on. He apparently excused himself to find a more comfortable place to sleep and then he tortured her back.
By the time Jacque fell asleep, she was quite content, and Fane hadn’t asked her once what she’d been doing. Jen was a bloody genius.



Sally felt as though her stomach was trying to claw its way up her throat and out of her mouth. Nothing had gone the way she’d imagined it would that night.
“You look beautiful tonight,” Jericho told her.
Sally knew she was blushing. She had been planning to break it off with him and let him know that she just wanted to be friends, but Jericho had been so sweet and kind. She didn’t want to hurt him, but it was killing her to keep leading him on. They’d gone to dinner and then walked around downtown. Their conversation was light, and maybe a few times awkward. She’d had plenty of times she could have told him, but she kept chickening out. Now they were back at her place, sitting on her couch.
“I brought you something.”
Sally watched as he pulled a box from behind him. Jericho held it out to her with that intense stare of his. She reached for it and gasped when she opened it. There was a beautiful chocolate diamond bracelet lying in the velvet interior.
“Jericho, this is too much. I can’t—”
He was moving before she could finish. He swiftly took it out of the box and had it around her wrist in seconds. “There. You can because it looks amazing on you and it’s a gift.”
Sally looked down at the bracelet and she had to admit that it did look amazing.
“I got the brown diamonds because they match your eyes, my brown-eyed girl,” he said gently.
A sharp pain shot through Sally’s skull and she gasped, grabbing at her head.
“Sally, are you okay?” Jericho asked as he wrapped his arm around her waist and pulled her to him.
The pain was gone just as fast as it had appeared.
“Yes,” she said a little breathlessly. She looked up at him, her lips mere inches from his. Suddenly, she had a desperate urge to press her lips to his.
Jericho must have seen the desire in her eyes. “Do it,” he whispered, his voice dripped with desire as he waited.
Sally had been fighting their relationship the whole time. Sure, she liked Jericho, but she had thought it was only friendship. But now, sitting this close and staring into those bright eyes, she wanted him.
She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. The kiss was gentle and innocent at first, but it didn’t take long before Jericho was pressing her down into the couch. His hands roamed over her body and his tongue danced with hers. There was still this tiny voice telling her to stop before it went too far, but she couldn’t. Her body was moving of its own accord and when he picked her up and asked “can we go to your room?” she nodded yes.
Jericho laid her down on her bed and climbed on next to her. They picked up right where they left off.
The more he touched and kissed her, the more she wanted him to continue. Before she realized it, she was undressed, with Jericho every bit as naked as she was, in her bed. She felt as if everything was moving too quickly for her mind to register. His mouth was on hers, then on her jaw and down her neck. She felt a sharp pain just at the junction of her shoulder and neck, but then it was swept away as his tongue swirled on her flesh.
At some point, she swore she heard Jericho growl, but she couldn’t be sure. Her mind was muddled. Her desires warred with what her mind was screaming at her. “Stop!” it yelled at her, but she didn’t.
Jericho stared at the sleeping woman next to him. He couldn’t believe the bracelet had actually worked. Alston had been concerned that he wasn’t making progress with Sally fast enough, especially after Peri showed up. They needed to ensure that Sally was tied to their group, sooner rather than later, and mating her to Jericho was the only sure way to do that. Jericho hoped that maybe if he made love to her, she would become more attached to him. He had definitely grown attached to her, and he thought that, perhaps, what he was feeling just might be love as well. He also liked the idea of having someone in his life again. Alston had enchanted the bracelet for him, explaining that the receiver of the bracelet would longingly desire the one who’d given it. And oh how she’d desired him.
He knew she was going to second-guess her actions afterward, and he’d have to talk her down off the ledge, but that didn’t matter. He could just remind her of how good they were together. He smiled to himself. Sally might not remember her mate, but she certainly remembered how to mate. For a split second, he felt bad for the mate she’d left behind, but then he remembered their cause. They needed a gypsy healer and she was their best chance at getting one.
His next step would be to tell her about the supernatural world. If he were the one who introduced it to her, she would surely feel a connection to him. It was important that he keep reinforcing his role as her protector, lover, and friend. That way, when it was time to talk to her about the Order, she would trust him.
He turned over onto his back and willed himself to stop replaying the images of Sally in his mind. Instead, he focused on how good everything would be once the Order took over. After the humans were subservient, then it will all have been worth it.



Costin’s eyes snapped open. He knew where she was. Over the course of the past week, he’d begun to have flashes of thoughts and feelings that weren’t his own. It was the bond. Once he realized the bond was returning, he strained with every fiber of his being to reestablish the connection. He had screamed until he’d nearly lost his voice. Finally, sometime that morning, he’d felt confusion, shame, and dread. Then, at some point, boom, the words Oceanside popped into his mind.
He stumbled about as he searched for the exit from the In Between. He was going to get his mate. He just hoped that no one stood in his way. He didn’t want to hurt Decebel, Fane, or Vasile, but he would if it meant getting to Sally.
“I’m coming, Brown Eyes,” he muttered to himself.



Sally still couldn’t get her mind off what had happened with Jericho. He’d gone early that morning, and she was left standing in her kitchen feeling very confused. A couple of hours later there was a knock at the door. Sally hurried to answer it and found Peri/Stacey, Jacque, and Jen on the other side.
“Good morning,” she said, smiling at the girls and hoping that they couldn’t tell just how shaken she was from the previous night’s events.
The three women came in and all three seemed to freeze at once. “Everything okay?” she asked.
Jen was the first to answer. “I just realized I really would like to wear my hair up. Do you have any extra hair bands?” She was already moving toward Sally’s room. “Don’t worry, I’ll find one real quick.” Sally wanted to yell at her to stop but Jen was moving faster than Sally’s brain could react.
She looked back at the other two ladies. Jacque was smiling, but it seemed strained.
Jacque’s head tilted slightly to the side. She took a breath before finally asking, “How was your night?”
Jen stared at the rumpled bed and the smells of the previous night’s events hit her like a speeding train. She knew she had smelled Jericho as soon as she walked in, and she also thought she had caught a whiff of lust as well. She had been right.
“I’m going to check on Jen,” she heard Peri say.
As soon as the high fae walked into the room, Jen growled, “Block our conversation please.”
“Okay, speak,” Peri told her.
“She slept with him,” she said as she turned to face Peri. Jen pointed at the bed. “Jericho was in that bed with her last night and they weren’t sleeping, sleeping.” Jen was growling. Her wolf was pissed. Sally was the gypsy healer to the Serbian pack. She was also Jen’s best friend. In short, Sally was hers, not Jericho’s.
“She did it willingly?” Peri asked.
“I don’t know. She looked pretty agitated when we came in.” Jen pointed out.
“Let’s go find out.”
They both entered the living room to find Jacque interrogating Sally about the previous evening. Sally was doing a great job dodging the questions. Peri walked past the chair where Sally sat and, just as she passed, she stopped, turned, and looked down at Sally. “What’s that?” She pointed at the beautiful bracelet on her arm.
Sally blushed. “Jericho got it for me.”
“Can I see it?” Peri asked. “I’ve never seen chocolate diamonds in real life. My man’s too cheap.”
Sally held out her arm and watched as Peri took it off. Jen was looking at Peri when she heard Sally’s gasp.
Peri’s eyes snapped to their friend. “Feel better?”
Sally shook her head. “No. I feel…less foggy. But by no means better.”
“What’s wrong?” Jacque asked in an encouraging voice.
Sally’s lip trembled as she spoke. “I think I made a huge mistake last night.”
They nodded, telling her to go on.
“I slept with Jericho.”
Peri glared down at the bracelet in her hand. The magic on it had pissed her off. But hearing Sally say she’d slept with the wolf who gave it to her enraged her. Once again, this magic had the taint of Alston all over it. When she got her hands on him, it wasn’t going to be pretty. Viewer discretion advised for anyone under the age of three centuries.
“It was consensual?” Peri asked her.
Sally paled. “Y-yes. Jericho didn’t force himself on me. But I feel like I’ve—” She stopped and gasped. Just like the previous night, pain bolted through her head.”
That’s what you think, Peri thought to herself. But he didn’t use physical force. He forced himself through the use of another’s magic. How will you feel when you know that, Healer?
“Are the headaches getting worse?” Peri asked her.
“He used magic to mate with her?” Lucian snarled in her mind. Oh crap, Peri thought. Gotta start remembering to close that stupid bond occasionally.
“I’m handling it.” Peri tried to ignore her mate and focus on Sally. Things were starting to click and Peri had a feeling that the sky was about to fall.
“He deserves to know where she is. It’s gone too far, Peri. Another male has taken what belongs to her and to her mate. And he knows she has a true mate. His life is forfeit and the kill belongs to Costin.”
“I will bring him here,” she told him, “but I’ll need to get Sally to the bar first.” She pulled back so she could focus on the matter at hand.
“Out of a strange curiosity, Sally,” Peri asked, wondering why she hadn’t thought of it to begin with. “Do you have a tattoo on your back?”
Sally’s brow drew together. “No.”
“Could I” —she paused and shrugged— “check? I know, I’m a weirdo. Humor me.”
Sally was looking at her as if she’d lost her mind. Peri hated doing it, but she used a bit of her power to convince Sally that the girl wanted nothing more than to show Peri her back.
Sally stood and turned around. Peri reached forward and pulled the fabric up. She bit back a quick intake of breath. The markings, which had been nonexistent for the past several months that Sally had been living in Oceanside, were beginning to show again. At the moment, they looked almost like a watermark on a piece of paper. Very, very, faint, but there. She dropped the shirt and stepped back.
Sally turned back around and seemed too distracted to ask Peri if she’d seen anything strange.
“I work tonight, but I need to talk to Jericho before my shift,” Sally told them. “I know it’s childish, but would you all come with me?”
“Of course, we will,” Jen said nodding at her. “Hoes before bros, right?”
Jacque groaned. “Don’t even get started with that mess again.”
They walked to The Doghouse in tense silence. Sally was a mess and she wasn’t good at hiding her emotions. The proof came as they walked into the bar and Jericho laid eyes on her. He hopped over the bar and was standing before her in an instant.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked her in a voice that made it clear how he felt about her. Peri could tell he wasn’t faking. Jericho was in love with Sally. He was also very, very dead.
“Can we talk?” Sally asked softly.
He nodded and led her back behind the counter. They watched as he wrapped his arms around her and attempted to comfort her.
“I need to step outside,” Jen growled. “If I have to watch him touch her like that, especially after what he did, I might kill him right now. And he’s not mine to kill.”
“That’s what Lucian said,” Peri told her. “You might turn around and kill him yourself after I tell you two this. What they did wasn’t consensual, at least not in the traditional sense. He used magic to get in her pants. The diamond bracelet had a spell on it that would ensure that she’d want him. Essentially, he gave her a magical date rape drug.”
Jen snarled and turned to go back but Peri stopped her. “It’s Costin’s kill, remember?”
“It’s kind of sad,” Jacque said. “It’s obvious that he loves her.”
“He took a mated female, knowingly. He used magic to make her desire him, slept with her, and marked her damn neck,” Jen growled. “It’s like he wanted to die. He’s practically begging Costin to kill him.”
“He marked her?” Jacque’s eyes were as wide as saucers.
Jen nodded. “I didn’t see it until her shirt dipped a little when Jericho put his arms around her.”
“Bloody hell,” Jacque whispered.
“I need you guys to stay here and make sure douche bag doesn’t leave the bar, or that Cross character, as well.”
“Wait,” Jen said. “Where are you going?”
“I’m going to get her mate and the other males. This has gone too far,” she repeated her mate’s words. “Not only has her mind been violated, but now he’s violated her body. She’s going to have to live with that for the rest of her life.”
Jacque gasped as the reality hit her and her hand snapped up to her mouth as if she was holding a scream in. “Why did he do it, Jen?” she asked through her hand.
“I think she started out as an asset for the Burning Claw, and he was the means in which to draw her in. But somewhere along the way, he fell in love with her. And he took it too far.”
“When Costin gets here it’s going to be a bloodbath,” Jacque said. Jen nodded her agreement.



Peri didn’t go straight to the wolves. First, she went to visit the Warlock King. She appeared in his great hall and yelled for him.
“Did you have to scream that loudly?” Cypher said as he came storming in. “Is Lilly okay? And Jacque is she—”
“Pipe down, warlock. They’re fine. I need your size and your fighting skills. We’re getting Sally out. Costin will be coming which means it’s going to get messy. I’m thinking we will need extra manpower to hold him back when it’s time for that. You game?”
“Of course, anything to help the wolves. Lead the way,” he told her.
She grabbed his arm and flashed them both to the bridge where she’d left Decebel, Vasile, and Fane. She needed to move fast. The clock was ticking and she didn’t like leaving Sally with Jericho. The rogue wolf was obviously getting desperate. He had crossed a line and she wanted him to pay. To her shock, when she arrived, the three males were standing there talking to none other than Costin himself.
“I know where she is,” Costin growled.
“Cypher,” Vasile nodded to the king.
“Yes, yes, say your hellos and then let’s go. Costin, you look crazy as hell, which at the moment is a good thing. Crazy people make other people nervous. And nervous people do stupid things. So own the crazy, bar boy, own the crazy.”
She motioned them to gather around and gave a very, very watered down version of the events. She didn’t even touch on the whole Sally slept with Jericho piece of the puzzle. She needed Costin crazy, not a complete berserker—at least not at first.
“Okay, so now that you’re filled in. Let’s get going.” She held out her arms and each of the males, even crazy Costin, placed a hand on her. As soon as each of them was touching her, she flashed back to Oceanside, a.k.a., the place where Jericho was about to meet his fate.



Jen felt like Peri had only been gone for a couple of minutes when the fae reappeared on the sidewalk with a handful of very pissed off looking wolves and, to her surprise, the Warlock King to boot. Jen imagined that Peri must be using some serious fae voodoo to block them all from sight if she was able to appear like that in broad daylight.
Decebel was in front of her a second after they appeared. He took her face in his hands and cupped her cheeks. His eyes soaked her in hungrily and his wolf growled. “Too long,” he told her. “We’ve been apart too long.”
Jen didn’t have time to agree because Decebel’s lips had crashed into hers with bruising force. Good thing she healed quickly.
“Please move,” said a voice thick with the need for violence and Jen pulled back from Dec to look around him. Costin stood about twenty feet from the door. Vasile and Cypher stood in front of him.
“I can smell her.” Costin and his wolf were so in sync with each other that both of their voices came out at the same time. It was freaking scary.
“Costin,” Jen spoke up. His eyes snapped to hers and Decebel tried to block her from the feral wolf. She pushed around him. “Let me and Jacque check on her first before you go in.” Jen was motioning for Jacque to go to the door.
She looked at Jacque and mouthed “open it, peek in.”
Jacque did, then pulled her head back out and the fear in her eyes told Jen enough. Jericho still had Sally wrapped in his arms. Then Jen remembered Jericho’s scent in her best friend’s room, the bracelet that allowed him to persuade her into bed with him, and the bite mark on her neck.
She stepped aside. “You know what, on second thought, by all means. Go.”
Decebel shot her a look. “I’ll fill you in.” Apparently, Peri hadn’t told them anything.
Jen watched as Costin started forward. Vasile and Cypher flanked him on either side and Decebel and Fane stood next to her and Jacque. Peri was the first to enter. She flinched when she saw the position Jericho and Sally were in.
She was seated up on the back of the bar and Jericho was between her legs with his arms wrapped around her. This was going to be bad.
As soon as they were all in, Peri spoke loudly. “If you look at this man,” —she pointed to Costin who looked eerily calm— “and don’t know why he wants to kill that man,” —she pointed at Jericho— “then get out.”
There were only a handful of patrons and they looked confused.
“NOW,” Vasile boomed. They no longer looked confused. Now they looked like scurrying mice that had just realized that there was a herd of cats in the room.
As soon as the last person was out the door, Costin put his hand on the deadbolt and turned it, locking them in. The clicking of the lock seemed to echo in the quiet room.
“I think I’m going to pass out,” Jacque whispered to Jen.
“Don’t you dare. Suck it up. Sally needs us.” What she didn’t add was, and we need to get Sally the hell out of the way now. Jericho was going down and Costin might not have enough control to keep from accidentally hurting his gypsy mate.