Chapter 6

“How does someone survive in the dark once they’ve been shown how beautiful it is in the light?” ~Costin


Three days missing.

Costin was a mess. There was no other way to put it. Before Sally, he’d been getting by, living behind the smile and the jokes, but deep down the darkness was creeping further and further into his soul. Then she’d come, and like the first rays of the sun in the morning, she’d lit him up from the inside out. Sally had replaced all of the loneliness and pain. She’d brought him the hope that comes with having a true mate. And just as quickly as she’d appeared in his life, quicker actually, she’d been ripped away.
“Can we go outside, Daddy?” Titus asked. It was midafternoon and he knew the little boy had to be getting restless. He’d gotten to play and walk around the mansion, but he’d been cooped up inside, and Costin knew that fresh air would do them both some good.
“Sure, buddy. We can go out.”
Peri had been kind enough to bring Titus some clothes and a jacket, shoes, and socks. Though Spring was upon them, in the morning the air was still cool enough to warrant a light jacket. Costin helped Titus pull on his jacket and slip on his shoes before taking his hand and walking them out of the large house.
“There’s a lot of steps to take before you can get to a door to go outside,” the little boy pointed out.
Costin smiled. “Yes, there are a lot of steps to take.”
“Will we always live here?” Titus asked.
Costin thought about it. He’d always planned to stay in the pack mansion, though not everyone in the pack lived there. But he guessed that could change if Sally wanted. Although even if they didn’t live in the pack mansion, they would need to live close since she was healer to the Serbia pack.
“It depends on what Mommy wants,” Costin told him.
“I think she will want to stay.”
“Do you want to stay?” he asked his son. For some reason, it wasn’t hard at all to think of Titus as his son; it was like the boy had always been his and Sally’s.
“It feels safe here,” Titus admitted. “Safe is good.”
“Yes, I agree,” Costin nodded. “Safe is always good.”
Once they were outside, Costin let Titus take the lead. They walked up toward the forest that led into the mountains. Though he wasn’t in his home country of Romania, the huge mountain range was the same, and the forest brought back so many memories—some good, some bad. It was where they’d fought Desdemona. It was where they’d battled the warlocks, who happened to be battling trolls at the time. It was where the males of the pack had been taken and banished to the In Between. Some would say those were bad memories, but for Costin they were bittersweet. Yes, they were memories of some very dark and difficult things, but they were also memories that included his love. He would take any memory, no matter how painful it was, if it included his Sally in some way.
“I like being outside,” Titus said with a smile in his voice. “I like the sun and the way the forest smells.”
“You didn’t see either of those things for a long time.”
He shook his head. “Nope. Only the black.”
Costin knew that he was speaking of the darkness that was underground. “Were you scared?” Costin asked the boy.
“Sometimes,” Titus admitted. “But sometimes the angel would come visit me and then I wouldn’t be so scared.”
The Great Luna had been watching over her children, as she always did. Though Costin hadn’t been Titus’ dad at that point, he was still so thankful that she had been watching over the child that would one day be his and his mate’s.
“COSTIN!” His name rang out, piercing the silence of the forest. He scooped up Titus and bolted back to the mansion. His thoughts immediately jumped to the possibility that they’d found Sally. His heart was pounding as hard as his feet were against the earth and, though he usually wasn’t ever short of breath thanks to his werewolf gene, he could barely breathe.
As soon as the mansion came into view, he saw Jen standing on the steps, her face splotchy with tears and her cheeks red. She looked overjoyed. Decebel stood next to her and, though his face wasn’t nearly as exuberant as his mate’s, it was still obvious that he was relieved. They must have found her. They had to have found her.
“Jacque and Fane are alive!” Jen blubbered. “Peri said they woke up last night but she didn’t tell us because she wanted to give them time with Slate—that’s what they named him. I told her I was pissed that she didn’t tell us, but that I forgave her because she did keep my best friend alive, and she had my gratitude for eternity because of it. Although she didn’t—COSTIN!”
Costin didn’t register his legs giving out from underneath him. He didn’t notice Decebel moving toward him at inhuman speed to catch Titus before his knees crashed to the ground, along with his hope.
They hadn’t found his Sally. She was still lost to him. Her light was still gone. Costin wanted to be strong. He wanted to be stoic like Decebel, and levelheaded like Vasile, but that wasn’t who he was. He was the lighthearted, emotional one. He couldn’t hide his pain behind a mask of fury or a wall of determination, at least not yet. Costin was still too broken to do anything more than fall forward, his head pressed against the ground, and weep.
Decebel looked at Jennifer from where he knelt holding Costin upright with one hand and holding Titus with the other. He motioned his head toward Titus. “Take him to meet Jacque and Fane. He would probably like to see the new baby as well.”
Jennifer stared in complete shock at the male before her. Decebel knew that she hadn’t realized that Costin might have thought that they had news of Sally. All she had been thinking about was the need to tell him that Fane and Jacque, two of Costin’s closest friends, had not died. She didn’t think about the fact that screaming his name in such urgency might cause him to come to the wrong conclusion. She wasn’t aware of just how far Costin had already slipped into the darkness. Decebel had been careful to keep that information hidden from her. His mate was already dealing with enough stress, adding more wouldn’t help their situation.
After another gentle nudge from her mate, Jennifer looked up at him, dragging her eyes slowly from Costin. “I didn’t, I didn’t realize,” she whispered, though Decebel’s sensitive wolf hearing had no trouble picking up her words. The joy had been leached from her face, replaced by remorse and shame.
“It’s alright, baby. It’s alright. He will not hold it against you. I know it must be hard for you to see him this way. This is a part of what makes us who we are. The Great Luna designed us to love our mate so deeply, so completely, that death is a better option than life without them. When Reyaz took you and the other females, I—”
“Wanted to destroy everything and everyone in sight,” Jen finished for him.
He nodded. “That is how I would deal with the anguish. This” —he motioned to Costin— “is how he is dealing with it. Let me talk to him. We will be along in a bit to see the others.”
Jen hurried forward and took Titus from her mate. She started backing into the house and sent Decebel a thought through their bond. “Please, tell him I’m sorry.”
Decebel nodded and then watched as she left him kneeling there, unsure of exactly what to say to Costin. Decebel’s wolf wanted to howl out a long bellow of pain for their fellow pack member. Costin was hurting; he was scared, and he felt helpless. But Costin was also a threat to the pack, and Decebel’s wolf wanted to neutralize that threat.
Decebel laid a hand on Costin’s head, offering the only comfort he knew—his presence. The Alpha wouldn’t tell him that everything was going to be okay. He wouldn’t lie to his pack mate like that. More than likely, Decebel was going to have to subdue Costin until they found his mate, or he’d have to kill him. He didn’t relish that thought, but he would do it. He wanted so badly for it not to come to that. Decebel knew that they would do everything they could to find Sally, but sometimes even your best wasn’t enough. Sometimes life just kicked your ass and death finished it.
Decebel bowed his head and felt his chest tighten as his own tears filled his eyes. Not many things could make the huge wolf cry, but seeing Costin so inconsolable and knowing that he would have to be the one to destroy him, was enough to cause physical pain to the Alpha. It brought back memories of the emotions he felt when he lost his sister so long ago—the feeling of being helpless and unable to fix it. After fifteen minutes, Decebel sat completely on the ground, keeping his hand on his friend’s head. Costin’s shoulders shook as he seemed to mourn her loss all over again.
“It’s my fault,” Costin finally said after another fifteen minutes. “I should have been with her. I belong by her side, always, and I wasn’t there. I left her unprotected.”
Decebel knew exactly how he felt. The level of responsibility he felt for Jennifer was exactly the same. Yes, his pack would help protect her, but ultimately it was his job. She was his—his to love, his to provide for, and his to protect. What did you say to a male who felt he’d let his mate down, knowing that you would feel exactly the same way if the roles were reversed?
“I shouldn’t have listened to the damn prophecy. I should have gone with my gut, which is always to be with her. But I didn’t, and now she’s gone.” Costin sat up and looked at Decebel.
The emptiness and darkness that filled his eyes was shocking to Decebel. It was as if something had crawled into Costin’s head and was now staring back at him. He shuddered at the sight and his wolf perked up even more, paying close attention to the Beta’s scent and body language. Costin didn’t need another lecture on dealing with the darkness. All he needed was a friend. He needed someone to listen to him and simply let him know that he wasn’t alone. And if that wasn’t enough to keep the darkness at bay, then Costin would need someone to deal with him.
“How am I going to find her?” Costin growled. “How the hell am I going to find her in this vast world? She could be anywhere.”
“You aren’t going to be looking alone,” Decebel reminded him. “We will be helping you in any way we can.”
“We don’t even know where to start,” Costin said, his voice saturated with defeat. “What if we never find her?”
“We will never stop looking. I would never stop looking for Jennifer and we will never, not ever, stop looking for Sally. I don’t know if this helps or not, but Sally isn’t just a pack mate. She is our healer. She is more important than any other pack member, even me. We will not rest until she is back where she belongs.”
Costin continued to growl and the sound was growing louder instead of softer. His body was shaking as he wrestled with his wolf, who was nearly completely consumed with darkness. The man was the only thing holding them together. When hair started to sprout on his arms, Decebel jumped to his feet pulling Costin up with him by the back of his shirt. He shifted his other hand up to his Beta’s throat and then slammed him down onto the ground. Decebel followed, landing on his knees, bending over Costin. His hand was still around the younger wolf’s throat, but Costin’s body seemed to have relaxed and the hair had disappeared. That was a good sign. If his wolf had been a hundred percent feral, he would have phased and fought Decebel. But instead, Costin submitted, again.
“You will hold it together,” Decebel snarled into his face. “You didn’t live sixty years waiting on your true mate, only to give up now. Fight dammit! Fight the darkness, fight your wolf, fight the demons you’ve created by your grief and anger and fear. Fight so that you can live to see her again.”
“What. If. I. Can’t?” Costin asked through the hand wrapped tightly around his neck.
“Then you’d better run, run far and fast.” Decebel gave his neck one more shake to drive home his dominance over Costin’s wolf and then released him. He climbed to his feet and offered a hand to the younger wolf. Costin took it and let himself be pulled up.
“Decebel,” Costin began but Decebel cut him off with a raised hand.
“You’re not gone yet so don’t talk as though you’ve already succumbed.”
“Thank you,” Costin said the two simple words filled with so many meanings.
“You’re welcome. Now, please don’t make me kill you.”



Sally woke with a start. Her heart was beating wildly in her chest and it ached. There was a deep sadness in her that she didn’t understand. It was as though something inside of her was tearing apart. At first, she thought the feeling must be for her parents, and though she was definitely still sad over their loss, but she knew that the pain she felt in that moment had nothing to do with them. This pain was something much deeper. It was as though she’d lost a part of herself.
She reached up and wiped away the tears that she’d been shedding even in her sleep. Sally didn’t understand it. She didn’t know where the feelings were coming from. Sometimes they didn’t even feel like they were her own.
She glanced over at the clock and saw that she’d slept until nearly two in the afternoon. She had to be at work by four. She pushed away the remnants of the emotions and focused instead on the things she needed to do in order to get ready for her day.
An hour and forty minutes later, after showering, changing, and getting dressed in the shirt that was her uniform, she stepped out of her front door. She tried to focus on the beautiful weather and not the turmoil that was still churning her gut. There was no sense in dwelling on it since she didn’t even know what it was.
“Look!” Jericho called out as she entered the bar. “She returns.” His grin was contagious and she was thankful that she did have to work. Otherwise, she would be sitting at home wallowing.
“Why wouldn’t I?” Sally asked as she stashed her purse under the counter and grabbed her small apron. She started to wrap it around her but Jericho grabbed it and took it from her hands, tossing it onto the counter. “Jericho,” she huffed, but quickly snapped her mouth closed when he snagged the edge of her jeans and pulled her toward him. His masculine scent hit her and she had to admit, he smelled good.
“Just one second. We need to sexify you up a little, not that you aren’t already sexy as hell with that whole innocent wholesome thing you got going on. It’s like the librarian effect.”
“What?” Sally’s eyes widened and she felt her face warm up.
“The librarian effect,” he repeated as if that would help. “You know when a girl seems so put together that it just makes you want to get her all kinds of messy.”
Sally choked back a laugh. “Can’t say that I’ve ever felt that way.”
He chuckled. “If you ever do, please let me know so I can watch.”
“Jericho!” she squealed, thoroughly embarrassed.
He shrugged. “Just speaking the truth, babe. Now, stand still,” he said as he proceeded to rip the bottom of her shirt. He tore it all the way around until she was left with a top that only came to just above her belly button.
“Really?” she asked dryly.
Jericho ran a finger softly across the bare skin of her exposed flesh, and Sally sucked in a breath as she stepped back. He followed her and continued to follow her progress backward until she was stopped by the counter. “Are you running from me, little rabbit?” His grin was wicked—and hot.
“Do I need to run?” she asked as she looked up at his eyes. She sucked in a breath. His eyes…they almost appeared to be glowing.
“If you run, I’ll just be enticed to chase you,” he whispered as he leaned down toward her. His warm breath caressed her cheeks but she couldn’t focus on that. All she could see was his eyes.
“Your eyes,” she whispered back.
“What about them?” Jericho asked absently, as he seemed suddenly very interested in her neck. He was leaning closer and closer still until his nose brushed the tender part of her neck just below her ear. He took a deep breath. “You smell amazing.”
“Wait.” Sally leaned back. “What?”
“I said you smell amazing.” He breathed in again. “Makes me want to—”
“Jericho, Sally, get to work and quit petting each other.” Cross’ voice penetrated the little bubble in which they’d been entranced.
“You suck the fun out of everything, boss,” Jericho whined as he stepped back again. He winked at Sally as he ran his finger across her midsection again on his way past her to the door leading to the back of the bar.
Sally stood there attempting to catch her breath. She was in trouble. Cross had told her to be careful about Jericho and now she knew why. Resisting him was going to be challenging. Sally didn’t have much experience with guys, but she wasn’t blind or stupid. Jericho was all kinds of yummy and his confident charm only made him even more irresistible.
She grabbed the apron her coworker had so casually tossed onto the counter and wrapped it around her. It did nothing to cover the exposed skin. Then she tucked a towel in her back pocket, leaving some hanging out.
Sally began her assigned opening duties for the day. She had been surprised at how many patrons that had poured in for happy hour as the previous business workday ended. She didn’t expect tonight to be any different. As she began drying some recently washed glasses, she let her mind drift to the glowing eyes, or what she thought were glowing eyes, peering back at her from Jericho’s all too handsome face. They had been glowing, she was sure of it. Or had she just been so enamored with his attention that she was seeing things?
“No daydreaming, little rabbit,” Jericho said as he smacked her on her rear in passing. She’d noticed the night before that he was a touchy-feely type. But today he seemed to be taking it up a notch. Sally didn’t like to play games. She wouldn’t let him jerk her around by her hormones. By the end of the night, she had every intention of knowing where the flirting was going, if anywhere. She’d originally told him that she wasn’t interested in a relationship, but perhaps she hadn’t been totally honest with him or with herself. Though she hated to admit it, she was lonely. Jericho was funny, kind, and made her feel like she mattered. Maybe she would be making a big mistake if she did let anything happen between them. The only way she would know would be to give him a chance.
It was halfway into the busiest time of the evening when Sally decided she was beginning to get a picture of what exactly Jericho was looking for. Every guy that hit on her received a front row seat view of Jericho doing something outrageous, like blowing seductively on the back of her neck as she poured a drink, and then chuckling along with the other employees and patrons when she spilled said drink. Not long afterward, when a guy asked her for her number, Jericho had come up behind her and wrapped a strong arm around her waist. He’d pulled her back against his impressive chest and mock whispered how much he was looking forward to after closing time with her. She’d thought he was just teasing in an effort to keep the male customers from getting too aggressive with her. That all changed when another guy approached the bar. This man had everyone else moving away from him. He was the type of person that commanded the room without ever having to say a word. His shoulders were pulled back, his chin held up in confidence, and the smirk on his face dared anyone to confront him at their own peril.
He sat down at the bar and Sally swallowed painfully before walking over to him and asking “What can I get you?” She noticed Jericho stepping closer to her.
“I’ll take whatever your most popular beer is on tap and I’ll have a side dish of you.”
Sally had started to grab a cold glass but froze when his words registered in her brain. She looked up at him and, for the second time that night, her breath stuck in her throat as her eyes met a pair of glowing ones. Before she could say anything, Jericho was there pushing her behind him. He was growling, honest to goodness growling, at the other man.
“Mine,” Jericho rumbled. “I’ll be happy to get that beer for you.” Jericho spoke to her but didn’t turn away from the guy on the other side of the bar. “Beautiful, could you go down and get us more pretzels and chips?” Jericho asked her in a completely different voice.
“Um, sure,” Sally said, though unsure if she should leave the two guys alone. When she didn’t move, Jericho turned and walked over to her, the other man’s eyes trained on her.
“Hey,” Jericho said gently as he placed a finger under her chin and turned her head to face him and tilted it back so she could look up at him. “You okay?”
“His eyes were glowing,” she whispered softly. Jericho’s eyes widened briefly but then he pressed a kiss to her forehead and chuckled. “I think your imagination is getting the best of you. I’ll deal with 007, while you get those things, okay?”
She nodded before turning away and hurrying to do as he asked. By the time she got back, the other man had moved away from the bar and now sat on the opposite side in the far right corner.
After the five o’clock rush died down, and before the eight thirty rush began, Sally walked over to where Jericho was refilling salt shakers. “What was up with that, earlier?”
“Going to have to be a tad more specific, sweetheart.”
Sally rolled her eyes. He had a thing about nicknames. “The whole mine thing. It sounded as if you were, I don’t know, like, claiming me or something.”
“I was,” he responded as if it were no big deal.
“Don’t you think you ought to speak with me about it before you do that?”
“We’re talking about it now. I want you to be mine.”
His bluntness threw her off guard. “We’ve only known each other for a few days. How can you possibly know that you want me to be yours?”
“Sometimes you just know things.”
She wanted to stomp her foot at his infuriating calmness. Why was he so calm? He was changing the dynamics of their relationship and hadn’t even given her a chance to process it. “So you want to what? Be together?”
“In the biblical sense?” he asked with a grin. “Definitely, but I can wait for that until we’ve known each other a tad bit longer.”
“How generous of you,” she huffed. “Did you ever think that I might not want to be with you?”
Jericho moved faster than a human should be able to. One minute she’d been standing with her hip cocked against the wall just in front of the doors that lead to the back, and the next she was pushed through said doors and up against a wall. Jericho’s body, his very male body, was pressed very closely to hers. Sally had to tilt her head back in order to see him, and that brought her lips in dangerous proximity to his.
“Do you want to be mine?” he asked and she shuddered as his hands gripped her hips.
“I don’t know,” Sally admitted.
“Let me help clear the confusion for you.” He spoke low and his voice rumbled against her chest. Suddenly his lips were on hers. He was kissing her. Holy freaking fairy babies, Sally thought, though where the idea of fairy babies came from was about as clear as the Mississippi River. His firm, yet very soft, lips began moving against her own and she couldn’t help but reciprocate. His tongue swiped out and brushed her own lips causing her to gasp. He took full advantage of her opened mouth. Wow. Her mind shattered and all she could think was wow. Jericho was kissing her. She shouldn’t be letting it happen, not after only knowing each other only a few days. She should be sensible and push him away and declare the need for them to get to know one another—that would be the safe thing to do. But she figured she’d already strayed a little bit too far away from safe when she’d decided to work in a bar.
Sally pushed safe to the back burner and instead focused on the strong arms wrapping around her. She let her mind fully appreciate the warmth of his mouth, the firmness of his toned body, and the unbelievable amount of attention he was paying to every part of her mouth. The dude was as good a kisser as he was a bartender and that was saying something.
“Did that clear things up?” he asked, his breath every bit as ragged as hers.
“Clear?” she responded dumbly.
“Be mine,” Jericho said possessively as he pressed a kiss to her neck.
Okay, that was nice, Sally sighed. “Alright.”
The devilish grin that spread across the handsome man’s face before her made her even weaker in the knees than she’d been previously. “Perfect,” he murmured as he ran a thumb across her thoroughly kissed lips.
As she stared up into eyes that seemed to once again be glowing, Sally couldn’t help but feel as though she’d just made a deal with the devil. A very handsome, sexy devil, but then, what other kinds of devils were there? Who would make deals with an ugly devil?



Cyn was tired. In all the centuries of her long life, she could remember only a handful of times when she’d been bone tired; she’d have to add this time to the list.
“How are you holding up?” Thalion asked her as he handed her a bottle of water. She took the offering from him and drained it.
“It’s been three days and we’ve seen no trace of them. We’ve searched a dozen lairs,” she pointed out unnecessarily. “Where could they’ve all gone?”
Thalion shook his head and for the first time, he looked frustrated and tired. He’d been so strong, so relentless in his pursuit, and Cyn had always admired that about him. Thalion was focused. He was not an enemy anyone would want to have. “Something had to have happened. They must have been ordered to go deeper into hiding.”
“How are they feeding?” she asked.
“Maybe they had more blood slaves than we realized.”
She wanted to kick something. Cyn felt as if someone was laughing at them, playing games with their minds. They’d lost the vampires, lost any dormants those vampires might have had imprisoned, and from what she’d heard from Peri, they’d lost Sally. What else could possibly go wrong?
A curse from Thalion had her wishing she’d not asked that.
“What?” she asked him, stepping over to where he stood, a piece of parchment in his hand.
“It’s a summons,” he responded absently, as he continued to read what was on the paper.
“A summons from whom?”
His eyes were haunted when he finally looked at her and answered. “My father, the king.”



Jen was eight kinds of pissed and ready to strangle the high fae when she pushed open the door to Fane and Jacque’s suite. Though they weren’t members of the Serbian pack, she’d insisted that they have their own home away from home. She didn’t want Jacque to have an excuse not to come and visit. She and Sally had their own suites in the Romania pack mansion as well. Come to think of it, the Serbia pack and the Romania pack basically shared their two mansions. How’s that for inter-pack cooperation and collaboration?
Titus stood beside her looking eager and practically bouncing on his little feet. “Can I meet the baby now?”
“Hey, kid. I have a baby and you haven’t been this excited to be around her,” Jen pointed out, sounding way too much like a petulant child.
Titus shot her a look that implied that she obviously didn’t have enough brain cells to tie her own shoes. “She’s a girl,” he said, not unkindly but in a way that left no more room for debate. “Slate is a boy. Like me.”
“You do realize that all he does right now is cry, poop, eat, and repeat, right? Thia at least grins and babbles like an idiot.”
“He’ll grow,” Titus responded, again as though Jen didn’t have a clue.
Jen rolled her eyes and hollered. “Get out here now!” The living room area was empty, which meant the newly reunited family was in Fane and Jacque’s bedroom or in the nursery. Jen probably should have been quiet since Slate might have been sleeping, but she didn’t feel bad. She felt like they deserved a screaming baby for leaving her in the dark overnight.
“You don’t have to scream like a banshee,” Jacque said as she came strolling out of their bedroom.
You have got to be kidding me, Jen growled to herself. “At least have the decency to look like you were asking death to have a picnic with you,” she huffed. “I mean, here you’ve been back with the living for hours, and you didn’t bother to come tell me or, crap, even just have someone else find me?”
“We were sort of excited to see our son,” Jacque said.
As if that were a good enough reason. Okay, so it was, Jen thought, but she was still ticked. “I was worried out of my ever-loving mind, Jac,” she admitted as she threw herself at her best friend and wrapped her in a chokehold-like hug. She wanted to hold on and never let go. They’d come too close to losing someone in their group so many times, but this time had been way too close.
“I know, and I’m sorry for not having Peri come tell you right away. If it makes you feel better, I haven’t spent any time with my mom either.”
Jen shrugged. “I feel a tad better, but not much. I mean, she may be your mother, but I am me. Your. Best. Friend. There’s a code, bitches before witches. You can’t go messing with the code.”
“Bitches before witches?” Jacque cocked an eyebrow at her.
“Yes, bitches” —she motioned between herself and Jacque— “and witches, as in your mom. I mean, she’s sort of like a witch with all that seeing the future crap she can do.”
“Um, but she isn’t evil,” Jacque pointed out.
“We don’t know that,” Jen said, her voice rising just a bit. “I mean, what do we really know about her? She got frisky with a werewolf, gave birth to you, and then lied to you your entire life. I love Lilly as much as the next chick, but you can never be too careful about these things.”
Jacque stared at her for several minutes while Jen stared back.
“Are you done accusing my mom just because your feelings are hurt?” Jacque finally asked.
Jen folded her arms in front of her. “Fine, yes. I’m done accusing your mom, for now, until I feel the need to rub it in your face again that you totally forgot your best friend.”
“Speaking of best friends…” Jacque frowned as she tried to look past her. Jen knew all she’d see was Titus and his goofy grin. “Where’s Sally?”
Jen blew out a breath causing her cheeks to puff out. “Yeah, about that.”
Jacque could barely breathe. Jen had finished speaking at least ten minutes ago, but Jacque hadn’t been able to muster a reply. From the minute Jen said, Sally’s gone, she’s missing, Jacque’s brain had shut down. When her brain started re-firing on at least some cylinders, her mouth opened and she said the first thing that popped into her head. “Costin?”
Jen’s hand shook as she wrung them in her lap. Jen’s hands never shook. “He’s not doing too well.”
“Well, duh?” Jacque blurted out before she could stop herself. She glanced over to where Titus was sitting, playing with some toys that were much too old for Slate. The toddler had asked to meet her son. But the newborn was sleeping, so Jacque told Titus he’d be the first to know when Slate woke up. Titus had told her that he’d wait right there so that she’d know where to find him. He was one of those kids that just made you feel like you’d swallowed sunshine. He warmed your insides with simply a smile and small eager eyes. He was still quietly playing, not seeming to be paying attention to them at all. But Jacque knew better.
“I sort of screwed up,” Jen groaned. “I was so excited that you and Fane weren’t, you know, dead. I shot off at the mouth, screaming at the top of my lungs for Costin. He naturally thought I had news about Sally. When he realized I didn’t, he…well…he sort of fell apart. That’s where Dec is now. He’s helping Costin not lose control.”
“It must be killing him,” Jacque said quietly, “to know she’s alive, but not know where she is, or if she’s okay?”
“Yeah, Dec would have burned down the globe by now,” Jen admitted. “And Fane, well we all know how cray-cray Fane gets over you, so Costin is doing remarkably well.”
“What’s being done to look for Sally? Do we have any leads? Anything left behind that could explain who took her and why? Do we know—”
“Whoa, slow your roll, Red,” Jen said as she held up a hand. “We aren’t just sitting on our thumbs, spinning around like idiots looking for cheap kicks. We are totally on this.”
“I didn’t think you were looking for cheap tricks.”
“Kicks.”
“Whatever,” Jacque snapped. “The point is, I know you’ve been working on it. If anyone is the epitome of tenacity, it’s you. I just want in. I want to help. What can I do?”
“Um, well, you can be a mom first. Sally wouldn’t want you to miss any of this time with Slate. You know that. She’d want you to be cooing like an idiot and elbow deep in poopy diapers. So, do that. And then during naps, you can nap.”
Jacque wanted to pull every last strand of Jen’s hair out of her pretty little head, one by one. “That won’t be helping find Sally,” she ground out through her clenched teeth.
“You don’t need to worry about it right now. You are just back from the dead. Wadim is doing his thing, searching through ancient crap. Peri is doing her thing, annoying and threatening other supes to get information from them. Vasile is, well, doing whatever the hell it is Vasile does, and Dec and I are bugging all of them to keep going. It’s all under control. We. Got. This.”
“But, it’s Sally,” Jacque said lamely. “It’s our Sally, Jen.”
Jen reached over and took Jacque’s hand in her own. “I know. And we’ve taught her well. She’s tough and smart and levelheaded. She can take care of herself.” Jacque could tell that those were words Jen had been saying to herself over and over in an attempt to get herself to believe them. She wondered if it was working.
There was a knock on the door to their suite and Decebel walked in, a very depressed looking Costin following close behind him.
“You still haven’t learned the concept of knock and wait,” Jen huffed as she gave her mate the stink eye.
“Still don’t care,” he shot back.
“Costin.” Jacque stood ignoring the bickering couple and went to her best friend’s mate. She gave him a quick, brief hug because she knew it wasn’t her arms that he wanted around him.
“I really am glad that you and Fane are alright,” Costin told her, a tired smile appearing on his lips, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “Sally would have been devastated if something had happened to either of you.”
The torment that filled his voice as he spoke her name was such that Jacque’s eyes teared up. She knew how hard it was for her to hear that Sally was missing. For Costin, it would be a hundred times worse.
“We will find her,” Jacque told him with as much conviction as she could muster. “We won’t stop looking until we do.” He didn’t look near as comforted as Jacque was hoping, but she knew the males of their species. They lived and breathed the need to protect their mates. She’d bet anything that Costin was blaming himself for not being there with Sally at the time she disappeared. Yes, he was blaming himself but he was wrong. The blame only lay with the person or persons responsible. But who that was, she didn’t know.
“Someone woke up hungry.” Fane emerged from their bedroom with their squawking son.
Titus jumped to his feet, his bright eyes eager to see the little bundle. He watched in awe as Fane carried Slate over to Jacque and placed him in her arms. Jacque knelt down so that Titus could get a better look.
“He sure seems mad,” Titus said as he reached out and gently patted Slate’s flailing hand. “Maybe I can see him more after he’s eaten? I get grumpy sometimes too when I’m hungry.”
“That sounds like a plan,” Jacque told him. She watched as Costin took Titus’ hand and led him back to the little play area. Costin hugged him and spoke softly to his son. Titus was nodding his head and patting Costin on the shoulder. It was tough to watch, to see a child be the one offering the comfort to a parent.
Jacque turned, giving them their privacy and headed for the bedroom. She sat in the rocking chair her mother-in-law had given her and gazed down at the miracle in her arms. Jacque was thankful that, despite her brush with death, her body still knew it had a baby to provide for and her milk had come in. Jen had told her that nursing your child was an experience every mom should have at least once and she’d been right. There was something incredibly bonding at being the one who provides for the little life you carried for nine months. There’s a connection made that just doesn’t happen when using a bottle. Slate had taken to nursing with no problems, and so they’d decided to only use the bottles when Jacque couldn’t be there for him.
“Don’t just stand there like a creeper and stare,” Jacque said without taking her eyes off of her son.
Her mate chuckled as he stepped further into the room. “You are getting good at using your superior senses,” he said, pride dripping from his voice.
“That or you’re just a loud breather.”
“I’m always a loud breather when you are close by, Luna.”
Jacque made a noise somewhere between a gag and a retch because of the syrupy-sweet comment, and then they were both quiet for a while, both mesmerized by their little wolf. Jacque thought she’d be self-conscious, breastfeeding in front of Fane, but she wasn’t—not even when he stared at her like a creeper.
“You’re doing it again.”
“Do you have any idea how it feels to see your mate feeding the child you created together?” he asked and then pushed those exact feelings through the bond.
The emotions hit Jacque like a freight train and she found herself bracing her shoulders back against the rocking chair and holding Slate closer.
“There are no words to express how amazing it is. So all I can do is stare in awe at the picture before me that I never expected to have. Any one of our unmated males would give away body parts to have what we have.”
Jacque’s heart swelled in her chest. She could feel everything her mate felt and his words were sincere and from his own heart. If the man was going to say things like that, he could stare all he wanted, she thought wryly.
They sat in companionable silence until he was finished and Jacque laid him in his bassinet. Then she turned to Fane and crossed her arms in front of her. “What is it you need to tell me?” She felt the information burning a hole in his head and it was time he spilled it.
Fane filled her in on everything Jen had told him while she’d been with Slate. She was impressed at Fane’s ability to decipher the jumbled, shortened mess of Jen’s explanations.
“So Bethany and Drake are doing alright and he hasn’t killed anyone so far. There’s a new chick named Zara who’s been hanging with Alina, learning the ropes, and Thia has learned to do raspberries with her tongue and lips. Did I get it all?”
“That pretty much sums it up,” Fane agreed.
“So what do we do now?” Jacque asked him, already knowing she wasn’t going to like his answer.
“We wait.”
“Waiting sucks.”
“You’ve said that before.”
She shrugged. “Still true.”