The Burning Claw

by Quinn Loftis

  “Stop it!” she yelled at herself as she stood at her door, about to step outside. “Quit this nonsense, Sally Morgan.” Gah, even her last name sounded weird to her. She gave up trying to reason with herself and practically sprinted out the door to work.

  Sally hadn’t been behind the counter for five minutes before Jericho had his hands on her hips, pulling her back against his chest. “You look edible,” he whispered against her ear and then nipped it with his teeth.

  Sally blushed and fought the urge to pull away. “Thanks.” She bit back the audible sigh when he released her to help a gentleman who’d just walked up to the bar.

  She decided right then that she was going to have to call things off with him sooner rather than later. She couldn’t keep feeling like this. She felt like she was not only leading him on but also betraying someone else. Maybe if she explained that to him, then he would understand. Perhaps, he wouldn’t take the news too hard.

  She looked over at him as he expertly poured a round of shots. He must have felt her eyes on him because he turned his head and winked at her. That wink was a kick to the gut to quit staring and get to work.

  Now she just had to get through the shift without visibly cringing or pulling away every time he touched her. She didn’t know what she would do if he kissed her.

  She gasped suddenly as she was grabbed around the waist and spun around. Her chest collided with a much firmer one and lips came crashing down on hers. Jericho backed her up against the counter and proceeded to mix a drink behind her back as he kissed her. It was a crowd favorite and she tried to avoid it, but sometimes he snuck up on her. He pressed his hips closer against her and the bold move surprised her. She gasped and when her mouth opened, he took advantage and dove in tongue first.

  She knew the hip thrust had been just for that reason, so she’d open her mouth. She rarely let him kiss her with their tongues entangling. It made her skin crawl and that time was no exception. But what could she do? She went right along with it. She let him kiss her and kissed him back. Sally wondered if he could tell that it was mechanical, that no emotion fueled the action.

  He pulled back and set the finished drink on the bar, his body still pressed tightly to hers, and slid the drink down to the customer. The crowd applauded, whistled, and catcalled, as they always did.

  Jericho pressed a quick kiss to her neck, just below her ear, before stepping away and going back to take more orders.

  Sally had to excuse herself. She needed to collect her thoughts and emotions.

  “You okay, Sally,” Cross asked as she passed him on her way to the ladies room.

  “Yes,” she said but in her head, she was screaming no! Nothing was okay. Nothing would ever be okay again. She didn’t understand where the emotions were coming from. She stood in front of the sink panting as she tried to hold back a panic attack.

  She met her eyes in the mirror as they filled with tears. “What’s happening to me?”

  “How much longer do we have to wait?” Jen asked. She felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, waiting for the sunrise to come so that she could wake her parents and open the presents. They were going to see Sally. It had only been eleven days since she’d disappeared, and yet it felt as though it had been months.

  “I told you we wouldn’t leave until they were two hours out on their hunt,” Peri said with a slight edge to her voice.

  Jacque stood looking every bit as eager as Jen but somehow managing to hold her tongue. Finally, fifteen minutes later, Peri grabbed both their arms and flashed them from the Romania mansion. They reappeared on the stoop of a quaint looking building. The moon was high in the sky but no stars could be seen, unlike in the forest of Romania.

  “What time is it here?” Jen asked.

  “They’re seven hours behind us. So we left at seven a.m. our time, and here it is twelve a.m. of the same day. If we’d left at six a.m., we would have arrived here yesterday their time.”

  “Is this where she lives?” Jacque asked as her eyes drank in the surroundings.

  “Yep,” Peri confirmed. “But we won’t find her here at this hour. She’s still at work.”

  Jen clapped her hands together and rubbed them. “Does this mean we’re going to a bar?”

  “Keep your clothes on, Jennifer,” Jacque growled at her.

  Jen shook her head. “I make no promises and” —she held up a finger— “I declare that anything that happens in Oceanside, stays in Oceanside.” She tapped her head. “That means we need to be careful what we let the fur balls know.”

  Peri turned and started walking down the sidewalk and the two girls followed. As they were walking, the high fae began laying out the dos and don’ts.

  “You two are going to use your real names,” she began. “Jericho and I have already had an encounter and so he will recognize me. So I’m going to alter my appearance and change my name. For the time being you guys will need to call me…”

  “Matilda,” Jen offered.

  Peri frowned. “No, not Matilda.”

  “Ursula,” Jacque chimed in giving Jen a wink.

  “Eww, no, not Ursula,” Peri said scrunching up her small nose.

  “I’ve got it,” Jen announced. “Lunesta.” She smiled proudly.

  “That’s a sleep aid drug you dip,” Peri growled.

  “Well, there are times when we’d rather be asleep than deal with your difficult butt. So it’s totally appropriate. Right, Red?”

  “Totally,” Jacque agreed.

  Peri narrowed her eyes at Jen. “Why, exactly, are you using up oxygen right now?”

  Jen laughed. “Because I’m hoping if I use it all up, you’ll pass out.”

  “What about Franny?” Jacque said, interrupting their banter.

  “What the hell is wrong with you two?” Peri growled. Her hands were on her hips as she glared at them. “A normal name, quit trying to give me a stupid, ugly name.”

  “You need to apologize to all the Frannys, Ursulas, Matildas, and Lunestas of the world,” Jacque told her.

  “There are no Lunestas of the world.”

  “All the more reason to use it,” Jen grinned. “It’s original, like you.”

  “My name is Stacy. Call me Stacy,” Peri said flatly.

  “Boo,” Jen called.

  “Boring,” Jacque sang.

  “Don’t care,” Peri sang back. “Now, we’ve got other things to discuss. Even though you are using your real names, you are not to tell Sally that you know her. Do not attempt to remind Sally of anything, any memory, any past event, anything that happened in your past lives as friends. For all intents and purposes, this is the first time you are ever meeting Sally Morgan.”

  “Miklos,” Jen corrected.

  Peri shook her head. “No, she knows herself as Sally Morgan.”

  “Crap,” Jen muttered. It was going to be difficult to pretend to not know anything about the girl she knew everything about.

  “Also, you cannot react to anything you see that you don’t like. If you act weird, she isn’t going to be responsive to building a friendship with you, which is what we need to do.”

  “What’s our story?” Jacque asked.

  “We’re new in town. We moved here from Texas—a way to have something in common with her. We are sisters—all adopted. Our parents always wanted to live in a beach town, but both have passed away. They were older when they adopted us. Mom died of cancer and Dad shortly thereafter from old age. We decided to live the dream they always wanted.”

  “Good story line,” Jen smiled. “What about men?”

  “What about them?” Peri asked.

  “Do we have any?”

  Peri thought about her question and then nodded. “We better or else we might slip up. We each have boyfriends. They are all best friends and are backpacking across Europe.”

  “Nice,” Jacque nodded.

  Peri stopped in front of a door directly below a sign that read The Dog House. They had arrived.

  Jen shook out her han
ds and tilted her head this way and that, attempting to loosen up the tense muscles.

  “We aren’t going in for fight, Jen,” Jacque laughed.

  “I know that, butthead. I’m just trying to relax so I can act natural. I’m afraid I’m going to see her and try to tackle her in a hug.”

  “Yeah, don’t do that,” Peri said shaking her head.

  Peri pushed the door open and they walked inside and froze. There she was, their gypsy healer, behind a bar, not with Costin. Jen soaked in the image of her friend—whole, uninjured, and sporting a new set of locks.

  “Holy schnauzers, what did she do to her hair?” Jen asked as they stood, stock still, staring at their best friend who was diligently drying glasses.

  “I think it’s cute,” Jacque whispered.

  “By burlesque standards, maybe,” Jen said, her lips pinched together as though she’d just sucked on a lemon. “It’s too, too…” She sputtered trying to find the right words. “It’s too blonde and purple.”

  “You’re a blonde, dummy,” Peri pointed out.

  “I’m a blonde because God made a mistake. That’s forgivable. I mean, he’s God. She’s a blonde” —Jen pointed at Sally— “because she made a mistake. She ain’t no god and therefore should not attempt to be changing what she was born with. This is what we call inexcusable behavior. Take note ladies, it won’t end pretty.”

  “What does that mean?” Jacque ask glancing away from Sally briefly to look at Jen.

  “It means her roots are going to look craptastic as her hair grows out. Not. Pretty.”

  “Her hair isn’t what’s important, girls,” Peri huffed at them. “She’s got no memory of us. Any of us. She’s dating a werewolf, working in a bar, and believes her parents are dead. Can you see why I don’t think her hair is important?”

  “No,” Jen answered. “Just think about how much easier getting through those things would be with good hair? It would be one less thing to worry about. But now she has to add that mess to her list of already jacked up issues. She could have saved herself that drama at least.”

  “Okay,” Jacque interrupted. “We get it, Jen. And Peri, we hear you. The next question is are we just going to stand here and stare?”

  “I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We are going to march over there and tell her that damn dye job is a catastrophe and she needs to call in FINA.” Jen started to take a step forward.

  Peri snatched the she-wolf’s arm before she could take another step and jerked her back. “First of all, it’s FEMA, not FINA, you dipstick,” Peri growled. “Second, how would you feel if someone told you your hair looked bad? A complete stranger at that.”

  “Like I needed to fix it,” Jen said matter-of-fact like.

  Peri groaned.

  “I’ve told you before, there’s no reasoning with her when she gets something in her head. You just have to let it work its way out of her system like an intestinal worm,” Jacque told Peri, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked back and forth between the two.

  “Intestinal worm?” Jen scrunched up her face. “Yuck.”

  “Hey, I’m not the one who acts like an intestinal worm. If you fit the shoe, then you’ve got to wear the stink.”

  Peri snorted and Jen shook her head at her best friend. “I got nothing.”

  “Finally,” the high fae moaned. “Now can we take a seat at the bar and see if we can strike up a conversation. And by all means, let me lead.”

  The three marched up to the bar and each took an empty stool. Jen’s hands were shaking as she pulled the stool out and climbed onto it. She rested her arms on the bar, careful to cover her hands so that the shaking wouldn’t be noticeable.

  Sally looked up from her intense glass drying and smiled at them. “I’ll be with you in just a sec.”

  “Not a problem,” Peri assured.

  Sally tucked the towel in her back pocket, and Jen had a flash of memory of a time when Sally had worked with Costin in his bar, and he’d tucked a towel into the healer’s jeans. Times have changed, she thought to herself.

  “What can I get you ladies?”

  “I’ll take a martini, dry, extra olive, please,” Peri told her.

  Jacque ordered next. “I’m just going to take a coke.”

  Jen shouldn’t have done it, but her mouth opened and the words spilled out before she could swallow them down. “I’ll take a sex on the beach.”

  Peri reached over and pinched the crap out of Jen’s leg, and she had to bite her lip to keep from flinging expletives at the fae.

  Sally paused and stared at Jen for a moment. Her face drew into a frown and she looked as though she was in pain. “I don’t think I’ve ever made that one,” she said finally. “I’ll actually have to look that one up. Oh, and I need to see I.D. from my two drinkers.”

  Jen turned to look at Peri who gave her a nod letting her know she had it under control. Peri slipped out two I.D. cards from who the crap knows where and showed them to Sally, who nodded and then stepped away to make their drinks. The I.D. cards vanished just as quickly as they’d appeared.

  “What time do you close?” Jacque asked Sally after she’d gotten them their drinks and they’d been there casually talking to each other.

  Sally glanced at the clock behind her. “In about fifteen minutes.”

  So, one a.m., Jen thought and then realized that they’d been there for forty-five minutes and only said a handful of things to Sally, none of which were conducive to building a friendship. She thought back to when they were kids and Jen had met her. She’d informed her, just like Jacque, that she was going to be her best friend and that was that. It worked then. Jen shrugged as she smiled at Sally. “So we’re new in town,” Jen said and ignored the foot stomp Peri was attempting to give her. “And you seem to be like a normal, not serial killer, type. Would you care to hang out with us one night this week and tell us what’s what?”

  Jacque and Peri seemed to be holding their breaths as they waited to see how Sally would answer.

  Without missing a beat, she laughed at Jen’s comment and then nodded her head. “Well I work most nights. How about we do some shopping during the day tomorrow? Honestly, I’m new here too and I haven’t made any friends other than the coworkers here, so some girl time would be great. And you three look pretty normal and non-serial killerish yourselves.”

  The three laughed. Jen wanted to reach across the counter and wrap Sally in a hug. Her arms ached to hold her friend. It was like holding her breath even though she wasn’t under water. It sucked.

  “Okay, awesome.” Jen said. “Would that work for you two?” She asked Jacque and Peri.

  They both nodded.

  “We could meet at my apartment and then make plans from there. It’s just down the street.” Sally suggested.

  “Sounds perfect. Is ten okay for you?”

  Sally gave her a thumbs up. “I can totally do ten.”

  “What are you doing at ten?” The handsome bartender who’d been working alongside Sally during this conversation butted in. Jen had managed to ignore him because she knew if she looked at him, her wolf would snarl. Just then, she only stiffened. Would he know they were wolves? She hadn’t even thought of it.

  “I’ve made some new friends,” Sally motioned to them. “Ladies, this is Jericho, my—”

  “Her boyfriend,” he interrupted her.

  Before the growl could leave Jen’s chest, Peri elbowed her hard in the side causing her to cough.

  “Oh, sorry about that, sis, didn’t realize how close you were.”

  Jen shot her a glare and then looked back at the wolf standing next to Sally.

  “Yeah and coworker,” she finished. “I’m off tomorrow,” she said speaking to Jericho. “And we’re going to go hang out.”

  “That will be fun,” Jericho told her as he tucked her short locks behind her ears.

  Oh, if Costin could see the wolf touching his Sally. He would burn the whole bar to the ground, thought Jen


  “We’re going to get out of your hair,” Peri/Stacy began.

  “I’m going to be off in about thirty minutes,” Sally said quickly. “I usually walk home. You guys could join me if you have time to wait. Then we could actually get each other’s names.” She laughed nervously. It did not escape Jen’s notice that Sally kept taking tiny steps away from Jericho, but like a bloodhound on the hunt, he followed his prey. Stupid hound, Jen mentally kicked him.

  “We’d be happy to wait,” Peri/Stacy, told her. “We’ll take a seat at a table so you can do what you need to.”

  Sally nodded. Peri grabbed Jen’s belt loop when the blonde didn’t budge from her stool. She was too busy glaring at the stupid wall of Jericho. He was a wall because he wouldn’t get out of Sally’s way. Jen was secretly hoping Sally would just rear back and kick him in the jewels, but it didn’t happen.

  Jen finally slid off the stool and followed Peri and Jacque to the table Peri had indicated.

  Jacque started to say something but Peri pointed to her ear, reminding them that Jericho had wolf hearing.

  “It’s awesome to have met someone who is new like us,” Jen said in a perky voice that made her want to slap her own face. “Don’t you think, Stacy?”

  Peri shot her a look that was the mental equivalent of shoving a sock in Jen’s mouth.

  “Yes, Jen. It’s awesome,” Peri responded dryly.

  Thirty minutes later, they were all four standing just outside of Sally’s apartment building. Sally had dark circles under her eyes and was moving rather sluggishly. Jacque thought she might drop at any minute.

  “Well this was fun,” said Sally. “So glad I met you guys.”

  Peri reached out her hand and placed it on Sally’s arm. The action seemed natural enough, as though Peri simply wanted to emphasize what she was saying by making sure she had Sally’s attention. But Jen had a feeling the gesture was more than that.

  “It was very nice to meet you, as well, Sally. I hope we can be a support for you and you for us. Being new is hard and no one should have to do it on their own,” Peri told her gently. With a soft pat on her arm, Peri stepped back. They waved at her as they turned to go.