by Quinn Loftis
“I would not dare,” he smiled and it was one that he gave only to her. Peri took his offered hand and followed him from the room, all the while hearing the drums of her impending doom. It was worse than even she could have imagined.
They entered the kitchen that was clamoring with people moving to and fro. Suddenly they all stopped as though it had been choreographed and turned to look at the pair. Grins that Peri swore would split their googlie-eyed faces in half, spread across the lips of all, save the new healers who just looked as clueless as ever, as the group gawked at them.
“Really, is this necessary?” Peri attempted for calm but she was pretty sure her voice trembled as she said it.
“Welcome to the group,” Costin grinned at Lucian.
Lucian’s head did the wolf tilt thing as he looked back at the younger wolf. “What group?”
“M squared, W squared, A,” Costin said a little too proudly.
Sally’s head dropped forward as she groaned. “I have got to stop letting you hang out with that female Serbia Alpha.”
Lucian stilled looked confused so Costin added. “Mated Male Werewolves Anonymous.”
Adam reached over and knocked fists with Costin as he laughed. “Good one.”
“You do realize that doesn’t make sense because werewolves is one word right?” Crina pointed out.
“Technicality.” Adam winked at his mate.
“What is it for?” Lucian asked.
“Support, brother, because let me tell you once the females gang up on you it is game over, bar closed, dog house sleeping, done.”
“Costin, I’m going to turn you into a rock,” Peri spoke up repeating what she had told Lucian. “And then I’m going to toss you in a lake.”
“Why can’t you turn me into something useful like Sally’s bra or the locket she wears around her neck,” he whined.
Sally gasped and turned several shades of red as she glared at her mate.
“I get the bra thing, but I’m not even going to touch the whole locket thing,” Adam retorted.
“Nestled between the mountains, brother, nestled between the mountains,” Costin beamed like a clever child.
Sally was too speechless to even move but Crina beat her to it. “Peri you force his phase and then Sally can shave his pelt like one of those labra doodles that the Americans find so cute, then I will put a pretty little bow on his big dumb head.”
Costin pointed to Crina but spoke to Lucian. “See, didn’t tell you? They gang up on you and you can either run for the sake of your pelt or beg forgiveness like a trained lap dog.”
“What is your choice?” Lucian asked seriously.
Costin gazed at his mate adoringly as he slowly backed out of her reach. “I do so love her lap,” he said in a voice that should not be used in the company of others.
The room erupted into laughter, with even Peri smiling at the fool bartender who was beyond smitten with his little healer.
Sally was still glaring at Costin when the laughter died down. “This isn’t over, Costin Miklos.”
“Oooh I hope not, Sally mine.” He winked roguishly.
Lucian drew Peri further into the room and pulled a chair out for her to sit in. She took the offered chair without comment, which no doubt surprised the others, and turned to look at the three humans.
“Feeling a little lost?” She asked them. Peri watched as Heather, the tiny blind healer filled with so much spunk she practically floated, turned in her direction.
“From your angle it looks like we have been found.”
Peri stared at the girl wondering what made her so brave. She was the oldest of the group but she was also the blindest. “I would think you would be the most frightened of the group considering you don’t have your sight.”
There was a collective indrawn breath in the room. Peri huffed and flicked her hand at them. “It’s not like she doesn’t know she’s blind, good freaking grief.”
“Decorum, Peri,” Elle spoke up.
“Yeah, I have none,” Peri admitted brazenly.
“I’m not offended,” Heather assured them. “Though I don’t think Peri believes what she is insinuating, that I am helpless because I can’t see what is going on around me. I am probably as perceptive as these people you claim are werewolves.”
“So do you not believe us because you can’t see them?” Crina asked.
Heather’s head turned unfailingly to Crina’s exact location. “I see them, with my ears, my skin, my nose, and the air that I breathe in and taste in my mouth. I do not believe any less because my eyes fail me, I believe less for the same reason the seeing believe less, because such beings are not supposed to exist.”
“What about you two?” Peri motioned to Stella and Anna. “What do you believe?”
“I can’t deny what I’ve seen,” Anna said. “And I can’t deny that I’m intrigued,” she admitted somewhat sheepishly.
Peri nodded, her lips turned up ever so slightly. Then her piercing gaze fell on Stella and her eyes narrowed. “Can you honestly tell me that you don’t want this to be real, that you haven’t hoped for an escape all of your life?”
Stella’s eyebrows drew together as she crossed her arms in front of her. “You don’t play fair.”
Peri chuckled. “Not very often.”
“What about my brother?” She asked her.
“Is that the only thing holding you back?”
“I want to know he is okay. He will be worried sick about me, and that’s not something I can live with no matter how incredible this all seems.”
Peri let out a resigned breath. She hated dealing with human family members, it was messy and she only did messy on the battlefield. “Your brother has been dealt with.”
Stella jumped out of the chair she had occupied. “What do you mean dealt with, because in the Bronx, dealt with is in no way reassuring?”
“Good grief girl, sit down,” Peri grumbled. “We didn’t kill him. I have more interesting things to kill than a measly human.”
“Peri, that isn’t reassuring them,” Sally pointed out.
“I’m not trying to reassure them.”
“Okay, good to know,” Sally quipped back.
“His memory has been altered.” Peri held a slender finger up to stop Stella from speaking. “No, it will not hurt him. Yes, he will be fine. Yes, he still remembers you. No, you cannot tell him or contact him, and yes I’m sure it will not hurt him for the fifteen times that you are bound to ask me.”
Stella’s lips tightened against her white teeth. “What does he remember?”
“Oh, did I not mention that?” Peri asked dryly.
“Peri, could you please play nice for once in your life?” Sally whined.
“Uh, excuse me, but I have played nicely once in my life and what did it get me? Three insufferable humans, believe me once was quite enough,” Peri countered. Looking back at Stella she decided that the truth was best, especially with someone who had endured so many lies in her lifetime. “He thinks you finally did what you’ve always said you would and gone off to college. My magic enables me to make suggestions in the human mind. If those suggestions happen to be ones that the person truly wants, it makes it much easier. Your brother truly wanted you to get out.”
Stella nodded at her, seemingly satisfied for the moment of Peri’s explanation. Peri knew that later, when the girl had more time to think she would once again come demanding more information. Humans, she thought, too damn curious for their own good.
“As for you two,” she looked back at Anna and Heather. “Scenarios that were believable have been given to those closest to you. Take everything I said to Stella and apply it to your situation because I will not repeat myself; it annoys me to do so.”
“It would be months before my mother even realized I was gone,” Anna admitted.
Peri ran a finger across her chin as she looked at the only one of the girls who looked like a gypsy. “Yes, you had an unusual upbringing. You have always been aware
of your heritage.”
Anna nodded. “But that doesn’t mean I believed in the magic my mom claimed we possessed.”
Peri clasped her hands in her lap and took a deep breath. “Okay, to review, we took you because you are gypsy healers. You have an affinity for magic that other humans do not. You are highly important to the Canis lupis race. As we explained, they are werewolves. There are twelve packs all over the world. Some are larger than others. Some are more receptive to the joining of the packs while some are just buttheads. What is important that you know, though you won’t understand it until it happens, is that you each will become members of a pack. You have a true mate, which will be a dominant male, capable of protecting you, one who holds the other half of your soul. These males sometimes live centuries before they find their mate. Some of them are slightly scary, and some are like Costin,” she motioned to Sally’s mate who had his arms wrapped around his still slightly irritated mate with his chin resting on her head.
“What she means is incredibly handsome and fun to be around,” Costin clarified.
“And oh so humble,” Crina added.
“We have explained a little about the fae, which Adam, myself, and Elle happen to be. I am a high fae, a member of the Council that governs over the fae as well as the supernatural world. Recently, the Great Luna has once again begun assigning fae as ambassadors of sort to each pack. They also serve as a guide to help the healer in the pack learn and grow in power. Typically a healer does not come into her power until she turns eighteen. What we are beginning to realize is as the magic in our world has begun to change so have the rules.
“You three are of age, and though you may not be aware of your power, it is there inside of you, I can see it, the wolves can feel it, and other supernaturals will be able to as well. Healers are sought after, not just by the Canis lupis who wish to protect them, but also by those who would use your powers for evil. That is why you have been brought here. You each have a destiny, but it is not in the human world. If you attempt to run from this destiny you will be endangering your life, and depriving a worthy male the opportunity to be whole, to love you, and to tame the beast inside of him.” Peri stared at the three girls as she finished, her words hanging ominously in the air and the group behind her eagerly awaited their response.
“Okay, I’m pretty sure that we weren’t told all of that,” Heather commented. “And I have really good listening skills, so I would remember hearing such information.”
The others chuckled at her reference to her senses, and Peri could tell that Heather was going to be a huge blessing to the pack that had the honor of gaining her.
“We might have given you the condensed version,” Peri conceded.
“Why do you think we are all taking this so well?” Anna asked.
Sorin, Elle’s mate, was the one to answer her which was significant because he only spoke when he truly had something to say. “If I may,” he looked at Peri and she gave him a nod to continue. “I had the privilege of watching three American young women, such as yourselves be brought into our world just last year. None of them were aware of the supernatural world. Each of them, however, felt as though there was something missing in their lives. I believe this feeling, this sixth sense if you will, is what allowed them to transition as smoothly as they did. You three seem to be even more receptive to what you have learned, and I think that is because you are going to be powerful healers. The magic in you is strong and though you may not have been aware of it, your soul has been.”
The three women seemed to consider this.
“I had no clue about gypsies or healers,” Sally spoke up, “even after I learned of the werewolves’ existence. It wasn’t until I turned eighteen and started having some freaky stuff happen that the wolves were clued in that I was a healer.”
“Are you happy?” Stella asked pointedly.
Sally smiled at her and the natural peace that surrounded a gypsy healer flowed off of her, touching the others in the room. “More than I ever thought possible. I’m not saying I don’t miss my parents, and I actually do get to talk with them occasionally,” she pursed her lips at Peri. “But if you’re asking me whether I would choose a human life over this one, the answer is not in a million years.”
Peri stood then, smoothing down her clothes and stepping around the chair to grasp the back of it. “I understand that it is a lot to take in, but,” she bit out, “we don’t have the luxury of sharing some Dr. Phil moments and blubbering over what is, what might have been or what should be. We failed to rescue two of the five healers we were sent after. They were captured by the evil I spoke of. Unfortunately I have to claim the one who took them, as she is my sister. Believe me she is wicked and yes, I would like very much to drop a house on her.” Peri noticed Elle giving her an odd look. “What?” Peri shrugged. “So I like human movies, bite me.” Her fingers snapped at the already grinning Costin. “Not a word rock boy.”
“How can we help?” Heather asked, once again exhibiting the fearless nature she seemed to possess.
“For now the best thing for you three to do is stay here, don’t freak out and ask Crina and Elle, who will stay to protect you, as many questions as you like even if Crina complains about it. Elle is much more even tempered than the she-wolf, as you will find in most fae. I am the exception,” her eyes flared as her power rose. “The rest of us are going hunting.”
“When are we leaving?” Adam asked, all playfulness gone. Regardless of his relaxed attitude, like Costin, when it was time to fight, he was all business. Until he started killing things, that seemed to make him giddy, which Peri admitted was a tad disturbing.
“When does evil like to come out to play, comrade?” Peri asked him.
“When darkness falls,
The devil will play,
Lurking evil calls,
To draw you away.”
Anna’s voice, though nearly a whisper, filled the ears of all present. Her eyes had been unfocused as she spoke, but once silent she looked up at them. “It was a gypsy rhyme my mother use to tell me,” she explained. “It was meant to remind the listener to be ever alert during the devil’s play time.”
“Or you could just say at night, that would have been a tad less creepy,” Crina offered, her hands clenched up by her chin staring wide eyed at Anna.
“It was also a ward of sorts,” Sally said looking curiously at her. “Your mother was protecting you with magic she knew she held.”
“She told me that as well,” Anna admitted. “I never believed her.”
“There’s a first time for everything,” Adam smiled at her.
“I have a feeling we are going to be experiencing a lot of firsts,” Stella grumbled.
A wicked smile spread across Peri’s lips. “Oh, healer, you have no idea.”
∞
“I know we need to sleep because we will be out all night dodging the devil,” Sally said as she lay next to her mate. “But it is so hard to even doze when I know it’s daylight outside.”
Costin turned on his side and propped himself up on his elbow. He smiled his bedroom only smile that made Sally’s palms sweat. “There are other things to do in a bed besides sleep.”
Sally laughed. “Is that all you think about?”
“What else should I think about? I’m a young, viral, married, mated, male.”
“I think you mean virile,” Sally corrected.
“Not important,” Costin replied.
“Kind of is babe. Viral means you have some sort of nasty contagious, probably weirdly named issue. It’s really not something you want to go around claiming.”
“I know what I do want to go around claiming,” he nearly hummed to her.
Sally raised an eyebrow at him. “Sometimes I seriously think you need some sort of counseling. You and Jen could join a support group together or something.”
“Sally?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to make you tired now so you can sleep.”
&nb
sp; Sally tried to keep the ridiculous giggle out of her voice when she answered. “I will endure such treatment, if I must.”
“You must,” he whispered in her ear as he gathered her close. He smirked when, despite her words, she surrendered to him quite willingly.
Chapter 15
“Let me in, let me in, sister mine. A wolf in sheep’s clothing knocks at your door. I am harmless it whispers to your mind. Just open it a bit, and then a bit more. Now, shut the door, shut the door, sister mine. Lies for the truth are what are in store.” ~ Lorelle’s spell
Lorelle knew her sister well. After all, centuries together revealed much. She knew that her sister hunted at night, which meant she would slumber during the day. Of course, getting Volcan to understand that meant they needed to do the dreamscape sooner rather than later was like ripping her own finger nails off one by one.
“How can you be sure? If you attempt to enter her mind while she is awake she will know, and then she will be on guard even when she sleeps,” Volcan argued.
Lorelle reached for all the patience she had left, which wasn’t really much to begin with, before she responded. “I feel it unnecessary to point out that you have been out of commission for some time now. While you were floating around aimlessly, no doubt licking your wounds, I was with the living, in particular, my sister. I know how she thinks. I also know she has taken a mate, so she will be a tad distracted in her thinking no doubt.”
“How did you learn about the mate?” Volcan asked his voice thick with suspicion.
“I saw them together when we happened upon one another when we were getting the healers. I could sense the bond between them and his protectiveness towards her was undeniable.” She waited for him to respond. After several minutes still nothing. “I feel I shouldn’t have to reiterate that time is of the essence. But I will if I must.”
“You tempt my wrath,” he snarled.
“Well, you try my sanity—we’re even.”
“I concede,” he finally said sounding like the sullen child he wasn’t. “But if you fail, I will remove a limb in a most painful way.”
