Sally choked on her hot chocolate as she laughed at the image Jacque painted.
“If that happens, will you please ask Fane to get a picture? That would be so Tweet-worthy,” Sally teased.
“Yeah, Sal, that’s exactly what I’ll be sure to ask him. 'Hey, wolf-man, can you get a good pic of me up here hanging like a dumb ass? No, babe, don’t worry about getting me down, I want to make sure that Jen and Sally get a good laugh, because that’s what really essential here,” Jacque spouted off.
“Did you take your meds this morning?” Jen snorted as she rolled her eyes.
“It just sucks that I won’t be with you guys,” Jacque whined.
“Yeah, but you’ll get to see that hot little number, Adam,” Jen responded.
“Once again, Jen, you baffle me with your ability to see the big picture.” Jacque shook her head at her blonde friend.
“I’m just trying to show you that the glass is half-full. You got great eye candy. I mean, for an old dude Vasile’s easy on the eyes, and we all know Fane is drool-worthy. Adam is just the cherry on top.”
“Man, I wish I had recorded that so I could threaten to let Decebel hear it,” Sally huffed.
Jacque nodded, agreeing that any ammunition on Jen was always a plus.
“Oh, I heard that,” a voice in Jen's head said. Jen shivered, but didn't mention it.
“Sally, you and I've got to go.” Jen pulled Jacque into a firm hug. “You take care of yourself, Red. No heroics, okay?”
Jacque nodded. “Will do. You try to keep your clothes on in that bar.”
Jen snorted. “No worries. I’m under contract with Dec, and Sally is a witness.”
Sally nodded. “She’s locked in tight. No loopholes.”
“Sally, you know better than that. Jen always has an out. Always,” Jacque pointed out.
Sally hugged Jacque once Jen stepped back.
They all headed to the foyer, where the others had already gathered.
Vasile and Decebel were off to the side, talking quietly while the bags were being loaded into the vehicles.
“Vans?” Jen snorted. “Hey, babe, at least the Hummers were cool. These are just so 'juvenile detention, here we come'.”
Decebel didn’t outwardly acknowledge that but she felt the swat on the butt he directed at her in her mind. She still thought that stuff was freaky. Freaky, but definitely had potential for freaky in the right variety.
“I’m just saying,” Jen muttered. “If we’re going for bad ass then this is definitely not the way to go. But then nobody asked me, now did they?”
Sally stood off to the side as she watched everyone wait to load up into the vans. Peri walked up beside her and smiled.
“Are you nervous?” Peri asked.
“Not really,” Sally answered. “What’s the point? It won’t change anything.”
“True,” Peri conceded, “but sometimes nerves are what keep us on our toes.”
“Peri, are you going to tell me more about the stones? I would feel more comfortable using them if I knew more about them.”
“I will tell you more about them on our drive down,” Peri answered.
“You’re going with us?” Sally asked as her eyebrows rose in surprise.
Peri nodded. “Decebel, Vasile, and I decided that you need me more than Rachel at this point. Vasile doesn't want two healers in the same place. Too risky. That is why he is splitting you up.”
“That makes sense.” Sally nodded.
Decebel had decided to temporarily house the Serbian pack in a mansion located in the Romanian city of Ramnicu-Valcea. He wanted to be close to Vasile’s pack until things had settled down and the Serbian pack was more stable. The drive from the Serbian mansion was going to be an hour shorter to Ruse than it would have been from Brasov, where the Romanian pack mansion was. To Sally this was both good and bad. Good, because obviously that meant less time cooped up in a van. Bad, because it meant they would arrive at the bar sooner. The bar, which was close to the forest where who knows what waited for them. Although, she decided this trip was much better than the ten plus hours that Jacque and the others would spend on their way to the Carpathian Mountains. That was going to be a doozy.
“You ready to go, beautiful?” Sally jumped when she heard Costin’s voice directly behind her.
“You okay?” he asked as he gently turned her to face him.
“Yeah, I was just lost in thought. You surprised me.” She smiled at him.
“Peri has informed me that I am not allowed to flirt with or distract you,” he told her as he raised his eyebrows in question, a playful grin stretched across his face.
Sally laughed. “She said she was going to talk to me more about the Fae stones. I just want to understand their power a little more. I think I would feel more comfortable using them if I understood where the power comes from and how I can direct it. Does that make sense?”
“Definitely. It’s always important to know and understand the weapon you are wielding.” Costin grabbed her hand and tugged her toward the vehicles and helped her inside.
Fane and Jacque got into the van they would be sharing with their group and watched as she stared longingly at the other vehicle.
“They will be fine, love,” he assured her.
“I know they will, but who’s going to keep them out of trouble?” Jacque asked.
“I’m sure Costin and Decebel can handle it.”
Jacque shot him a look, her eyes narrowed. “Really, Fane? The Alpha who can’t get his mate to keep her clothes on and the bartender who encourages such behavior? These are the individuals you are suggesting can keep those two out of trouble?”
Fane shrugged. “I see your point. Perhaps Sorin and Peri will be able to help.”
Jacque groaned a she flopped into her temporary home for the next ten hours. “It’s going to be a disaster. I can see Jen now, dancing on the bar, Sally trying to be a bartender and spraying some poor guy with beer, Decebel trying to kill every guy looking at Jen, and all the while Costin is trying to keep Sally from wasting more alcohol than they sell.”
“And where are the others in this little scenario of yours?” Fane asked with a crooked smile.
“They’re standing in the back of the bar laughing their supernatural asses off,” Jacque grumbled.
Fane laughed. “You are right, Luna. It is going to be a disaster. I will have to ask Sorin to video some of it on his phone.”
“Well, at least I won’t be the only one on film,” she muttered, remembering the pixies.
Fane looked at her curiously.
“I’ll tell you later.” She shook her head as she rolled her eyes.
“Stop worrying, Jacqueline. Everything will be fine.”
“I’ll remember you said that.”
“Tombstone,” Fane said with a grin.
Jacque grinned back at him. “Good call, wolf-man. Good call.”
Fane wrapped an arm around Jacque’s shoulder and tucked her in close as they waited for the others to board the van. With any luck, by this time tomorrow Jacque would mert her first pixie.
~
As Decebel pulled away from the Serbian mansion he glanced over at Jen, who was looking back at the van Jacque was in.
“She will be fine.”
“I know.” She nodded. “It’s just weird to be separated from her.”
Decebel reached over and took her hand. He raised it to his lips and kissed it gently, a silent reminder that he was there for her and always would be.
“So you want to know about the stones?” Peri asked Sally.
Sally nodded.
“First things first – the stones can only be used if the motives of the wielder are pure. They cannot be used for ill.”
“Good to know. So if they get into enemy hands they are useless.”
“Exactly,” Peri agreed. “Second, the stones are magic in and of themselves, but their magic can only be used and directed by the magic inside of you. Your body is of the earth,
and so you are, in essence, an element. The most common use for the stones is to render an enemy’s magic void. They basically negate any dark magic. If you want to go on the offensive, the stones are capable of this as well. While holding the stones, simply picture what it is that you want to do and the magic drawn from you and into the stone will take care of the rest. When all of the stones are being used together they are a force to be reckoned with. The more powerful the wielder, then the more effective the stones will be.”
“So I can’t accidentally kill some innocent bystander?” Sally asked.
Peri shook her head. “Nope. The stones will only react when the magic you are calling on is necessary and on whom it is intended.”
“That makes me feel better.” Sally smiled.
Peri chuckled. “You were worried you would fry some little crumb catcher that was in the vicinity?”
“Something like that.”
“Sally, your heart is too pure for something like that to happen, even accidentally.” Peri’s words were so full of truth that Sally finally felt like she could breathe easier at the thought of using the stones.
“Peri, where did the stones come from?”
“Well, like many things with magical properties, there isn’t any way to really explain where they came from. They showed up when they were needed. When they are no longer needed, they are not available. That is why those who have sought to take the stones have been unsuccessful. The stones are not kept anywhere by the Fae. They just are..”
“Where are they now?”
Peri shrugged. “No idea. They will come to us when it is time.”
“They always show up when they are needed?” Sally asked skeptically.
“They have never failed to make an appearance when they were truly needed. Do not worry, healer, all will be as it should.”
Sally snorted. “You sound like some wise old person.”
“Wise? Yes. Old? Doesn’t even scratch the surface.” Peri winked at Sally when Sally’s brow furrowed.
“How old are you, Peri?”
“Sally, you are a woman, surely you know better than to ask another woman her age.”
Sally grinned sheepishly. “My bad.”
The rest of the drive was spent with Jen suggesting different games to help pass the time, all of which were vetoed by Decebel because Jen continually added her own rules, which always contained some sort of sexual connotation. It was a good distraction from the upcoming task.
As Decebel pulled the van up to a hotel, he informed his passengers that this was where they would be staying while they were in Ruse. While Jen got everyone checked in, Decebel pulled Sally aside.
“Do you want to share a room with Peri or your mate?” Decebel’s voice didn’t indicate his opinion on the subject one way or the other.
Sally glanced over at Costin, who was talking with Sorin but continually glancing in her direction. She could feel a slight presence of him in her mind but somehow she knew he wasn’t listening to her conversation with Decebel. That made her trust him all the more.
“I’m fine with sharing a room with Costin,” she stated confidently.
Decebel smiled at Sally, showing her a side that only Jen saw.
“You do realize that you will need to complete the bond very soon, right?” he asked her gently.
She nodded with a blush. “How...how is he going to be with me working with him in the bar?”
Decebel shook his head and let out a deep breath. “It’s going to be very difficult for him. My advice would be to steer clear from any interaction with any males as much as possible.”
Sally rolled her eyes. “We’re going to be in a bar!”
Decebel chuckled. “I didn’t say it would be easy to do, I just said you needed to try.”
Decebel cocked his head to the side and stared at Sally. It was obvious he was contemplating something.
“It might come down to you two at least doing the blood rites now, then the ceremony later.”
Sally’s eyes widened. She glanced back over to where Costin was standing and when he saw the look on her face he began walking in her direction.
Decebel gave Sally a pointed look before walking away.
“What has you looking so alarmed?” Costin asked as he tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
Sally looked up into his eyes and her worry eased immediately.
“I was asking Decebel how difficult it was going to be for you to have me in the bar with you.”
Costin’s eyes began to glow, a sure sign he was not happy.
“It is going to take a lot of self-control, but I think I can manage as long as no one touches you. And, Sally mine, when I say no one that includes the males in our pack.”
Sally nodded as she looked at his lips, which were in a tight line. She reached up and ran her finger gently across them, trying to relax them. Costin closed his eyes and she watched as her touch brought him down from the anger he was feeling.
“It’s going to suck to not be with you at night,” Costin told her, his lips once again getting taut in frustration.
“Where are you planning on being?” Sally asked, knowing full well that he was thinking that she was not sharing a room with him.
Costin’s eyes narrowed. Though not glowing as bright as they had been, they still had not returned to their normal hazel.
“Are you telling me we are sharing a room?” he asked hopefully.
Sally grinned and nodded. “I figured that we will need each other’s presence after being in the bar with me trying to avoid males and you trying not to kill them.”
Costin wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. He pressed his face into her hair and neck and took a deep breath. Sally was frozen. They had not shown this much affection in public and she wasn’t exactly sure how to respond.
“Thank you,” he whispered against her skin. “You honor me as your mate by thinking about what I would need from you, and by being honest with me about what you will need.”
Sally pulled back and, making an impulsive decision, stood up on her toes and pressed a kiss to his full lips.
Costin was still for all of one beat of his heart and then he was pulling her tighter against him. Lifting one hand to the nape of her neck, he guided her head to the side so he could deepen the kiss. It wasn’t until Jen’s voice pierced the haze of her mind that Sally pulled back.
“Well, if I had known that all it would take to get these two prudes together was to walk them into a hotel lobby I would have done it weeks ago,” she said. The others chuckled while Sally turned a bright shade of red.
Costin had a smug smile plastered on his face, obviously pleased that his kiss had made Sally forget her surroundings.
Sally noticed his smugness and elbowed him in the stomach. Costin leaned down and nipped her ear just enough to retaliate and then kissed her in the same spot.
“Would you please try to behave?” Sally asked, using their bond.
“Behaving would mean that I can’t touch you, kiss you, bite you, or lick you. That is unacceptable”
Sally choked as she swallowed, his words registering in her mind.
“Did you just say lick?” Costin could hear how breathless she was.
“Indeed I did.”
“Oh, boy,” she muttered under her breath, a laughing Costin following as they headed for their room.
It was decided that Cynthia, Peri, and Elle – when she arrived – would share a room. Decebel would be with Jen ,and Sorin and Drake would share a room. Decebel had made sure to have the girls’ room and Costin and Sally’s room in between his own and the other males. He also had requested that the rooms be on the ground level next to an exit.
As they reached the rooms Decebel stopped and turned and addressed the group. “After everyone gets settled and rested we will head on over to the bar to meet the owner. Take an hour to relax and then we'll be on our way.”
~
Jacque stretched her legs as she stood next to th
e van. Four hours cramped in the vehicle had made her stiff. Her thoughts kept wandering back to Sally and Jen. She had tried texting them but hadn’t received a response from either one. Fane, of course, kept telling her not to worry, but that was easier said than done.