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 killthatman,” —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.
Chapter 22
“She takes my breath away. As soon as my hungry eyes land on her face, I feel my soul reaching for her. My wolf is desperate to get to her. She’s mine. We found her. Now everyone standing too close to her must die. Starting with the mangy wolf who had his hands on her.” ~Costin
Sally was confused. As soon as she heard Peri’s voice, she had tried to get down off of the bar but Jericho wouldn’t move. He was standing in front of her like a shield, as if one of her friends would hurt her. She looked out at the other people—all very large men—who had entered with the girls. She felt as though she should know them, but the harder she tried to remember, the more painful her headache became.
Something was wrong, that much was very clear. Each of the men looked ready to murder, especially the one directly in front of the front door. He looked downright terrifying. And each of them were staring directly at her and Jericho.
“Move,” she told him, again trying to get down.
“No,” he snapped back. “Be still.”
Sally was about to tell him not to order her around, but the words froze in her throat at the sound of his voice.
“Sally.”
The dangerous one, the one with the dimple—he had spoken her name. Her named rumbled from his lips and filled the room as well as every empty place inside of her. Her breathing hitched as she began to feel the haze that had been there since the death of her parents clear.
“Sally Miklos,” he called again.
She had to look at him. She pushed Jericho’s upper body aside and he growled dangerously but she didn’t care. All she cared about was the man on the opposite side of the room.
Her mouth dropped open as the flood gate of memories opened and crashed into her mind. Her eyes were wide as she continued to stare. “Costin,” she whispered and saw his shoulders tense.
“Oh god, oh god, oh god.” It’s all she could say as her life before the weird alternate reality in Oceanside came pouring back over her. “Mate,” she said as the memory of their Blood Rites ceremony flashed through her mind. The moment that she uttered the word, she felt an invisible chord snap in place between her and Costin and the bond returned. How could she not have realized that it had been missing?
“No!” Sally screamed as she tried to erect a wall in her mind but she was too weak. Costin had complete access. She couldn’t control what was playing through her mind. It was like a sick movie—a documentary meant to destroy her. He saw everything.
Costin saw their first kiss, and then he saw her first kiss with Jericho. Costin saw every moment in his bar, playing and flirting. Then he saw her in Jericho’s bar, doing remarkably similar things. Costin saw the first time he touched her, and then he saw the first time that Jericho touched her. She couldn’t make it stop. She was like a child holding out her hands trying to stop a tsunami.
She tore her eyes from his; her shame was practically choking her. She couldn’t breathe. Sally grasped at her throat and tried to suck in air. Jen, Jacque, and Peri were at her side in an instant. They pushed Jericho out of the way and pulled her to a table. She could feel Costin’s eyes on her, but she couldn’t look at him. She couldn’t stand to see the pain caused by her betrayal.
“Sally, calm down,” Peri was telling her.
“I-I didn’t r-r-remember,” she gasped. How the hell could she have possibly forgotten her mate and that there were such a thing as werewolves? Then something clicked. Her head snapped up and her eyes landed on Jericho. She heard Costin’s growl and felt his anger at her giving Jericho attention.
“You knew,” she told him, grabbing his attention. Jericho was looking back and forth between Costin and her. “You knew, didn’t you?” she said again, pushing away from the table and taking a step toward him. She was stopped by Peri’s hand on her arm.
“YOU KNEW I HAD A MATE,” Sally roared. She felt her own magic well up inside of her, returning like a long lost friend.
“Sally,” Jericho began but she cut him off with a slice of her hand whipping out in front of her.
“All this time. Through everything,” she growled the word and she knew that Jericho understood what she meant by everything. “You knew and you did it anyway.”
She realized too late that when she’d saideverything, she caused unbidden memories to flash through her mind. She tried to put up even a little bit of a wall but Costin was too strong. His wolf refused to let her erect any kind of barrier between them. She saw the minute that the memories of the night before registered. Rage like she’d never seen erupted out of him. She didn’t see him move; it was so fast. And then Peri, Jen, and Jacque were pulling her further away and down, wrapping their arms around her. Sally could hear muffled cries, but Jen’s voice was getting in the way.
“Don’t look, Sally. Don’t look,” Jen said over and over. But Sally didn’t have to look. She had a front row view of Costin’s emotions. Somehow he managed to keep her from seeing how he was doing it, but she knew he was killing Jericho. Jericho had signed his death warrant the second he’d laid his hand on her in full knowledge that she had a true mate.
