Peri looked over at Lilly, who’d been quietly observing. “You do realize that she came forth fromyourloins, right?”
“Can you please refrain from talking about my mother-in-law’s loins,” Fane groaned.
“Ugh.” Jacque turned and handed Slate to Fane. “It’s even creepier when you say it. Never say my mother-in-law’s loins again. Ever.” She pointed a finger in Fane’s face.
“Things are getting awkward,” Jen sung and grinned. “I love it.”
Peri didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. Getting this bunch together was like putting a flame in the middle of a room full of dynamite. Once one fuse was lit, they all caught fire until someone finally blew.
“What’s our next move?” Cypher asked, drawing the waning attention of the others.
“Wadim,” Vasile said and motioned to the wolf. “You find out everything you can about Oceanside. I want population, demographics, layout of the city. I also want any information on new driver’s license registrations. That might tell us if these wolves are just passing through the town, or if they claim it as their permanent territory. Get me numbers on any brutal animal attacks in the area, regardless whether the victims are human or animal. We need to find out where they’re hunting. “Peri,” Vasile said and looked at the high fae. “I know you have other things going on with your new healers and that whole messy situation but—”
“I’m not going anywhere, Alpha. My pixies won’t do business with you overgrown hairballs without my intervention, so you sort of need me.”
“And it’s good to know her ego is thoroughly intact,” Jacque murmured.
“Hey, you ungrateful little redhead ass, she totally held you and your furry prince to this realm all by herself. Without her you’d be pushing up daisies right now, so I think she’s allowed a little ego stroking,” Jen pointed out.
“Jen, as thoughtful as it is for you to defend me, I can handle it.” Peri crossed her arms in front of her and shot Jacque an annoyed look.
“I wasn’t doing it for your benefit, Peri Fairy. I was just dying for the chance to call Jacque an ass and talk about you stroking something.” Jen high-fived herself. “Mission accomplished.”
“Decebel, put a muzzle on your she-wolf before I turn her into a coat for little Thia. Now,” Peri breathed out. “As I was saying, if you want the continued help of the pixies, then you will need my assistance.”
Vasile nodded. “Then do what you do. Get us as much information about these wolves as you can.”
“Maybe we should send some wolves there too, you know, to get a good look at these rogues,” Jen suggested.
Decebel shook his head and answered before Vasile. “They would smell us from a mile away. It might spook them if there are suddenly new wolves in the area.”
“Point,” Jen said as she patted Thia, who was now asleep on her shoulder.
The room was quiet, which Peri found to be amusing considering the occupants that filled it. She knew it wouldn’t last long. It didn’t.
“I wish there was more we could do,” Lilly said, taking Cypher’s hand in hers. “I feel useless.”
“You haven’t seen anything?” Jacque asked her mom.
Lilly shook her head. “All’s quiet.”
“On the wolf front,” Jen said softly and snickered to herself. She looked over at Jacque, “See what I did there? On the wolf front instead of—”
“The Western front,” Jacque interrupted. “Yes, Jen. I acknowledge that you are clever and funny.”
“Just as long as we’re clear,’’ Jen nodded.
Peri turned to Lilly, deciding that attempting to reign the two girls in was simply an impossibility. “You will be helping soon enough watching your grandson. I suspect that if we find Sally in this Oceanside town, Jacque will be one of the first to force me to take her there.”
Jacque held her fist in the air. “You totally get me. P, we are like this.” Jacque opened her fist and then twisted her forefinger and middle finger together. She ended with, “Fairy dust is thicker than water.”
Decebel glanced over at Peri. “Did you drop her when she was unconscious, maybe bumped her head a little too hard when you were moving her from one place to another?”
“I think it’s a side effect of leaving the plane of the living. Brain cells die in the transition from death back to life and there’s just no repairing them.”
“With that said” —Vasile clapped his hands together and his voice rose to force the attention to himself— “Wadim and Peri will gather information and we will meet back here in twenty-four hours.”
“Twenty-four hours?” Wadim asked, eyes as wide as saucers.
