“And it helps that we’re freaking awesome.” Crina raised her eyebrows at Zara.
Zara grinned. “That, too.”
Peri stepped back so she could see everyone in the room. “As for this vampire king.… Regardless of what you might feel regarding his offer, Thad,”—she narrowed her eyes on the djinn—“there isnoway he wants anything other than to pull the wool over our eyes. It is not in the nature of a vampire to be friendly, trustworthy, peace-loving, or in any way altruistic.”
“I agree,” Thad said. “But the meeting will still put us in a position to gain information and to potentially take him out.”
“What will that mean for the rest of the vampires?” Bethany looked at Peri. “I mean, if they don’t have a leader.”
“Another will take his place,” Peri answered. “Just like Cain took Sincaro’s place. Like wolves, the bloodsuckers need an alpha to keep them in line. Otherwise—”
“They are nothing like us,” Jen spat out.
“—there will be infighting amongst the covens,” Peri continued as if she hadn’t been interrupted. She held up a finger. “But the new leader may not be as dangerous. A younger, less powerful vampire might take Cain’s place.”
“So this is actually an assassination mission?” Jen said. “And here I thought we were going to be sitting around having a nice little chat over tea and a cup of Type O blood.”
“Hear him out first,” Peri said. “And then destroy him.”
“Can I cut—”
“No,” Jacque interjected. “You may not cut off his head and add it to your trophies. I’m seriously going to consider getting you therapy.”
“Pfft.” Jen scoffed. “As if I’m the craziest person in this room. I’m not the one exploding giant chunks of land and imploding it on thousands of people.”
The room went silent as eyes jumped from Jen to Peri.
Jen blinked innocently. “What? Too soon? I’m totally blaming it on the bean.” She pointed to her stomach.
Jacque looked at Peri and was sure that, pregnant or not, the fae might turn her best friend into a rug as she often threatened to do. To Jacque’s surprise, Peri’s eyes dropped to the floor, and her body seemed to shrink in on itself.
“You’re not wrong, Jennifer.” Peri’s voice was oddly formal. “I can never undo what I have done, and my actions will no doubt have a ripple effect we cannot anticipate. History may show that my actions resulted in more harm than good. I cannot change that. But I can hopefully learn from it.”
“Does that mean I’m going to have to admit that I have an unhealthy need to cut up my enemies like a Thanksgiving turkey and somehow change my disturbing ways?” Jen sounded entirely too sad about the prospect.
Jacque looked at Jen. She noticed that though there were dark circles under her friend’s eyes, the strain that had been on her wrinkled, worried forehead was gone. The blonde’s lips now had an upward tilt instead of the tight line she’d been sporting a half hour ago. Jacque wondered how she had missed the earlier signs that Jen wasnotokay. Maybe because her friend was very good at hiding behind her bolstering attitude. Even so, Jacque knew she should have picked up on it sooner. Maybe if she’d checked the pack bond two days ago and found out Jen was pregnant, then her best friend wouldn’t have gone through the terrible breakdown she’d described from yesterday. Jacque had known Jen a very long time and, aside from Sally, knew her as well as she knew herself. Jacqueshouldhave realized something was up.
“Don’t be too hard on yourself, beloved,”Fane said gently into her mind.“We’ve had a lot going on. Give yourself some grace.”
She slipped one of her hands beneath his and intertwined their fingers.“I’ll try.”
“That’s something you have to decide for yourself, Jen,” Peri said gently. “You’re the one who has to look at yourself in the mirror every day and live with your actions.”
A haunted look came over Jen’s face as if she momentarily forgot the joy of her unexpected news. “I’ve looked in the mirror enough lately. I think I’ll pass.”
Jacque supposed that even though Jen now knew why she’d been losing her crap, it still left a sick feeling in her friend’s stomach to know she’d been so out of control. And she imagined Jen might be thinking about the fact that she had five-and-a-half more months of hormone-induced psychosis to endure. Jacque felt eyes on her and turned to find Sally looking at her pointedly. The healer motioned with her head toward Jen, and then Jacque heard Sally’s voice in her mind through the pack bonds.“Is it me, or is this pregnancy going to be worse than the first one?”
“We might need to stock up on alcohol.”
“We can’t get her drunk to make her pass out, Jacque. She’s pregnant,”Sally explained as if Jacque had completely lost her mind.
Jacque rolled her eyes.“For us, you dork.”
Sally pursed her lips and tilted her head.“I’m pregnant, too, you dip.”
“Dammit.”Jacque huffed.“You two are not allowed to be pregnant at the same time. I thought we established that when she was pregnant last time. Who am I supposed to drink with now?”
“Don’t worry, mate.”Fane intruded on their conversation.“I’m happy to ply you with alcohol and then plo—”
