“If you finish that sentence, I will borrow some of Jen’s knives.”
He licked her neck, making her shiver.“Got a new kink? Sounds a little dangerous, but then I like to live on the edge. Pun intended.”
“And that’s my cue to leave this weird conversation. Not sure we should be able to speak into each other’s heads.”Jacque felt her friend’s presence slip away. Jacque’s attention was drawn away from her pervert mate and back to the high fae still standing in the middle of the room.
“My advice,” Peri continued, now addressing the group as a whole, “is to give him time to speak his peace and nothing more. Do not engage him in a conversation. As soon as his treacherous mouth stops moving, simply attack. Thad alone is powerful enough to take him out. The rest of you should act as a ploy to help take his guard down. Cain will think that Thadrick is sticking to his word.” She paused, her eyes narrowing as she seemed to think for a moment. “Once he’s dead, every vampire in his direct line, sired by him, will also die.”
“He’s old, right?” Zara asked. “So that should be a lot of damn vampires.”
Peri shrugged. “That’s always the hope when we take out an ancient.”
“Seems like a pretty straightforward plan of attack.” Bethany pushed up from the floor to stand, and Drake joined her. “If we’re done, I’d like Drake to get a little more time with Hope.”
Jacque made a motion toward the door. “Absolutely. Go snuggle that little cutie.”
As they were walking out, Bethany muttered something to Drake, and he smacked her backside. She turned to glare at him, and he bent over, picked her up, and slung her over his shoulder.
“Some things never change.” Crina laughed. “Headed out to face our potential demise and, still, you males can only think of one thing.”
Costin was the next to stand. He reached down and scooped Sally up into his arms as if she weighed nothing. “Let’s go, brown eyes.” His dimples made a brief appearance as he smiled at her. “We’ve got some things to discuss before I go off on this mission like the badass that I am.”
“Discuss?” Zara smirked. “Is that what you kids are calling it these days? You’re right, Crina. They’ve got nothing but sheet wrestling on the brain.”
Wadim motioned between them. “Speaking of, I got a new wrestling move I’ve been wanting to show you.”
Zara leaned back on her arms with her legs stretched out in front of her. “Do you now? Then, by all means, history boy, let’s go. The suspense is killing me.”
Wadim laughed as they stood and headed for the door.
Jacque looked at Jen, positive she would have some smart-ass comment or compliment to give Zara. But the blonde’s face was still solemn from when Peri had mentioned that Jen needed to look at herself in the mirror. Damn, her hormones were really doing a number on her. Jumping for joy one minute and plunging into the pit of despair the next. Maybesheshould stay behind.
Decebel stood over his mate, looking down at her with worried eyes. He crouched beside her and leaned closer to her ear, his lips moving as he spoke words that even Jacque’s wolf-hearing couldn’t discern. Jen shook her head and leaned away from Decebel when he reached for her.
Jacque’s stomach clenched tightly as she watched the exchange. Jen’s demeanor was so different from just moments ago. And for some reason, it made Jacque want to cry. Jen was the one person in her life who rarely showed any form of vulnerability or fear. She was strong to a fault. Unstable at times? Yes. But she was as fierce as a lioness protecting her cubs even when acting bat-shit crazy. At the moment, she looked exhausted and as meek as a mouse.
“What’s going on with Jennifer?”Fane asked through their bond.“She was glowing a second ago, and now she’s wilting.”
“Looks like this pregnancy is going to be a rough, emotional ride,”Jacque replied.
“You think she needs to stay behind?”He picked up on her thoughts.
Jacque audibly snorted.“Even if I think she should, it won’t happen. You’d have to give her an alpha order, and she’d hold that against you for the rest of your life, which, I don’t have to remind you, is very long.”
Finally, Jen climbed to her feet, but she still didn’t allow Decebel to touch her. The pain in Decebel’s eyes made Jacque’s earlier happiness slip away. Jen usually took every opportunity to touch her mate, and she pretty much demanded he touch her in return. Not that she needed to demand it. If it was up to the males, they’d never take their hands off their true mates.
“I’ll talk to her after we get back,” Jacque told her mate. “We might need to consider getting her some sort of counseling. That’s a thing for pregnant chicks, right?” She turned to look at him.
“You’re seriously askingmethat?”
“Fane,” Peri said, gaining their attention. “Lucian and I checked in on the other packs. So far, there’s been no direct attacks on their wolves, but they are seeing on the human news all the missing people and murder reports. Though, like in Nevada, after a day or two, the news reports simply stopped. They’ve decided to do some hunting of their own.”
“Thank you,” Fane told her. “Once this is done, I will see what they’ve found out. I heard what you said about Cain, and I agree with you.”
“We’re going to have a discussion with our guests down in the dungeons now.” Peri bowed her head to Jacque’s mate and then flashed from the room.
Thad and Jezebel looked at them. “See you in a few hours.” Thad took his mate’s hand and led her from the room.
Once again, Jacque found herself alone with her mate. She sighed and leaned against him, wearied from watching the ups and downs of her best friend’s emotional rollercoaster. “Did you make the phone calls you needed to?”
