“Like the mental bond?” Sally offered. “It’s supposed to be this sacred thing between true mates, and yet the healers have it, and now apparently a vampire king can have it as well.”
“We’re just going to have to get some walls put up in that mind of yours,” Peri told Alice. “You’re going to have to imagine Fort Knox around your brain.”
“I can do that.” Alice’s dull eyes showed a glint of determination.
“Excellent.” Peri rubbed her hands together. “Now, back to the hybrid. Considering my age and all that I’ve seen, I’m curious. Does she look any different than a regularCanis lupus?”
“The only other one I’ve seen is Finn. He looks like a massive wolf. Lizzy simply looks like a smaller version, so I would say, no, she doesn’t seem to be any different in appearance,” Alice explained.
Peri clucked her tongue. “Well, that’s disappointing. It would have been far more entertaining if she had something like the head of a wolf and the body of a chicken.”
Sally looked at Peri, her brow furrowing. “Alice, one second. Perizada, what the hell is wrong with you? Why are you here? Where is your handler?”
“Handler?” Alice asked.
“AKA her mate,” Sally said without looking away from the high fae. “And where the hell have you been?”
ChapterThree
“For humans, life is swift and fleeting. There is beauty in itbecausethey’re only here for a short time. But for my kind, time is an endless void containing only tiny snippets of joy. I am weary of it.” ~Perizada
Peri ignored Sally and looked at her fingernails as if they were less than perfect. She didn’t think for a minute that she needed to be scolded like an errant child, especially by such a young healer. However, she couldn’t answer any of Sally’s questions. Whatever she and Nissa weren’t supposed to remember was slowly driving her mad. They both had blocks in their memories, and they still hadn’t found a way around them. Serapha had refused to say anything other than repeating the mantra “It’s not time,” which made Peri stabby. Even the Creator herself had told Peri no.
The only question Peri could answer was about her mate. “Lucian is?—”
“Here to take my mate home.” A booming, deep voice filled the room.
“What the actual hell?” Sally sighed. “How is everyone suddenly able to get into Alice’s head?”
Peri might have laughed at Sally if she wasn’t suddenly nauseous at the sight of her male.
“Have you forgotten that true mates can track one another?” Lucian asked, his voice gruff. The rage in his tone was barely contained.
“No, I haven’t,” Sally bit out. “But you shouldn’t be able to just enter a person’s mind because your mate found her way in.”
“Where she goes, I go,” Lucian said plainly. “And my mate isn’t just anyone. She’s a high fae.”
Peri stood up from where she’d been sitting and straightened her cloak. She looked at Alice, ignoring the other eyes on her. “You have a decision to make, Alice Douglas,” she told the woman. “You’ve not woken up because you’re not ready to make that decision.Youare the only one who can wake yourself up.”
“Do you always talk in riddles?” Alice asked with a hint of snark. At least the woman hadn’t lost her bite.
Peri smirked. “Only since the company I keep seems to like riddles. I guess I’ve picked up the habit from a certain scaly female friend.”
“Well, tell her it sucks, and you might try not being like her.”
“I’ll pass the information along.” Peri turned to Lucian and met his glowing gaze. Yep, he was angry. And to be fair, rightfully so.
“Nissa wanted to join me.” The warmth that was usually in Lucian’s voice when he spoke to Peri was gone. In its place was the arctic tone of a royally pissed off male wolf. “I promised to let her have a go at you if she let me come fetch you on my own.”
Peri’s brow rose. “Fetch … me?”
“That’s what you do with a squeaky toy that keeps flying away.” Lucian crossed his arms in front of him. “And if you think you have a right to be angry over my choice of words, then this is going to be a long discussion.”
“Oh, snap,” Sally muttered from where she sat next to Alice.
“I can’t decide if they’re going to throw punches or rip each other's clothes off,” Alice whispered. Peri almost laughed. There was always the possibility either might happen.
“Lucian’s a prude,” Sally whispered back. “I’d bet on the punches.”
