“That might be a little difficult, considering I’m sleeping in his room.”

  Lizzy blanched. She knew her face probably showed a look of complete disgust, but she couldn’t help it. “WTF? Are you two…”

  “No!” Alice snapped. “Not if he was the last man on earth and I was a bitch in heat.”

  Lizzy’s brow rose. “Okay, wow. That got graphic quick.”

  “Lizzy.” Finn’s voice broke into her mind. “You’ve told her all I know. Now you and I need to talk.”

  “Dude, not now. I’m trying to help GH not blow her cover.” Lizzy spoke out loud because she couldn’t concentrate enough to only think her words to him. “Is it hot in here?” Lizzy tugged at her shirt and then fanned her face. “Because it feels like someone just cranked up the thermostat to a hundred.”

  Alice stood up and walked over to her. “No, what else do you feel?”

  “That’s not important,” Lizzy brushed off Alice’s concern. “Do you think you can keep your crap together if any of the stuff we’ve talked about happens?”

  “I’ve got an excellent poker face,” Alice assured her. “What I don’t have is the ability to see what’s happening inside of your body, so I need you to tell me.”

  Lizzy stopped moving and forced herself to focus on the signals her body was sending her. She tried to pinpoint exactly what was making her feel agitated. She shook out her hands as if it would somehow force the feelings away, but Lizzy only felt the unsettled feeling grow. “I feel…” she began and tried to come up with an adequate description for what she was experiencing. But her mind just kept jumping back to Finn. Though that just annoyed her because she was still miffed at him and his gypsy-healer infatuation.

  “I’m not infatuated with that healer or any healer. And what you’re feeling is the mate bond,” Finn said. “As it grows stronger, the need to be together will grow. It will become painful to be apart.”

  “What else did that book tell you about true mates?” She shoved her hands into her pockets to keep from scratching at her skin, which felt too tight over her muscles and bones.

  “You think this has something to do with the mate bond?” Alice motioned her hand up and down from Lizzy’s head down to her feet. “You look like a druggy needing a fix.”

  “Well, apparently my drug of choice is Finn.” Lizzy breathed out. “Any chance you can get me a hit of that?”

  “What will happen if I can’t?”

  “Finn?”

  “My wolf will eventually go feral and try to kill anyone that keeps me from you,” he explained in a disturbingly calm voice. “I’m not sure how you will handle it. Your wolf is dormant. But if you’re beginning to feel the bond and separation this strongly, perhaps your wolf is making herself known.”

  “Finn will go on a killing rampage, and my own wolf may or may not be attempting to come out of the closet, so to speak, but I don’t know how homicidal she will be if kept from Finn.”

  “Okay.” Alice nodded and then let out a puff of air. “So I need to convince Cain to let you see Finn.”

  She pointed at Alice. “Yes, that. That is a good plan. Meanwhile, I will pace around this room and try not to act like the aforementioned bitch in heat.”

  Alice’s eyes widened, almost comically large. “Is that what you’re feeling?”

  Lizzy snorted. “No. But your face was priceless.”

  Alice walked over to the bed and picked up the now empty tray. “I’ll see what I can do.” She headed for the door, her face pensive, as if she was already attempting to work out a way to convince the vampire king to allow Finn and Lizzy to see one another.

  “Feels like a conjugal visit.” Lizzy mentally laughed.

  “Had many boyfriends in prison, have you?” Even though she knew Finn was teasing, she could feel the jealousy roll through the bond. She might have taken a little too much joy at giving him a taste of his own medicine.

  “Just the one. But don’t worry. He was nothing to write home about.” She just couldn’t help herself. She heard the door open and rushed over to grab Alice’s arm. “Don’t forget not to act weird if you suddenly have voices in your head or, I don’t know, if your phone rings even though the batteries are dead. Be cool. Just roll with it.”

  Alice nodded. “Got it. If the Conjuring starts happening, just pretend I’m not scared out of my brain and act normal around the vampire king.”

  “Exactly.” Lizzy nodded. “And no more mental breakdowns. Your face gets all puffy when you cry. It’s not a good look.”

  Alice shook her head. “Like I said, Lizzy, you’re a peach.”

  Lizzy watched the door close and forced herself not to lunge for it. She didn’t want to attack Alice, not really. Though whatever it was inside of her that was clawing its way to Finn was quite okay with ripping the scientist’s face off. She wondered if that was partly because it didn’t like Finn’s fascination with gypsy healers. “Okay, if that’s my wolf, she needs some serious counseling about what is and isn’t okay.”

  “Welcome to being mated to a Canis lupus. We typically are peaceful, except when it comes to our true mates. Then, well, things can turn bloody in a hurry.”

  “Sounds like a good time. Sign me up.” Lizzy walked back over to the bed. The agitation that had come on like an abrupt storm seemed to have zapped her of what little energy the food had given her. “Before we get to the ‘things turn bloody in a hurry’ part, I’m going to need a nap. Wake me up before you go fangs and claws on someone, or if you hear anymore from this Fane guy.”

  “We still need to discuss your irrational idea that I desire a gypsy healer.”

  “Best not to call a pissy woman irrational. And we can talk about it later. I’m tired. Like really tired.”

  She felt his hand run down her hair. “Rest, my mate,” Finn told her gently. “I will keep watch through our bond.”

  “That sounds creepy, but at the moment, I don’t care.” She yawned and crawled up onto the bed and laid on her side. Lizzy felt an arm wrap around her waist and the warmth from a body she knew wasn’t actually there seep into her back. “Again, should be creepy, but you feel too good to let something so trivial get in the way of my comfort right now.”

  “Go to sleep, female,” he ordered, though his words were soft, which took the bite out of them. “Quit worrying about what should, or shouldn’t, be creepy. I’m a werewolf. You’re my true mate. You hold the other half of my soul as I hold yours. Without you, darkness will consume me. There is nothing creepy about that.”

  “Oh, you’re right, that’s not creepy at all. No, that’s just freaking crazy.” She heard his rumbling voice as sleep took her.

  “I would choose to be crazy with you than sane without you.”

  Chapter

  Ten

  “Sometimes we think the past will never catch up with us. Fool. That is what I am. To think that my past would never catch up with me because it happened thousands of years ago. If you think wisdom comes with age, get ready for disappointment. Sometimes we get dumber the older we get.” ~Peri

  “You’re a fool.” Peri whipped around, her long, black robes flowing with her movements as she walked back and forth in front of the veil to the djinn realm. “How could you think that visiting one so old, the Knowing One, on your own, would be wise?”

  “I never claimed to be wise,” Nissa responded coolly. “I simply want the truth.”

  The truth. Bile rose in Peri’s throat. She wanted the truth, as well, but at what cost? What would it get them? Would it explain any more than they already knew about the cold fire and why she’d been able to spare some and not others? Or how it had kept her bond with Lucian from being destroyed and killing her? And even if it did, what was the point? It’s not like she was ever going to use icy fire again.

  “Understanding our past helps us navigate the present and the future.” Lucian’s deep voice was calm. Though it got on her nerves at times, Peri also knew that his response was something she craved in her chaotic mind. Ever since the cold fire, Peri felt as if she was becoming unhinged. Or maybe it was this crap Nissa was digging into. Did Peri really want to know what happened? The answer was yes as much as it was no.

  “I think I’m navigating the present just fine,” Peri grumbled. The problem was she was tired of navigating all together.

  “Is that why you went off the deep end and burned an entire complex to the ground?” There was no fluctuation in Nissa’s voice. Just a statement of fact. No judgment or hostility. The other high fae was simply pointing out exactly what Peri had done. Not that Peri needed to be reminded. She was reminded every time she closed her eyes and heard the screams of those that burned under her power.

  “Do you think this is where we should start? Considering you’ve already been here, Nissa?”

  “Where would you suggest, Lucian?”

  His voice was gruff as he spoke. “The draheim realm.”

  Peri looked at her mate.

  He inclined his head to her. “You have recently made friends with an ancient, knowledgeable draheim.”

  “She talks in riddles.” Peri huffed. “I already tried to ask her about my past, and she gave me some cryptic, philosophical answer. Those annoy me more than smart-ass answers.”

  “Maybe if we both go talk to her,” Nissa offered.

  “What, like a two-for-one special of high fae pressure?” Peri knew she sounded annoyed. Because she was. “Serapha isn’t going to tell us anything just because we want to know. She had the opportunity to tell me, even freaking admitted that she knew what happened, but she didn’t elaborate.”

  Nissa frowned. “What exactly did she say?”

  Peri stopped her pacing and folded her arms in front of her. “She said that her son wasn’t the first draheim to save my life. But that my mind didn’t remember it.”

  “I think Lucian is right. We need to go back to Serapha.”

  “I’m pretty sure this isn’t a majority-rules situation.” Peri looked at her mate and then at Nissa.

  Nissa shrugged. “I don’t need you to come with me. You can hang out here and huff and puff while I get answers.”

  Peri’s lips pursed. “Who are you, and where did the calm, quiet Nissa go?”

  Nissa’s face remained blank as she responded. “I’ve always been this person. I just kept my commentary in my head.”

  “Okay, do that again.”

  Nissa rolled her eyes.

  “And that, too.” Peri pointed at her. “Keep that to yourself, as well.”

  “See you in a bit.” Nissa flashed.

  “Did she seriously just flash in the middle of a conversation?”

  Lucian chuckled. “Not used to her pushing back?”

  “I blame this on Jen.” Peri reached for his hand. “She’s turning everyone into rebellious buttheads.”

  “Eloquent,” Lucian murmured.

  “I’m three thousand years old. I don’t have to be eloquent. Aren’t old people allowed to be eccentric and ridiculous while everyone else has to just smile at them and laugh?”

  “You don’t look like an old person, my love. You look twenty-something. An eccentric twenty-something just comes across as a narcissistic ass.”

  “If the shoe fits.” She huffed and then flashed them to the draheim veil.

  Nissa stood there leaning against a tree, looking smug as hell. “I knew you wouldn’t be able to stay away.”

  “No.” Peri shook her head. “I just don’t feel like attending another funeral when you get your fairy butt eaten by a draheim.”

  “At least I know I rank high enough on your list that you’d actually come to my funeral.”

  Peri flicked her hand at her long-time comrade. “Don’t get all sentimental. That’s only because if I didn’t come, I’d look like a jerk, and I try to only look like a jerk when it suits me.” Peri walked up to the shimmering veil and placed her hand against it. She spoke in her native tongue and then stepped back. She’d sent out a call using her magic, and since she’d been in the draheim realm, Serapha would hear her call.

  “Will they allow us entrance?” Nissa’s eyes jumped from the veil to Peri.

  “Probably. But knowing Serapha, she’ll make us wait just because it will amuse her to irritate me.”

  “I’m sure your endearing personality has nothing to do with that.”

  Peri snapped her fingers, and several chairs appeared. The chairs were made of dark wood, intricately carved, and held cushions covered with green and gold woven into a fine filigree. Lucian raised a brow at her. “What? I don’t want to lean against a tree or sit on the ground.”

  “I was just thinking of all the times we’ve been standing, sitting, or laying in a forest, and yet you never provided accommodations such as this before.”

  She grinned. “Why would I do that when it was so fun to listen to Jen grumble about how uncomfortable she was?”

  He grunted. “Okay, but I was uncomfortable, too.”

  She shrugged. “A small price to pay.”

  Nissa took a seat and crossed one leg over the other. “While we wait, why don’t we see if we can access our memories? They have to be buried somewhere in our minds.”

  Peri took the seat next to her. “You think we should attempt to look into each other’s minds instead of searching our own?”

  Nissa nodded. “Maybe our power can affect whatever magic is blocking the memories.”

  “It’s worth a try, and it’s not like we have anything else to do.” Peri held out her hand, and Nissa took it. “Try to avoid the more personal memories.”

  Nissa’s eyes briefly rested on Lucian. He winked at her, which made her smile.

  “Quit flirting with her, Lucian,” Peri snapped. “I could still use a nice fur rug in our bedroom.”

  “As you wish.” She shivered when she felt his hand run down her spine, though he wasn’t standing beside her.

  “Behave,” she said through their bond.

  “With you? Never.”

  Galan and Serapha watched the two high fae and the wolf through the veil using Serapha’s magic.

  “Are you just going to make them sit out there?” Galan tilted his head as he stared through the veil.

  “Sometimes waiting is necessary,” she told her young. “It produces patience, which will eventually lead to perseverance.”

  “They don’t appear to be interested in increasing either virtue.”

  Serapha chuckled. “If Perizada had it her way, she’d never have to wait for anything. But that’s not how life, or the Great Luna, works. Peri should know that by now. And yet…” Serapha gestured with her snout to the veil. She turned to look at her son, her brave, bold, and courageous son. “You waited as Ludcarab’s prisoner. Eventually the goddess came to you. She let you know when it was time for you to act. That wasn’t easy, was it?”

  Galan shook his head and shifted on his feet. The youngling’s tail came around and wrapped itself around him in what she recognized as a self-soothing gesture. “It was very hard.”

  “I am so proud of you, Galan. What you did, many others would not have been able to do.” Serapha’s stomach clenched. The waiting wasn’t difficult just for him. During his absence, it had taken everything in her not to go barreling into the human realm, killing everything in sight while she searched for Galan. But the Great Luna had come to her, as well. Serapha had told no one about the goddess’s visit, not even Peri. Perhaps she should have told the fae when she’d been a guest in the draheim realm. Would it help Perizada to know that the Great Luna even required patience from the draheim? Probably not. The fae needed to understand that she wouldn’t always get her answers when she wanted them… if ever.

  Galan settled himself onto the ground, folding his legs beneath him. “How long will you make them wait?”

  “Until it’s time for them to stop waiting.”

  “When will that be?”

  Serapha smiled. “When do you think it will be?”

  He snorted, and a puff of smoke came from his snout. “When the Great Luna says the time has come.”

  “You’re learning. I might have to tell Peri that you’re learning lessons faster than she is. That would get on her nerves.”

  “You like to get on her nerves.” It wasn’t a question.

  “It has become a favorite pastime. I miss her presence here for that reason alone.” Serapha wasn’t telling the whole truth. She missed Peri for more than the pleasure of getting an easy rise out of the fae. It had been nice having the companionship of someone that knew what was happening in the world beyond the draheim realm. Her kind typically stayed out of the business of the other supernaturals, though there was the incident of two draheim brothers, Grus and Vollaman, who had sought to kill the warlock king and his female. That had been quite unfortunate and out of character, but then Volcan had either promised them something or used powerful magic upon them to bend their wills. With their help, Volcan had hidden out in one of their ancient castles—a fortress built by the elves long, long ago when the draheim maintained relationships with the other supernatural races. But other than that, the draheim now kept to themselves. Having Peri around had been a breath of fresh air.

  “How long will you sit and watch them, Galan?”

  “What else am I going to do? Torion is gone. He was a lot of fun to play with.”

  “You could play with the other draheim young.”

  He shook his large head and then settled it down on the ground in front of his feet before blowing a puff of wispy smoke from his nostrils. “I’d rather sit here and see if Peri does anything crazy.”

  “I can’t fault you there.” Serapha had noticed since Galan’s return, he didn’t spend time with the other draheim his age. Being taken by Ludcarab had left a wound inside of him, and she didn’t know how to help him heal. “Can I watch with you?”

  “Sure, Mother. But I will tell Peri you sat here watching her rant and rave. She may not be happy.” His voice held laughter.