“Girl”—Sally waved the older healer off—“there are so many rules in the Girl-Code handbook, you wouldn’t believe it. Then you throw in the specific chapters for subgroups like gypsy healers, and it gets crazy. You’ve even got subchapters of subchapters, like the one on gypsy healer-witches. Trust me, it’s a fat book.”

  Rachel grinned. “Even fatter than Jen’s Ho’s Before Bro’s book?”

  “No book is fatter than that.”

  Kara wished they could hang out and just chat and catch up, but they didn’t have time. “Jewel and I need to take our consciousness back to our physical bodies so we can figure out how to go about visiting Alice without giving her a heart attack.”

  “Good point,” Sally said. “We’ve been floating out here for long enough. I’ll have to show Rachel the book another time.”

  The girls hugged, and then Jewel and Kara went flowing back along the golden cord until they reached the end of their own. When Kara opened her eyes, she and Jewel were still in the Colorado pack mansion’s living room, but they were no longer alone. And Tassi had a wicked-looking knife clutched in her hand.

  Chapter

  Thirteen

  “I don’t want to chain her or stifle her. But the urge to keep her safe, to protect our unborn child, is stronger than ever before. The wolf within me craves for her to be close at all times. But the man in me knows that it would be like severing a bird’s wings to make her stay by my side.” ~Nick

  Kara pressed a hand to Nick’s chest and pushed. Though she wasn’t really strong enough to move him, he took a step back to give her some space. “Don’t stand so close to me. That’s creepy. Tassi, would you mind putting the sharp object away.” The fae woman looked ready to stab someone.

  “They surprised me, and you two were still in some sort of trance,” Tassi explained as the blade simply disappeared.

  Kara looked back at Nick. “You’re still being creepy.”

  “As creepy as finding you standing here unresponsive, looking like a weird statue?”

  Kara narrowed her eyes at him. “Are you saying I look weird?”

  “Pick your words carefully, Beta,” Dillon said from behind him.

  Nick glanced over his shoulder to see that those who had come back from their recon mission had taken seats in the large living room.

  Nick felt a poke in his chest, and he turned back to see his mate still looking up at him, waiting for an answer. “Of course you don’t look weird. You’re beautiful, yeah?”

  She rolled her eyes at him. “Yeah.” She smiled, her eyes softening. “I am.”

  Nick laughed and pulled her into his arms. She felt good. Then again, she always felt good. If he could just spend the rest of his life holding her, he’d die a happy man.

  “You’d eventually get bored,” she told him through their bond.

  “You underestimate my ability to find things to do while holding you.” He gave her bottom a light smack.

  She giggled and leaned in for a kiss.

  When Nick was a hair’s breadth from her lips, he heard Dillon’s voice. “As cute as you two are, let’s fill Jewel and Kara in on what we’ve learned and ask them why they were standing there looking like weird statues when we arrived.”

  “You just told me to pick my words carefully.” Nick pulled away from his mate and found an empty spot on the couch. He pulled Kara onto his lap.

  “And I don’t know what you told her through your bond.” Dillon raised his eyebrows. “But it was apparently enough to get you out of trouble. I didn’t tell you to engage in any activities that are better done behind closed doors.”

  Tanya, sitting next to her mate, nudged him with her shoulder. “Behave.”

  “Or not,” Myanin said. “Misbehaving is coming back in style.”

  Tanya scrunched up her face. “I’m pretty sure that misbehaving was never in style.”

  “I’ve been alive a lot longer than you, Alpha-chick.” Myanin pointed at Tanya and winked. “That means I know more about the styles. What was in, what’s been out, what’s never coming back. You know, all the things.”

  “Where’s her keeper?” Kara pressed her lips together as if she was trying to keep from laughing.

  “Her mate is right there.” Dalton motioned to Gerrick.

  Kara shook her head. “No. I mean the person who keeps her in line, that fae woman. Mates don’t keep mates in line. That was established a long time ago.”

  Tanya laughed. “That needs to be on a T-shirt.”

  Nick lifted his hand and grasped her chin gently, turning her to look at him. “Mates don’t keep mates in line?”

  She smirked at him.

  “I plan to kiss that look off your face later,” he warned.

  “Promise?” Her voice was much too sultry for the present company.

  “Now, you behave.” He growled before nipping the skin just below her ear. Her face flushed red, and he felt her desire through the bond.

  “And you all wonder why I keep silent so much,” Gerrick muttered.

  “Okay, I’m going to need you all to focus.” Nick heard the alpha wolf coming through in the man’s voice. “Your foreplay can wait until after we’ve discussed everything with Jewel and Kara.”

  Nick pressed a kiss on the same spot he’d bitten and then looked at Dillon. “I’ve got her in line, Alpha. Carry on.” He took an elbow to the gut for that comment, but it was worth it to get a rise out of his mate. From the corner of his eye, Nick could see Dalton shaking his head, no doubt thinking Nick was foolish for prodding his pregnant female.

  Dillon leaned forward on the edge of the couch and rested his elbows on his knees. He clasped his hands together and then looked from Jewel to Kara. “We showed up at the same time as Nick, Dalton, and Aphid.” Dillon turned to look at the quiet fae. “By the way, thanks for the travel assistance.”

  Aphid bowed his head. “Glad I can be of service.”

  Then he turned to Tassi. “Thank you for keeping an eye on the girls.”

  “I’m glad I can help.”

  Dalton continued. “We showed up at the same time or thereabouts when they arrived near the compound. Those you see here”—he motioned around the room—“as well as Tenia, Skender, and Lilly, were with us. The latter three have returned to warlock mountain.”

  “What were all of you doing there, Dillon?”

  “Jewel, we’ve been interrogating a vampire that we captured.”

  “He says interrogating, and I say playing with,” Myanin sang.

  Dillon, obviously used to the djinn interrupting him, continued. “After we got all the information we could out of him, Tenia—AKA Myanin’s keeper, as you so aptly called her—used her fae power on the vampire and sent him into Cain’s science lab. If everything goes well, he will report back to her.”

  “Oh, and he’s been commanded to get in touch with the healer and have her call Tenia,” Tanya added quickly.

  Kara tried to get off of his lap, but Nick wasn’t ready to let her go. She frowned at him, but then looked back at Dillon’s mate. “What do you mean, get in touch with the healer?”

  “Tenia gave the vamp a cell phone. He’s supposed to pass it to the healer and have her call Tenia,” Tanya explained.

  “Why not have her call one of us?” Kara pointed to Jewel and then herself. “Nick could have given you my number.”

  Tanya nodded in understanding. “Tenia wanted to make sure the call came to her first because she will be able to tell if her magic is still working on the phone. The phone shouldn’t be able to call anyone except who Tenia grants it access to.”

  “How is this vampire supposed to convince the healer to call her?” Jewel asked. “We still don’t know if this woman is working with Cain or being controlled by him. If it’s option B, then we might expose the fact that the vampire is under Tenia’s control.”

  “It’s a risk we have to take.”

  “Not necessarily, Dillon.” Nick felt Kara's excitement through the bond. He’d not bothered to sift through her thoughts to find out what she and Jewel had figured out. Considering how physically close he always wanted her, he at least tried to give her some mental space.

  Jewel nodded. “We called Sally and Rachel, because four brains are better than two.” Her hand fluttered in the air, as if waving the comment away. “We told them what we were considering doing and then talked about all the options of how it could work or not work. The failure rate of any new experiment is—”

  “Let’s skip to the part where we tell them we’ve figured out a way to contact the healer,” Kara cut in.

  “Right.” Jewel nodded. “Good plan.”

  Kara explained how she and Jewel had worked with the other two healers and contacted Stella through the healer bond, as well. Kara turned to look at him, and Nick lifted his hand and brushed his fingertips across her cheek, which was flushed with excitement.

  “I don’t know why we never thought of trying it before,” she finished.

  “Maybe because there hadn’t been a situation where it was an extreme necessity,” Tanya offered. “With so many ways to get in contact with each other, why would you all have considered the need to use a mental bond, especially considering you’re not mates?”

  “She makes a valid point,” Jewel agreed. “Necessity is the mother of invention. I mean, if you consider how all significant innovations came about, it was generally because there was a great need and no way to meet it. First, the electric light bulb. When Edison—”

  “Ahh, how I’ve missed you,” Kara interrupted her healer friend.

  Nick glanced at Dalton, who stared at his mate with affection and a hint of amusement. Jewel was a certified genius and could spout off facts like the best internet search engine.

  Jewel blushed. “Sorry. I like facts.”

  Dalton rubbed her back and ran his hand up until he clutched the back of her neck. “You can tell me all the facts you want, little dove. You know it turns—”

  “Back to this new development,” Dillon cut off his beta. “So you think if you girls contact this healer through the mental connection, you can determine if she’s in league with Cain?”

  “Exactly.”

  Dillon held up his hand when his phone rang. He pulled it from his jacket pocket and looked at the screen. “It’s Fane.” He clicked a button. “Dillon here.”

  Kara watched the Colorado alpha. She glanced at Nick, knowing he could probably hear both sides of the conversation with his wolf's hearing.

  Dillon started speaking and explained what he’d just shared with their group.

  “Jewel and Kara think they can contact the healer through the bond they seem to all share,” Dillon explained. His head nodded several times as he listened to Fane. “Right. Okay. No, I agree. Okay, I’ll let them know. Good. How are Jacque and Slate?”

  Kara’s heart warmed at the affection she heard in his tone as the alpha asked about his only child and grandchild. She couldn’t help but glance over at Tanya to see how the female alpha reacted, but Kara could see no betrayal of emotion. The woman didn’t look bitter or bothered by the question in the least.

  “Okay, sounds good. Yes, I can ask her to return.” Dillon nodded and then ended the call. He set the phone in his lap then looked at Tassi. “Fane asked if you would mind returning to the sprite realm. He didn’t offer me a reason.”

  “Of course.” Tassi flashed from the room.

  Then Dillon looked at Jewel and Kara. “Fane doesn’t want you two contacting the new healer at this time.”

  Kara frowned. “Why?”

  “He doesn’t want to expose you until we know where the new healer stands. As we’ve said, we have no idea if she’s loyal to Cain or being forced to help him.”

  “How could a gypsy healer be in cahoots with someone as evil as the vampire king?” Myanin asked. “Wouldn’t her goodness or whatever keep her from being able to do that?”

  “Probably,” Jewel interjected. “Buuutttt, it could actually be her goodness that allows her to work with him. She might see some good left in him, perhaps only a sliver. But any amount could be enough to compel the light within her to push away the darkness and see if there’s a chance to save him.”

  Myanin groaned. “You bleeding-heart GHs are gonna be the death of me. There’s nothing good in a vampire. The only slivers should be the slivers of wood left by the stakes shoved into their hearts.”

  “Have you met all of them?” As soon as the words left Kara’s lips, she frowned. What the hell am I talking about? Of course, there aren’t any good vampires. They live off the blood of humans, and she was pretty sure they didn’t ask the mortals’ permission before slurping on their necks.

  “Maybe I have,” Myanin shot back. “I’m certainly old enough. Although there have been a lot of new ones made recently, so no, I guess I haven’t met all of them at this point. But I think I’ve met enough to form an accurate representative sample.”

  “Regardless,” Tanya spoke up, “Claude’s been there for”—she looked at her watch—“nearly an hour. He might have already come in contact with her.”

  “So we just wait?” Jewel glanced at Kara.

  Kara shrugged. “Fane has a point. It’s best to play it safe.”

  Nick nudged her, and she turned to look at him. “How come Fane says play it safe, and you jump on board? I say play it safe, and you fight me at every turn.”

  “I like to ruffle your feathers.” She grinned and patted his hand.

  “If she did everything you asked, your life would be very boring,” Myanin said.

  Kara pointed at the djinn. “Exactly. I’m just keeping the excitement alive.”

  Nick ran a hand down her spine. “I can think of lots of ways to keep the excitement alive without you putting yourself in danger.”

  Tanya made a clicking sound and shook her head. “You just waved a red flag in front of a bull.”

  “Actually, the flag could be any color,” Jewel said hesitantly. “Bulls are partially color blind and cannot see the color red. It’s just the motion of the flag that provokes the bull to attack. Traditionally, the color red was chosen to mask the bloodstains of the bull.”

  Dillon held the bridge of his nose. “Have you ever considered going on a game show?”

  “It wouldn’t be fair to the other contestants,” Myanin offered.

  Tanya shook her head. “The last thing we need to do is put a gypsy healer on live TV. Every Canis lupus in the world would probably become entranced and storm the studio.”

  Dalton growled low, but Jewel put a hand on his, and he quieted. “I would have no desire to have that many people watching me. Besides, my facts only come out at random times. I’d probably freeze up when the host asked me my name, much less the capital of Zimbabwe.”

  “You know the answer to that, don’t you?” asked Tanya.

  “Harare.”

  “Of course she does.” Myanin rolled her eyes.

  “Back to the matter at hand. Are we supposed to just wait?”

  “Not us, Kara.” Myanin shook her head. “You and your pregnant self wait. Those of us not pregnant, and with non-werewolf possessive mates, are going vamp hunting.”

  “Sounds like a plan.” Tanya clapped her hands and stood. “I’m ready for a good fight.”

  “Are you going hunting?” Kara asked Nick through their bond. She didn’t want to sound needy. In fact, she loathed feeling needy. But there it was.

  “Ask me, Kara,” Nick said in return. “Never be afraid to ask me for what you need. It won’t make me think less of you, nor will it make me think you’re needy. You’re my mate, the other half of my soul. You ask, and if I can give it to you, then it’s yours.”

  Kara took a deep breath and ignored the movement going on around her. She looked in Nick’s eyes. “Will you stay with me?”

  His lips turned up in a crooked smile. “As if I could ever turn that down for anything, regardless of how much I like vamp hunting.”

  She leaned forward and pressed her lips to his. Kara soaked up his warmth and let herself enjoy him for just a moment. “What about Lizzy?” She pulled back. “What if it’s actually her? We might find out faster if we contacted the healer.”

  Nick brushed her hair back from her neck and rested his hand on top of his bite mark. “We’re going to trust Fane’s instincts. Even if it is your Lizzy, there’s nothing we can do right now. We can’t just go in blind.”

  She nodded and sighed. “I know.” But in the back of her mind, all Kara could think about was what might be happening to Lizzy if it was her friend in Cain’s clutches.

  “So I take it we’re the only ones staying behind?” Jewel’s voice made Kara pull away from the kiss.

  She looked around Nick at the strawberry-blonde healer and then glanced at the rest of the room. Everyone else was gone.

  “Apparently if you want to get rid of a horde of supernaturals, just mention vampire hunting,” Kara said dryly.

  “It is a fun pastime.” Dalton wrapped a strand of Jewel’s hair around his finger.

  Jewel rolled her eyes at her mate, then looked at Kara. “What are we going to do?”

  Kara sighed. “Try not to worry about our friends and wait.”

  Jewel leaned back against Dalton. “Waiting sucks.”

  “No fun facts to share about waiting?” Kara smiled.

  “Oh, I could give you loads of stuff on the psychology behind waiting.” Jewel sat back up again and suddenly looked eager. “There are several studies on how waiting for prolonged periods of time affects the aging process, anxiety—”

  “Little Dove, we don’t car—” Jewel held up her hand and placed it over Dalton’s mouth.

  “I can even tell you how it affects a person’s sexual health.”

  Both males froze as they looked at Jewel.

  Jewel winked at Kara and then looked at her mate. “You were saying?”

  Dalton cleared his throat. “I was just going to say we don’t have any food to enjoy while you share this enlightening information.”

  Nick laughed, shaking Kara in his lap. “As far as saves go, that was pretty weak.”

  Kara nodded. “Yeah, it was.”