Authors: Quinn Loftis
“I totally knew that,” Peri said dryly. Rachel continued to laugh and when Peri cocked a single brow at the healer she finally pulled it together. “Now really, what is it that Sally isn’t going to like and why is she going to be involved
anyway?”
“He
r magic is getting stronger every day and will only continue to do so the more she uses it. It will help if there are two of us casting the spell,” Rachel told her, then let out a deep breath. “The spell will open up a mental bond with the healers. That is how we will be able to find them.”
“You’re wrong then. I
t isn’t Sally that won’t like it. It’s her bartending, possessive mate that isn’t going to like sharing her mind with others.”
Rachel nodded. “I agree, but the reason I said that Sally wouldn’t like it is because she is going to be the one who has to deal with her possessive mate complaining about her mind being shared with others.”
“Too true,” Peri chuckled. “They do tend to get annoying when they start complaining about something that isn’t in their power to control.”
“Speaking from experience now
, Peri?” Rachel asked with a sly smile.
“Oh no, healer, we aren’t having a counseling session on mating 101.Vasile and Alina have already given me their little tidbits.
Damn Alphas always meddling,” she muttered.
Rachel stood up as she nodded her head. “Yes, they tend to do that. But it’s only because they care so much.”
“I could totally stand a little
less
caring, wouldn’t hurt my feelings
at
all.”
Rachel laughed and shook her head. “Perizada,
you may not see it now, but you are exactly where you need to be, and with whom you need to be as well.”
“Was that an attempt at being profound
, gypsy? Because I’m going to have to go with a big fat fail on that,” Peri teased.
“Make yourself useful and get Sally while I get the things we need to do this spell,” Rachel told her as she made a shooing motion with her hand.
“Mated to a werewolf and suddenly all my respect goes out the flipping window,” Peri grumbled as she flashed from the room.
“Sally, you’re being summoned by Rachel,” Peri said as she flashed into the library where the healer sat with her mate and Jacque.
“I thought we already talked about this, Peri,” Sally said without standing up.
“Don’t
get your herbs in a boiling beaker, gypsy lady. She just needs your help casting the spell, that’s all.” Peri said as she pointedly looked at her finger nails, inspecting them closely.
“Why do I feel like there is more to it than that?”
Costin asked.
“Look,” Peri said shortly. “What I can
guarantee is that you don’t have to sacrifice a puppy, you don’t have castrate an elephant and you don’t have to reenact the Lion King with Jen’s baby held up in the air over a ledge with a bunch of hungry beasts hoping you will drop it, while singing a song about the circle of life. Oh, and you don’t have to give up either of your ovaries. So how much more to it can there really be? Now, Costin, you aren’t needed so you can stay here.” She grabbed Sally’s arm and flashed them back to the healer’s room before Costin could react to her statement.
“You really shouldn’t have done that,” Sally said as she stepped away from Peri and further into the room that had become a second home to her.
“He’s going to be…,”
“Perizada!” Costin’s deep growl rolled through the door way just before he came into view.
Peri glanced at the door and flicked her wrist towards Costin. His body rammed into an invisible wall, keeping him from entering the room.
“
This is a peaceful healing room, Costin,”Peri taunted him. “We don’t need your negative energy in here.”
“Let me in
, Peri,” he snarled.
“Oh give it a rest,” Peri snapped. “Your mate is right there,” she pointed at a very worried looking Sally. “She’s not in any danger, and she sure as hell doesn’t need your paws distracting her while they cast this spell.
So pipe down and I might not turn you into a fantastic coat the next time you phase.”
“Peri
, is that really necessary?” Sally asked.
“What? The coat?
Well I really could use a new fur coat.”
“No,” Sally huffed interrupting her
, “keeping him locked out.”
“Oh, it will be.”
“Why?” Sally said with warning in her tone.
“Well, because most males don’t like to share the mental bond they have with their females.”
“I’m going to be sharing my mental bond with someone?” Sally’s voice grew a little high with each word while Costin let out an ear ripping growl.
“No, no,” Peri attempted to sound reassuring but it was ruined with she finished with, “You’re going to be sharing you
r mental bond with five someones.”
“I’ve had the responsibility of so many lives in my hands for so long. Now I will be adding five more innocents. I will be taking them from their safe homes and bringing them into a world where, more often than not, bloodshed is the norm and darkness lives inside the very mate they will each one day take. How am I to justify that? How am I to tell them that I can offer them nothing other than the promise of the love of a Creator and the wolf she made for them? Is that enough? Or is it too much to ask?” ~Perizada
“Can you plea
se tell me why the young wolf is cursing you so profusely and give me a very good reason not to cause him harm for disrespecting my mate?”
Lucian’s voice rumbled through Peri’s mind as she stood staring indifferently at a snarling Costin. She caught a glimpse of Lucian’s form in the shadows beyond Costin and her heart leapt at the thought of seeing him.
“I stole his mate,”
Peri admitted.
She heard
Lucian clear his throat and saw a slight twitch of his lips.
“Why exactly did you steal his mate, love?”
“Because we need her for the finding spell and when Costin realizes what the
consequences’ of said spell are, he is going to be quite unhappy, well unhappier.”
“What are the
consequences, Perizada?” This time Lucian’s voice was out loud.
Peri grumbled under her breath and let out an exasperated huff before she answered. “In order for us to get a lock on the gypsy healers, Rachel and Sally both will have to open their bonds up to the magic of the other healers. They will create a mental link with them.”
“Why?” he asked, clearly unhappy about her explanation.
“If we weren’t mated it wouldn’t work,” Rachel answered. “There has to be a mental bond connection. Because we already have that opening through our mate bonds, we can use it to latch onto the magic that lives inside the minds of the healers.”
“There is no other way?” Lucian asked.
Rachel shook her head. “Not that I could find.”
“How does your mate feel about this?” Costin growled.
“He isn’t happy but he’s accepted that it is part of the role I play as a healer.”
“Costin,” Sally’s sweet voice seemed to bring the growing tension down several notches. “They will all be female. And it’s not like they are going to know that there is a mental link open. They aren’t going to hurt me.”
“It’s sacred
, Sally mine,” Costin’s voice lost most of its growl as he talked to his mate. “It’s only supposed to be between a male and his female.”
“Well, I’m sorry but you aren’t just mated to a female, you’re mated to a healer.”
Their eyes stayed locked and Peri could tell they were using their bond to speak privately. She turned to look at Rachel and saw that she had was almost finished setting up an assortment of plants and liquids. It looked like some elaborate experiment. Which, Peri supposed in some ways it was.
“Peri
, please let him in,” Sally turned to look at her. “He’s not going to keep me from doing what I need to, but he needs to be in here. Please.”
Peri looked at Costin who was still staring at his mate. The longing in his eyes was desperate enough to even pierce Peri’s
usually impassive heart. She knew it had been cruel to keep Costin from entering, especially when weeks ago he had watched his mate die before his eyes. Costin had become a tad clingy since Sally’s death. Thanks to the Great Luna, she didn’t stay dead long, but it had been enough to do quite a number on the young wolf.
She waved her hand and the invisible barrier was gone. Costin was through the door way wrapping his arms around Sally before she could even blink.
Lucian also entered, though in a calmer fashion than the other male. He walked straight over to Peri, ran a gentle finer across her cheek before turning and facing Costin, keeping his body between his mate’s and the emotional male wolf.
“Sally
, are you ready?” Rachel asked.
Sally gave Costin a
reassuring smile before walking over to stand next to the other healer.
“You two will not interfere,” Peri narrowed her eyes at Costin and
Lucian, who had turned slightly so he could see her while still keeping Costin in his sights.
“Don’t make it necessary for me to interfere,” Costin challenged.
“I will only stand for so much disrespect towards my mate, young one.” Lucian’s voice was low as he watched Costin. His words and the effort in which he spoke them were calculated and even had a chill running down Peri’s spine.
“Enough!” Rachel growled. “We are not in danger. Costin
, I understand that you are especially overprotective of Sally, but please trust me.” She turned to the other problem in the room and huffed, “Peri, quit baiting the wolves.”
Peri shrugged, looking bored as she leaned against the counter and proceeded to watch as the two healers began to mix the herbs and liquids.
Twenty minutes later both healers held small glasses of smoking liquid.
Sally looked at the glass in her hand with a pinched expression. “Well,” she held the glass up, “bottoms up.”
She downed the fluid in one big gulp and then slammed the glass down onto the table. She shook her head as her mouth took on the tight look of someone who had just sucked on a lemon.
Rachel followed suit and downed her own drink, and
held her own sour face when the liquid was gone.
Peri waited, standing as still as a statue along with Costin and
Lucian. They stared at the two females, waiting—for what they weren’t sure.
“How do you feel
, Sally?” Costin spoke up finally, his eyes imploring his mate to be unharmed.
“Aside from a nasty taste in my
mouth, I feel,” Sally was on her knees with her hands pressed to her head before she could finish what she was about to say. Rachel was right behind her. Both women let out cries of pain and Costin was by Sally’s side in an instant.
Peri started towards Rachel but was pushed out of the way by a large form. Gavril had come crashing into the room like a g
ale force wind. Peri backed up quickly and found herself pressed against a familiar chest.
“Are they going to be alright?”
Lucian whispered in her ear.
“I,” Peri started but then her mouth snapped shut. She didn’t know what to say. She and Rachel had no way of knowing what would happen when they performed the spell. Magic was sometimes volatile and unpredictable, but usually gypsy healer magic wasn’t dangerous.
Sally squeezed her eyes closed as she struggled to gain control of the thoughts ripping through her mind. After the initial onslaught she had figured out what the pain was. It was emotions, too many all at once bombarding her brain like a deadly assault. She needed to just slow everything down and then hit the mute button. She tried to focus only on the thoughts and images in her mind and gradually the pain began to subside and she was able to use her own magic to compartmentalize the new information.
“What is that?”
Costin’s voice broke through her concentration.
“You can hear them?”
She asked him.
“Female voices, too many of them,”
he confirmed.
“Five to be exact,”
Sally clarified.
“Yes
, well, that’s five too many. There should only be yours.”
She felt Costin’s hand on her back rubbing her gently and she leaned into his touch. She found she was able to handle the chaos of the voices much better when he was touching her.
“You could have just told me you wanted me to touch you more
, beautiful,”
he teased, “
You didn’t have to go and open up our mental bond to a bunch of strangers to get it.”
“That just sounds so bad,”
Sally groaned out loud and felt her cheeks warm.
“Whatever do you mean
, Sally mine?”
“Costin, shut up,” Sally said dryly.
He grinned at her, his dimple making an appearance as he pulled her into his arms. Sally looked over at Rachel who was also in the arms of her mate. Their eyes met and Sally could see that Rachel was experiencing the same sort of invasion that she was.
“You alright?” She asked the other healer.
Rachel nodded. “I forget how busy the minds of adolescents are.”
“It worked,” Peri piped in seeing that the two healers where no longer writhing in pain. “You connected with them?”
Both healers nodded.
“Great, where are they?” Peri asked
as she stepped away from Lucian and rubbed her hands together eagerly.
Sally rolled her eyes. “That’s not how it works Peri.”
Peri huffed. “Fine, tell me how it works then, Sally, because I need five healers as of yesterday. So could you please enlighten me as to how we figure out where they are?”
“We’re going to have to do a little digging in their minds because short of them thinking my name is Jane Doe Healer and I live at 500 Easy To Find Avenue, the information isn’t just laying out there on the surface.”
Peri’s head tilted to the side as she eyed the young healer, she let out a snort of laughter. “I think death agreed with you because you are a lot funnier since you came back.”
Costin let out a low growl.
“Oh put a bone in it flea bag,” Peri waved him off, “It was compliment, and she isn’t going to just drop dead because I brought it up.”
“Peri please try and play nice,” Sally begged.
“Nice is so over rated,” Peri grumbled. She turned away from Sally who was consoling her mate and noticed that Lucian was staring at her. “What?” She asked him.
“You’re breathtaking,”
he told her simply.
Peri didn’t know how he
did it, but just two words from him and she found the ache inside of her for him growing painfully larger. His lips tilted up ever so slightly and she knew that he completely understood the effect he was having on her.
Movement on the other side of the room caught her attention and she turned away from the
mesmerizing gaze that was her mate.
Rachel had grabbed a piece of paper and handed it along with a pen to Sally, and then gathered the same for herself. They both stood, leaning over the table with pen and paper, their eyes closed clearly concentrating. Sweat broke out on both of their brows as they began to feverishly write. Several minutes of silence went by when Gavril finally said, “Enough
, Rachel.”
It was then that Peri noticed that Rachel had blood dripping from her nose. She stood up straight and Gavril pressed a handkerchief to her face to help stop the bleeding.
Sally too had blood coming from her nose and Costin was attempting to help her staunch the flow.
Peri waited as patiently as she could as the two women collected themselves.
“Okay, for now this is what we have, Peri,” Rachel spoke up. “Basically I told Sally to find a name and once she had a name she wrote it down. I then thought of that name until I connected to the mind it went with. We both focused solely on that one female and sought out as much information from her as we could without alarming her to our presence in her mind and without separating ourselves from our own bodies.”
“Is that a possibility?” Peri asked.
“I didn’t think so, until I actually tried to search inside of someone other than my mate’s mind. Now I believe that it is a distinct possibility, especially with our bond so stretched,” she explained. “If these females were aware of the magic that lives inside of them they could use it against us with the mental bond open between us.”
“Well, let’s try and keep them from ever being aware of your presence then,” Peri
agreed. “So, now that we are aware of what not to do, tell me what you got.”
Rachel looked down at the piece of paper and began to read
what she had written. “Anna, New Orleans, Little Shop of Horrors, lonely.”
“I feel like I should respond to that with something like;
What is an American gypsy teenager?”
Peri said with a snort.
“Well it’s not like she thinks in complete sentences or full paragraphs. Basically we were pulling stuff out of her memories,” Rachel told her.
Sally nodded. “We’re lucky we got that much. Her magic is strong.”
Peri looked from Rachel to Sally as she took in the information she’d just been given and realized she was going to have to make a change of plans.
“Okay Sally, I understand that you want to be here to take care of Jacque,”
“Peri we aren’t going to go over this again,” Sally interrupted.
Peri held up her hand to stop the healer from saying anything more. “As I was saying, I understand that you want to be here for Jacque because of the pregnancy and I agree a healer should stay but I don’t think it should be you.”
“I agree,” Rachel spoke up. “You are an
American, and you are young enough to be able to relate to these girls,” Rachel continued. “It only makes sense that you would be the one to help Peri convince these girls to trust her. I mean let’s face it, Peri by herself will most likely have the girls running in the opposite direction.”