The Burning Claw: Book 10, The Grey Wolves Series (33 page)

“I’m a blonde because God made a mistake. That’s forgivable. I mean, he’s God. She’s a blonde” —Jen pointed at Sally— “because
she
made a mistake. She ain’t no god and therefore should not attempt to be changing what she was born with. This is what we call inexcusable behavior. Take note ladies, it won’t end pretty.”

“What does that mean?” Jacque ask glancing away from Sally briefly to look at Jen.

“It means her roots are going to look craptastic as her hair grows out. Not. Pretty.”

“Her hair isn’t what’s important, girls,” Peri huffed at them. “She’s got no memory of us. Any of us. She’s dating a werewolf, working in a bar, and believes her parents are dead. Can you see why I don’t think her hair is important?”

“No,” Jen answered. “Just think about how much easier getting through those things would be with good hair? It would be one less thing to worry about. But now she has to add that mess to her list of already jacked up issues. She could have saved herself that drama at least.”

“Okay,” Jacque interrupted. “We get it, Jen. And Peri, we hear you. The next question is
are we just going to stand here and stare?
”

“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do. We are going to march over there and tell her that damn dye job is a catastrophe and she needs to call in FINA.” Jen started to take a step forward.

Peri snatched the she-wolf’s arm before she could take another step and jerked her back. “First of all, it’s FEMA, not FINA, you dipstick,” Peri growled. “Second, how would you feel if someone told you your hair looked bad? A complete stranger at that.”

“Like I needed to fix it,” Jen said matter-of-fact like.

Peri groaned.

“I’ve told you before, there’s no reasoning with her when she gets something in her head. You just have to let it work its way out of her system like an intestinal worm,” Jacque told Peri, as she crossed her arms in front of her chest and looked back and forth between the two.

“Intestinal worm?” Jen scrunched up her face. “Yuck.”

“Hey, I’m not the one who acts like an intestinal worm. If you fit the shoe, then you’ve got to wear the stink.”

Peri snorted and Jen shook her head at her best friend. “I got nothing.”

“Finally,” the high fae moaned. “Now can we take a seat at the bar and see if we can strike up a conversation. And by all means, let me lead.”

The three marched up to the bar and each took an empty stool. Jen’s hands were shaking as she pulled the stool out and climbed onto it. She rested her arms on the bar, careful to cover her hands so that the shaking wouldn’t be noticeable.

Sally looked up from her intense glass drying and smiled at them. “I’ll be with you in just a sec.”

“Not a problem,” Peri assured.

Sally tucked the towel in her back pocket, and Jen had a flash of memory of a time when Sally had worked with Costin in
his
bar, and he’d tucked a towel into the healer’s jeans.
Times have changed
, she thought to herself.

“What can I get you ladies?”

“I’ll take a martini, dry, extra olive, please,” Peri told her.

Jacque ordered next. “I’m just going to take a coke.”

Jen shouldn’t have done it, but her mouth opened and the words spilled out before she could swallow them down. “I’ll take a sex on the beach.”

Peri reached over and pinched the crap out of Jen’s leg, and she had to bite her lip to keep from flinging expletives at the fae.

Sally paused and stared at Jen for a moment. Her face drew into a frown and she looked as though she was in pain. “I don’t think I’ve ever made that one,” she said finally. “I’ll actually have to look that one up. Oh, and I need to see I.D. from my two drinkers.”

Jen turned to look at Peri who gave her a nod letting her know she had it under control. Peri slipped out two I.D. cards from
who the crap knows where
and showed them to Sally, who nodded and then stepped away to make their drinks. The I.D. cards vanished just as quickly as they’d appeared.

“What time do you close?” Jacque asked Sally after she’d gotten them their drinks and they’d been there casually talking to each other.

Sally glanced at the clock behind her. “In about fifteen minutes.”

So,
one a.m.
, Jen thought and then realized that they’d been there for forty-five minutes and only said a handful of things to Sally, none of which were conducive to building a friendship. She thought back to when they were kids and Jen had met her. She’d informed her, just like Jacque, that she was going to be her best friend and that was that.
It worked then
. Jen shrugged as she smiled at Sally. “So we’re new in town,” Jen said and ignored the foot stomp Peri was attempting to give her. “And you seem to be like a normal,
not serial killer,
type. Would you care to hang out with us one night this week and tell us what’s what?”

Jacque and Peri seemed to be holding their breaths as they waited to see how Sally would answer.

Without missing a beat, she laughed at Jen’s comment and then nodded her head. “Well I work most nights. How about we do some shopping during the day tomorrow? Honestly, I’m new here too and I haven’t made any friends other than the coworkers here, so some girl time would be great. And you three look pretty normal and
non-serial killerish
yourselves.”

The three laughed. Jen wanted to reach across the counter and wrap Sally in a hug. Her arms ached to hold her friend. It was like holding her breath even though she wasn’t under water. It sucked.

“Okay, awesome.” Jen said. “Would that work for you two?” She asked Jacque and Peri.

They both nodded.

“We could meet at my apartment and then make plans from there. It’s just down the street.” Sally suggested.

“Sounds perfect. Is ten okay for you?”

Sally gave her a thumbs up. “I can totally do ten.”

“What are you doing at ten?” The handsome bartender who’d been working alongside Sally during this conversation butted in. Jen had managed to ignore him because she knew if she looked at him, her wolf would snarl. Just then, she only stiffened. Would he know they were wolves? She hadn’t even thought of it.

“I’ve made some new friends,” Sally motioned to them. “Ladies, this is Jericho, my—”

“Her boyfriend,” he interrupted her.

Before the growl could leave Jen’s chest, Peri elbowed her hard in the side causing her to cough.

“Oh, sorry about that, sis, didn’t realize how close you were.”

Jen shot her a glare and then looked back at the wolf standing next to Sally.

“Yeah and coworker,” she finished. “I’m off tomorrow,” she said speaking to Jericho. “And we’re going to go hang out.”

“That will be fun,” Jericho told her as he tucked her short locks behind her ears.

Oh, if Costin could see the wolf touching his Sally. He would burn the whole bar to the ground
, thought Jen

“We’re going to get out of your hair,” Peri/Stacy began.

“I’m going to be off in about thirty minutes,” Sally said quickly. “I usually walk home. You guys could join me if you have time to wait. Then we could actually get each other’s names.” She laughed nervously. It did not escape Jen’s notice that Sally kept taking tiny steps away from Jericho, but like a bloodhound on the hunt, he followed his prey.
Stupid hound
, Jen mentally kicked him.

“We’d be happy to wait,” Peri/Stacy, told her. “We’ll take a seat at a table so you can do what you need to.”

Sally nodded. Peri grabbed Jen’s belt loop when the blonde didn’t budge from her stool. She was too busy glaring at the stupid wall of Jericho. He was a wall because he wouldn’t get out of Sally’s way. Jen was secretly hoping Sally would just rear back and kick him in the jewels, but it didn’t happen.

Jen finally slid off the stool and followed Peri and Jacque to the table Peri had indicated.

Jacque started to say something but Peri pointed to her ear, reminding them that Jericho had wolf hearing.

“It’s awesome to have met someone who is new like us,” Jen said in a perky voice that made her want to slap her own face. “Don’t you think, Stacy?”

Peri shot her a look that was the mental equivalent of shoving a sock in Jen’s mouth.

“Yes, Jen. It’s awesome,” Peri responded dryly.

Thirty minutes later, they were all four standing just outside of Sally’s apartment building. Sally had dark circles under her eyes and was moving rather sluggishly. Jacque thought she might drop at any minute.

“Well this was fun,” said Sally. “So glad I met you guys.”

Peri reached out her hand and placed it on Sally’s arm. The action seemed natural enough, as though Peri simply wanted to emphasize what she was saying by making sure she had Sally’s attention. But Jen had a feeling the gesture was more than that.

“It was very nice to meet you, as well, Sally. I hope we can be a support for you and you for us. Being new is hard and no one should have to do it on their own,” Peri told her gently. With a soft pat on her arm, Peri stepped back. They waved at her as they turned to go.

“That was a disaster,” Jen said, rubbing her face with her hands. “I was this close” —she held up her hand with her thumb and forefinger millimeters apart— “to clawing that bartender’s face off.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” Peri countered. “I am worried that meeting all of us at once was a little much for her damaged brain. She seemed desperate and overwhelmed.”

“Oh frack, do you think her brain is really damaged?” Jacque asked, then held up her hand in a stop motion. “Not that I wouldn’t love her just as much as an undamaged-brain Sally. But I mean, do you think she’ll ever remember us and be able to function normally?”

“Well, when I went to medical school and did my neurology rotation we learned that—” Peri paused and then clapped her hands together. “Oh wait, I’m sorry. I didn’t go to medical school.”

Jen raised her hand. “I think you need a time out. Go see your man and rough him up a bit. Get some of that frustration taken care of because you are totally messing with my ability to rescue my friend in an efficient, timely manner.”

Suddenly Peri was gone.

“Did she just leave us here?” Jen asked, whipping her head around to see if maybe the fae had just moved to another part of the road. She hadn’t, at least they couldn’t see her if she had.

Jacque shook her head. “No. She wouldn’t do that. She’s just playing a cruel joke because you were an itch with a capital B and she needed a break from you.”

Three hours later.

“She left us,” Jacque whined. “She actually flipping left us.”

Sitting on a swing set in a park they found after wandering aimlessly, Jen was getting close to panic mode. “That’s it,” Jen said folding her arms in front of her chest. “I’m requesting a new fairy.”

Jacque laughed. “She’s not an item on a menu, Jen. You can’t just request a new one.”

“Well, you should be able to,” she huffed.

“What are we going to do?” Jacque asked her.

Jen peeked at her through the hands that were currently rubbing her face. “Have you contacted Fane?” she asked quietly as if he might hear her.

“Uh, that would be not just a no, but a hell no.” Jacque was shaking her head so fast she looked like a curly-haired bobble head. “Fane would blow a fuse if he found out that: one, we are here, and two, Peri left us.”

“Yeah, I’ve kept Decebel at bay too. Any time he tries to check up on me, I send him a dirty thought.”

“Of course you do,” Jacque snorted.

“Hey, if it works then I’m not changing it,” Jen told her as she pushed her feet out in front of her and pulled them back, trying to get her swing to go faster.

“You think she’s going to come back for us?” Jacque asked as she leaned her face against the chain links of the swing.

“Yes, she’ll be back. But it probably won’t be until after her happy time with Lucian. Hey, maybe that won’t take long. I mean, who knows, maybe the fae can do it in hyper mode, like a
to the max
version of wham bam thank you ma’am,” Jen chuckled.

Jacque lifted her face and her eyes narrowed as she turned to look at her. “How many times did your parents drop you on your head? You can be honest, it’s just you and me. How many times?” Jacque asked.

“Not enough to knock some sense into me, that’s for sure,” Jen muttered.

“At least you’re honest with yourself.”