Out of the Dark
Page 25

Fane winked at her as he left the room.
Jacque knocked on the bathroom door. There was only one in the whole tavern and she was sharing it with the rest of the pack.
"I'm almost done." It was a familiar female voice.
"Sally, it's Jacque. Open up."
The door opened just enough for Sally to poke her head out. Jacque felt the steam from the hot shower caress her face as it swirled past her.
"It's just you?"
Jacque rolled her eyes. "Yes, healer, it's just me. Now let me in."
Sally opened the door farther as she huffed, "Well, you might have had your wolf with you. I didn't want to open the door like this " Sally made an up and down motion with her hand indicating her towel clad body, " and be like 'oh, hey Fane, how's it going, Fane? I'm just standing around in my towel hanging out doing my thing, Fane.'"
Jacque shut the door behind her and shook her head at Sally. "You are a disturbed little gypsy."
Jacque looked around, quickly seeing the shower along the wall across from the door. It was a simple tiled square with a drain in the floor. A blue shower curtain hung across it. Beside the shower was a small table that held clothes and towels. Jacque couldn't help the grin that spread across her face as she began to undress.
Sally gave her a weak smile. "I'm sorry. I'm just all out of sorts. I'm getting weird vibes and -"
"What do you mean weird vibes? From Jen? The forest? About Dec?" Jacque interrupted
Sally stopped brushing her hair mid-stroke. She turned from the old mirror to look at her best friend. "You done? You gonna let me finish now?"
Jacque held up her hands in surrender. "Oh, man. I'm sorry. I'm perilously close to the freak-out wagon aren't I?"
"I definitely think you need to take a couple of steps back. It's too early to jump on that wagon. I assure you I will give you the full go-ahead when it's time."
Jacque grinned. "Okay. So what were you saying?"
"I don't really know how to describe it. I think Jen is safe, but at the same time something is off. I'll have to see how Decebel is acting that will help me know about Jen. He doesn't realize that even though he doesn't remember her, she is still connected to him. They affect one another whether they know it or not."
Jacque climbed into the shower. Sally chuckled as she heard Jacque moan, "Oh. My. Gosh. This feels heavenly. Almost so good that it could be bad, but it's so good that you don't care if it's bad. You get me?"
Sally had a smile stretched across her face and her eyes crinkled as she answered, "Yes, wolf princess, I get you. So, anyway, as I was saying, another vibe I'm getting is from a certain wolf -"
"Oh, brother. Are we getting ready tohave some Jen moments?"
"Most definitely a Jen moment. He is totally not an option, completely off the menu. But he keeps smiling at me and winking at me. I mean Come. On. How much is one girl supposed to endure?"
"Let me guess." Jacque talked over the shower spray. "Does said off-the-menu-wolf's name rhyme with lostin?"
"Lostin? Really, Jac, that's what you're going with?" Sally rolled her eyes.
"Okay, fine. Is the wolf's name -"
"Yes, yes, crap," Sally interrupted. "It's our friendly neighborhood bartender. I mean, can you imagine me introducing him to my parents? Hey mom and dad, this is Costin, he's a werewolf and a bartender. So basically he could eat me for lunch and then pour himself a nice cold beer to wash me all down."
Jacque was cracking up as she turned the shower off and pulled the curtain open. She grabbed a towel and started drying off. "Nice one.
"I'm being serious, Jacque," Sally whined. "He is really beginning to get to me and I don't have time to nurse a broken heart."
"Sally, take a deep breath, let it out slow." Jacque waited until her friend complied while she continued to dress. She pulled on a pair of cargo pants that were just a tad too big, then pulled a dark blue turtleneck over her head. "Now, let's not stress over the little WWBT issue, okay?"
"WWBT? " Sally's brow furrowed.
"Yeah, were-wolf-bar-tender." Jacque grinned, obviously pleased with herself.
"What is with you and Jen and the acronyms? I swear y'all have a notebook full of them."
"If we do, you'll never know." Jacque winked at her brunette friend.
Sally looked Jacque up and down and then smiled. "You totally rock the whole 'I took a soot bath in a fire and now I have to wear clothes a size too big in colors that completely wash me out' style."
Jacque pulled the door to the bathroom open and ushered Sally out. "Well, thank you, Thelma. I appreciate the props."
"Anytime, Louise. That's what I'm here for to point out when you pull off a look, or crash and burn."
"Let's get downstairs to eat, you dork," Jacque said, shaking her head at Sally and pulling her along.
When the two girls arrived downstairs they saw most of the pack had already eaten and were beginning to disperse, some heading off to help the tavern's owner clean up and others taking care of things Vasile had assigned them.
Their group all gathered around the fireplace in the large gathering room. Fane walked over to Jacque and handed her a plate of eggs and bacon. And to Sally's surprise and partial chagrin mixed with joy Costin handed her a plate of the same.