The Burning Claw
Page 72

“But they don’t want to just come out and say here we are, we come in peace, do they?” Jacque asked.
Vasile shook his head. “No, they do not. They believe that life is about the survival of the fittest—the strong prevail, and the weak do not. They consider humans weak. But that doesn’t mean that they believe all supernaturals to be equal, either.”
“Who’s the leader of this Order?” Fane asked.
Vasile noted that his son was able to speak again without growling and that was a good sign, though he still hadn’t let go of his mate.
“Who knows? No one has heard from the Order in a very long time. But, it was usually the strongest member at any given time. At one time it was a fae, at another, it was a vampire,” he explained.
“I thought the fae were the most powerful of all the supernaturals—end of story?” Jen piped up.
“We are, and don’t you forget it,” Peri told her. “But not all fae were created equal. Most of us with brains, and therefore power, would never consider joining the Order.”
“What about your father?” Decebel spoke up, his amber eyes turning on Thalion. “You said he’s involved with the Order. Could he be their leader?”
Prince Thalion shook his head. “I honestly don’t know. After seeing him today, I would not believe him to be of sound enough mind to lead such an organization.”
Jen laughed. “And what leads you to believe that any leader of a radical organization hell bent on the destruction of an entire species is ever of sound mind?”
“Point,” Jacque called out as she pointed at Jen. “She’s totally got ya there, elf boy.”
Peri rubbed her forehead. “Did I miss something while I was saving your life?” She looked over at Jacque. “I mean, did I knock some more screws loose while I was in there?”
Jacque pulled her shoulders up and scrunched up her nose. “I don’t know. It’s like these things just keep spilling out of my mouth and I can’t shut it off.”
“Soooo, there’s two of her now?” Thalion asked pointed at Jen.
Cyn elbowed him.
“Dude, B wishes there was two of me,” Jen said as she smacked her thigh and laughed.
Decebel growled and whispered something in Jen’s ear that had her frowning at him.
Vasile pinched the bridge of his nose and glanced as Peri. She shrugged. “This is how they handle a crisis, you know this. We tell them that the world is being threatened and they turn into mouthy comedians. Roll with it, Alpha.”
“We need a plan,” Vasile said as he grabbed the chair from behind his desk and rolled it around to add to the chairs that had already been maneuvered into a circle.
Jen, finally breaking free of her mate’s iron grasp, rubbed her hands together. “Now we’re talking. The Order wants to jack with my best friend. Well, I’m going to jack back.”
Jacque smacked herself in the forehead as several of the males coughed to cover their laughs. “Jen, please, please think about what you just said and never say it again.”
Jen paused and then shook her head. “Yeah, I totally don’t have an excuse for that one. That was just poor execution.”
“And she’s back,” Peri muttered.
Decebel reached over and grabbed another empty chair, pulled it to his side, and then tugged Jen by the back pocket of her jeans until she sat down in it. He placed his hand on her thigh, as if that was going to keep her in place and then looked at Vasile. “Now, what plan did you have in mind?”
 
 
Peri glowered at the two females sitting across from her. She knew when the meeting ended, and Jen had regurgitated some bull crap about wanting to have girl time with Peri, that she and the wolf-princess were going to corner her.
“No,” Peri snapped for the fifth time.
“But—” Jen started.
“No.”
“What about—” Jacque countered.
“No. And how about no. Also, no.” Peri smiled.
“Wow, who crapped on your Oreo?” Jacque narrowed her eyes as she flounced back on the couch with her arms across her chest.
“Don’t you have a baby that needs a boob?”
Jen threw her head back and cackled—literally cackled. “I’m sorry, Red, but that was awesome.”
Jacque turned her scowl on her best friend. “Don’t you have a mate who needs a boob?”
Jen snickered. “No, he prefers two.”
Peri pressed her fingers against the spot just between her brows and squeezed her eyes shut. Patience, she told herself. Vasile would not be happy if she maimed the mother of his grandson. Decebel would probably forgive her if she only roughed Jen up a bit.
“What are you smirking about?” Jen asked her.
Peri chuckled. “Not a thing. Are we done here?”
“No,” they both snarled at the same time.
“Okay, you two are about to get shock collars if you don’t get that crap under control,” Peri warned. “I will not be snarled at in surround sound. You want to snarl individually, maybe I’ll give you a pass. But you do it together and I go all glowy on your asses.”
“Peri you know you want to take us with you.”
“What gave you that idea? The part where I told your mates I didn’t want to take you with me?”
“You were lying,” Jacque said as if it were the most plausible thing on earth.
“Uh-huh, and you’re still sitting here not giving your boob to your baby. Why?”
“What’s this obsession with her boobs all of a sudden,” Jen piped in.
Peri groaned. “What did I do!” She yelled up at the ceiling. “Great Luna, if you’re listening, I take it back. Whatever I said that caused you to punish me with them” —she pointed at the two girls across from her— “I take it back and beg your forgiveness.”
“Ha, ha,” Jacque said dryly.
The room was suddenly quiet as Peri stared back at Jen and Jacque who were in turn staring right back at her. The clock on Vasile’s wall ticked away as the seconds turned to minutes. Then, at the same time, both girls slid to the floor on their knees, hands folded together at their chests and begged. “Pleeeeeeeaaaaase,” they said in unison.
“Oh, good mother of pixie butts. Seriously? This is what you two are reduced to?”