Out of The Dark (The Grey Wolves #4)(41)

"You want me to keep them bound the entire time?"
Jen looked at Jacque, letting out an exasperated breath. "Why does she keep repeating me? Am I difficult to understand?"
Jacque shook her head. "I think we are putting her in shock, or she is going to have a panic attack or something."
Peri looked from girl to girl, at a serious loss for their request. She saw the eagerness in their eyes to help and the determination beneath that. She didn't know any other way to do this. So be it. She was going to get her ass handed to her on a platter by the males of the Romanian grey wolves. Who said she didn't like to live on the edge?
"Okay, fine."
Jacque and Jen gave each other silent fist bumps with exploding fingers.
"That's what I'm talking about, Peri! Sticking it to the man! Letting them know that they don't own you, they aren't your daddy, they can't -"
Peri slapped her hand over Jen's mouth and looked at Jacque. "How do you deal with her?"
Jacque chuckled. "She grows on you."
Peri snorted. "What, like a fungus?"
It was Jacque's turn to snort at Peri's remark.
Peri finally took her hand away from Jen's mouth – only after giving her a pointed look that said, shut your mouth.
"This is how we will do this. I'm going to put the binding curse on them now while they are asleep and can't feel it working on them. You gals are going to take the gear I give you and go through the veil. I will give you a sort of compass that will take you to Rachel and Gavril. You must move quickly, quietly, and try to go unnoticed. Meanwhile, I will be here to incur the wrath of five very stiff, pissed-off wolves." Peri smiled and added sarcastically, "Won't that be fun!"
Peri turned to the door and closed her eyes. She began to mumble under her breath and Jen and Jacque looked on, waiting.
"So, how do you think our furry friends are going to be when they wake up and find us gone?" Jen whispered to Jacque, whose eyes were on Peri.
"Let's just say I'm glad that I'm going with you. And you do realize that if you thought Decebel was going to be bad about not letting you out of his sight before, it's fixing to be multiplied by like a million, right?"
Jen rolled her eyes. "He probably won't even let me pee alone when we get back."
"Fane won't be much better," Jacque added.
"Yeah, but Fane is so much more reasonable."
"That's just because you're married to someone from the dark ages who thinks men should hit their woman over the head and drag her back to their man cave by her hair."
"True that," Jen agreed dryly.
Finally Peri turned back to the girls.
"It's done."
Peri got them everything they needed. Jen and Jacque were both amazed as the fairy conjured things out of thin air. Once they had warm clothes, light packs on their backs, Fae food, and water, they were ready."Remember," Peri told them, "quickly, quietly."
"Q squared, got it," Jen told her as they followed her to the veil.
Jen and Jacque looked back at Peri one last time before they both stepped through the invisible shield between the two worlds.
Peri closed her eyes as the girls disappeared. What have I done? she asked herself. She was trying to decide if maybe she should just leave Alina a note explaining what she had done and then add that the Fae council needed her. Peri immediately threw that idea out of the window. She wasn't a coward. She would take responsibility for her actions. She would, however, be sure to stay out of reach of any snapping jaws.
"So, I totally feel like we should have the Mission Impossible soundtrack playing in the background as we embark on our little journey." Jen chuckled.
"Did you just say embark?" Jacque asked as she looked over her shoulder at her best friend.
"Hey, I died, I get leeway on any vocabulary improvements or issues."
"That sounds so familiar coming from you. Seems like anytime you get burned alive or die, you suddenly have a license to say anything you want."
"You're catching on, Red. You totally should have milked your catastrophes a little more."
Jacque rolled her eyes as she pulled out the pocket watch-looking apparatus that Peri had given them. All Peri said about it was that it was tuned, so to speak, to Rachel's pulse or whatever. Jen had politely told her that technicalities were not necessary as long as the damn thing worked.
"Okay, it's pointing us that way." Jacque pointed to the left, through trees, bushes, and who knew what else.
"How are we supposed to be quiet when we have to veer off the beaten path, stumbling through tree limbs, thorny bushes, and whatever else gets in our way?"
"Just try to step carefully. We can do this, Jen. For Sally, for all of us."
Jen took a breath, looking into the woods. I've died and come back, she told herself. I can stumble through some cold, dark woods. Anything should be a piece of cake after dying. right?
She nodded at Jacque and added, "I'm with you. We totally got this."
They started off into the trees, trying to be light-footed and not stumble.
"So, how are things with you and Decebel?" Jacque asked, trying to get their minds off the cold and the possibility that an evil witch was at that very moment tracking their every move.
Jen let out a whispered laugh, trying to be quiet like Peri had warned.
"You know how we argued about the whole not withholding sex as a form of manipulation?"
Jacque growled. "Yes, I can't believe he said that to you. I didn't tell Fane because he would've been very offended thinking that Decebel might've thought he just wanted to mate with me to get in my pants." 
"He doesn't think that about Fane."
"He thinks I can manipulate Fane that way."
"Well, can't you?" Jen asked, raising her eyebrows.
Jacque turned red from the neck up. "Yes, but geez, he's not over a century old and been with other chicks. He's still pretty eager about the whole thing."
It was Jen's turn to growl."Yeah, Decebel was so kind to remind me that he isn't as white as freshly fallen snow. But I'm not holding it against him. I mean, multiple decades being celibate? I would begin to wonder if he was even attracted to women."
"So what happened when you guys went to bed?" Jacque wiggled her eyebrows at Jen suggestively.
Jen really laughed then and had to put her hand over her mouth to stifle the sound.
"Oh man, it was priceless, Jacque. I really should keep my phone on Record when we're alone. There's a whole side to Decebel that you guys don't get to see."
"Spill," Jacque encouraged.
"Okay, okay. Well, at first I was mad, right? But then he told me it hurt him that I was blocking him. His voice was so soft, so unlike Decebel, and it really hit me hard. I don't want to hurt him, ya know? So I relented and apologized for blocking him from my mind. We started kissing, and things were moving along, then he pulled back and pushed me away."
"What?" Jacque's mouth dropped open.
"I know, right? At first I was hurt. It felt like rejection. I felt like he was just confirming what he had said, that he wasn't excited to be with me. But then he explained how he did really want me but didn't want to be manipulated. It was about that time that I realized you guys were probably waiting on me."
"Yeah, well, we thought you might be awhile."
"Ha ha," Jen retorted.
"So then I decided to give my fur ball a little dose of Jen. I wasn't mad anymore, really, but I just couldn't resist."
"Spit it out already." Jacque was making a motion with her hand that punctuated her words.
"I told him that I understood that he was nervous about meeting my expectations because it had been a while for him."
Jacque stopped walking as she doubled over, trying to laugh quietly.
Jen continued despite Jacque's lack of composure. "And I told him I would go as slow as he wanted while we explored our physical relationship." She finished with a very self-satisfied look on her smug face.
Jacque kept on laughing and finally Jen gave into her own laughter after having to hold it in while she'd tortured her mate.
"Bloody hell. I wish I had been a fly on your wall. I bet his face was utterly horrified."
"Oh, he looked confused at first, but then it sank in that I was basically saying he was having trouble performing. Yeah, he was beating on the bathroom door by the time I walked away."
"Good grief, Jen, you do love to provoke an already pissed-off lion."
"How boring would life be if I just nodded my head and said, 'yes, sir'?"
Jacque snorted. "Well, my life would definitely be a whole hell of a lot more boring. You just never cease to amaze me."
They began walking again, Jacque checking the device they had deemed the LT – locator thingy.
They walked, and at times when they could feel eyes on them, they jogged through the forest. The tree limbs snagged at their clothes and their noses were pink from the unforgiving temperature, which had dropped when they'd left Peri behind.
21 days post-curseThey had been walking/jogging for several hours and the morning light was just beginning to penetrate the thick cover of the trees when suddenly both girls nearly fell to their knees.
"JENNIFER!"
Jen squeezed her eyes shut against the onslaught of emotion that she felt pouring into her mind from the bond with Decebel. She opened them slowly to see Jacque doing the same thing.
"Guess they woke up," Jen said weakly.
Jacque nodded slowly and it was obvious to Jen that she was talking to Fane, and from her narrowed emerald eyes, it was apparent that she was getting a proverbial earful.