The Burning Claw (The Grey Wolves #10)(53)

Sally blushed and fought the urge to pull away. “Thanks.” She bit back the audible sigh when he released her to help a gentleman who’d just walked up to the bar.
She decided right then that she was going to have to call things off with him sooner rather than later. She couldn’t keep feeling like this. She felt like she was not only leading him on but also betraying someone else. Maybe if she explained that to him, then he would understand. Perhaps, he wouldn’t take the news too hard.She looked over at him as he expertly poured a round of shots. He must have felt her eyes on him because he turned his head and winked at her. That wink was a kick to the gut to quit staring and get to work.
Now she just had to get through the shift without visibly cringing or pulling away every time he touched her. She didn’t know what she would do if he kissed her.
She gasped suddenly as she was grabbed around the waist and spun around. Her chest collided with a much firmer one and lips came crashing down on hers. Jericho backed her up against the counter and proceeded to mix a drink behind her back as he kissed her. It was a crowd favorite and she tried to avoid it, but sometimes he snuck up on her. He pressed his hips closer against her and the bold move surprised her. She gasped and when her mouth opened, he took advantage and dove in tongue first.
She knew the hip thrust had been just for that reason, so she’d open her mouth. She rarely let him kiss her with their tongues entangling. It made her skin crawl and that time was no exception. But what could she do? She went right along with it. She let him kiss her and kissed him back. Sally wondered if he could tell that it was mechanical, that no emotion fueled the action.
He pulled back and set the finished drink on the bar, his body still pressed tightly to hers, and slid the drink down to the customer. The crowd applauded, whistled, and catcalled, as they always did.
Jericho pressed a quick kiss to her neck, just below her ear, before stepping away and going back to take more orders.
Sally had to excuse herself. She needed to collect her thoughts and emotions.
“You okay, Sally,” Cross asked as she passed him on her way to the ladies room.
“Yes,” she said but in her head, she was screaming no! Nothing was okay. Nothing would ever be okay again. She didn’t understand where the emotions were coming from. She stood in front of the sink panting as she tried to hold back a panic attack.
She met her eyes in the mirror as they filled with tears. “What’s happening to me?”
“How much longer do we have to wait?” Jen asked. She felt like a kid on Christmas Eve, waiting for the sunrise to come so that she could wake her parents and open the presents. They were going to see Sally. It had only been eleven days since she’d disappeared, and yet it felt as though it had been months.
“I told you we wouldn’t leave until they were two hours out on their hunt,” Peri said with a slight edge to her voice.
Jacque stood looking every bit as eager as Jen but somehow managing to hold her tongue. Finally, fifteen minutes later, Peri grabbed both their arms and flashed them from the Romania mansion. They reappeared on the stoop of a quaint looking building. The moon was high in the sky but no stars could be seen, unlike in the forest of Romania. 
“What time is it here?” Jen asked.
“They’re seven hours behind us. So we left at seven a.m. our time, and here it is twelve a.m. of the same day. If we’d left at six a.m., we would have arrived here yesterday their time.”
“Is this where she lives?” Jacque asked as her eyes drank in the surroundings.
“Yep,” Peri confirmed. “But we won’t find her here at this hour. She’s still at work.”
Jen clapped her hands together and rubbed them. “Does this mean we’re going to a bar?”
“Keep your clothes on, Jennifer,” Jacque growled at her.
Jen shook her head. “I make no promises and” —she held up a finger— “I declare that anything that happens in Oceanside, stays in Oceanside.” She tapped her head. “That means we need to be careful what we let the fur balls know.”
Peri turned and started walking down the sidewalk and the two girls followed. As they were walking, the high fae began laying out the dos and don’ts.
“You two are going to use your real names,” she began. “Jericho and I have already had an encounter and so he will recognize me. So I’m going to alter my appearance and change my name. For the time being you guys will need to call me…”
“Matilda,” Jen offered.
Peri frowned. “No, not Matilda.”
“Ursula,” Jacque chimed in giving Jen a wink.
“Eww, no, not Ursula,” Peri said scrunching up her small nose.
“I’ve got it,” Jen announced. “Lunesta.” She smiled proudly.
“That’s a sleep aid drug you dip,” Peri growled.
“Well, there are times when we’d rather be asleep than deal with your difficult butt. So it’s totally appropriate. Right, Red?”
“Totally,” Jacque agreed.
Peri narrowed her eyes at Jen. “Why, exactly, are you using up oxygen right now?”
Jen laughed. “Because I’m hoping if I use it all up, you’ll pass out.”
“What about Franny?” Jacque said, interrupting their banter.
“What the hell is wrong with you two?” Peri growled. Her hands were on her hips as she glared at them. “A normal name, quit trying to give me a stupid, ugly name.”
“You need to apologize to all the Frannys, Ursulas, Matildas, and Lunestas of the world,” Jacque told her.
“There are no Lunestas of the world.”
“All the more reason to use it,” Jen grinned. “It’s original, like you.”
“My name is Stacy. Call me Stacy,” Peri said flatly.
“Boo,” Jen called.
“Boring,” Jacque sang.
“Don’t care,” Peri sang back. “Now, we’ve got other things to discuss. Even though you are using your real names, you are not to tell Sally that you know her. Do not attempt to remind Sally of anything, any memory, any past event, anything that happened in your past lives as friends. For all intents and purposes, this is the first time you are ever meeting Sally Morgan.”
“Miklos,” Jen corrected.
Peri shook her head. “No, she knows herself as Sally Morgan.”
“Crap,” Jen muttered. It was going to be difficult to pretend to not know anything about the girl she knew everything about.
“Also, you cannot react to anything you see that you don’t like. If you act weird, she isn’t going to be responsive to building a friendship with you, which is what we need to do.”
“What’s our story?” Jacque asked.
“We’re new in town. We moved here from Texas—a way to have something in common with her. We are sisters—all adopted. Our parents always wanted to live in a beach town, but both have passed away. They were older when they adopted us. Mom died of cancer and Dad shortly thereafter from old age. We decided to live the dream they always wanted.”“Good story line,” Jen smiled. “What about men?”
“What about them?” Peri asked.
“Do we have any?”
Peri thought about her question and then nodded. “We better or else we might slip up. We each have boyfriends. They are all best friends and are backpacking across Europe.”
“Nice,” Jacque nodded.
Peri stopped in front of a door directly below a sign that read The Dog House. They had arrived.
Jen shook out her hands and tilted her head this way and that, attempting to loosen up the tense muscles.
“We aren’t going in for fight, Jen,” Jacque laughed.
“I know that, butthead. I’m just trying to relax so I can act natural. I’m afraid I’m going to see her and try to tackle her in a hug.”
“Yeah, don’t do that,” Peri said shaking her head.
Peri pushed the door open and they walked inside and froze. There she was, their gypsy healer, behind a bar, not with Costin. Jen soaked in the image of her friend—whole, uninjured, and sporting a new set of locks.
“Holy schnauzers, what did she do to her hair?” Jen asked as they stood, stock still, staring at their best friend who was diligently drying glasses.
“I think it’s cute,” Jacque whispered.
“By burlesque standards, maybe,” Jen said, her lips pinched together as though she’d just sucked on a lemon. “It’s too, too…” She sputtered trying to find the right words. “It’s too blonde and purple.”
“You’re a blonde, dummy,” Peri pointed out.
“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?”