"Thank you," he heard Sally whisper into his mind. He felt her sorrow at leaving Titus—her son. He liked that she already thought of him as hers, as theirs.

"Tell Vasile to hurry up, your mate and your son need you."

Jen sat on the love seat, her legs outstretched and her arm propped up on the armrest of the sofa. Jacque sat across from her in a similar pose, though she looked much more awkward. Once Vasile had dismissed the meeting, she and Jacque had informed their men that they needed girl time. Jen had spent time with Thia before the meeting and now the girl was fast asleep. Decebel tried to give her puppy dog eyes, and when that didn't work, he growled at her. That had almost done the trick, but then Jacque had handed her a mug of hot chocolate. He knew then that he was beat and he pressed a kiss to her forehead before leaving for their room.

"Sally seems to be handling this all really well," Jen said just before she took another sip of the warm, yummy drink.

Jacque nodded. "I think, somehow, it's actually helped her…I don't know…like…shed some of the darkness that had been collecting on her. Like a dog shaking off water. Does that make sense?"

"Yah, I get what you're saying. She was losing herself. Titus needs her, needs her light, like Costin did. That brought her back."

They were quiet for a few minutes. Then Jacque spoke. "So, how do you think this Phoenix thing is going to really go?"

Jen snorted. As usual, she and Red were totally on the same page. "Not the way Vasile and the other males think it will. I love how Decebel looked at me when Peri said that it might be best for me to stay behind because I would be the ultimate prize for Sincaro. I'm pretty sure he was contemplating putting me back in that crater that I was so kindly pushed into during the Gathering."

"So here's the thing," Jacque started as she sat up and set down her cup. "They don’t know where the entrance to this vampire king’s coven is. Phoenix is huge. It's not like we can just try every manhole in the city. "

"You know what we need to do? We need to hit up the police stations and find out where most of the abductions are taking place," Jen suggested.

"Why didn’t you say that in the meeting?" Jacque frowned.

"Because Decebel threatened to duct tape my mouth closed, and as tense as he is right now, I actually think he would do it this time."

"Did he think your idea was a good one?"

Jen shrugged. "He said it would be dangerous to draw attention to ourselves. It's not like huge Romanian guys walking around a police station would be inconspicuous."

"So why can't we go?"

Jen busted out laughing. "Oh man, that baby is shrinking your brain and killing brain cells. In what life do you think your mate is going to let you out of his sight or near any vampire coven after having watched a vampire snatch you up and threaten you right in front of him?"

Jacque’s face fell. "Ugh, he's going to be unbearable."

"Oh please." Jen waved her off. "They're unbearable already. We only put up with it because they're so freaking gorgeous." She paused then added. "And sexy." Pause. "And stern."

"Ooookay," Jacque said loudly. "I get it. Don't need you going into all the reasons why you put up with Decebel. I concur. Though I do find that we are rather shallow."

"No. We are honest. Besides, we love them. If they were ugly and we loved them, I suppose we'd put up with it. Maybe."

After a few seconds she and Jacque looked at each other shaking their heads and said at the same time, "Nah."

As their laughter died down Jen sighed. "Are we twisted? I mean here we are laughing about having ugly mates and only hours ago we'd found children who had survived being held captive by vampires. How sick are we?"

"I disagree," Jacque said as she met Jen's gaze. "We have to be able to do this. No one else is going to go into the bowels of those cities and face those awful creatures. We are the ones who get saturated in their darkness. We are the ones who see the victims they have brutalized. But even after all that, we have to be able to get up and do it again. So we have to figure out a way to cope. If coping to us is drinking hot chocolate and laughing about the same crap we always laugh about, then more power to us.”

“Jen." The urgency in Jacque’s voice had Jen sitting up. “We can't fall apart. We can't crumble. I think Vasile and Alina are part of the reason we haven't done so already. It's like they hold us together by their sheer will alone. If we fail, if Vasile fails, none of the other packs would be able to fight off the dark magic we've already been saturated in. The unmated males would be consumed and then it wouldn't only be the vampires taking lives."

The air rushed from Jen's lungs. "Damn, Jacque. Way to give a pep talk."

Jacque grimaced. "Yeah, sorry that was more Frodo than Braveheart, huh?"

Jen nodded. "Yep, you totally had me wanting to throw myself over the edge of the cliff like hobbit boy."

Jacque laughed suddenly and Jen rolled her eyes. "Is wolf man talking dirty to you?"

"Wouldn't you like to know," Jacque said as she stood up and waddled her way to the door. "I'm out. He's threatening to come carry me back and you know how I feel about him lifting me in my current state."

"Like he's a bulldozer and you're a beached whale he's trying desperately to get back in the water?" Jen grinned at her friend who was currently giving her the finger. "Night, Red," she called out as the door closed and she was left in the room alone.

Five minutes later, the door opened again. Her mate stepped in, looking edible in a pair of sleep pants and nothing else. Her eyes trailed up his body until they reached his face. He was handsome, so very handsome, and yet he acted like he didn't have a clue.

"Are you planning on sleeping in here?" he asked her as he walked over to the couch Jacque had just vacated. Decebel sat down and stretched his legs out in front of him as he leaned back and laid one arm over the back of the sofa and the other on the armrest. Okay, so he totally knew how hot he was because he was currently flaunting it.

"Maybe," she said rolling onto her back making herself look at the ceiling and away from his enticing form. He chuckled and Jen felt the deep sound all the way to her toes. She bit her tongue to keep from squealing like a damn love struck ninny.