had learned morse code and neither she nor Jacque knew about it.
“What’s happening over there?” Jen tapped out on the wall. She waited. And waited. Just when she was about to tap again, she got a response.
“They took Sally,” Costin responded.
“Mother of ducks,” Jen growled as she realized that Costin was probably about to completely lose control of his wolf. His only saving grace was Titus. Wait. He still has Titus, right? They might have taken Titus to get Sally to cooperate.
She tapped out her question.
“Titus is safe with me.”
Jen sighed. Then she heard another hard thud against the wall. Her relief was short lived as there was another thud and then another, each one getting harder and harder. It wasn’t morse code. It sounded like he was trying to kick the freaking wall down. Jen had to do something to calm him down. Costin might get to the point that he doesn’t even realize he’s scaring his son, and he’d never forgive himself for that. Maybe if he hadn’t lost Sally for those months while she’d been missing, he could handle this better. But the pain of that experience was much too fresh.
Jen tapped out another message. “What is Titus doing?” she asked, hoping to shift his focus from Sally to his son.
“He’s talking to the angel.”
Jen’s eyes narrowed, and her head tilted as if that would somehow make her able to see through the wall. The Great Luna was there?
“I can’t see her,” Costin tapped out, as if he could read Jen’s mind.
“He’s okay.”
“He’s better than I am.”
“She’s going to be fine,” Jen told him, hoping she wasn’t lying to him.
“She shut down the bond.”
“Shit, damn, shit,” Jen spit out, glancing over at Thia to make sure the girl was still asleep. The last thing she needed was her yelling, “Shit” at Decebel the minute they saw him again. If Sally shut the bond, that meant things were royally fudged up.
“All I can feel is a dull ache,” Costin tapped against the wall. “She’s in pain. They’re hurting her, and I can’t do a damn thing about it. Again.”
Jen’s forehead thudded against the wall as she laid her palm flat against it, wishing she could somehow comfort her friend's mate. The males of their race took the duty to protect their mates to the extreme, and when they felt as though they’d failed, it was soul shattering to them.
“Sally is strong,” Jen tapped out. “She will get through whatever it is that’s happening.” And I will kill those who have harmed her, she thought, but didn’t tap that out.
“Why her, Jen?” Costin asked, his tapping a little softer, as if he was tired. “She’s so good. She’s kind-hearted, gentle, and willing to do anything for anyone. Why the bloody hell does this horrible stuff keep happening to her? She’s good. She doesn’t deserve it.”
Jen’s forehead was still pressed against the wall as she considered how to respond. How many times had she thought that same thing? Why did horrible things happen to good people? She reached out to the Great Luna, asking for the wisdom to know how to help Costin, and then tapped out a response.
“I don’t think it has anything to do with how good she is or what she deserves. I think it has to do with how she handles it and then what she does with the experience when she survives it.” She paused and tried to get her words sorted because she didn’t want to provoke him or make him despair. “Vasile has told us all that fire purifies silver. It’s what makes it shine and turns it beautiful. We have to go through fire, too. Sally has been through a lot of fire. It has refined her and made her strong. She’s not the same person as she was before. She’s better. And she will use all that she has been through to help others.” It took a while for Jen to get all that tapped out. Morse code wasn’t the most efficient way of communicating, but when she was finally finished, she sat and breathed in and out slowly, praying Costin would not give in to his wolf’s need for blood.
After what felt like forever, there was tapping in return. “I don’t know how long I can do this.”
Jen’s heart broke. Even though she couldn’t hear his voice, or see his face, she knew how broken he was. She remembered what he’d looked like while Sally had been in Ocean Side.