Into the Fae by Quinn Loftis Page A

taken a seat across from her.
    “You didn’t have to send someone to get me,” Anna said with obvious irritation. “I said I would meet you and I keep my word.”
    Sally looked at Crina and then back at Anna. “Um, sorry but I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
    Anna’s head tilted ever so slightly and Sally could tell that she was trying to decide if Sally was blowing smoke up her butt or not.
    “You didn’t send someone to walk me here?” Anna asked.
    “No,” Sally answered shaking her head. “What did this person look like?”
    “Like the woman you called Peri, only she seemed dim, like a washed out version of Peri.”
    “Lorelle,” Crina spoke the name Sally had been thinking.
    “This is not good,” Sally murmured. “Houston we have a problem,” Sally sent to Costin.
    “I’m not Houston, but I imagine I can help,” Costin retorted playfully.
    “ Lorelle is here,” Sally relayed. “Anna said she showed up at her store.”
    “I’m on it,” Costin growled.
    “So she isn’t with your group?” Anna asked.
    “No,” Crina answered. “She is quite the opposite of being with our group.”
    “But you know her?”
    “Not exactly,” Sally rejoined the conversation, feeling slightly better that Costin was making sure that Lorelle wasn’t hanging around outside waiting to ambush them. “It’s quite a long story but the short version is that she’s evil.”
    “Wicked,” Crina confirmed.
    “Psycho,” Sally added.
    “Diabolical.”
    “Maniacal.”
    Anna’s head bounced back and forth between the two as they tossed out adjectives.
    “What their trying to say is she’s bat shit crazy and she will stab you in the back with a spoon, dig your heart out and feed it to the vultures,” Peri’s voice came from behind Anna.
    Anna turned to look at the woman who did bear a striking resemblance to her sister, but now that Anna was before her again she realized that the one key difference between Peri and her sister was their eyes. Not the color, though that was indeed different. Peri’s eyes were alive. They danced with light and mirth. They were perceptive and alert but there was no malice in them. Her sister’s eyes had been the eyes of someone with a soul that had withered and dried up inside of them and all that was left was an empty husk.
    Sally looked up at Peri and smiled tightly. “So glad you decided to let us have this private meeting with Anna so that we wouldn’t overwhelm her, Peri.”
    Peri rolled her eyes and took the empty seat next to Anna. “ My sister killed you and me for that matter, just a few weeks ago. Now she’s in the same city, on the same street, talking to the same person that we are, that sort of changes things, healer.”
    Anna’s eyes had widened at Peri’s words. She looked at Peri and then back to Sally. “Did she just say that her sister killed you?”
    “Uh, and me,” Peri piped up.
    Sally nodded and then held her hands up. “Okay just wait before you freak out and call us crazy. Can I just try and explain why we’re here?”
    “Is it going to keep me from calling you crazy?” Anna asked.
    Peri let out a snort. “Oh, totally.”
    Sally ignored Peri’s remark and kept her eyes on Anna. “You know that you are a Gypsy , right?”
    Anna nodded.
    “Okay, well that’s not the only thing about you that is special. You have probably never heard of the Great Luna, but she is the creator of the Canis lupis. After she created them she realized they would need someone very special to be able to care for them in times of sickness or injury so she looked at the people of the world and saw that the Gypsy people had the most affinity for magic. Within the Gypsy females she looked for those with pure hearts, and gentle spirits and she chose them to be healers for her children. For centuries now Gypsy healers have been living with and taking care of the Canis lupis. To ensure that the healers would stay with their packs and to protect them, the Great