Chapter 19
Grieve! My first instinct was to leap forward, but
I managed to stop myself. I held back, waiting, watching. My wolf
didn’t seem in any pain, and though Grieve looked terrified, the
wolf wasn’t whimpering. Perhaps he had given up. Or perhaps his
subconscious sensed they weren’t going to hurt him. At least I
hoped that was what it meant.
And truthfully, they
didn’t seem to be focused on killing him. Nobody carried a weapon
that I could see. All the while, Geoffrey’s invitation rang in my
head. The fact that he was here led me to believe this was what it
was about. They’d caught Grieve, that was obvious, and they were
doing something to him.
I motioned for Kaylin
to wait, and then I began looking around. As I tried to gauge where
we were, I realized that we’d passed through a portal while
dreamwalking. This was part of the Golden Wood, yes, but nothing
the Shadow Hunters could see or touch.
As I relaxed, trying
to focus on seeing through to the physical, I began to notice
something behind the owl statue. It was a figure, hidden in the
shadows of the night. Not a Shadow Hunter . . . no, this was too .
. . corporeal for one of the Vampiric Fae.
I moved closer to get
a better view and gasped, motioning for Kaylin to join me. Behind
the statue, hiding himself so he could not be seen, was Lannan
Altos.
What the fuck is he doing here? And if he’s supposed to be
here, why is he cloaking his presence?
A sudden swell of
danger rose up on the slipstream and I tensed. The dancers were
raging now, wild and filling the air with their chants. Geoffrey
held up a needle and walked into their center, leaning over
Grieve.
The antidote. He was going to try the
antidote.
Grieve looked up at
him, at the syringe, and clarity filled his face. He stopped
struggling and I could hear his words through the music, through
the dancing and drumming. On the slipstream they flew, from his
lips to my ears.
Whatever happens, I love you. Whatever they’re doing to
me, I sense you near and I will love you forever,
Cicely.
There was no
recrimination in his voice, no sense of fear, only brilliant love.
And I fell into his heart, tumbling head over heels. If Grieve died
from this, so would I, and I wanted to live, but I wanted him with
me.
Geoffrey jerked his
head up, looking directly at me.
He can’t see us, can he? Vampires don’t have the natural
ability to see out on the plane of shadow and smoke, do
they?
Kaylin’s fingers
rested gently on my shoulder, blending with my own essence.
No, he cannot see us, but he seems to know
something’s up. Perhaps he heard Grieve
talking?
That must be it. And
if he’d heard Grieve talking, either he would think it delirium or
he’d know I was prowling around out here. Either way, I chose to
remain right where I was.
And so we watched, as
Geoffrey finally lowered his head back to Grieve and leaned over my
suffering prince. He held up the syringe, almost as though he
wanted me to see it, and brought it down toward Grieve’s
arm.
“Stop! What do you
think you’re doing?” Lannan stepped out of the shadows. Even from
this distance, I caught the glare on his face.
“Lannan. I don’t
remember requesting your appearance here. What are you doing?”
Geoffrey stopped short of injecting Grieve, and I tried to catch my
breath but was once again rudely reminded that I was in shadow
form, not breathing.
Lannan held up his
hand. “Don’t do this. Let the Vampiric Fae die. Let him rot in the
moldering mess that you started so many
years ago. Don’t even pretend we need him—we don’t. The only reason
you could want him alive is to win over Cicely to your side because
Lainule put an end to your other
scheme. Well, I can guarantee the current one won’t work either,
not once she finds out what plans you have for her and her beloved
feral boy toy here. She’s mine, Geoffrey, and I don’t share well
with others.”
Geoffrey snarled at
him. “You do not have the authority to alter my decisions, nor do
you have the balls to fight me. Don’t even
try, Golden Boy. I can stake you like a tomato. I didn’t
become the most feared warlord in history by backing down to
sycophants and hedonists. The land ran red under my rule and my
people learned to fear me.”
Lannan took a step
back, and I could see his eyes grow wide, the shining black orbs
glistening in the dim light.
“You’ve never
understood the finer points of living. You thrive on bloodshed, and
this time is not kind to warlords. You’ve outlived your place,
Geoffrey. You should just walk into the sun while you still have
your dignity.”
With a low growl,
Geoffrey strode over to clasp Lannan by the collar and lift him off
the ground. Lannan didn’t resist, and though I was glad to see him
get smacked down, the fact that someone could force him to endure
such an indignity scared the fuck out of me.
Lannan let out a
short laugh, but Geoffrey choked it off. “Laugh if you will, for
now, boy. But don’t ever forget how we
met. I took down a hundred of Regina’s men, singlehandedly. I
bloodied your palace and captured Crawl for the Crimson Queen. I
had the Oracle on a collar when I took him to the Queen, when she
laid the curse on him. And you . . . you and your sister crawled on
your bellies at my feet, begging for your lives. Regina has her
position solely with my backing, and you live only because she has
a passion for you. Interfere with my plans, and you’ll watch your
stable die one by one, before I make you my whipping
boy.”
Lannan let out a
short sound, but quieted, and Geoffrey lowered him back to the
ground.
“Tsk, tsk, Regent.
Best watch your temper. If our Cicely finds out about your
past—your present—truly, she’s not going to want to cooperate with
you.” Lannan shook his head and turned away. “I won’t interfere,
but I won’t help you, either. Not unless the Crimson Queen directly
orders me to. I know too much about you.”
He looked up, turning
my way, and for a moment I thought he could see me. As he stared in
our direction, he added, “Geoffrey, you’d best walk softly. Myst is
out for your head, and there are many who would serve you up to her
on a silver platter. And Lainule, I urge you to be cautious. I
would not see you hurt—you are too bright, too beautiful. Don’t
trust this blood-monger. And don’t trust that breeding won’t play
true. Cicely was Myst’s daughter. Do you truly believe her soul
energy can’t outweigh mere blood?”
Lainule, who had
remained silent through the vampires’ altercation, shook her head.
“She will not revert. I have seen her heart, as have you, Lannan
Altos. You seek to defile her; I seek to uplift her. Geoffrey is
the fulcrum, a middle balance. And though I had to dissuade him of
his original plan, the current one bears more promise. We have no
hope left but to try it. Myst . . . you
know nothing of the Queen of Shadow and Winter. She is evil
incarnate. She is the long, dark deep of the winter. She is the
shadow of the moon and the chill of bone and blade. I know her—she
is my counterpart. She is my alter ego, my doom. Cicely is the
key—her decisions set in motion events leading to an ending of this
war. Geoffrey may have started it by himself, but he cannot finish
it alone.”
“I sincerely hope for
your sake that you’re right. And for your information, I do not
seek to defile the girl. I enjoy toying with her because nothing
can quench her spirit. I’ve seen both sides within her—the dark and
the light. Which way she turns remains to be seen.” Lannan turned
and began walking over the top of the snow, his feet leaving no
prints on the surface of the glistening white.
I shivered.
Everything was in a tailspin, and I felt like I was falling into
darkness, into the shadows, into a vortex of decisions needing to
be made. Geoffrey—was he truly a warmonger? Did Lannan actually
mean what he said? And just what influence did Geoffrey have with
the Crimson Queen? Or Lainule, for that matter?
Kaylin tapped me on
the shoulder, and I glanced over at him. His aura flared with
energy, some golden, some dark red, and I knew he was angry for me.
I nodded that I was okay, although I felt anything but, and turned
back to watch as Lannan strode out of sight and then a great black
bat filled the sky, flying off.
Geoffrey turned back
to Wrath, who stood, arms folded, waiting. “Continue. I’m sorry for
the interruption. Will this cause a problem in
proceeding?”
“Tell me what you
plan with my daughter.”
Geoffrey would not
answer, but Lainule spoke up, her voice smooth. “There is no need
to fret, husband. I have approved the plans and they will not be in
vain.”
Wrath shook his head.
“As you will, my love. We will need to recover the energy before
continuing. It has seeped away, and the only manner in which to be
certain the antidote takes is to build the cone once again. So you
must wait for a few more moments, Regent, before administering the
serum.”
“I still think this
is premature, but we must take steps before Cicely insists on doing
something rash. For she is as headstrong as her sire,” Lainule
said, then laughed. “My Wrath, you begot a daughter to be proud of,
even if she is a handful. Lannan Altos is wrong. She is now ours,
fully and forever. And if it took our finding Grieve again in order
to bring her spirit to us, then that is a small price to pay. His
love for her will not go unrewarded. Nor hers for him. If she but
agrees to the plans Geoffrey and I have made, all will be
well.”
“We have much to
speak of, my lady,” Geoffrey said, turning to Lainule. “You owe me
for this, remember.”
Lainule inclined her
head. “The Court of Rivers and Rushes never forgets its
debts.”
Confused, but
convinced that it was better if I found out what they were talking
about on my own, rather than be seen and have them angry I was
spying, I motioned to Kaylin that we should leave. He took my hand
and we slipped away.
As we were headed
back to the house, still on the plane of shadow and smoke, a blur
and a flash interrupted us. Kaylin stopped short, slamming me in
back of him, and stretched out his arms.
“Do not attempt to
pass. She is not one of the Bat People, nor of their children. You
cannot claim her.”
“I need to settle—I
need a host.” The words echoed through me with the force of a
sledgehammer and I caught a glimpse of the creature over Kaylin’s
shoulder. It reminded me of something . . . the fetish! The twisted
creature, part bat, part—something else—had to be one of the
night-veil demons. Oh crap, was it thinking it could nest in
me?
“Then you must find a
host elsewhere. Go to the Court of Dreams; find a host among the
Chosen Ones. She is not yours and never will be yours.” Kaylin
clapped his hands and the energy reverberated through the air,
sending the night-veil head over heels, gusting away from us. It
howled once, a pained shriek, then raced off.
“What did you do to
it?”
Kaylin glanced back
at me and, even in his murky, shadow-stuff form, I caught sight of
those glowing eyes. He smirked. “I told it to go
away.”
“So you did, so you
did.” I debated pressing the matter. Kaylin was strong—I already
knew that—but I’d never seen him use energy like that. “Ever since
your demon awoke, you’ve been different.”
“Yes, I have.” No
denials, no defensiveness. Just a calm, clear
statement.
“It’s your demon
doing this, isn’t it?”
“My hatchling is
under my control now, so no—it’s me doing it, but the demon gives
me the power. We work together.” He frowned. “If you’re concerned,
you needn’t be. I’ll continue to evolve, but unlike the Bat People,
I am not enamored of the night-veil demons. I simply accept them
for what they are, a tool to an end.”
“A tool? But they are
sentient—they have a will of their own. Yours decked me a good one
and I have the bruises to prove it.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about
anyone referring to another creature as their tool, even a demon.
“They are what they
are, Cicely. There are so many aspects to this universe that you do
not understand—that none of us understands. There is no absolute
black or white. Even Myst has a side to her, somewhere, that walks
in shades of gray. You may see it one day, and I pray it won’t be
your downfall.”
I bit my lip. Nothing
could make me feel sorry for Myst, but even as I thought the words,
I decided not to utter them aloud. No sense in jinxing myself.
Besides, Kaylin would just argue with me.
“Let’s go home. I
have a lot to think about before meeting with Geoffrey and Lainule
tomorrow night.”
We headed back to the
house, and Kaylin helped me leap off the astral, back into the
physical realm. I shivered, icy cold. Before he left my room, he
brushed back the strands of my hair and smiled softly.
“You brought Luna
into the house. For that I thank you. I feel a pull to her, as I’ve
never felt a pull toward any woman. I only hope she isn’t spoken
for.”
“She’s not,” I said
automatically, before thinking I should have kept my mouth shut.
She might not be interested in Kaylin—although if I read her energy
correctly at dinner, there had been mutual sparks. But whatever the
case, the cat was out of the bag.
“That’s all I wanted
to know.” He paused. “Cicely, don’t worry—if she’s not interested,
I won’t press the matter or make her uncomfortable. I’m not the one
you have to watch out for.”
He left, closing the
door behind him. I locked it, hating the fact that I felt like I
had to lock my door now, that I didn’t know if I could trust
everyone in the house. After Anadey, I had lost confidence in my
ability to know whom to trust. What if Luna wasn’t who I thought
she was? What if Leo really was in cahoots with . . . well, at this
point, was Lannan worse than Geoffrey? And Geoffrey had seemed nice
compared to the others, but Lannan’s words rang in my head. And so
did Geoffrey’s own—how he had bragged about the swath of
destruction he left behind him.
I crawled back onto
the bed, pulling the quilt around my shoulders and wrapping my arms
around my knees. As I huddled, another knock sounded at the
door.
“Am I Grand Central
Station tonight?” I grumbled to myself, but then called, “Come
in.”
“It’s
locked.”
I clambered out of
bed and opened the door.
Peyton entered the
room. She followed me back to the bed and—without the pretense of
small talk—sat down beside me.
“What did my mother
do to you? You have to tell me.”
I thought about what
Lainule had ordered and shook my head. “Don’t want to talk about
it.”
“I know it was worse
than you let on. I know she fucked you over a good one—and I know
that it has something to do with me.” Her eyes flared. “I’m moving
out for good. I’ve talked to Rhiannon, and she said I can move in
here. I’ll be taking the downstairs maid’s bedroom. I can’t trust
my own mother, and if I find out she put you in danger . .
.”
“Stop. Stop right
there.” I was furious at Anadey, but the last thing we needed was
for Peyton to go all wild child on her. “I can’t say anything right
now, but yes—she did try to fuck me over. And yes, it does have
something to do with you.” I paused, remembering Anadey’s rant
about Peyton’s father. “Have you talked to your father
recently?”
Peyton shook her
head. “I was going to call him, set up a time to meet him
here.”
“Call him now, but
hold off on the meeting for a few days. Do not tell anybody else about it, and do not use your own
phone. Use Kaylin’s phone.” Anadey had access to Rhiannon’s cell
phone when she helped her with her magic, and she’d have access to
Peyton’s cell phone without any trouble. Who knew whether she’d
messed with mine while I was there? But Kaylin—she barely had
anything to do with Kaylin. “Go ask him to borrow it now, then come
back here.”
I waited for her.
After a few minutes, she returned. I prayed her father would still
answer—if Anadey had been using me to . . .
“Dad? This is Peyton
. . .” A pause, and she frowned. “What? Where are you? Why . . .
okay . . .” A pause, and then a longer pause. After a few minutes,
she whispered, “Please, be careful. I’ll call you back when I’ve
thought of what to do.” As she hung up, she gazed up at me. “You
knew he was in danger, didn’t you?”
I bit my lip. “I
suspected. I don’t know the details, and as I said, I can’t tell
you everything that happened . . . yet . . . but you have to warn
him to be careful. Don’t try to see him yet. He needs to lie low
and not tell anybody where he is. And whatever you do, don’t talk
to him on your phone or on Rhiannon’s phone.”
After a moment, a
light flashed in Peyton’s eyes. “Mother. Mother’s behind whatever
is happening to him. He told me that he’s been followed for the
past two days—that he was almost sideswiped by a black limousine
today and only managed to escape by driving into a parking lot and
losing himself in the crowd. He grew suspicious and decided to go
into hiding.”
“I think Anadey
is behind this, but she’s working with
someone and we’re trying to find out who. You absolutely have to
keep quiet. Anybody could be in on this.”
“By anybody, you mean Leo. Black limousines? Come on,
that has vampire written all over
it.”
I realized that she
thought Leo might have been the one driving the car that tried to
sideswipe Rex. The thought hadn’t occurred to me—I’d just assumed
it was some vamp for hire that Anadey had come in contact with. But
now, the idea that it might have been Leo loomed large in my mind.
Anadey had been trying to strip away my connection to Grieve, and
Leo had been on a real bender lately about that same subject.
Suppose he’d promised her something in return—such as Rex never
getting to see and talk to Peyton?
“I really hope you’re
wrong. I want Leo to be a good guy. I want him to have our back.
But . . .” I rubbed my cheek where he’d backhanded me. “Any man who
hits a woman out of frustration . . . I just can’t trust him, even
if that’s the only bad thing he ever does. I’m nobody’s punching
bag.”
Peyton bit her lip.
“I think I’d better do a little private sleuthing on Leo—what’s his
background? How much do we really know about him?”
“I only know what
Rhia has told me, and what Leo’s said. For all I know, he comes
from Mars and secretly phones home once a month.” I pointed toward
her phone. “You’d better call him back, warn him to lie
low.”
She punched in the
number and mumbled a few words into the receiver, then hung up
again. “Okay, done. I didn’t tell him why I wanted him to hide out,
but he seemed to agree it was a good idea. As soon as they give you
permission to talk about what happened, you better tell me.
Anadey’s my mother, and if she’s fucking up, I want to know. I’ve
always trusted her . . . it kills me to think that she might be a
traitor.”
“Or maybe, just a
very worried Mama . . .” I stared out the window. “I’ll know more
tomorrow night. Go to bed now, and try to get some
sleep.”
As soon as Peyton
left, I slid out of my clothes and into my bed. I was worn through,
but it took me a couple of hours before I could take my own advice.
Once I dropped off, though, I slept like the dead.
With morning came an
e-mail from Lannan. I glanced at the time stamp—he’d written it
shortly before dawn. Or, at least, he’d sent it around then. I
hesitated, my cursor hovering over it before I finally decided to
open it.
I’m going to tell you this once, and once only. I’ve hinted before as to Geoffrey not being all he seems. Tonight, you will find him charming, witty, and he’ll give you your heart’s desire. You will probably trust him and come to doubt anything I have to say. But I say it anyway: Don’t be a fool. Listen to your head, not your cunt—perhaps odd advice coming from me, but truly, for a breather, I’ve come to enjoy your company. I’d prefer to meet you in the flesh than to remember you in spirit. Lannan.
I stared at the
e-mail, then printed it out, tucked it away with my magical
supplies, and deleted it. I then emptied my Deleted Items folder
and cleared my cache. Of course, Lannan had no clue that I’d seen
what had gone on. Like Lannan or hate him, I suspected that I could
trust his word more than Geoffrey’s. The feeling unsettled
me.
After I showered and
dressed, I wandered downstairs. Rhiannon and Luna were cooking
breakfast. Kaylin was reading through The Rise
of the Indigo Court, searching for something we could use.
The book was slow going, though, dense and filled with arcane facts
and obscure references. Leo was outside, shoveling snow, and
Chatter was staring out the window at the Golden Wood, a pensive
look on his face.
“Where’s
Peyton?”
“She was up early and
headed out. She said she’ll be back around ten A.M. to open up for
business. Is she really quitting the diner?” Rhia shook her head.
“Whatever Anadey did, it must have been bad.” Her voice lingered
over the words, but she didn’t ask any questions.
“Trust Peyton.” As I
buttered my toast and spread jam on it, there was a sudden whisper
on the slipstream, and my wolf let out a low rumble, not a howl,
not pain, but a slow stream of yipping noises that sounded almost
joyful. I stared down at my stomach.
Grieve! It was Grieve and he wasn’t in pain—and it was
daylight. I pressed my hand to my stomach and focused, but
all I could feel was the joyous dancing of my wolf. Before anyone
could notice what I was doing, I stopped and reached for the orange
juice, trying to remain low-key.
Leo came stomping in,
looking red in the face from the exertion. He nodded when he saw
me, unwrapping the scarf from around his neck and sliding out of
his jacket.
“We’re having the
winter from hell,” he said, panting.
“Of course we are.
Look who’s bringing it in.” I motioned toward an empty chair. “You
should sit down. You don’t look well.”
He fidgeted, tugging
at his collar as he coughed. “I don’t feel so good. I’m really
sweating, and my throat hurts.” As he winced, Rhia crossed to his
side.
“Open your mouth,”
she said. He did and she peered down his throat. “As I thought.
You’ve got a nasty swollen throat. The beginnings of strep throat
or laryngitis at best. Get out of your clothes and up to
bed.”
“Geoffrey expects me
to take care of his errands today—” Leo tried to push himself to
his feet, but he was so unsteady that he almost fell. Rhia caught
him on one side, Kaylin from the other.
“You aren’t going
anywhere. What’s so important that it can’t wait?”
“I’ve got a list here
. . .” He waved his notebook around, but then the fever took him
and he dropped it and slumped back in the chair,
mumbling.
I picked up his
Day-Timer and flipped it open. A number of errands, yes, but
nothing that couldn’t be taken care of by any one of
us.
“We can do this,
dude. You get your butt up to bed. Rhiannon, Kaylin, make sure he’s
under the covers. I’m going to see Geoffrey tonight; I’ll just take
his dry cleaning with me.”
Besides, I thought,
it would give me a chance to learn a bit more about the Regent.
There weren’t any exclusively secret operations listed, but some of
the errands would perhaps shed some light on just who I was dealing
with.
As Rhia and Kaylin
struggled to get Leo up the stairs, I went back to my toast and
jam, wondering what I was going to find out—if anything. But in the
back of my mind, Lannan’s e-mail played itself over and over, and I
hated the fact that I believed every word he’d
written.