Night Myst

Page 24

Kaylin stared at me. Hard. But he didn't say a word. Leo looked pissed. They both gave Grieve a cold once-over but said nothing more.
"I'll just go clean up," I said, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.
"I'll come with you," Grieve said.
I knew that one step inside my bedroom would be all it would take. I shook my head and pressed my hand against his chest. "Please, wait here. We've got to ward this place before your newfound family sends out a hunting party after us."
"They're more likely to attack the house at night, with all of you here sleeping," Grieve said. "While you change, Chatter and I'll have a little talk about just how we're going to handle this when we have to go back to the Barrow. With a little luck, the Shadow Hunters won't know we helped you escape."
I turned to Kaylin. "Tell Leo and Rhiannon what we saw. Tell them who we saw." And then, I hit the stairs before anybody could say a word.
By the time I rinsed off my neck and changed my T-shirt for a cami, I felt relatively back to normal. Dreamwalking with Kaylin, and then Grieve's passion had thrown me into a tailspin. I wasn't sure just what the hell to expect next--I just knew that there was no walking away from Grieve, not now.
As I headed down the stairs, I heard a shriek. Rhiannon! I leapt over the last five stairs, landing in a crouch, and raced into the living room.
"What's going on? What happened?" I glanced around the room, expecting to see something horrible, yet all I saw was Leo holding her against his chest. But the smell of smoke alerted me.
"Look over there." Leo nodded to one of the chairs.
The upholstery was soaked through, an upturned pan on the floor next to it. A large burn mark scorched the seat. Kaylin gave me a sideways shake of the head and gave a slight nod at my cousin. Oh shit, she'd caught the chair on fire.
"Rhiannon? Did you do that?" I sat down on the other side of her and took her hands in mine.
She nodded. "Yeah, I did. I was arguing with Leo about Chatter and . . . the chair caught on fire. I told you that once I unleashed it, I wouldn't be able to control it."
It was then that I realized Grieve and Chatter were nowhere to be seen. "Where are the two of them, anyway?"
"Out on the porch, talking." She sniffled. "You're right. I have to learn how to master this. Now that the fire's loose, there's no way I can stuff it back down. I get angry and it wells up inside." Gazing at her hands, she turned them palm up in mine.
"I can kill, Cicely. If I don't learn how to deal with this, I can kill without even blinking an eye. I've done it before, I can do it again. Long ago, Marta said they should burn out my powers before I ever fucked up again. Maybe she was right."
"Don't ever say that!" I dropped her hands and grabbed her shoulders, shaking her gently. "You will learn to control this and you will master the flames that are burning inside of you."
She studied my face, searching. "Do you really believe that?"
"Yes. Yes, I believe it." I looked over at Leo, and his jealous face confirmed my suspicions on just what had caused the argument. "We'll ask Chatter to help you. He taught you when you were a child, he can do so again."
"No--" Leo started to say but I stopped him with a single glance.
"Don't even go there. You can't help her. And Kaylin and I don't work with flame so we can't. Chatter's our best bet at this point."
And just because you're jealous, dude, doesn't mean you can stop her from getting the help she needs, I thought.
"What about the idea of asking Anadey?" Leo's lips were thin and white and little lines flared around the edges of his eyes. Oh yeah, he had it bad and he was aware enough to recognize that Chatter had eyes for my cousin.
I looked at Rhiannon. "It's up to you--either we ask Chatter, or we go to Anadey's this evening and ask her for help. Whichever you choose is fine by me, but we have to get you help and it has to be soon."
She debated, glancing at Leo, then at the front door. After a moment she whispered, "I guess we'd better ask Anadey first. If she can't help me, then maybe Chatter will."
Leo visibly relaxed. "Good choice," he muttered, but I gave him another look and he shut up. The last thing we needed were testosterone wars running rampant around here.
At that moment, Grieve and Chatter returned.
"We'd best be gone and back to the Barrow," Grieve said. "They'll be expecting us."
"What if they know you two were the ones who helped us get away?" I held his gaze, not wanting him to go, wanting to go upstairs and do unspeakable things with every inch of him.
"Don't worry--they won't. I promise you. But you need to guard this house or get yourselves away from here before nightfall." He lifted my chin, reaching down to kiss me lightly. I ignored Leo's and Kaylin's bristling, and draped my arms around his shoulders, letting him lift me to my feet as the kiss intensified.
Heady. He tasted like summer wine and incense and wild mushrooms and cinnamon, and I let out a faint groan. Grieve sucked in a deep breath and leaned his head back, his teeth glistening and sharp, ready for the strike.
"Grieve--" Chatter's timid voice broke through the sex haze I was drifting in and I gently tapped Grieve on the shoulder.
He held me fast for another minute, staring into my eyes, a triumphant smirk on his face, then he let go and--without a word--turned to leave. Chatter mumbled a hasty farewell, and before we could blink, they were gone from the house and I closed the door behind them.
I turned back to the others.
"Don't say it. Don't say a word. Grieve and I . . . We are whatever it is we're becoming, and like it or not, he and I are linked."
"You want it to be that way," Leo said, a slight accusatory tone in his voice. "Don't trust him, Cicely. He's one of them."
"No! Yes . . . but not fully . . ." Frustrated, I kicked at the burnt chair. "I can't explain this. Grieve and I have some sort of bond that formed long before he was turned by the Indigo Court. Why else would I have the wolf guardian tattoo and why else would he have a tattoo of me on his thigh? I trust him . . . as far as I can."
"Fine," Leo said abruptly. "You trust him, okay. But what are you going to do about balancing your work for Regina and the Crimson Court, and your feelings for Grieve?"
"It's not like I forgot about the vampires. Trust me, dude. I'm as confused as you are and whatever I do has to straddle both worlds. And I have to decide whether to tell Grieve about it."
"You're going to feed Grieve the information that you're spying on him and his people? How stupid can you be?" Leo jumped up. "I don't care if you fuck him. But are you forgetting the little matter that Grieve's new family kidnapped your aunt and my sister and our friend Peyton? Did you forget all of them?" His face contorted and then he punched the air and took off toward the stairs.
"Leo--" I started, but Rhiannon stopped me.
"No, let him go. He's just angry and worked up. I'll try to calm him down. I understand both sides, unfortunately." She turned and raced after him.
Helplessly, I turned to Kaylin. "Is he right? Am I just not seeing things clearly?"
He sidled over to me. "Little girl, you aren't seeing anything but the sheets."
I bristled at the "little girl" but he just snorted.
"Remember, I'm one hundred and one years old. I can call you 'little girl' or 'little child' or 'wayward brat' if I want to, as long as you're younger than me."
"You really think so, do you?"
"I've got seventy-five years on you, Cicely--never forget that, even though I look your age. Rhiannon's right. And you're right. You and Grieve do have a connection. But I also believe that he has you under his power. Probably a venom in his fangs. The Fae of the Indigo Court are extremely seductive, and they inherited the vampire's ability to seduce along with their own natural charms, which pretty much makes them rocket scientists when it comes to sex."
Without thinking, I reached up to touch the grazed skin on my neck. Was Kaylin right? Was Grieve playing a game with me? The memory of his touch, his tongue on my neck swept me under again and I let out a soft moan as I pressed the skin where he'd bitten me.
"Hell, woman, you're lucky I have any honor," Kaylin whispered.
My eyes fluttered open. He was staring at me intently, and I could tell he was aroused right through those tight jeans of his. Blushing, I lowered my hand. "I'm sorry . . . I don't know . . ."
"You reek of desire. I can smell you from here. And the look on your face--you're begging to be fucked." He shook his head when I started to protest. "Save it. I'm not standing on ceremony because if I was any other man--a man with a weaker will--we'd be on the floor right now and I'd be screwing your brains out. You'd better go take a cold shower and think long and hard about the situation."
Stunned, angry, I made my way up to my room, where I stripped off my clothes, then hit the shower. I scrubbed the slightly sore wound on my neck--and every other part of my body--with a vanilla body wash, thinking about what Kaylin had said. As I stood under the pounding water for a good half hour, my thoughts began to clear.
Fuck. Could Kaylin be right?
After a while, I stepped out of the shower and dried off, feeling self-conscious. Maybe Grieve was on our side--I wanted to believe it. But could we risk Heather's and Peyton's lives if my feelings for Grieve were due to a powerful aphrodisiac in my system?
Slowly pulling on a clean cami and pair of jeans, I let out a long breath. Truth was, my heart wouldn't let me walk away. And neither would the vampires. They wanted information and I was apparently their conduit. I was caught between two enemies, a pawn for one and in love with the other.
I headed down the stairs, a dozen questions racing through my mind.
Leo and Rhiannon were back in the living room with Kaylin, and they all looked at me as I entered the room. I gave them a wary look.
"I'm sorry. I . . ."
"Kaylin explained what might be going on," Rhiannon said. She was holding The Rise of the Indigo Court in her hands. "I skimmed through. Listen to this:"
Like true vampires, the Vampiric Fae developed a venom in their bite. But the venom is specifically focused. The mutation happened when the first Unseelie were turned. The Fae's sexual powers were infused into the toxin and the controlling focus became of a sexual nature rather than the ability to create general suggestions. In other words, a member of the Indigo Court can sexually enslave someone through their bite. With the true vampires, the suggestion can be of any sort--from something as simple as handing over money to killing oneself. The primary difference, besides the sexual component, is that the venom of true vampires will wear off after a while unless a mutual blood bond is created. But the Indigo Court Fae venom is cumulative and at some point the victim will be hopelessly enslaved, unable to break free. The number of bites this takes is unknown.
She glanced up at me. "How many times has he bitten you?"
My stomach churned. My feelings couldn't all be the result of a drug, could they? There was a link between us--we'd proven that.
I shrugged. "Just once . . . twice maybe?"
"You can't let him keep biting you," Leo said.
"At least, not until we find out just whose side he's on," Rhiannon added softly. I jerked my attention to her and she gave me a soft smile. She understood.
She understands better than any of them, Ulean's voice whispered low behind me. Truth be, there is a danger with Grieve, but not in the manner that they think.
I wanted to protest, but decided to just roll with it. "I'll be careful. I won't say anything to him about working with Regina without talking to all of you." I let out a long breath, about to head into the kitchen for a bite to eat when the doorbell rang. "You expecting anybody?"
They shook their heads. I slowly crossed to the door, but then it occurred to me that the Indigo Court wouldn't just come knocking. They'd forcibly abducted Heather, they wouldn't politely ring the bell.
I opened the door but there was no one there. Curious, I opened the screen door and peeked out, and then I saw it. On the porch--a huge basket filled to the brim with what looked like expensive treats.
Reaching out, I poked it with my foot. Nothing moved or exploded. Finally, I picked it up and carried it into the living room. The sucker was heavy and I set it down on the coffee table.
"Apparently, somebody likes us," I said. "Christmas is still a couple weeks away but it looks like we got a present early."
"Who's it from?" Rhiannon leaned forward.
"I don't know. Let me see if there's a card. Meanwhile, is there anything to eat? I'm starving." I cautiously opened the cellophane holding everything inside. I wasn't used to presents. Krystal's idea of a birthday or Yule gift had been along the lines of a Happy Meal or a quarter-ounce of pot.
"I'll start dinner," Leo said. "Let me know what it is--and yell if you need me. Rhiannon, why don't you call Anadey?" He headed into the kitchen.
The cellophane wrap was held together by a large burgundy ribbon and bow. I unfastened them and laid them to the side, then peeled the wrap away. As I began to lift out boxes of expensive chocolates and cookies, and imported cheeses and candy--all still tightly wrapped in their original wrappings--I finally saw a card in a crimson envelope. I quietly opened the seal, which was formed of a gold wax with flakes of crimson.