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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.>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.
