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"Stand, Cicely. I'm grateful to see you. I'm glad you got my summons to bring you home." Her voice danced over the words, lightly, playing a musical scale with each syllable. She was as beautiful as Myst, as terrifying as Myst, and yet Lainule didn't strike my heart with the same sense of dread.
"Lady. You were the one who called me back?"
"I . . . yes, and my guardians. The owl summoned you home, Grieve summoned you home, and I . . . I summoned you home. We need you, Cicely."
"But what can I do?" I looked at her, helpless. "I can't fight Myst--she'll tear me to pieces."
"No, you cannot fight her directly, but there are ways to hurt her, to knuckle her down. She's defiled the Courts, defiled the Seelie, the Unseelie. She's destroyed the Court of Rushes and Rivers and she is an abomination against the very code that makes up the essence of our people. Your people, too, as you now know. It's time to bring her into the open, to wage war, to stop her."
Lainule stroked my chin, smiling, and her smile was feral and fearsome but it called me close to her. I stepped into her embrace and she murmured soft words in my ear, stroking my hair, kissing me gently on the forehead.
"I didn't want to let you leave when you were so young, but it was necessary. You needed to become your own person, away from New Forest, away from our people, before you could return to join us. You needed to embrace both sides of your heritage, and learn how to stand strong on your own feet. Your mother was sacrificed, so we might have you."
I looked up at her then--she was tall, oh so very tall and radiant--and her smile blinded me. "My mother . . ."
"Your mother was chosen to be your mother by me and by your father."
"What about Rhiannon? Is she like me?"
"That is for her to find out, but her path lies along a slightly different road. The fire is thick within her."
"Can I meet my father--" I'd always wondered who he was, always wondered why he'd left my mother after getting her pregnant with me.
"In time." She gently pushed me back, looking me over. "Pretty, girl. You have grown up lovely."
"What can I do? How can I help fight Myst? How can I free Peyton before they kill her?" I searched her face, praying she would care enough to help me.
"Peyton? What will happen, will happen. Peyton's fate is not in my hands, but in yours. For now, go home and wait. Grieve will come to you and you are not to speak of this meeting. But you two belong together. He's not the enemy--not in the long scheme of things." Lainule turned to go, then stopped and looked over her shoulder.
"Welcome home, Cicely--both to New Forest, and to your newfound family. You may work for the vampires, but you are mine at the heart of all things, at least this time around. And you will obey me over any other, or I will most assuredly sacrifice you in this game of chess that Myst and I are playing."
And then, she vanished into the brush and I watched her light disappear as she blurred and was gone from sight.
"I don't know what to think. First, we have the war between the vampires and the Vampiric Fae, and now, another battle--this one between Lainule and Myst. And I'm caught in the center of the vortex. The Indigo Court is my enemy twice over and I don't even know what we're fighting about other than to keep them from destroying everything they touch."
Leo, Rhiannon, and Kaylin sat in the living room with me. I looked up, confused and in pain. Lannan's bite ached on my neck, and my forehead felt hot. I was embarrassed about my reaction to him but my body kept prodding me, reminding me that while I'd orgasmed several times, my body still longed for actual touch and connection with someone to whom I could give my whole self--body and mind.
"At least we know the Queen of Rivers and Rushes is alive. And if she's on our side--so much the better." Rhiannon glanced at the clock. "Anadey wants me over there at dawn again--she's got me on a training schedule so that I meet with her before work every day for the next few weeks. While that won't be enough time for me to learn how to use the fire properly, she said by the end of this week I should be able to control it without a problem--to pull it back and prevent the accidental breakthroughs."
"If only your mother had trained you during your childhood. This wouldn't have happened." Leo frowned. "Heather seems so levelheaded . . . seemed . . ." His voice drifted off and he blushed. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't bring her up right now."
Rhiannon shrugged, her eyes sparkling with tears. "I have to accept what's happened. And Marta would have kicked Heather out of the Society. By the way, I heard through the grapevine today that all remaining members of the Society besides Tyne, Marta's grandson, have skipped town. Vanished." Rhiannon shrugged. "They're smart. I'm half tempted to do so myself, now that Heather's lost to me."
"We can't. We can't let the town fall to Myst--she'll just spread her horrors to the next town, and the next. And besides, we have to rescue Peyton."
Kaylin patted me on the shoulder. "We'll think of something. I created a few offensive charms today, and I've also rigged more than one Molotov cocktail. If we have to, we'll burn our way in and take her by force. We can do a lot of damage with fire to the Indigo Court."
Suddenly feeling wiped, I slumped back in my chair. "Sounds good to me. We should just burn the whole damned forest down. Make sure my owl pal is out of there and light the match. Okay, I'm going to bed. Rhia, I'll call you at work tomorrow to see what's going down. Leo--don't you tell the vampires about my little to the docks tonight."
He shrugged. "As long as they don't ask . . ."
"No--do you understand? You just keep quiet about it altogether. I have no desire to see them start up another feud. Not on my account."
I pushed myself out of bed and headed for the stairs, turning to shake my head. "And life just goes on as normal. People are shopping, going to work, as if nothing is happening--but we've got dead and missing everywhere. You'd think somebody would say something."
Kaylin stood and stretched. "Oh, the townsfolk know something's up, but they don't want to be next. Old superstition: Talk about something, you bring it too close. And not always a superstition. Good night, Cicely. Sleep well."
I trudged up the stairs. As I entered my room and stripped off my clothes, a sound at my window startled me and I turned. Grieve was waiting outside. I pushed up the sash and nodded him in, too weary to do anything else.
