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He understands. He's been alive a long time, Cicely, and not all of his life was easy or painless or free of death and blood. Ulean's touch was gentle on my skin.
What am I becoming, that I can contemplate killing three people I've never met just because of who they are?
You're becoming the person you need to be. You're becoming the person you really are inside: a survivor. A warrior. A leader. A woman who will do what is necessary to rescue her friends and family. That's what it means to love, Cicely. That's what your mother could never teach you because she put herself first, always. You're growing into the woman who can proudly wear her wings and fly.
Ulean brushed around me. I thought of Peyton, and of Grieve. Of Heather and Elise, Leo's sister. I thought of Kaylin's best friend, and the nameless others who'd lost their lives to these creatures. And those who were next on the list.
Sucking in a deep breath, I checked my blades and pulled out my fan. The others silently readied their weapons. We were ready. If Myst wanted mayhem, then we were going to ram a boatload of it down her throat.
Without another thought, I went barreling down the slope at the three guards, waving my fan twice, driving the gale on before me.
Chapter 25
We brought down a minor avalanche with us, the snow cascading behind us in a wave of smoke. There was very little roar, since only a small slope of snow broke off, but as we surfed the frozen white, a lightning bolt split the sky and thunder rocked the air. Snow lightning--crap! We were getting full special effects for this.
I came to rest--on my feet, luckily--in front of the guard who had been doubled over, puking his guts out. He'd jumped back when the snow cascaded down the slope, and his gaze rose to meet mine, his eyes ringed with the same mad haze that I'd seen wash over Grieve's face. Before he could react, I flicked out my stiletto and lashed out, slicing his left arm across the bicep.
He let out a growl and spun around, his foot catching me across the stomach. In a daze of pain, I went flying back into the snow. As I struggled to my feet, I pulled out my fan.
To my left, Rhiannon and Leo had engaged the second guard. Leo planted his staff in the ground and used it to propel himself up and over the guard's head, catching the man's neck between his legs with a scissor kick. The man twisted, trying to free himself, and Leo flipped away from him, landing in a crouch. Unbalanced, the guard went down. As he struggled to regain his footing, Rhiannon held out her hands and a blistering flame shot forth, engulfing the Vampiric Fae.
To my right, Kaylin and the third guard were into it. From appearances, Kaylin was winning. There was blood all over the snow and none of it appeared to be coming from him.
Chatter was skirting the perimeter, looking for anybody, particularly other guards, who might be hiding out.
Ignoring the pain in my side, I quickly turned back to my own attacker and held out the fan. As I waved it twice, whispering, "Gale force," a gust of wind so strong it knocked me back off my feet raced past, directly aimed toward the guard. It hit him square in the chest, sliding him along the snow a good ten feet before slamming him against the face of a boulder. He went limp and I raced up, switchblade ready.
Before he could regain consciousness, I slid my blade along his throat, severing the skin from ear to ear. As blood fountained out, his head fell back, still attached to his neck by a sliver of flesh. With a final gurgle, his body relaxed and I knew he was dead.
Be cautious how much you use the fan. It has limitations that Lainule didn't remember to tell you about. And . . . repercussions. Ulean swirled around me, a twisting vortex as she helped lift me to my feet with her currents.
I turned to see how Rhiannon and Leo were doing. Leo was limping, and the guard's knife was bloody. Chatter was on the run toward them, but he was too far away. Kaylin and I converged on the Indigo Court Fae as he swung around and--like the creature we'd met earlier--his mouth began to distend as his body shifted.
"He's turning into one of those doglike creatures!" I couldn't use the fan, the others were too close, so I flipped out my switchblade and tried to jump him.
The Fae met me with an outstretched fist, managing to punch me directly in the shoulder. I clutched my arm with a groan. How the hell could he be so strong? As I struggled to get out of the way of his second blow, Kaylin leapt in with his nunchakus and went to work. Leo circled behind and brought his staff down across the man's head and, with a loud crack, he was down. Except the Fae was just stunned. He was already starting to regain consciousness and when he did, he'd begin his transformation again.
Rhiannon pushed to the front and held out her hands.
"No," I said softly. "Let me do it. Don't bloody your hands, Rhia."
She let out a harsh laugh. "They've been bloody for half my life." And with that, she let out a spray of fire that melted the snow around the Fae and caught him aflame. He shrieked once, then Kaylin threw one of his daggers with deadly accuracy and the Fae lay dead.>"I don't know, but it's hit a number of the Indigo Court." He struggled to sit up. "Now's the time for you to rescue Peyton, if you're ever going to. She'll be easier to get out of here."
I bit my lip. "You can't help me, can you? You're too sick."
He shook his head, drawing his hand over his eyes.
"I'm managing to hold on. But the true Vampiric Fae--the ones born to the Court--are having trouble maintaining. Some are slipping into madness, others into their brutal natures fully. I'm afraid that whatever this is, will make them more dangerous than ever once they adapt to it."
His words hit like ice water. "Adapt? Isn't it . . . nobody's dying from it, then?"
"Not that I know of, but it's created a condition where the daylight is like poison. Unlike the true vampires, we aren't dying from it. Just incapacitates and seems to bring out the inner beast."
I sat down on the chair near his bed, closing my eyes. What had Lainule and Lannan done? Even if they couldn't effectively fight during the day, they were still terribly dangerous and they weren't going to go poof into a pile of ashes like the Crimson Court when the sunlight kissed them. The plan had backfired, in a terrible way. Now they'd be less able to reason.
"What's wrong? Cicely?" Grieve pushed himself up on his elbows. "Are you okay?"
I nodded bleakly. "Yeah. I'm okay. But we have to get Peyton and Chatter out of here." With a horrible finality, I realized that taking Grieve home with us wasn't an option. Even my love couldn't blind me to the fact that he was far more dangerous, closer to the edge than before. He could survive here, among his crazed brethren, but Chatter--Chatter couldn't.
