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I turned back to the others, who stared at me, silent and waiting. With a sickening feeling that things had just gotten a whole lot worse, I nodded to the house. "We're safe for now. We need rest."
And we went inside and shut the night and the snow and the demons out.
Chapter 27
I plugged in an e-mail to Lannan, demanding to see Regina, Geoffrey, and him the next night. There was too much I needed to report for me to type it all out. I also told him in no uncertain terms that Lainule should be present, and that I'd be bringing my friends. We were all in this together now.
Peyton was downstairs, reunited with her mother, and we left them alone for a bit to enjoy their homecoming. We still didn't know what the Indigo Court had done to Peyton, but she'd tell us when she was ready. She seemed okay, and I hoped they'd just roughed her up a little.
Rhiannon and Leo were cooking dinner. Kaylin was working on some magical charm--I didn't know what. A knock at my door sounded and I pushed myself away from the desk and called, "Come in."
Chatter entered the room. He joined me on the bed, crossing one leg over the other. "Thank you, for letting me stay here."
"You're on our side now, like it or not. At least they won't beat you anymore. Grieve never . . . he didn't . . ." I wasn't sure I wanted to know, but he shook his head.
"Grieve never laid a hand on me. I told you before, he did what he could to fight his nature. Now though, who knows what's going to happen? And with Myst claiming him, how long can he hold out against his Shadow Hunter side?"
I winced. "She can't have him. He's mine. And I'll do everything in my power to stop her. To free him." A sob choked up in my throat and Chatter pulled me into his arms, holding me softly as I wept. After a few minutes, I sat back and rubbed the tears from my eyes. "Crying won't help."
"What did Myst show you that made you so angry?" He gently tipped my chin up, his eyes soft and doelike in the dim light of the candles I'd lit.
I bit my lip. How could I tell him what I suspected? How could I admit that once, I'd been on the other side, as vicious as she was? Grieve and I had switched sides this life, but a gulf a mile wide still divided us. I only knew that I loved him, and I'd do whatever it took to kill Myst and free the Golden Wood. Even if it meant trucking with vampires, aligning myself with Lainule, slicing throats . . . whatever we needed, I'd do it.
Anything to keep Myst from winning.
I shook my head. "Never mind that. Leave it for tomorrow. For when it's light again and the Indigo Court hides in pain."
He nodded, standing to go. I watched him silently leave the room.
After I'd logged off my computer, I patted the pendant around my neck. The reassuring pulse of magic beat through my body. Beyond vampires and Fae and Vampiric Fae and magic, there was this--my legacy. My father was Uwilahsidhe, and I had his blood in my veins. And perhaps someday, I would meet him.
I stripped off my clothes and opened the window. A swirl of flakes flew in from the snow-covered night. It was beautiful, a blanket of sparkling white. I stared down, eager to let go of the day's events. My fan hanging around my wrist, I leapt lightly to crouch on the sill. I let out a smile as a fierce, feral pride rose up.
Lannan could suck me dry. The Vampiric Fae could enslave my family. The vampires could start their war. We'd won our battle today: We'd rescued Peyton and Chatter. It was time to celebrate. Small victories were important now.
Tomorrow, I'd have to face the stark reality of what had happened, but tonight--tonight I could escape.
And nothing they could do would change who I was--or what I'd discovered about myself. I stared up at the swirling storm. Winter had moved in with Myst, a vengeful winter out to blanket us all with the chill of the Indigo Court, but we weren't done yet. We had lived and would fight another day.
The owl tattoo on my arm let out a piercing screech as I let go and fell toward the ground. In the blink of an eye, I twisted, shifting, and went gliding up into the night sky, free from everything and everyone.
The great horned owl met me, gliding in from the oak. Silent shadows, we flew over the house, riding on the currents provided by Ulean, who chased by our side, laughing. And her breath gave us a tailwind that propelled us onward as I left war and blood and death behind.
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