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"Grieve." I murmured his name. "Oh, Grieve . . ." As if he sensed I'd lost control, Grieve shuddered and pushed me away. "Go. Go before I take you right here. I can no longer help my nature."
I stared at him, my breath ragged. "You're lying. You wouldn't be here, warning me, if you couldn't control your instincts."
"Don't doubt me! I know who I am. I know what I am. Now, go, damn you!" He whirled, his eyes blazing, then the air shimmered as he shifted back into a wolf and bared his teeth.
Ever so slowly, I backed away toward the house, praying that neither Rhiannon nor Leo would utter a word till we made it inside. One wrong move, one wrong sound, and Grieve would be on me and he'd either tear me to shreds or carry me off. As I reached the porch and climbed the steps, he turned and loped back toward the ravine.
"Get indoors," I said hoarsely. "Now!"
Leo slammed the door behind us, then locked it. A thin plank of wood was all that stood between us and the dangerously seductive Indigo Court.
"How are those protection charms coming?" I hurried from room to room, making certain all the windows and doors were locked. "We've got to have some sort of protection for the doors tonight."
Rhiannon motioned for us to follow her into the utility room. "I found the batch of protection oil that Heather made up. While you were upstairs unpacking, I covered enough wooden pentacles with it to hold the windows fast."
"And I charged up several witches' bottles." Leo lifted the bottles, clear glass filled with threads and sparkling salts and herbs. "Set one by each door leading to the outside. Then a drop or two of blood on them should trigger the spell and they'll keep out intruders. But they won't last against a sustained assault and I have no doubt that any magicians the Indigo Court has within its ranks will be able to break through. I wouldn't trust these for more than two days, tops."
"Let's get to it then. I'll hang the protection charms over the windows upstairs. Rhiannon, take the downstairs windows. Leo--you made the bottles, so you should put them by the doors. Make sure all the cats are inside for the night."
Rhiannon and Leo grabbed their supplies and took off. I headed for the stairs, but stopped in the living room, drawing back the curtain to peer out of the window. Twilight had fallen and lights flickered from the ravine.
Faerie lights, they looked like Christmas lights, twinkling against the snowscape, but I know they were willo'-the-wisps. Masks of illusion, the corpse candles were harbingers of death and I knew without a doubt that Myst controlled their movements. The Mistress of Mayhem was in charge, and one of her servants had a direct feed into my body and heart.
Chapter 8
The next morning, on my way to the gym at New Forest Conservatory, I kept my eyes open, but nothing seemed out of place. I'd promised Rhiannon I'd meet her for coffee after my workout before she headed into work.
Early morning, the skies were brighter than they'd been the day before, but a silvery luminescence to the clouds promised more snow later. The chill seeped right through my leather jacket and I decided to take it in to an alterations shop and have it lined.
On my way across campus, it struck me how silent the conservatory seemed. New Forest Conservatory was a small school on a large campus. Along with a focus on basic learning, the school taught magical and physical skills to the magic-born in the area, as well as community service classes for older Supes--vamps and Fae primarily--in order to help them adjust to life out in the open. But the majority attending were under eighteen, and of the magic-born.
Set on a thousand acres of wooded land on the outskirts of the town, the school accepted a total of one thousand students each year, with preference granted to returning students who met the strict requirements for progress.
The conservatory had an Old World feel to it, which wasn't a surprise, considering Geoffrey's people were in charge. The vamps ran just about every school like this. They were the ones with the money. Most of the magic-born did okay, but nothing like what the vamps could pull in.
I glanced at the large bay windows dotting the sides of the buildings. Lights shone from within, except for two buildings, which seemed to have no windows at all. At first I couldn't figure it out, but then it clicked--vampires. Must be the buildings where most of the night classes were held.
"Man, this place has a lot of trees," I said, staring up at thick stands of oak, cedar, and fir that towered around the buildings. That's one thing I'd missed down in LA--the trees.
As I came to Terrance Hall, the center where the gymnasium was located, I looked around for Peyton, but she wasn't anywhere in sight. We were supposed to meet at the front desk, but I thought we might run into each other entering the building. Pushing through the double doors, I jogged over to the gym and stopped at the check-in counter. A young woman was sitting behind the desk, her eyes brilliant topaz, ringed with black. Fae? No . . . werewolf. I could smell her right off. Odd that she'd work here, but at least New Forest Conservatory didn't discriminate in employment.
"I'm looking for Peyton Moon Runner. Has she checked in yet?"
The girl's nose twitched and she gave me a disdainful look, but checked the register without a word. She shook her head. "I'm sorry, I don't see her listed here. Everyone who enters is required to leave their membership card at the desk, so I'd know if she came through."
"Are you sure?" I glanced up at the clock. Seven thirty. Right on time.
"I'm positive," she said, less friendly. "You want to check yourself?"
Shaking my head, I moved over to one of the benches by the large window looking out to the main square. By seven forty, I was growing concerned. I pulled out my cell phone and punched in Peyton's number.
After five rings her voice messaging came on and I left a brief message. By seven fifty I was getting worried, and by eight, I grabbed my duffel bag and headed out. I debated whether to call Anadey or the police, but decided to wait to see what Rhiannon had to say.
I crossed the campus to the Grove, the main eatery at the school, and called Rhiannon on the way. "Listen, can you meet me early? . . . Yeah, the Grove, it is . . . I don't know if anything's wrong but I don't have a good feeling about this."
As I hung up, I entered Brekhart Hall and took the stairs down to the bottom story. The halls were wide and welcoming, if old, and made me wish I'd been able to attend here when I was younger. But those days were long past.
Maybe you can attend a night class or two, a community-sponsored class, Ulean said.
