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Shrugging, I shook my head. "I don't know, Rhia. I don't know what's going to happen. But take a little time off from work. Tomorrow, let's go hunting in the ravine. Didn't you say Kaylin was going to be coming over today?"
"He called. Had to make it tomorrow. He'll be over in the morning. You really think we can go into Geoffrey's mansion, into a nest of vampires, and manage to walk out alive?"
I nodded, faking confidence. "We have to stop Myst. We have to find Peyton and Heather. When we come home, we'll go through Marta's charms and look for something to help protect us."
"What if they're feeding off her? Off Peyton? What if they're . . . using them?" The brilliant amber of her eyes grew watery.
"Then . . . we pray they can hold out till we find a way to save them. Your mother is strong--she possesses a lot of power. Peyton's no wimp. Try to keep hope. Sometimes, hope is all we have."
With a sigh, she nodded and gathered up her purse. We put on our finishing touches--makeup, jewelry, and headed downstairs to where Leo waited with a limo--sent from Regina herself.
One thing for sure: Life certainly wasn't boring. And another: Walking into a nest full of party-hearty vampires scared the hell out of me. Especially when I didn't know what they wanted.
Chapter 10
The limo smoothly glided through the empty streets of New Forest, navigating the ice with ease.
I thought about what lay ahead. Geoffrey would be there. It was his house and as Regent of the Vampire Nation, North American branch, he had dominion over the entire continent when it came to the vampires. Geoffrey was one of the most powerful vampires alive . . . or undead, to be technically correct. But even he couldn't touch Regina. She walked among the sacred elite--an extension of the Crimson Queen to whom all of the Vein Lords paid homage. All but the rogues, that is.
While waiting for Rhiannon to come home, I'd flipped through more of A History of the Vampire Nation, and ran across a few references to Geoffrey, Regina, and Lannan. From what I could tell, they were all ancient and powerful.
Geoffrey was estimated to be nearly two thousand years old. From what was known, his origins were based somewhere in the Xiongnu period in what eventually became Mongolia. It's thought he'd been a lord during the time period, though he apparently hadn't given out any real details on his early life. And it was rumored that he'd sired Myst--although there wasn't much written about his life during that period.
Regina and Lannan, on the other hand, were far older, with their roots going back to Sumer. Regina had been a priestess of Inanna, so the rumors went, though they couldn't be verified except by her and it didn't appear she'd been chatting up the historian.
What was known was that it didn't pay to say no to any one of them. That alone sealed any doubt I had about accepting their offer, whatever it might be. I didn't like the thought of dealing with Geoffrey's crew, but I didn't want their fangs draining me dry, either. As far as betraying Grieve to them, I'd have to figure out a way to save him while getting rid of Myst.
I'd glanced over some of the punishments and inducements the vampires had used on the living through the years and decided that my conscience had needed a good reality check.
Leo and Rhiannon looked like a matched set--it was obvious they were together. I wondered what Geoffrey thought about Leo's involvement with my cousin. If he even bothered to think about it. Perhaps it was beneath his notice.
Ulean had opted to stay home--or wherever it was she stayed when she wasn't following me on the astral. The vamps didn't like astral or Elemental beings hanging out and Ulean had felt it would be safer all the way around.
I'll be listening from a distance. I'll come if you need me.
As we pulled into the driveway of the large estate, I wasn't surprised to see a plethora of BMWs, Porsches, Jaguars, and other high-end cars.
The lights of the mansion were sparkling and even from out on the lawn we could tell that the party was rolling. The manor spread across the lot--it must have been a good two acres--a vision in white with gold trim. Three stories high, and probably a basement, it reminded me of a Grecian temple plucked out of ancient Athens and dropped into the middle of New Forest. Columns supported a wide covered deck, and huge granite urns containing rosebushes were spaced evenly around the perimeter of the porch. Music drifted out, I caught snippets of Lenny Kravitz and Gary Numan and Seether, along with voices riding the wind, whispers of conversation in languages far older than any I'd ever heard.
As we headed up the stairs, I glanced back at the others. "Stick together. Don't let them separate us. We don't know what we're getting into and we can't afford to get embroiled in any skirmishes."
Leo nodded. "Remember not to meet a vampire's gaze. It's considered a challenge, and against an older, powerful vampire, we wouldn't last a minute."
Before I could reach for the doorbell, the double doors swung open and a tall, beautifully sculpted man stood before us. He was wearing a butler's uniform and his eyes were the black of night. Vampire. He bowed, swinging low.
"Hi, Regina asked me to come--" I started to say but he cut me off.
"You are Mistress Cicely Waters. And with you, your companions Master Leo Bryne, and Mistress Rhiannon Roland." The vampire nodded at each of us in turn. "You are expected. Please follow me."
He stood back and I stared at the door, feeling like I was about to walk right into the giant monster's gaping maw. Once the doors shut behind us, we'd be at the mercy of vampires and nobody knew where we were. I glanced at the others. Leo nodded. Sucking up the fear, I stepped across the threshold.
The foyer twinkled. A chandelier hung from the ceiling, with a hundred crystals dangling from the incandescent candlestick lights, and the hallway glittered as if bathed in diamonds from the refracted light.
"How beautiful," Rhiannon whispered.
Looking to the left, a short hallway forked to the right directly before ending in a set of double doors, their ivory surfaces covered in golden scrollwork. Directly in front of us, a master staircase led up several flights, splitting in a T at the central landings.
To our right, the hallway forked in a left turn, but the double doors were open and music filtered out from the room.
