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“My sister Elise belonged. She kept trying to get me to give up my job so I could join the Healers’ Society, which is sanctioned by the Consortium. There’s not a lot of love lost between them and the vampires. I never even wanted to be a healer.”
Rhiannon jerked up her head. “What? I thought you loved it.”
He shrugged. “I don’t mind the healing arts, but it’s not what I signed on for. But I’ve got the talent, so I figured I might as well learn how.”
“What do you want to do?” She stared at him, her lip quivering. Apparently, the healer side of him had appealed to her.
“You want to know? Honestly?” Leo looked at her, then at the rest of us. “I wanted to be a cultural anthropologist and study vampires. This way, I get the best of both worlds. I’m working for them—so I get to see their culture in action, and yet I don’t have to give up my life to become one of them.”
I stared at him for a moment. He wasn’t telling the full truth, that much I could tell. He wanted more . . . but just what, I couldn’t fathom.
Rhiannon blinked. “What? Is that why you’re a day-runner?”
“Hell, yeah. You thought I’d do this just for the hell of it? Too dangerous, but I like the ability to study them up close. Someday, I hope to write a book about my experiences, though they don’t know that.” He grinned, then his smile faded again. “But the way things are going, I’m not sure what to expect.”
A dark flash ran through Rhiannon’s eyes. “Me either,” she said quietly, and I knew she was talking about Leo and her relationship with him, as much as she was commenting on the situation at hand.
“Peyton and I are going to have to join the Consortium. Does that mean anybody I choose for the new Thirteen Moons Society—or whatever we end up calling it—will have to belong?”
“Yeah, most likely. Though I’m not totally sure.” Rhiannon frowned. “Heather belonged. But I think a couple of the members weren’t Consortium members.” She shook her head. “It looks like Marta meant for you to revive the Society. Do you think she planned all this?”
Peyton drummed her fingers on the table. “Could be. She knew Mother would never take over the shop. But . . . Anadey had to expect they’d be paying you a visit . . .”
“I’m not so sure about that. I think your mother has focused on other things besides the comings and goings of the Consortium.” Like how to prevent your father from stealing you away from her. Which brought us right back to the case at hand: I had to rely on Lainule and Wrath to rescue Grieve now, without telling the others that Anadey had damned near killed me.
“So how do we sort this all out?” Rhia said.
“First, Peyton and I get these forms filled out and sent off. I guess we’d better get serious about our businesses because we’re going to be tithing to the Consortium. I guess Kaylin and I have to get a marriage license somewhere, and I’ll bet they’re going to check on it to make sure it’s real. What the fuck was with the idea of telling them we’re married?”
Kaylin grinned. “It kept them from asking further questions about me, didn’t it?”
Again, the feeling I was out of the loop on something flickered through my mind but I knew better than to ask Kaylin what he was keeping to himself. He’d flat-out refuse to tell me.
“Whatever you say. After we get things in order, I’ll sit down and figure out what I want the new Society to be like. I’m not calling it what Marta did, though—I’m too superstitious to give it the same name. I don’t have to add all thirteen members at once, I suppose, so we’ll start out with . . .” I glanced at them. As much as I wasn’t sure about Leo, I couldn’t leave him out. It would make for an uncomfortable situation. “I guess with five—the five of us.”
“Five, for the five points on the pentagram,” Rhiannon whispered.
“Earth, that’s Leo; Fire, you, Rhia. Water—Peyton, you can handle that. Air, me. And Kaylin, I guess that leaves you for Spirit—for the shadows you walk in. We have enough to invoke the Elemental Watchers. Ulean can guard the gates of Air. Chatter can keep watch overall.” I’d never really worked formal magic, but it looked like I was going to learn. And it looked like I was going to learn faster than I’d ever imagined.
“We can do this whatever way you want, Cicely.” Rhia shrugged. “Since you’re the heart of the group, you call the shots.” She sent Leo a stern look, and he paled but nodded. “Whatever you say goes.”
“I still don’t know how the hell they’ll handle the knowledge that I’m part Cambyra Fae. I thought only the full-blooded magic-born were allowed memberships.” I played with the crust of my bread.
“Apparently not. They have to know something about your background. Either that or they’ve changed their rules. One way or another, we’ll find out.” My cousin gave me a soulful look. “Whatever you need, we have your back.”
“Thanks.” But in my heart, I wondered if that was true. Were they all loyal, or was Anadey working with one of my friends? Everybody in this room knew that if she’d managed to neutralize my love for Grieve, it would destroy one of us. So her spell would have killed me. If somebody tried to help her . . . they knew they’d be party to murdering me.
And what the hell was I supposed to do about Kaylin, now that the Consortium thought we were married? We couldn’t fake a license. They’d be able to check on that without any problems. We’d have to actually get married, pretend to be husband and wife, long enough to placate them. Because if they found out I’d lied about that, they might discover I’d lied about other things. Like Heather being on sabbatical, and Marta being killed by wild dogs.
Somehow I didn’t think the Consortium would forgive lies of omission. With these thoughts in mind, I finished my tea, then went into the parlor to try to focus on work.
Chapter 18
Peyton and I were silent as we tidied up the parlor and took our places. I was sorting herbs and gemstone chips into little plastic bags to sell, while she was playing mutely with the cards. The silence was awkward, but what was there to say? I had to keep quiet about what had actually happened at Anadey’s, and I knew she was feeling guilty and angry over the whole incident.
But after a few moments, she broke the ice. “I want to move in, if you’ll have me.”
I jerked my head up. “What?”
