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“We need her. Ulean is certain of it, and certain she will die if we let her take off again.”
Rhiannon peeked around the corner, then let out a long sigh. “We are gathering allies, you realize.”
“And losing some.” I thought of Anadey. “But Luna, she’s yummanii and a bard—with a touch of magic-born blood in her background.”
“She seems swathed in an aura of mist. There is more to her than meets the eye,” Rhia said. “You are sure of this?”
“Ulean is sure. And yes . . . when I think about it, it feels right that Luna join our group. That will be six. I must bring the group to a full thirteen—of that Ysandra was positive. I wonder who they’ll be.”
“Not Anadey.”
“No.”
“You aren’t telling me everything. I know that much, Cicely. But I won’t ask you what or why. You have your reasons, and I can only imagine what you must think of me, after Leo hit you like he did. I can’t ever apologize enough for his actions—”
I waved her words away. “It’s not up to you to apologize. He knew what he was doing.”
“I don’t know what to think. I’m second-guessing myself about him. Ever since he laid hands on you, I haven’t been able to let him touch me. The thought of him hurting a woman makes me sick to my stomach. It could have been me, Cicely.”
I bit my lip, not knowing what to say. The fact that Leo had found it acceptable to hit me bothered me, too, a hell of a lot. And I wondered: If he could hit me, could he beat my cousin, who couldn’t fight back easily? Or who might lash out with her fire and burn him terribly?
“I can’t give you an answer. All I know is that Ulean said we’d need him. So for now . . . we lead an uneasy truce because I know he’s still thinking I’m going to betray you all by bringing Grieve here.” At the mention of my love’s name, my wolf shifted and I forced myself to hold my hands steady.
“What happened with that? Why won’t you let Kaylin take you dreamwalking to look for the antidote?” Rhia pleaded with me, begging to understand. “I know I wasn’t going to ask questions, but I can’t help it. Talk to me, Cicely.”
“I cannot. I cannot speak, not now. Trust me, it’s for the best. As we descend further into war with Myst and her people, there will be more secrets and hidden agendas and we’ll have to get used to gathering our information in bits and pieces. For now, let’s make Luna welcome, and Leo better not frighten her off, is all I can say.”
Rhia followed me into the kitchen, where Peyton was starting dinner. Luna was helping her, dicing herbs and vegetables for soup as Peyton browned cubed beef.
“Did Peyton tell you I’m deathly allergic to fish?” I asked. “No fish at all—even shellfish—allowed. So never, ever bring any into the house, please.”
“Does that extend to never giving you a hug if I’ve just eaten a tuna sandwich?”
“If you give me a kiss I could go into anaphylactic shock. Hugs probably aren’t the best idea after a tuna sandwich or crab cake.” I pulled out my EpiPen. “I have to keep one of these around.”
“Then I’ll start eating chicken or egg salad.” She smiled, and I wanted to hug her for understanding. So many people acted like it was such a big hassle for them to skip eating tuna for the day when they wanted to see me. Over the years, I’d gotten used to snide comments about how I should just “get over it,” and I’d learned to just brush them off, but they still irritated me.
We cooked side by side, at first Peyton directing the preparation, the three of us punctuating the silence with get-to-know-you comments and questions.
“Do you have a boyfriend?” I asked, after a moment.
Luna paused, then shrugged. “No, not right now. I had a boyfriend, but he left me two years ago and I’ve been nervous about trying to meet someone new. I’m not quite what the fashion mags order up for a date, you know.”
“You’re gorgeous,” Rhiannon burst out. “I can’t believe you don’t see that. You look a lot like Jane Russell.”
Luna laughed then, her voice clear and ringing through the kitchen. “I’m about forty pounds heavier than she was, but yeah, I can see it.”
“You wear the weight well,” I said. “Here, the tomatoes are diced. What should I do with them?”
“Slide them into the skillet with the mushrooms, onion, and bacon. Then when they’ve sautéed we’ll put them into the soup base.” She stirred the broth containing the beef—already browned—and potatoes. A heavenly aroma rose from the pot and I found my stomach grumbling.
“How long till this is done?”
“About half an hour. Enough time for us to make biscuits.” Luna took over the kitchen the way Rhiannon took over the herb garden. We were suddenly at her bidding, fetching flour and butter and baking powder and greasing pans as she rolled out dough and cut it into rounds with a cookie cutter.
By the time Leo, Chatter, and Kaylin came trudging in, we’d found out that Luna had two sisters that she hadn’t seen in years, that her parents lived in New York, that she’d come to New Forest because of her love affair with West Coast culture and her ability to get a job teaching music at the New Forest Conservatory, and that she had once sung on stage at Carnegie Hall.
We also found out she hated living alone and that her roommate had recently vanished without a trace. She’d reported the incident, but the cops—as usual—had merely nodded, then said they’d take a look for the woman and never bothered to get back to her. When she called to check on the case, no reports had been filed, no action taken.
