AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Stop! What do you think you’re doing?” Lannan stepped out of the shadows. Even from this distance, I caught the glare on his face.
“Lannan. I don’t remember requesting your appearance here. What are you doing?” Geoffrey stopped short of injecting Grieve, and I tried to catch my breath but was once again rudely reminded that I was in shadow form, not breathing.
Lannan held up his hand. “Don’t do this. Let the Vampiric Fae die. Let him rot in the moldering mess that you started so many years ago. Don’t even pretend we need him—we don’t. The only reason you could want him alive is to win over Cicely to your side because Lainule put an end to your other scheme. Well, I can guarantee the current one won’t work either, not once she finds out what plans you have for her and her beloved feral boy toy here. She’s mine, Geoffrey, and I don’t share well with others.”
Geoffrey snarled at him. “You do not have the authority to alter my decisions, nor do you have the balls to fight me. Don’t even try, Golden Boy. I can stake you like a tomato. I didn’t become the most feared warlord in history by backing down to sycophants and hedonists. The land ran red under my rule and my people learned to fear me.”
Lannan took a step back, and I could see his eyes grow wide, the shining black orbs glistening in the dim light.
“You’ve never understood the finer points of living. You thrive on bloodshed, and this time is not kind to warlords. You’ve outlived your place, Geoffrey. You should just walk into the sun while you still have your dignity.”
With a low growl, Geoffrey strode over to clasp Lannan by the collar and lift him off the ground. Lannan didn’t resist, and though I was glad to see him get smacked down, the fact that someone could force him to endure such an indignity scared the fuck out of me.
Lannan let out a short laugh, but Geoffrey choked it off. “Laugh if you will, for now, boy. But don’t ever forget how we met. I took down a hundred of Regina’s men, singlehandedly. I bloodied your palace and captured Crawl for the Crimson Queen. I had the Oracle on a collar when I took him to the Queen, when she laid the curse on him. And you . . . you and your sister crawled on your bellies at my feet, begging for your lives. Regina has her position solely with my backing, and you live only because she has a passion for you. Interfere with my plans, and you’ll watch your stable die one by one, before I make you my whipping boy.”
Lannan let out a short sound, but quieted, and Geoffrey lowered him back to the ground.
“Tsk, tsk, Regent. Best watch your temper. If our Cicely finds out about your past—your present—truly, she’s not going to want to cooperate with you.” Lannan shook his head and turned away. “I won’t interfere, but I won’t help you, either. Not unless the Crimson Queen directly orders me to. I know too much about you.”
He looked up, turning my way, and for a moment I thought he could see me. As he stared in our direction, he added, “Geoffrey, you’d best walk softly. Myst is out for your head, and there are many who would serve you up to her on a silver platter. And Lainule, I urge you to be cautious. I would not see you hurt—you are too bright, too beautiful. Don’t trust this blood-monger. And don’t trust that breeding won’t play true. Cicely was Myst’s daughter. Do you truly believe her soul energy can’t outweigh mere blood?”
Lainule, who had remained silent through the vampires’ altercation, shook her head. “She will not revert. I have seen her heart, as have you, Lannan Altos. You seek to defile her; I seek to uplift her. Geoffrey is the fulcrum, a middle balance. And though I had to dissuade him of his original plan, the current one bears more promise. We have no hope left but to try it. Myst . . . you know nothing of the Queen of Shadow and Winter. She is evil incarnate. She is the long, dark deep of the winter. She is the shadow of the moon and the chill of bone and blade. I know her—she is my counterpart. She is my alter ego, my doom. Cicely is the key—her decisions set in motion events leading to an ending of this war. Geoffrey may have started it by himself, but he cannot finish it alone.”>As I turned back to my bed, I caught sight of a shadow creeping along my wall. There was nothing for the shadow to be attached to.
Who are you? What do you want? I sent my thoughts forcefully on the slipstream, tired of games and pretenses.
It’s me, Kaylin. I’m dreamwalking. I need to show you something. May I come into your room?
The whisper echoed and I realized it hadn’t been off the slipstream, but somehow through the tiniest link of connection we’d forged while dreamwalking a week or so ago. The lines of communication were still there.
Relieved, and yet a little irked, I nodded. “Come in, but use the door.”
A few moments later there was a tap and then Kaylin entered the room, in the flesh. He was dressed in black, head to toe, and his eyes were luminous—more so than usual. He slipped over to my side and drew me to the bed, sitting me down.
At first I was a little nervous, remembering his behavior and threats when his demon had been in control, but he didn’t try anything. Instead, he simply put his hand on my arm.
“I was out dreamwalking and found something. You need to see it. Truly—I can’t exactly explain what it is, but I feel you would know. Come with me? I can take you along.”
“I know you can.” I frowned, wondering if it was safe to give in to him, to take off dreamwalking again, especially now. But the urgency in his voice convinced me he’d found something, and I gazed into his eyes. “I have been betrayed twice this week by people I thought were friends. Why should I trust you?”
“Because if I wanted to kill you, I would. If I wanted to fuck you, I’d have raped you by now. You know I have the power to do both and yet, I did not. I truly mean it when I say I have no ulterior motive with you, Cicely.”
“But why help me? I am walking in danger.”
“Yes, you are, but I’ve always walked beside death. I am a dreamwalker; I have a demon bound in my soul. I understand the night, and the dangers within. I understand what calls you under the wilding moon, Cicely Waters. I understand your drive to fly away, to be free.”
I gazed into his eyes, and I knew he was telling the truth. “Where are we going?”
“To the outskirts of the Golden Wood, but outside the boundaries of Myst’s hold. In a far corner. I’ve been exploring—trying to find something of use to us. Let me take you there. Dreamwalking . . . we can get there in no time. We won’t be discovered.”
I slipped into a warm turtleneck and a pair of boots. “Do you think I’ll need a coat?”
“I’d wear one. We may be dropping out of the shadows when we get where we’re going.” He was wearing a Windbreaker, I noticed, along with gloves and earmuffs.
I grabbed my jacket out of the closet and pulled on gloves and jammed a knit hat down on my head, then made sure I had my fan and my blade.
“You really have to get a better blade than that. We’ll go shopping over the next day or so.” He motioned to me and we lay down on the bed.
“Does anybody else know we’re heading out?”
