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“Rhia—can you go ask Leo if he has something for my bruise and to help me sleep? I have to calm my wolf down before Grieve comes here to find out what the hell happened to me. We can’t risk him getting hold of Kaylin. Meanwhile, I’m heading into the bathtub.”
Peyton headed downstairs with my cousin as I filled the bath with some of the bubble bath my aunt had made before the Indigo Court caught her. As I eased down into the warm suds, lying back against the porcelain, my body groaned and then let go. I was so tired, my eyes were beginning to play tricks on me and I was seeing sparkles—tracers that spiraled and looped as I followed the sparks of light with my fingers. I rested my head against the back of the tub and gave in, closing my eyes as I softly breathed in the gentle scent of lilac and lavender.
“Cicely? Cicely? Wake up, Cicely.” My cousin’s gentle voice broke through the cloud of sleep and I opened my eyes. I was still in the tub, only most of the bubbles were gone and the water was lukewarm. “Come on, let’s get you out of the water and into a nightgown.”
She helped me out of the bathtub as I tried to keep my eyes open. We returned to the bedroom, where she gently towel-dried me, then slid a flannel nightie over my head.
“I brought a balm for your stomach, and your food. And some chamomile tea with valerian tincture in it. I figured you’d be too tired to come downstairs. I found Peyton asleep in the tub, too.”
Laughing, I pulled up my nightgown and let her gently rub the soothing balm across the flowering bruise that covered part of my wolf. The colors were spectacular—brilliant black and blue, in a rose pattern.
I managed to corral my thoughts long enough to ask, “How’s Kaylin?”
“Sleeping like a baby. Here, eat this and drink the tea—it’s meant to ease pain in the muscles and joints and will help your general fatigue.” She guided me over to the desk, on which sat a tray. The plate was stacked with pancakes and two eggs, scrambled, along with six slices of bacon, a glass of orange juice, and a cup of tea in a cute cat mug.
Spearing a piece of egg, I popped it into my mouth and the rising scent woke my stomach. “I’m starving,” I said, shoveling in the food. “I can’t believe how hungry I am. I thought I was too tired to eat, but . . .”
“You haven’t had food for two days and you wore out your body. Of course you’re hungry. I bet you lost about five pounds out there.”
“Not the way to lose weight, and I don’t want to lose muscle. Next time I go on a trip with Chatter, remind me to take some protein bars.” I bit into the golden pancake. “Umm, a piece of heaven. I love maple syrup.”
“Me, too.” Rhia paused, then said, “Not to bring up distressing thoughts, but what do you think Lannan wants?”
I took a long sip of the tea, grimacing at the bitter aftertaste from the valerian, but I knew it would soothe me and help me sleep deep.
“I know what he wants—he wants to fuck me, humiliate me, and make me grovel. He gets off on it. But other than that? I’m not sure. I don’t trust him, but he can help us and I’m bound to him by contract. And contracts with vampires are enforceable by law.”
“Yeah, I know.” She played with the napkin she’d put on the tray, twisting the corners. “Drink the rest of that tea—Leo said it will help.”
I nodded, chugging down the orange juice first, then sipping the scalding hot tea. It smelled faintly of licorice, and of earth and rock and root. But the taste was slightly bitter, with a hint of summer infusing the chamomile. The herbs settled in my stomach and my wolf stopped growling as both balm and tea set in to soothe the aching muscles.
“What I’m wondering is how this is going to affect Kaylin. The night-veil demon that we woke—it’s powerful, Rhia. Powerful, and very chaotic, and it didn’t want to knuckle under.” I shrugged. “This is going to change the Kaylin we knew, and whether that change will be for the better or worse—I don’t know.”
My eyes were closing and I could barely keep them open. Rhia pulled down my covers. “Get into bed, and don’t worry about it for the night. Don’t worry about anything. You need sleep.”
As she gently covered me up, tucking me in like I was a little girl, I could hear the great horned owl hooting in the oak, whispering for me to come and play. I drifted off before I could answer his siren song.
“Cicely . . . Cicely Waters.”
I blinked, expecting to see the morning light, but as I sat up, I found myself in the middle of a swirling vortex. A creature sat at the distant center, reeling me in, and I had a sudden squirming in my stomach that told me I wanted nothing doing with him or what he represented.
“Bring her here,” he said, crouching like a spider. “Bring her forward and let me read her future.”
“As you wish.” The smooth voice by my side was too smooth—too polished—and I whirled around to find myself facing Lannan. He gave me a slow smile and wink. “My lovely young juice box. Guess where we’re going?”
And then I knew—he was taking me to see Crawl, the Blood Oracle.
“No—I won’t go. You can’t make me go back to see that freakshow!” I struggled, trying to get away from Lannan, but he held me tight and drew me in, his black-as-night eyes flashing with fire.
“Give yourself to me. Kneel before me. Acknowledge my superiority. You resist me and it drives me crazy. You refuse to bend to my power and it makes me want to reach out, to break you. You are not my better—you are not above me!” He threw me to the ground, and I began to whimper as he began to unbuckle his belt. “I’ll give you something to whimper about, my pretty one.”
But then, creeping through the slipstream, came Crawl’s raspy voice, like the wind sweeping through hollow husks on a cold autumn night.
Bring her to me. She is a fulcrum to this war. Bring her to me and do not tarry. We have no time. Blood is streaming like the sands of time and our people are in danger. The girl is our key to victory.
Lannan glared at Crawl, then down at me, and then he buckled his belt again and grabbed me by the wrist. “Just wait,” he whispered as we headed toward the center of the whirlwind. “I’ve got so many special things planned for you. You’re not going to be sitting down for a month, girlie. And I will have my satisfaction.”
I began struggling to get away, but the whirling spiral pulled us in ever farther. As we approached the Blood Oracle, I began to scream and scream . . . and my voice echoed in the night.
