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“The owl-daughter will be winging home soon, never to fear. But riddle me this, what does a body need in order to fight another body? Weapons are plentiful, but what might be a rare exchange?”
I thought for a moment. We had weapons, but what we didn’t have was manpower. “It occurs that a rare exchange might involve an allegiance. Allies against a common enemy.”
“One might be correct if one were to guess such an answer. And common enemies make for common targets. One might think that it would be better to join forces than to walk into battle alone.” She smiled then, her snaggletooth grin fierce.
“A correct assumption, but at what price? One has to know the cost before one purchases the trinket.” My teeth were chattering now, and I tried to shield myself from the wind. I gazed down at the other creatures standing beside the snow hag, but they were difficult to focus on. They seemed to be blurring in and out of reality, as if I were drunk.
The snow hag laughed. “One might be called a good businesswoman if she haggles the price. Perhaps this price will be to a good businesswoman’s liking: a small section of woodland, once the Queen of Shadows is routed.”
I stared at her. How was I supposed to promise them that? Those were Lainule’s woodlands. I struggled to find the right words. “There are prices that even a good businesswoman might not be authorized to pay.”
“Oh, surprise surprise, there are always surprises in store. A baker may become a tailor, and an owl-child may become a queen. Stranger things have happened. In theory, then. If a good businesswoman were authorized to make such a deal, would she?”
What should I do, Ulean? I don’t know how to answer that.
Answer the truth: If you had the authority to promise them a corner of the woods, would you?
Well, yes. Anything for the extra help, especially from powerful beings like the Wilding Fae. But—
But nothing. Answer. And do not fret.
“I think a good businesswoman, if she did have such authority, would happily promise up a corner of the woodland to her allies.”
“Then the deal is struck. And allies will be sending a message to such a businesswoman tomorrow, so she should listen to the slipstream, and she should also remind her friend that he owes a certain ally fresh meat.”
Kaylin had forgotten! “That deal will be closed, with interest.” And then, before I could say another word, the figures vanished into the forest, and I was alone with my thoughts.
I was truly freezing by now, and before I gave any more thought to what had just transpired, I decided to hightail it back to the mansion. Who knew what else lived out in these woods?
I sucked in a deep breath and dove out of the tree, sweeping into my owl form without even thinking. On the way back to my room, I wondered what the others were like—the Wilding Fae were all different, all unique, and they were all powerful, ancient beings. They would fear no vampire, no Shadow Hunter unless someone managed to snare them—as Myst had snared the snow hag. But they had no need to fear the likes of me, or even my father.
I flew to the eaves of the roof, then once I was alight by my sill, I turned back and crawled through the window. As I looked up, I saw that Rhiannon, Chatter, Grieve, and Peyton were gathered in my room. Luna and Zoey opened the door as I looked for a blanket to cover myself. Kaylin walked in just as I huddled in the throw that Rhiannon handed to me.
“Okay, where were you?” Grieve’s voice was less accusing than concerned and for once, I felt that they weren’t angry, just frightened.
“I felt something calling me outside, and I knew that I needed to go.” I quickly told them what had happened. I was halfway through when Wrath entered the room, so I had to start again. But when I finished they were staring at me, and I saw hope in Wrath’s eyes.
“The Wilding Fae, when they take an interest in matters, can be devastatingly powerful. To have them on our side rather than Myst’s is a great blessing.” He pressed his lips together and stared at his feet. There was something he wasn’t telling us—or me. I wasn’t sure what it was but wanted to find out.
“What was all the talk about asking me to promise them a piece of Lainule’s woodland? I can’t do that and they should know it.”
But if I expected my father to open up, I was mistaken. He shook his head. “Leave such matters for when they are to be discussed. Do not dwell on them. For now, we have to focus on destroying Myst. While you slept, Ysandra returned. She’s lost two more of her Consortium members and fears leaving this night, so she’ll stay till morning. And one more of the Summer Knights fell. We were unprepared. We knew they would attack but did not anticipate the level at which they chose to make their move. We have to think bigger now. We have to anticipate how far Myst is willing to go in order to destroy us.”
“Are there any reports of what’s going on out beyond the gates?” I didn’t want to know, but felt that we better accept the reality of what we were facing.
“The police scanner is fraught with incidents. The police aren’t venturing out and there are calls coming in all over the place. People trapped in their houses, people missing—men going out to walk the dog and not returning, people heading to their cars to leave and getting attacked. It’s mayhem out there. The Shadow Hunters are feeding well.” Kaylin looked grim. He caught my gaze and held it. “That we have the Wilding Fae on our side is good news, but I fear what we need is a miracle.”
“We need to know where Myst is hiding so we can go after her during the daylight. That’s the only time we can strike without fear of her people. And I wouldn’t put it past them to be searching for a cure, so we’d better move quickly.” I paused. “Come morning, we do the ritual on Grieve. Then, we plan a preemptive strike. Meanwhile, we’re all exhausted and need sleep. It’s late, but we can sleep in a little and get in at least six or seven hours.”
“Cicely is right. Back to sleep.” Grieve stood and escorted everyone to the door. Chatter and Rhiannon turned off into her room, and I smiled softly. At least they were getting their chance at love. Who knew how long any of us would survive, so we might as well be as happy as we could be for now.
I turned to Grieve when he shut the door behind the last person, and moved to kiss him. He held me tight, grazing my lips, the feral look in his eye gleaming. But he restrained himself. He did not nip at my neck, he did not graze my wrist when he kissed it. He merely held me, for a long while, shushing me every time I would have said something, until we silently moved to the bed, climbed under the covers, and let sleep claim us.
Morning came and we allowed ourselves the luxury of sleeping till past nine o’clock. Zoey and Luna had ordered a simple breakfast for us all—high in protein and complex carbs for energy. I flipped on the television, dreading what I’d hear. And sure enough, most of the cable was out except for one local station. The announcer looked grave, shaking his head, as one of Lannan’s most trusted day-runners stood there.
“Once again, we regret to inform you that the town of New Forest is under siege. During the night, forty-three people lost their lives to the Shadow Hunters. I am here to reiterate what Lord Lannan Altos said last night in his aborted speech—if you can possibly do it, gather your family and get out. The Vampiric Fae will rise again at sundown. Leave before then.”
The announcer cleared his throat. “What is being done to counter this attack, and why weren’t we warned before now?”
