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The werepuma/magic-born woman nodded. Peyton was tall and sturdy, muscled and with dark long hair and dark eyes. Her native heritage showed through her Caucasian side and she was a combination of the exotic and down-to-earth practicality.
“Should we plan out the trip to rescue Lainule’s heartstone?” Luna frowned as she held up a long skirt and a button up shirt. “This should do.” She began singing a faint chant over the clothes and—as she sang—the wrinkles vanished from the material.
“How did you do that?” I sat up, intrigued.
“Simple enough. Some of my magic is kitchen-witch-oriented. I can sing the wrinkles out of clothes, make sure a boiling pot never overflows or burns, charm seeds to germinate faster and grow stronger.”
I’d never known much about yummanii magic. The magic-born primarily worked with the elements, but I knew there were other types of spells, other types of magic. “What else can you do? Are your spells linked to an element?”
She shrugged. “My magic is all linked to song. If I get laryngitis, my powers are disrupted. I first discovered my abilities when I was young. I sang to my toys and one day they started dancing. Freaked my mother out. But my grandma was a spell singer—which is what they call it in my family, and one cousin also has the power. We’re not sure where it came from but Grandma used to talk about her grandmother being able to conjure with song.”
“You have perfect pitch, don’t you?” I couldn’t keep on key to save my life, but I could recognize talent when I heard it.
With a slight blush, she ducked her head. “Yes, and I have the ability to sing any song I’ve heard even one time. I seem to have an audiographic memory—like photographic, only for music.”
Peyton nodded. “What does the music do to you?”
Luna bit her lip, looking distant as she searched for the words. “It’s hard to explain. Something about music resonates in my soul. That sounds melodramatic but really—the notes vibrate in my inner core. I can feel them spread throughout my body and I can grab hold of them, use them to manipulate the world around me. My parents don’t have the ability, but they are talented in other ways. They’ve always just called their talent ‘lucky chance’ because they seem to luck out a lot.”
Just then, Rhiannon came back from the bathroom and I took her place. I cleaned up with a quick sponge bath, sprucing up as best as I could. I’d give anything for another bath like yesterday, but I had a feeling that had taken all evening for Grieve to arrange and I wasn’t about to ask him to do it again. I’d file it away under memories, and make do with washcloth and soap.
My nose felt slightly runny—the cold was getting to me—and I slathered some cream on the chapped skin. After brushing my hair, and dressing, I stared at myself in the mirror. I felt like I’d aged a decade in the past couple of weeks…it showed in my eyes, and I held tight to the sink.
Whispering to my reflection, I said, “I wonder…what it would have been like to have a normal childhood, to have some memory I could hold on to where I wasn’t running or hiding or trying to protect my mother?”
Grieve and Chatter gave you a taste of that. Ulean whistled around me.
They did, but even then, they were preparing me for the life I would face. But yes, those golden days before I was six and Krystal dragged me away…I cherish them.
A wash of memory swept me back to rare sunny days spent in the woods, crouching in puddles of sunlight, listening to Grieve and Chatter explain how the magic of wind and fire worked. I lingered in the memory for a moment, closed my eyes and drifted in the images, but there was no time for self-indulgence.
With a last glance in the mirror, I straightened my shoulders. Time to get moving for the day. Every hour we let go by was another hour Myst stole away a little more of our town. We needed to put a stop to her, regardless of the cost to our own lives.
Peyton and Luna took their turns in the bathroom as Rhiannon and I headed out to the main chamber where the others were waiting, with the exception of Lannan. Relieved we’d have the day free of the vampire, it briefly crossed my mind that I could track him down and stake him while he slept. But as I gazed around the giant warehouse, I realized I could spend all day hunting for him and never find a clue. Lannan wasn’t stupid, and he knew how I felt.
Rhiannon put some soup on to heat for breakfast. Kaylin had managed to outfit the warehouse with a range, and there was a sink against one wall that had obviously been used by workers who needed to clean up. It was rusted, but wide and deep, and the water was still running and it was clear—apparently the pipes weren’t a total loss. He was helping Chatter feed the burn barrels and I crowded near, huddling against the heat.
“Morning. Want some toast? I have an old toaster over there. It chars the bread on the corners but still works.” Kaylin pointed to the counter near the sink. I saw a loaf of bread, a tub of margarine, and a toaster that had seen better days.
“Thanks.” My teeth chattering in the chill air of the main warehouse, I popped two slices of bread into the toaster. “Did you guys eat yet?”
Kaylin nodded. “We had sandwiches for breakfast. Chatter is in the other room, working on more charms. He shooed us away, saying he needed silence so he could concentrate. Wrath is outside, patrolling the perimeter of the warehouse. We don’t know if the Shadow Hunters are still affected by the light, but I don’t think Geoffrey and Lainule have given them the antidote for the plague yet.”
“I’m not even sure if they’re still planning on doing so. Think about it—while they definitely took the Indigo Court down the wrong track, the light-rage does incapacitate them during the daylight.”
All of them except Grieve, who’d been given the antidote when we rescued him. Though still part of the Indigo Court, at least now the light didn’t send him into the raging madness that it did the other Vampiric Fae.
“Yeah, but it also makes them far more vicious. The vampires might not care, but Lainule…I think she would.” Rhiannon brought over mugs of chicken soup and set them on the table as I carried a plate of toast over. Charred edges or not, the bread smelled all buttery and good.
“Lainule will be much more apt to help us once we find her heartstone.” I dove into the food, my stomach rumbling. It felt like everything I ate just vanished the minute it went through my lips. The cold was burning up energy, the worry was eating away at us, and I never seemed to feel full anymore.
“Do you really believe that?” Kaylin asked, turning to look at me.
Rhiannon, Luna, and Peyton joined me at the table.
“I have to believe that. We have to have some hope.” And then, as I looked up, my sight fell on Rhiannon and once again the image of her strong, tall, incredibly powerful flashed before my eyes. We locked gazes.
“Rhiannon…you need to work with Chatter. Anadey was helping you master your control over the fire and she’s lost to us now. Chatter can take over.”
