AllFreeNovel
Share Us
It was all too much. Too many enemies. Too much stress. I just wanted to go home and crawl under the covers, but even home now had a new meaning, and was still an alien and strange place. Rhiannon joined me at the window and I took her hand in mine. We stood there, linked, twin-cousins, fire and ice against the shadows outside, as they grew dark and long, and looming.
Chapter 2
The first thing we did when we got back to the Barrow was check on Luna. She was resting, but still shaky. Peyton confided to me that Kaylin hadn’t left her side since they’d returned.
“What happened? What did they say about the attack on Luna?” Peyton leaned against the counter—the marble tops gleamed against the dark oak cabinets that were hand carved and as old as time.
“Tell you in a minute.” I wanted to breathe first, to sit down and relax. As I glanced around the Marburry Barrow, it hit me that this place was starting to become familiar. I still didn’t think of it as home, but it was a safe haven, and there had been precious few of those lately.
“Let’s have tea.” Peyton put the kettle on and played with the knobs. I still had no clue as to how to work the Cambyra gadgets. The stove was fueled by both wood and magic, and I hadn’t had a moment to pay attention to anything like that, with the rush of training we had been undergoing.
We were gathered in the common room that served as a combination dining-living-office space for our little group. This room, and our private chamber of suites, made up our temporary home. Eventually, Peyton, Luna, and Kaylin would move back to the Veil House, while Grieve and I would take our place in the realm of Winter, and Rhiannon and Chatter would remain here, ruling over the Court of Rivers and Rushes.
There were no windows here in the Barrow, but a continual illumination from the golden lanterns hanging every few feet. The lights were magical—soft glowing amorphous orbs caught in the glass and metal lamps. Lainule said they were energy creatures, young Fire Elementals indentured by the Fae, before being turned loose on the world to grow.
Do they mind being forced into service? I had asked Ulean when I first found out how the Barrow halls were lit.
Mind? Ulean sounded slightly perplexed. Do I mind being bound to you?
I hope not. I would never knowingly harm you.
Do not worry on that account. You cannot harm me. Neither can the Fae harm the Fire Elementals. We are far stronger than any of the mortal races, even the full-born Fae. We can be destroyed, but there are few in the world powerful enough. Myst, in her glory days, could neither destroy nor harm her Ice Elementals. Even these bonds…we can break if we choose. Life is often illusion, Cicely. Illusion that is very real, very strong, but still—place the right amount of force in the right spot and it breaks.
As the lights flickered around us, I moved to help Peyton, reaching for the tea bags. “Let’s have tea first, before we tell you what went down. It’s a cold night out there, and there are monsters roving the town.”
Shadow, a young Cambyra girl who was hovering behind me, snatched them out of my hands. “Allow me, Your Highness. A queen should never make her own tea.”
I wanted to remind her that I wasn’t Queen yet, but the Fae in the Barrow had already begun to refer to Rhiannon and me as such, and there was no going back.
“Thank you.” Feeling conspicuous, I let go of the tea, standing back as she scurried over to a beautiful ceramic pot, hand-thrown, with delicate, hand-painted holly leaves and berries wrapping around the sides. She shooed Peyton out of the way and took over preparing the tea and scones.
We gathered in the seating area. I leaned forward, elbows resting on my knees. I was sitting on an ottoman, thick and comfortable, with a covering made of hand-woven linen, and for just a moment, I closed my eyes and let the warmth seep into my bones.
“What’s wrong, Cicely? Is there something more going on than just Geoffrey and Leo’s attack?”
With a glance over my shoulder, I sighed and stared into the fire.
“Yeah, a lot more. It seems that the Fang Brothers managed to free Crawl from his prison. He’s loose now, somewhere out there on the streets of New Forest, looking for somebody to drink his dinner from. Apparently, Geoffrey is looking to turn me over to him, and Leo’s out to kidnap Rhiannon.”
There was a sudden hush, then Peyton slapped the table by her chair. “Fuck and fuck again. What are Regina and Lannan doing about this?”
“They have teams canvassing the town, but the truth is…Geoffrey and Leo could be hiding anywhere. Regina’s offered to put a guard on the house. Since you guys move in a couple of days down the line, I told them yes—and I want no arguments. At least you’ll be safe while you’re at home.”
“Not necessarily.” Kaylin stretched out on an oak bench. It was polished to a sheen, and the workmanship was so detailed that I couldn’t imagine how long it had taken to create. “Remember the day-runners? They might still have yummanii helping them.”
“True. Which means we’ll also station Cambyra guards outside the house during the day. The vamps can take over night duty.” I frowned. “Before we left, Regina asked us to watch the morning news on television tomorrow. Apparently Lannan’s going to give an announcement that they’ll be reading on air.”
“We’ll have to go out. We can’t watch TV here, that’s for sure, and the cable hasn’t been hooked up at the Veil House yet.” Luna stood up, still looking weak, but her cheeks were beginning to glow rosy again. She was a yummanii bard; her magic was in her song. She’d come to us for advice and ended up staying.
I glanced at her. “You okay? You can stand without help?”
She nodded. “So where do we go? And yes, I’m doing better. The food and wine helped a lot. But…I never want to go through that again.”
Peyton spoke up. “We can go over to Rex’s apartment. He’ll be fine with that.” Her father had rented an apartment in town not far from the Veil House. Anadey, her mother, was still lurking in the shadows, running her diner, but she hadn’t made another attempt to contact Peyton after she’d betrayed us.
“Good, I can charge up my cell phone while I’m there without worrying that somebody up at the house is going to steal it.” Even though they were working for Regina, I didn’t trust the vamps fixing up the house. Regina had paid for the restorations, though we could have gotten a loan from the Consortium—the magical guild we now rather forcibly belonged to—but for some reason, the Emissary had insisted on footing the bill.
“Soon enough, you must leave your toys and gadgets behind.” Lainule’s voice tripped lightly over the words and, at her melodic tongue, we turned. All of us rose, and Grieve and Chatter bowed, as Rhia and I dropped into deep curtseys.
