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Thank you, my friend. I wish you could help Peyton.
I wish so, too, but she cannot feel me, not very well, not even when I try to contact her.
Peyton was struggling now. Tears were welling up in her eyes and her voice sounded raspy, as if she had a cold. “Fine, I believe you’re sorry. Sure you are. But your jealousy and your anger kept me from having a father most of my life. You can never make that up to me…I realize that. No, I said…Stop. Just stop. I’ve got to go.” She paused one last time, then whispered, “No…not right now. Maybe sometime. Maybe…but now, I can’t come over. I just can’t. Bye…Anadey.”
As she flipped her phone shut, she slumped into one of the chairs. “She wants to see me. But I can’t. Not now. Not till I know things are taken care of with Myst. Not until…I believe she means it when she says she’s sorry.” She glanced at me. “Mother wants to see you, too. She wants to apologize.”
I recoiled. “I don’t think I can do that. At least not now.” Being at the mercy of her spell, feeling her drain away my feelings and energy…No, I couldn’t forget that. Not ever. And I couldn’t forgive it.
Ysandra leaned down to peer into Luna’s eyes. “Are you feeling better?”
Luna nodded. “Yes. So let’s get our asses in gear and go save Rhiannon.”
Check and Teral joined us. We explained to them where Rhiannon was and what we thought we might be facing.
“Vampires, at least, but they’ll be sleeping. But the other warning, I’m not so sure about. They mentioned the creatures from the heart of the world. They said the vampires were afraid of them so much that they sought out the light. Does anybody have any clue what the spirit was talking about?”
The very sound of it made my blood run cold. The Shadow Hunters were bad, but whatever the warning was, it wasn’t about them. I knew that in my heart. No, this was something older, colder, from deep in the earth. And whatever could scare a vampire had to be fucking badass.
“I wish Kaylin were here,” Luna said. “He’s really good at knowing all sorts of things like that. How is he? Is there any chance he can join us?” She turned to Check. “Can you find out?”
Check nodded. “As you wish, miss. I will send Run to the Barrow and he’ll talk to the healers.” He excused himself and headed back through the kitchen.
Chatter pointed to the clock. “Time’s ticking down, people. I know it’s not even noon yet, but we need to get our plans together. Sunset comes early these days, and once the sun goes down, Geoffrey and Leo will rise. And they expect to see Cicely in the town square at eight.”
I snorted. “They’ll see me all right, but a lot sooner than that, and on the other end of a stake.” I had a headache, and as I tried to rub my temples, the circlet interfered. I reached to remove it, but Ysandra stayed my hand.
“The Queen must never remove her crown save for in her bedchamber.” She smiled at me, almost sympathetically.
“You sound like Lainule now,” I grumbled, but in secret, it felt good to have her order me around. Ysandra might not be the Queen of Summer, but she was stronger and wiser than me, and I had a feeling I’d be coming to rely on her more and more as time went on. And I was learning all too quickly what it meant to be the one in charge, and I wasn’t sure I liked it.
“Lainule and I had a talk before they left for the Golden Isle.” She hesitated, then rested a hand on my shoulder. “You are not alone, Cicely. You aren’t alone.”
“All right, if there are dungeons below the Abby Theater, how do we get to them? Where could the entrance be? I haven’t been in there since…well…since I was five, I think. I can’t even remember what Heather took Rhiannon and me to see.” I searched my memory—not because the show mattered, but because it was one more link to a past I’d never see again. And then a vision of dancing toys came to mind and I clapped. “Oh! It was Babes in Toyland! Anyway, is it even open anymore?”
Ysandra shook her head. “The Abby Theater shut down over ten years ago. Lack of funding, I think. Or perhaps lack of interest. We don’t have the time to ask City Hall to give us blueprints, and even then, we’d have to present a special request as to why, so we’re out of luck there. We may just have to break in. If Lannan or Regina were awake, they could probably get us in there without a problem since they effectively run the town government.”
“Yeah, but by the time they wake up, it will be too late, since Geoffrey and Leo will also be awake. Okay, so we leave a message for them, letting them know what we’re doing in case we get waylaid. They might be able to help us if that happens. Then we go in through the alley, which means making sure nobody spots us and reports us. Again, Lannan could get us out of trouble, but by that time…too late.” I frowned. “The spirit said that there are ways in through the alleys and down in the streets. I’m guessing back entrance and sewer system.”
Peyton made a face. “I’d really rather not go down in the sewer system.”
“Well, it would be easy enough to get lost in there, that’s for certain. But if we have to, we have to. So wear old clothes.” I leaned forward, resting my elbow on my knees. “So what do we take with us? What weapons do we have? I can stir up a tornado, but inside, that could do more damage than it might help. I’ve got my queen’s dagger, but I’m not all that adept with it.”
Grieve spoke up, arching one eyebrow. “Do not forget. We have the entire armories of the Marburry and Eldburry Barrows at our fingertips. The guards will be going with us, and frankly, they’re not going to want you going in at all.”
“Too fucking bad. That’s my cousin in there.” As I spoke, Check entered the room again, dropping to one knee by my side.
A ghost of a smile flickered across his face at my statement, but he said nothing of it. Instead, he brought news about Kaylin. “The night-veil heals quickly, but he is not going to be allowed out of the ward. The healers say he took far too much damage from the vampires and must build his blood supply back. We could not give him a transfusion because of the changed nature of his body from the demon who is bound to him.”
Kaylin couldn’t have blood transfusions?
“You’re serious? We can’t ever give him a transfusion if he needs it?”
Check rose to his feet, standing at attention. “Correct. Normal blood could kill him. The demon changed his DNA, which changed the structure of his blood. It bleeds as freely and as red as yours or mine, but it is not yummanii, nor is it magic-born, nor fully that of the night-veil. He’s a hybrid, as are all of the Children of the Bat People.”
Well, that was that. No way would I allow Kaylin to go with us if he wasn’t at his full game. “He’s out, then.”
“Your Highness…” Check hesitated, shifting from one foot to the other.
