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As we started along the path, I gasped. “Rhia—look at you. And me!”
Instead of sinking deep, we were walking on top of the snow, like Grieve and the others. Marveling at the ease with which we were able to travel, I danced around, jumping up and down. My leaps made little mark on the surface, and—to my delight—barely scuffed the top layer of snow and ice.
“I can’t believe this!” Rhia laughed. “But…can we run as fast as you guys?”
“I don’t know, my love. Why don’t you find out?” Chatter’s eyes were glimmering as he teased her.
She took off, with me on her heels. Our speeds had increased, though we still weren’t nearly as quick as the full-blooded Fae, but we’d definitely picked up steam. Grieve and Chatter were laughing at us, but we didn’t care. We were like kids in a candy shop. We jogged through the woods, eager to try out our changing abilities. We reached the house in less than a quarter of the time that it would have taken before the change and ran laughing up the steps.
As we burst through the doors, giddy, an odd smell caught my attention—one I was all too familiar with. I looked around, nervous now, motioning for Rhia to wait behind me. Grieve and Chatter came through the door, and I turned to them.
“Get the guards in here, now. Something’s wrong. I can smell it.” What I smelled was blood. And I’d smelled too much blood lately to be wrong.
Rhia’s eyes narrowed. “I can smell it, too,” she whispered.
Praying that we were wrong, that whatever it was we were smelling was throwing us off the mark, I moved toward the door leading into the dining room. Grieve grabbed my arm, shaking his head. Chatter had already darted out back, and now he returned with Check and Fearless.
The guards took the lead, motioning for us to stay behind until they’d checked things out. I didn’t bother arguing. I knew it would be futile.
A moment later, Check shouted for us and I rushed through the half-open door, followed by the others. There, in the middle of the room, Peyton and Luna were huddled near Kaylin. The girls were tied up but conscious, and duct tape was strapped across their mouths. Kaylin, unbound, was sprawled on the floor, covered with blood, and he wasn’t moving.
“Kaylin!” I pushed past Grieve, dropping to his side.
“I found a body over here!” Check called from the living room.
Grieve motioned for Chatter to go help him, while Fearless scouted the room and then ducked out. I could hear him going up the stairs—faintly but enough to tell me he was making sure we weren’t going to be ambushed.
Rhiannon knelt beside me as I frantically ripped open Kaylin’s blood-soaked shirt. His chest was unharmed, but he’d been stabbed several times in the side, and he’d lost a lot of blood by the looks of the pool of it drying around him.
“Kaylin!” I screamed at him, trying to jog his demon awake. His night-veil demon was strong, and maybe it could help me revive him. I began compressions on his chest, counting to thirty before I cupped his face and gave him mouth-to-mouth. Then back to compressions.
“He’s still bleeding out!” Rhiannon turned to Grieve. “Give me your shirt! Now!”
As Grieve stripped off his shirt and handed it to her, I thanked whatever power it was that manifested his clothing as real and not just illusion.
Rhiannon rolled it into a ball and, maneuvering around me, pressed it against Kaylin’s side, trying to stanch the blood. Grieve began to remove the duct tape around Luna’s and Peyton’s wrists. He gently tried to remove it from their mouths, but it was stuck firm, and finally, frustrated, Peyton shoved his hand away and yanked it off her face. Luna did the same. Both of them gave little screams as the adhesive ripped, leaving abrasions on their skin.
I was still trying to revive Kaylin. He wasn’t coming around.
Luna crawled over to my side. “I can help.”
I shifted to allow her room, and she took his head and placed it in her lap. Tears streamed down her cheeks, but somehow she found her voice and began to hum. The melody was haunting and made the hairs on my arms stand up. As she grew louder, the weaving sounds became words and she was suddenly singing.
“Heal…” Her voice stretched out into one long, sonorous note.
Hear me, dark-souled demon of mine,
Hearken to my song.
Come back from the night-bound shrine,
Come back into your body, strong.
I search you out, seeking across time,
I call you back with song and rhyme.
I call your soul, I call your breath,
