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“We need coffee. There’s a shop right around the corner.” Rhia pointed toward the corner of Broadmore and Williams.
I glanced up at the Abby Theater clock. Four thirty, and sunset had already fallen. “Coffee sounds good. Actually, a steaming hot mocha with whipped cream sounds fantastic. I have to visit Lannan tonight. Anybody want to come with me?” I didn’t expect them to say yes, and they didn’t fail my expectations.
“No thanks, but we’ll take you up on that mocha.” Peyton snorted. “The less I have to do with Lannan Altos, the better.”
Behind her back, Luna nodded vigorously.
As we started toward the corner, the streetlamps came on. They were wound with garland and sparkling lights, and against the snow-shrouded dusk, they made for a picturesque sight. The Winter Solstice celebration in the Barrows had been postponed until our double wedding, given that the coronation had taken place on the Solstice. And Christmas, for those yummanii who celebrated, wasn’t for another few days.
Luna slipped a little and I steadied her, cupping her elbow. She was bundled up in an ankle-length tan coat with fur trim, and her boots were lace-up granny boots with thick chunky heels. But the sidewalk was rough, the ice kept melting and freezing over the new snow, and it was obvious the city hadn’t been out to clean roads for a day or two.
As she righted herself, a long black car pulled up to the sidewalk near us. A sudden stab of fear hit me. I knew who owned those cars—vampires. My gut instinct took over and I whirled around, frantic. The guards, who were flanking us closely, saw my expression, and Check leaped forward as the car doors nearest the sidewalk opened.
Out jumped Geoffrey and Leo, along with a couple of other vampires.
Rhiannon screamed, stumbling back, as Peyton tried to shove herself in front of Rhia. I frantically reached for my dagger and then realized I’d left it back in the Barrow. Clumsy, careless fool!
The vampires were on us, and Check led the guards to the front. Rex yanked his daughter out of the way, sending Peyton spinning into the snowdrift behind him. I heard a scream, and as I fought my way toward the front, one of Rhiannon’s guards went soaring over my head, limp and bloody.
“No!” Luna’s scream cut through the evening. I struggled to push past Check and Teral, but they wouldn’t let me by. Check shoved me back, a black look on his face, but I managed to dodge around him, just in time to see Peyton scrambling to get out of the way of one of the vampires, who was looming over her, fangs bared. Rex let out a shout and dove in between them, a stake in his hand. Where he’d gotten it, I didn’t know, but as he met the vampire’s chest with the tip, the vamp roared and then, as the wood penetrated his heart, he turned to dust.
Rex staggered back, a look of horror on his face. I followed his gaze and saw Leo, holding Rhiannon by the arms. He was shoving her into the backseat of the car.
“No!” Screaming at the top of my lungs, I started forward, but again, Check grabbed me by the shoulders and dragged me back.
Rex was closest to them, and he grabbed Leo’s arm, trying to break his grip. Geoffrey suddenly appeared behind him, and before we could make a move, before the shout could fall from my lips, he had plunged his fangs deep into Rex’s neck, the blood fountaining out from the wound. He bit again, viciously, and ripped a long strip of flesh as he did so.
Rex went down, and Geoffrey yanked him up like a rag doll, grinning at Peyton with bloody lips as he administered one last bite. Rex’s head lolled to the side. Peyton shrieked and started forward, but Teral grabbed her back.
I broke free from my paralysis, realizing that Leo had managed to drag Rhia into the car. As I started to race forward, Geoffrey jumped to block my way but pulled back when the remaining guards pushed me between us.
“No!” Ulean, help us!
“Your time will come, Cicely. You owe me. You owe me everything, and I will have my payment.” Then, before Check could reach him, Geoffrey jumped into the car and they roared away, taking Rhiannon with them.
Peyton sank to Rex’s side, her moans filling the air. The snow was drenched with blood, stained pink, and around us, people were staring, milling around but not coming near.
“They have the Queen of Summer,” Rhiannon’s remaining guard whispered.
“They have my cousin.” I was angry, furious that we had been so concerned about clothes that we’d let ourselves get careless; I wanted to grab a car and chase after them. But they were gone, and we had no clue as to where.
Ulean swept by. I will see if I can find them. I’m sorry, Cicely. I should have stayed with you.
Go, please. See if you can track them down.
“Rex is dead.” Peyton looked up at me, tears streaming down her face. Her hands were stained with his blood, and she leaned to the side, vomiting.
I was so worried about Rhia that I’d almost forgotten about Rex. Now I knelt by Peyton and softly took her by the shoulders, lifting her away from Rex’s body. She started to cover her face with her hands but then stopped as she saw the blood. Trembling, she gave me a look that told me she was one step away from a breakdown.
“Check, Peyton needs help. We have to get to Lannan Altos’s mansion.” Lannan, freak though he might be, would help us. He would do everything he could to help us find Geoffrey.
Before we could move, another shriek rang out, this time across the street near the theater. We all turned, just in time to see a figure creep out from the shadows, face bloody and eyes blackly luminous. He was tall and thin beyond thin, stretched like an insect, his long limbs resembling a walking stick as he crept forward. His glittering gaze turned my way, and he scuttled toward the road.>At first, Peyton and Luna seemed a little awkward, but after I’d skated around them on my tiptoes, they began to laugh and we were off and chatting again, like nothing had changed. Behind us, the guards whispered softly among themselves, and I decided not to listen in on their conversation.
We arrived at our first destination—a bridal shop. Since our weddings were coming up so quickly, we’d convinced Lainule, before she left, that we could buy our gowns and not worry the seamstresses with making them. She reluctantly had agreed.
Desiree’s Bridal specialized in unique wedding gowns. It stood across the street from the old Abby Theater. Like most of downtown New Forest, the building was redbrick and had a vintage, Old World feel to it. The Abby Theater had been built more than sixty years earlier, and I wasn’t even sure it was still in business—there was no placard out front announcing any show, and the marquee at the top of the box office was dark.
A three-story clock tower—also brick—ran up one side, housing an ornate clock face. I’d read somewhere that the clock had never once lost time. The same person—a man who was now in his early eighties—had been given the job of making sure that it ran consistently and evenly. Every hour, on the hour, chimes rang out, echoing through the streets.
