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I looked into her face and, for the first time, felt like Regina was seriously trying to extend an olive branch. True vampires usually didn’t concern themselves with breathers. They were near the top of the food chain, and they left no doubt about that fact. But tonight, Regina’s expression was almost friendly.
“Thanks.” I told myself I wouldn’t cry, but a tear slipped down my cheek. Regina reached out, gently wiped it away. I swallowed the lump in my throat and looked at her. “First Myst captures my aunt and turns her into a monster. Now Peyton’s father is dead, and Leo’s kidnapped my cousin. And we all know what he intends to do. And I’m sitting here, doing nothing. I want to be out there, finding her. I want to canvass the streets, to hunt her down, to pound on doors.”
Lannan moved over to the chair opposite us and sat down. “I’ll go out. I know several vampires who will talk to me where they won’t talk to anybody else. If anybody’s hiding Geoffrey and his protégé, I’ll find out who.” He hesitated, then reached out and placed a hand on mine. “Cicely, we’ll find her. But don’t do anything stupid. Crawl is still out there, and until he’s found, you’re in danger. Take your guards with you wherever you go. Even…take that idiot prince of yours. I’ll give him this: He’d die to protect you.”
I started to bristle, but Regina gave me a soft shake of the head. She motioned toward her desk. “Call the Petros woman. See if she can meet you tonight, and if she can, my driver will take you.”
I pulled out my cell phone and flipped it open. It still had a few bars of charge left. A quick tap to my contacts, and then another to Ysandra. One ring. Two rings. Three rings. On the fourth she picked up.
“Cicely? What can I do for you?”
I glanced at the clock. Six thirty. Two hours since Rex had died. “We need your help and we need it now, Ysandra. Geoffrey and Leo captured Rhiannon, they killed Rex, and now we have no clue where to find them. We need the Consortium’s help.”
A quiet hush followed, and then the next moment, Ysandra simply said, “Where can I pick you up?”
“I’m at the Regent’s mansion. Luna and Peyton are with me. I’m worried about Peyton; she watched her father get killed. Geoffrey did it.” I paused. “Rhiannon and I underwent our coronations last night. Leo has a Fae Queen in his possession.”
Another soft pause, then, “I’ll pick you up in fifteen minutes. Be waiting for me, the three of you. And, Cicely, I need not tell you this is dangerous news, not only for your cousin’s health but for New Forest, for the Golden Wood, and for you.” She hung up without another word.
I turned to Regina. “Ysandra’s picking us up. Will you walk us out?” I didn’t want to be alone, even though I knew my guards would be there. I didn’t want to stand out there in the night, without someone watching over us.
Regina nodded. Lannan said nothing, but he threw on a trench coat and then turned to stare at me before sweeping out of the room, his hair golden against the black of the material.
Regina waited with us until Ysandra’s car pulled up. Luna was somber; Peyton was shell-shocked. Nobody said much of anything. As the silent snow swirled down to our feet, I wanted nothing more than for my father to show up. Even in the short time I’d known him, he had come to represent security to me, and now, once again, all of that had been stripped away.
Check took a step closer to me, leaning down. “Your Highness, is there anything I can do?”
“Learn how to ride in a car,” I said, a little churlish. Then, biting my tongue when he looked crestfallen, I let out a sigh. “I’m sorry. It would help, but I didn’t mean it to come out so…nasty. I’m just…”
“Never explain yourself, Your Highness,” was his reply.
I smiled at him then, but the smile didn’t last. I couldn’t sustain it. When we’d routed Myst, everything seemed like it was on the right track. Now everything was shot to hell again and sliding downhill fast.
Ysandra pulled up, and as Check bustled Peyton and Luna into the backseat, I leaned into the front. “Where are we going? My guards need to know.”
With a glance beyond my shoulder, she handed me a piece of paper. I glanced at it. The address was written down, but the writing was glittering and I had the feeling that it was magical, to be invisible to prying eyes not approved for such communication. I handed it over to Check, who read it, then gave a quick nod to Ysandra. The moment I was in the passenger seat, buckled up, the guards took off in a blur to meet us at our destination.
Ysandra eased out of the parking loop, stopping for a moment outside the gates for me to contact Ulean. Then we headed onto the snowy streets. She looked like she wanted to say something, but with a glance in the rearview mirror at Peyton, she shut her mouth and kept silent.
The rumbling of the engine against the muffled night was the only sound as we eased along the ice-slicked roads. I watched the street signs go by, one by one, wondering where we were going. The address hadn’t been familiar to me, but Check seemed to have recognized it.
After a time and a maze of turns, Ysandra edged into a parking lot next to a small building on the outskirts of town. A single light illuminated the front door, and there seemed to be no guards—in fact, no sign of any life around it.
“Where are we? Is Ulean here?” I was reluctant to get out of the car till Check showed up, but Ysandra removed the keys from the ignition and opened her door.
I am here, Cicely. The barriers did not stop me.
“At an area far safer than just about any you’ve ever been to. Don’t fuss. Your Elemental is here, your guards are here, and so are guards from the Consortium.”
“Where?” But she’d already gotten out of the car and was busy helping Peyton out. I decided that if Ysandra felt safe, we probably were, and cautiously opened the door. The moment I set foot into the empty parking lot and stepped out of the car, the entire landscape shifted and changed. I could see more than a dozen cars now, near ours, and not only my own guards but at least eight members of the Consortium’s elite task force, as they were called. They were really units of magical warriors, specially trained for combat situations. Highly skilled magicians, witches and sorcerers, they could stand up to the strongest of enemies.
Breathing easier, I looked around and the barriers of the illusion became clear. The lot and building were surrounded by a force field.
“From the street, this looked empty. Can anyone see us here?”
“Only if they are magically trained.” Ysandra gave me a little shrug. “You think I would allow you to walk out into a deserted lot? Come, Cicely, you know better than that.” The prim taskmistress was back. Ysandra was a pretty woman, but she looked like a librarian, behind her glasses and long skirts and stiffly pressed button-down blouses, and a chignon that hid the length of her voluminous hair. She also happened to be an incredibly strong witch, and I’d seen her strike down a group of werewolves once with no more than a single incantation.
We followed her into the building, leaving the guards behind.
