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Delilah nodded. “When will you go talk to them?”
The urgency in her voice made me wonder—could she still have feelings for the detective? But I knew the answer. Of course she did, and always would. But her love for him was different now—that of a dearly beloved friend, a brother. He was no longer her lover. And I felt the same way. Chase was part of our extended family. And family wasn’t disposable, contrary to what my father thought.
“Tonight. I’m exhausted, but this can’t wait. Don’t wait up for me. I’ll go alone. The Triple Threat have no love for Smoky, and I don’t think they want a stranger on their land, Shade.”
“I’ll come with you.” Delilah glanced at me, her eyes flashing. “Don’t even say no.”
“All right. Trillian, can you drive Smoky and Shade home in the Jeep? We’ll take my Lexus.”
“As you wish, my sweet.” Trillian motioned to the two dragons, and they turned to go. Delilah tossed him the keys, and then we watched as they vanished into the snowbound night. I’d been surprised when I found out he’d quietly gone off and gotten his license with no problem. Trillian was an excellent driver, but he had a thirst for speed.
I turned back to the area around where the portal had been. “You okay, Kitten?” A glance at her showed she was still crying.
“Yeah, I’m okay, but Chase . . . did it kill him?” She closed her eyes and I could tell she was searching, hoping to find some sense that he was still around. I lightly touched her on the arm.
“Let’s go. We can’t help him by just standing here.” Reluctantly, I turned and she followed me, her head down. As we jogged back to the car, I kept thinking that if Chase hadn’t drunk the Nectar of Life, he might not be in this predicament.
Yes, but he’d be dead, a voice inside whispered. And would that be any better?
“Perhaps,” I whispered beneath my breath. Because what I’d sensed on the other side of the portal was old beyond reckoning, and the elder forces of the Earth could be terribly fierce. “Just perhaps.”
The drive out to the compound took us half an hour in the blowing snow, and I gave a breath of thanks that Morio had insisted I get snow tires on the Lexus. The thought of him home, still hurting, rankled. But he was healing up and would be good to go within a couple of months. The attack from the hungry ghosts had left him weakened, and regaining life force was a lot harder than just regaining physical health. Hungry ghosts sucked out life energy, and there was no quick fix for regaining that.
Keeping him and Menolly apart had been a chore in itself. They’d bonded when Sharah used some of Menolly’s blood to keep Morio from dying, and like it or not, the two had a thing for each other now. Both had been very conscientious about not staying in the same room alone together, but I feared it would only get worse once Morio grew stronger. The tension when they were together drove me nuts. It wasn’t that I was terribly jealous—if they ended up sleeping together, fine. I could handle that even though I’d prefer they didn’t. But I had to admit to myself, I didn’t want him in love with her. And right now, I wasn’t sure just what he felt beyond the lust.
And I—I had my own secrets. Secrets that could lead Smoky to murder. I’d had no choice at the time—or rather, the only other option I’d had was worse than the fate I’d chosen. However you sliced it, this Solstice promised to be less than merry at our house.
As I navigated the ice and snow, Delilah stared out the window. “So tell me about Iris. What happened? And don’t give me any bull. Of course she needs to tell me herself, but you were there. What went on?”>Shit. What were we dealing with? As we wandered farther into the flurry of white steam rolling along the ground, my ankles began to tingle, and then the tingling moved up my legs and before I knew it, I was shaking like a leaf.
“What’s wrong?” Smoky reached down and cupped my elbow. “You’re trembling. Are you thinking about my father?”
“Yes, but that’s not what’s making me shiver.” I stopped long enough to tell everyone what was happening. “Anybody else feel it?”
Shade nodded. “I do, but it’s not affecting me as bad as it appears to be hitting you.”
Chase let out a short sigh. “I feel something—a discomfort, like a prickling—but I thought it might be the cold.”
“Hold on for a moment and let me suss it out.”
We had stopped near a bench. Trillian swept the snow off, and I gratefully slid onto the seat. I pulled my cloak tighter around me, then lowered myself into a trance.
“Just what’s out there? Who’s creeping around in the fog?” The mesmerizing strands of energy clouded my focus, and I shook them off.
Peel back layer after layer of sparkling mist cloaking the reality behind the magic. Dig into its core, seek the central thread. And there it is . . . a cold thread, a dark thread, steeped in the energy of peat bogs and old forests and bonfires deep in the grove at midnight.
Touching the strand, I sucked in a deep breath as it sang to me, reverberated through me like an electric fiddle, ripping out an ancient, keening reel. Like a live wire scorching the inside of my eyelids. I caught a glimpse of sentinel fir trees dripping with moss, and toadstools growing off downed snags. Silhouettes flittered here and there—sparkling with energy and yet the sparkles were shrouded in darkness.
Evil? Not really . . . and yet, not good.
Red eyes glimmered at me from the forest. An ancient entity, male, old beyond reckoning, he waited in the shrouded night.
Come, join my dance. You know you must, sooner or later. The Huntress must dance with the Hunter as the moon kisses the sun. Come, join me in a frenzied ring. You, guardian of the Dark Moon.
I shook out of the web being woven around me and realized that while I’d been in trance, I’d been warm—warm as a summer’s night under the stars. I could still smell rich roses, and honey wine, and the fragrant loam of the earth. The winter snow around me glared, stark and unyielding, and I longed to join the summons.
Clearing the catch out of my throat, I stifled the impulse to run toward the energy. As foreboding as it was, I still longed to reach out, to touch it, to embrace the entity waiting in the dark.
“What is it?” Delilah asked.
