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“Ah, young vampyr…so, Dead Girl, do you have my suckling oinker? My tasty treat for an evening’s snack?” She smacked her lips and I shivered, revolted by the gleam in her eyes. Even when I was in my most predatory state, I didn’t think I had that much bloodlust in me.
“I have it.” I dropped the bag on the ground and pointed to it. “So, can you remove all of these will-o’-the-wisps from the land?”
She craned her neck to peek up the drive. “Aye, there’s a fair lot of them but I can.”
“Then a deal is struck.” I held out my hand, dreading her touch. She clasped my fingers, and the tingle that raced through me was like a pure jolt of fresh blood. I gasped, shaking my head. “What was that?”
Ivana regarded me with a sly look. “I can make you feel, Dead Girl. I can make you believe you’re alive again. If you ever want more, just come to my door and ask.” And with a heady laughter, she peeked in the sack. “Suckling, yes…an oinker for the Maiden of Karask.” Then, all business, she added, “Back off, meat on the hoof. Let me do my work. Indoors with you. This will not be a pretty battle.”
I nodded and jogged up the path. I wasn’t worried that she’d just take the pig and go. When the Elder Fae struck deals, they kept their end of the bargain.
As I swatted another swarm of the will-o’-the-wisps away, I heard a shriek—long and mournful—and looked back to see lights exploding as Ivana began to walk forward, her hand out as she poked the will-o’-the-wisps with her fingers and they dove into her staff with mournful wails.
I slammed the door behind me and hurried to the living room, where Delilah and Morio were pressed up to the windows, watching. Shade and Shamas were sitting next to Chase, who was bundled in an afghan. He weakly raised one hand. Iris and Hanna had taken the tea trays into the kitchen and were washing up, with Marion helping them. Trillian was reading a book; Vanzir and Roz were playing video games. Bruce was playing with Maggie and talking to Douglas. Nerissa was nowhere to be seen.
“Where’d Nessa go?” I didn’t often use my pet name for her in public, but it just slipped out.
“She’s in the parlor, sorting through the clothes she bought. I saw the gown she picked out,” Delilah added. “It’s so pretty.”
I knew I should go in, should see what she’d found, but there was just too much going on to look at clothes. People were being hurt, we had a full-fledged invasion of the spooktacular kind, and I couldn’t drag my attention away to weddings and vows and celebrations.
I was about to ask if anybody needed anything from the kitchen when the air shimmered and Smoky appeared, Camille under his arm. They stepped out of the Ionyc Seas, Camille looking tired and spent.
Travel through the etheric seas wearied most living creatures except for dragons and those naturally acclimated to the in-between spaces of the world. But even as they appeared, there was another shimmer and I backed away, startled as a tall woman dressed in black and purple appeared. She was luminous, with hair as black as gleaming coal, and silvery eyes.
As Aeval turned to view the lot of us, she let out a soft laughter. “And so, we seem to have a problem with will-o’-the-wisps, do we?”
Aeval—the Queen of Night and Shadow—was one of the three Fae Queens ruling over the sovereign Fae nation, and Camille’s Mistress.
“What is this?” She turned toward me. “I smell the blood of Elder Fae.”
“About that. Um…the Maiden of Karask is here. She’s outside, swallowing up the will-o’-the-wisps.” I wasn’t afraid of much, but the Triple Threat happened to be three of the few exceptions.
Aeval stared at me with glittering eyes. “You foolish girl. Do you know what you’ve done?”
Just then, the door crashed open and Ivana was in the room. She stared at Aeval. “I thought I smelled the stench of the Night. Well met, Aeval. Well met. The last we clashed, I swore I’d kill you the next time we crossed paths. After I finish with my oath-bound task, I trust you’ll meet the match?”
But Ivana had forgotten to close the door, and the next moment, the will-o’-the-wisps came pouring through, filling the house. Chase and Marion screamed, and so did Iris, as we were invaded by the Corpse Candles.
Chapter 14
“Crap!” I scrambled over to Chase as the will-o’-the-wisps poured into the room. Iris, Hanna, and Marion were shouting from the kitchen, and Camille and Morio bolted their way, slamming the front door as they ran. Everybody was moving at once.
A flutter of wings and the whisper of siren songs, and Chase was up, unsteady on his feet, and moving toward a large cluster of the creatures. I tackled him, taking him to the ground. As we landed, I heard him groan. Great, I’d broken him, but it had kept him from heading into their midst. I just prayed that whatever I’d hurt wasn’t anything major.
Bruce was shoving through the clamor, trying to get to the kitchen. He darted through the mayhem, his size a plus in this instance, and I watched him go as I sat on Chase, trying to figure out what the fuck to do.
Delilah snarled from the corner. She’d transformed into her panther self and was snapping at the lights. She wasn’t getting very far, but I had to give it to her—my sister had grown a pair.
The next thing I knew, Ivana was hovering over me, popping will-o’-the-wisps right and left. Aeval was in the corner weaving some sort of spell that seemed to be causing havoc with the Corpse Candles near her. As I watched, a fork of lightning rippled out from her fingers, catching hold of one of the globes. It exploded in a puff of smoke as several lightning strikes emerged, finding their way to other will-o’-the-wisps, and like chain lightning, explosions rattled through the room. A wave of shrieks echoed as the will-o’-the-wisps vanished.
Ivana, not to be outdone, struck again and again, and between the Elder Fae and the Fae Queen, they began to clear the house. The pair, ignoring each other, exited the house, and we watched from the window as they dispatched the invasion.
“Chase, are you okay?” I helped him up, glancing around in case any of the globes had been hiding, but they all seemed to be gone.
“I think I sprained my thumb. My left one.” He held out his hand and I grimaced as I watched the flesh swell and turn a lovely shade of black.
“Sorry, dude. Morio, can you take him to find Sharah? She can splint it. We’ve got plenty of medical supplies.”
