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“Why, yes. I am…partially. My father was human; my mother was one of the wood spirits.” I was fighting off the charm of the spirit seal, fighting to keep myself from falling into the swirl of joy and enthusiasm that danced around the room.
Halcon’s brow narrowed. “My dear, you said ‘was’?”
I let out a slow breath and tilted my head. “Yes, they’re both dead. An accident. I’d rather not talk about it.”
His fingers traced a pattern over mine, and again, the combination of love and disgust sent me reeling.
“As you wish, Morning Glory. So you are half-Fae…We welcome your mother’s people in the Network, you know. The Fae are such a magical people. And you’d have many friends if you join us.”
“Thank you. As I said, I’ve been lonely. I don’t have many friends. Not really.” And again I let loose with the winsome eyes.
Halcon patted my hand, then lifted it gently and kissed the top. It wasn’t a sexual sensation, but he felt hungry, and I had a sudden vision that I was Little Red Riding Hood, facing the starving wolf.
I forced myself to keep a smile on my face as he let go of my hand and moved to the front of the room, making perfunctory greetings to the other women. He moved to the table with his bodyguards and enjoined us to take our seats. I slipped to the front row but took a seat on the side.
As Halcon launched into a lecture about the Aleksais Psychic Network, I tried to keep focused. The material felt as dry as cardboard, but the audience seemed rapt, caught up in his spiel, and I knew it was the spirit seal, doing its thing. I reined in my glamour, trying to fade out of the picture while I did some poking around. I couldn’t close my eyes, in case they were watching, but I used a trick Morio had taught me early on—veiled sight.
Cats have a third membrane that covers their eyes, and while we—Fae or human—didn’t, we could effect a magical version of it, allowing us to cut off distractions in the room. Basically, tuning out everything that didn’t matter or that would disrupt the focus on energy. As I willed the veiled sight to wash over me, it was like putting on earmuffs and a milky sleep mask.
As the riffraff of sound and sight muted into the background, I could see the lines of energy emanating from Halcon to the audience. Or rather, from Halcon’s pendant to the audience. The creeping vines of energy reminded me of…Fuck, they were almost like Vanzir’s neon feelers. I sat very still, trying not to show any sign of physical reaction to what I was seeing.
The tendrils were wispy, not nearly as developed as Vanzir’s, nor did they seem to be feeding tubes in terms of sucking energy off those they touched. No, instead they were transferring energy to the audience. And that was when I realized I might be in trouble. One was making an attempt to latch onto me and I had my wards up—it couldn’t gain hold. If Halcon noticed, and I had no reason to think he wouldn’t notice, then I was in trouble.
If I let the thing in, though…what would it find out? I struggled—I had to make a decision soon. I couldn’t just let it continue until he realized he didn’t have me swept up in his net like the others.
There was only one thing I could do. Let down my wards enough for him to attach, but then do my best to keep it at arm’s length. I focused on my aura, looking for the spot least likely to cause me trouble if he managed to break through all the way. The second chakra—the sexual level. While it wasn’t my ideal choice, it didn’t deal with psychic matters as much as the other chakras. And I was pretty sure I could control any urges Mr. Halcon Davis might be inclined to try to stimulate.
As I opened up a narrow channel in the barricades I’d erected around my body and spirit, the feeler seemed to sense the vulnerability and dove for it. I braced myself, and sure enough, within seconds, a warm, viscous energy began to seep into my body. I felt like I was sitting in a puddle of warm pee—not anything I’d choose to experience. By the looks on their faces, the other women were experiencing something quite different.
I gritted my teeth, forcing the smile on my face to brighten, as the energy leaked into my system, drop by drop. Sure enough, within seconds, Halcon glanced at me again, and his smile, a crafty, artful one, made him look all too pleased with himself.
Beginning to doubt whether this was actually a good idea, I contemplated leaving, but then Halcon suddenly stood up.
“Ladies, we’re going to bring in a group of our members for you to chat with. The leader is Jake Evans, and he’ll take care of anything you need. Meanwhile, feel free to visit the refreshment table. If you’re interested in joining our network, our society members will be carrying sign-up forms.”
As I stood with the others, he motioned for me to come to the front of the room. I glanced around, then pointed to my chest, and he nodded. As I joined him, he reached out and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, walking me away from the crowd.
“I want to talk to you, Morning Glory. We have special need of people with a heritage such as yours. I think you could be a valuable asset to our organization, and I think you’d feel right at home here.” His smile was wolfish now, and I was even more uncomfortable.
“You really think I have something to offer?” Again, I fluttered my lashes and affected a hopeful smile.
“Oh, my dear. I know it. We don’t get many of the Fae—even half-Fae—here, and we are always looking to bridge the gap between the mortals and your mother’s people. If you would come with me, please.”
He started to lead me to the double doors leading into the back hallway when one of his Tregarts stopped him and whispered something to him that I couldn’t quite catch. An influx of at least twenty other people seemed to fill the event hall, and sure enough, there was Jake Evans, leading the pack. Their vacant stares reminded me of something…
Stepford wives…
Oh hell yes…the members joining the new recruits reminded me exactly of the women in the movie. I hadn’t seen the remake, but one night, on late TV, Delilah had pressed me into watching the original. It had creeped me out so much that I’d had a hard time going to sleep. I’d had the same reaction to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. And this…this meeting didn’t seem far off from there.
I waited as Halcon finished talking to the Tregart. He turned back to me.
“Morning Glory, is anyone waiting at home for you? I wouldn’t want to keep you if you have a prior engagement. But I do so want to talk over what I envision for you with our group.” Personable and charming. If I didn’t know better, if I couldn’t sense energy the way I could, I would have thought he was just a really nice guy who cared a whole lot about the people in his organization.
Letting out another short sigh, I shook my head. “Not really. I told you my parents are dead, and I don’t have any roommates. So I don’t have to be home early.” Playing right into his hands, I waited for him to pounce on the bait. Which he did, in spades.
“Well then, shall we go get some coffee? I know a Starbucks near here that’s still open.”
“Don’t you want me to talk to your members, like the others?” I peeked over my shoulder, as he steered me back to the door.
