Night Myst (22 page)

“We have to try. We can’t just leave them out there.”

Grieve paused, then added, “Cicely, there are creatures in the wood—dangerous beasts that the Indigo Court breed and train. And then, there are the Shadow Hunters. They . . .
we
. . . bring a new definition to fear.”

“I think I met one of their beasts already. A tillynok.”

“Tillynoks used to be safe enough, but everything in the wood’s been tainted by Myst’s energy.” He stared at his nails. “I can’t help you any more than I have. At least . . . not now, not yet.”

He looked at me then, without any façade, and I caught a glimpse of the old Grieve, the Grieve I remembered from so many years ago. The Grieve who had stared at me so sorrowfully when he was preparing me for life on the road with Krystal.

I moved closer to him, wanting to comfort him. As I placed my hand on his arm, he looked up—almost too quickly—his new side warring with the old—and covered my fingers with his. The wolf’s head on my stomach let out a low whimper, and I moved in, pressing my hands on his shoulders.

And then—in a blur of movement—he raced to the window and was gone like a leaf caught up in the wind. The curtains around the open window swirled and I ran over to stare out into the night. There, loping toward the forest, ran a wolf. I raised one hand, then watched as an owl rose from the trees—the great horned bird I’d seen before. Spiraling, it glided on the wind, following the wolf back into the wood.

I slowly returned to bed.

What now?
I had to tell the others. We had to go rescue Heather and Peyton. And Rhiannon and Leo deserved to know that Grieve and I were actually lovers. They wouldn’t be happy, but I couldn’t keep it a secret. I slipped on my robe and crept out into the hallway, tapping lightly on Rhiannon’s door.

She answered, looking sleepy but still awake.

“Leo went to work, but not back to the party. Come in,” she said. Closing the door behind me, she bundled me over to her bed and I crawled under the comforter with her. We snuggled like we had when we were children, and as she softly touched my cheek, I realized she already knew.

“So then. Grieve.” Her words were measured, but her eyes filled with understanding.

“You can tell?”

“Yes. I heard you both—talking low. And I can see it in your face. You love him, don’t you? Terribly so?”

“Yes, Grieve. He came to me tonight. Please, understand. I
needed
him. Grieve has a tattoo of my face on his thigh. Just like I have my wolf. He got it before he met me.”

“I . . . I think there’s nothing that can keep you two apart. Whatever binds you together is stronger than the Indigo Court or the vampires.” She smiled. “Was it good?”

I laughed then. “Yes, oh yes. Grieve is . . . he’s what I need. He’s who I’m meant to be with. I know you can’t help but be suspicious, but Grieve isn’t like the others. He fights against his vampiric nature. He isn’t truly part of the Indigo Court. He’s trying to help us. And he told me where to find Heather and Peyton.”

“Alive? Where? Can we get to them now?”

I told her what Grieve had told me. “I think we can trust him.”

She sobered. “It sounds like we’re going to need more help. We don’t dare go through the wood at night. It’s far too dangerous.”

“We have Marta’s stash of goodies to go through. First light, we’ll see what we can fashion for protection. And you said Kaylin will be over tomorrow? Will he help us?”

“Maybe,” Rhia said, her smile flickering in the gentle light from the candle that was burning on her nightstand. Rosemary and lavender, it was enchanted for protection, for peace of mind. I inhaled deeply and held my breath, letting the fragrance work its magic on my thoughts.

“When are you and Leo getting married?” I asked after a few minutes.

“I don’t know,” she said softly. “I adore him. He’s good to me and we get along, and I think I want to marry him. But I don’t know if we have what you and Grieve seem to have. Maybe every great love story is different.”

“I never thought I’d find him again, to be honest. And now . . . it’s harder than it ever promised to be.” I propped my back against the headboard and pulled the comforter up over us. “What makes you think you don’t have the same level of passion that Grieve and I share?”

“I’m so afraid of losing control—because of the fire. I’m afraid of hurting people. Of hurting . . . Leo. I always hold a part of myself back.”

I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and gave a tight squeeze. “You have to learn to control the flames, Rhia. You can’t let your fear overpower you forever. It will backfire and then where will you be? Where will we all be?”

And then, because we were both exhausted and didn’t want to talk about vampires or blood or anything outside the walls of the room, we blew out the candle and slid back under the covers. Holding hands like we had when we were young, we fell asleep to the soft sound of the air cleaner.

We were up before dawn. Leo was still asleep, but Rhiannon woke him up because he was likely to recognize some of the charms I might not. Being on the road and working primarily with the energy of the wind put me at some disadvantage. I didn’t do things the way a lot of witches did them, and most of my spells were invocations as opposed to actually working with spell components.

We dug through the boxes and bags, looking for anything that might help. I held up an orange ball the size of a walnut. “This is practically trying to jump out of my hand. You guys know what it is?”

Rhiannon took it, sniffed it, and her eyes widened. “Yeah, it’s a firespark charm. Can turn even the most moderate of flames into a raging inferno. I don’t think I should touch this.”

“Ridiculous. You need to get over your fear of the fire. Just because you’re carrying something doesn’t mean you’re going to set it off,” Leo said, glancing up at her. Bart rubbed around his legs; the Maine Coon was dragging around a fuzzy mouse and seemed intent on cajoling Leo into playing with it. “And shouldn’t someone be making breakfast? I’m starved.”

“Make it yourself,” Rhiannon said, staring at him with a hurt look. “I’m not your maid or your mother.”

Leo leaned back, squatting on his heels. He rubbed his forehead and let out a long sigh. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. It’s just . . . things feel like they’re spiraling out of control and we have to get a handle on anything that might help us. Like your power over flame. Maybe Anadey can help you?”

I jerked my head up. “He’s got a point. She’s a shamanic witch and she works with all four elements. If anybody we know can help, it might just be her.”

“Fine. I’ll talk to her today.” Rhiannon frowned. “Do we tell her what Grieve said about Peyton?”

“Not till we confirm it. We want to make certain she’s safe before we get Anadey’s hopes up.”

I ran my fingers through my hair, staring at the massive pile of odds and ends with disgust. “I don’t know why Marta left all this to me. I usually just work with energy, not with the actual components. She could have left this to her daughter, or to Peyton—they would be able to put it to better use than me.”

“Nope, she had her reasons. Marta never did anything without thinking it through.” Leo held up a handful of necklaces. “Bingo—protection charms. Don’t know how effective they are, but they feel charged. There are five of them.”

“We each get one, then. And a spare.” I draped one of the Algiz runes over my head and immediately felt the soft keen of magic shroud my shoulders. “Whoa . . . this
is
comforting. Okay, let’s go eat and then—”

The doorbell rang. Leo went to answer and a moment later returned, followed by a guy who looked around thirty. He was Chinese, thin but muscled, and was dressed in a pair of ripped jeans and a black leather jacket over a gray muscle shirt. Combat boots completed the outfit. He carried a heavy backpack, which he dropped in the corner after carefully scanning the room.

“Kaylin Chen, meet Cicely Waters.”

Kaylin looked at me. “We’ve been waiting for you, Cicely—the wind told me you were coming, and to keep an eye out for you.”

What the . . . ?
“You can speak to the wind?” I’d never met anybody else with my abilities before. But he shook his head.

“No, but ghosts can speak through the wind, and I can speak to ghosts.” And then his eyes lit up with a golden light, and I noticed that, standing behind Kaylin Chen, stood two translucent figures. Neither one seemed to realize that I could see them.

Kaylin blinked. “What are you looking at?” Then, he relaxed. “You can see them.” He spoke so softly that Leo and Rhiannon didn’t hear him.

“Yeah, but I don’t think the spirits know I can.”

“Probably not. They’re attuned to me on a level I can’t explain, and very few ever know they’re with me. Even gifted psychics usually don’t tune in to them.” He turned to Leo. They clasped arms. “Good to see you, bro. It’s been a long time.”

“You, too, dude. You been staying out of trouble?”

“As much as I can,” Kaylin said. He saluted Rhiannon, who waved.

“You want breakfast?” She flashed him a wide smile and her eyes sparkled.

Kaylin nodded. “Not about to say no.”

“Come on, Cicely. Let’s cook while we fill him in on what’s going on.”

I stared at her for a moment. She’d just about bit off Leo’s head for asking her to cook breakfast; now she was volunteering the both of us. I glanced back at Kaylin and he winked at me. A glint in his eyes twinkled and I felt a sudden desire to make him happy.

“Dude, you have some sort of charm going on?”

He shrugged. “Only my natural demeanor.”

“Right. Come on, Rhia. Let’s get breakfast under way.”

Kaylin followed the rest of us into the kitchen. His gaze fluttered back to me as he turned one of the chairs around and swung one leg over the seat, coming to rest his elbows on the back of it.

“So, Cicely, you’re Rhiannon’s cousin?”

“Here, you’re on toast duty.” I thrust the bread into his hands. “And yes, I’m Rhia’s cousin.” While Rhiannon whipped eggs for omelets, I dug through the fridge for a ham I’d seen earlier and began cubing the meat to go in the eggs.

“Then you’re in off the pipelines,” he said, pulling his chair over to the counter where he began to toast the bread. I handed him the butter and as the slices came popping out of the toaster, he spread them thickly and covered the stack with a tea towel to keep the toast warm.

I gave him a questioning look, but it was Rhiannon who answered. “Pipelines—that’s what Kaylin calls the freeways.”

Curious
, I thought, but didn’t ask why. Instead, I examined the two spirits who stood by his back. As I let myself drift, listening to the wind, I realized that they were a man and a woman, both dressed in long white robes that sparkled with golden embroidery. They seemed oblivious to me, standing at attention, focused solely on Kaylin, almost as if they were guarding him. And then, I knew who they were.

“They’re your parents.”

Kaylin shifted, barely, but enough to tell me I’d nailed it. He set down the loaf and gazed at me. “How can you tell?”

“It makes sense. The way they’re standing reminds me of the cops—or security guards.”

Rhiannon scrambled the eggs and ham, sprinkling in a handful of grated cheese, then divided them onto four plates. She glanced up from her work, frowning at the both of us. “What are you two talking about?”

“Cicely can see something neither of you can.” He shrugged. “My family has my back. Literally. My parents’ spirits travel with me, watch out for me, tell me who to avoid. They don’t know everything, but it gives me an edge and I’m trying to get them to help me look for my best friend’s killer.”

“Then you think the Indigo Court staged his car wreck?” I asked.

“The Indigo Court? I’m not familiar with the name.” He finished up the toast and brought it over to the table. “But I know something’s taken control of the town and whatever it is, it was responsible for my bro’s death. Derek was one of a kind . . . he didn’t make simple mistakes like driving when he was too tired.”

“You willing to go up against his murderers?” Leo asked.

Kaylin gave us a long look. “I’ve been looking for a way to fight whatever this force is for months now. I’m already on the front lines.”

I bit my lip, trying to decide just how I felt about him. But Leo and Rhia trusted him and they’d know better than I would. “You willing to take a little trip out into the ravine with us today? We’re looking for Heather, and for Peyton Moon Runner.”

“Haven’t got anything else to do. Sure.” He dug into breakfast with such gusto that I wondered how long it had been since he’d eaten. But he didn’t look poor. In fact, his clothing looked remarkably well made and expensive. Kaylin was an odd duck and I wanted to know more.

“Before this goes any further, how do you feel about telling me who and what you are? It’s only fair.” I’d had enough of making deals unseen. My pact with the vampires was weighing heavy on my mind and I wasn’t about to fall in unaware with someone else who might try to pull one over on me.