Night Seeker

Chapter 5

“I was high on the mountain when she found me,” Rex was saying. “Stretched out, almost dead, but I knew my name, and I knew my place in life. I’d walked through the fire, and so earned my place as one of the elders of the Northwest Puma Pride. Even though I left for a long time, they kept my place open for me. They told me, ‘We knew you would be coming home. It was meant to be.’ And it’s time for you, Peyton. Your time to undergo the vision quest is overdue.”

Curious, I glanced over at Peyton. Listening rapt to her father, her eyes glistened with tears.

“I can’t go now-I’m needed here. But afterward, if we get through this, I’ll be ready. Will the pride accept me, though? I’m half-magic-born.” Her lower lip trembled and I thought of the Lupa clan and how much the werewolves hated the magic-born.

“There is a big difference between wolves and cats,” Rex said, glancing over at me as if he could read my mind. “We are magical in nature, the wolves not as much. They fear magic, where the puma clans revel in it. As do all the big-cat-shifters. That’s one of the things that attracted me to your mother to begin with. I’ve told my people about you, and the Elders have offered you a place in the pride. But first, you must go through your vision quest. Pass through the fire and you will forever be one with my people. Your people.” He leaned back in his chair, his arms crossed across his chest. “But you need to know there’s a chance of dying. There’s always a dance with death when you go in search of the fire.”

Peyton nodded, staring at the floor. “I will try. I want to know more about your people-my people.”

I happened to glance up at the clock on the wall. It was barely nine thirty. “Today, I’m meeting Ysandra at three P.M. Kaylin and Rhiannon-you come with me. Chatter, would you and Peyton and Rex help Luna do whatever you need to in order to make us more secure in this place?”

“What do you want me to do, my love?” Grieve stood at the doorway. As he joined us, sitting on the table next to me, I reached for his hand but he shook his head.

“Before you continue, I’d like to have things out in the open.” He looked at the others. “I touched on this before but let’s talk about it. None of you really trust me. Not even you, my loyal Chatter. And you have every right to feel that way. After all, I belong to Myst-she turned me. But please know, I’m doing everything I can to keep control of my darker nature. I was not born this way…” He hung his head, wincing. “I was not born to this. I love Cicely. She is my all. I’ll do anything to keep her safe.”

Rex tilted his head, frowning. “I’m still kind of fuzzy on the facts surrounding the Indigo Court. Fill me in?”

I sighed. “Long story short: Geoffrey-you know who he is?”

Rex nodded, a somber cast across his face. “I’ve had several run-ins with him long time back before I left New Forest. He’s dangerous. I believe he was a warlord before he was turned?”

“Yes, and he is still a warlord at heart. A thousand or so years ago, Geoffrey got it into his head to turn Myst-who was one of the Unseelie. They were lovers, and they hatched a mad scheme to turn her into a vampire and then the two of them would conquer the land. Typical delusions-of-grandeur crap, except for one little problem. When he drank her down and then gave her his blood, she didn’t die.”

“Let me guess-something to do with her Fae nature?”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh yeah. Myst recovered insanely fast, able to use both her Unseelie powers and the vampire powers she gained from Geoffrey. And as an added bonus, she was able to breed children with her dual nature. When she realized how strong she was, she turned on Geoffrey and tried to destroy him. The vampires managed to drive the Vampiric Fae into obscurity, but the Indigo Court spent the following centuries breeding and waiting. A great war between the two factions was prophesized by their freak-show Blood Oracle-Crawl-and apparently Grieve and I were to be the catalysts in it. And it seems we were.”

I paused, glancing at Grieve. His eyes were the black of the void, shining with stars. He cleared his throat. “In another life, Cicely was Myst’s daughter-her name was Cherish. I was one of the Cambyra Fae, named Shy. I wasn’t a wolf-shifter then, but instead I belonged to the Ursiasidhe, the bear-shifters.”

“I didn’t know that you were a bear-shifter then.” I stared at him.

“It’s never come up. Anyway, against all odds, we fell in love and, betraying both our peoples, ran away together.”

“I bet that went over really well.” Rex gave me a sad smile.

Frowning, I narrowed my eyes. “They chased us down. We ravaged a swath through the countryside in our attempts to escape. Or…I ravaged. Somehow I have a feeling I caused most of the damage.”

Grieve took my hand. “We both did, love.” He lifted my palm to his lips and kissed it gently. “In the end, we were cornered. I had a potion I’d bought from a sorceress. The drink was deadly, but fashioned to bind our souls together into the afterlife. We drank it knowing that although we would die, we’d find each other again in a new life. And so we have.”

“Romeo and Juliet.” Peyton said, her voice sad.

“Yes…only this time around, I’m also part Cambyra Fae. And Grieve…though he was born a Prince of the Summer Court, is now one of the Vampiric Fae. And once again, we’re on the run.” My words drifted away and I turned to my love. “This time, I want to end the cycle. I want to live my life with you…for you.”

My lip trembled as Grieve pulled me into his arms. My heart pounded, a drum in the night, echoing my love for him as we stood there. I rested my head on his shoulder, his lips pressed against the top of my head. The warmth of his body made me want to cry.

After a few moments, Rex broke the silence. “So, does Geoffrey know you are Myst’s daughter?”

“Yes. And he wanted to use me to get back at her-to turn me like he turned her.” I pulled away from Grieve, but as I did so Ulean came sweeping up beside me. Trouble. There is trouble brewing outside. Hurry. Enemies. Wrath says they are whispering about Rhiannon.

Instantly, I jumped aside. “Ulean says there’s trouble outside. Wrath warned her. Rhia-you stay in here. Grieve and Luna, guard her with your life. Don’t ask questions, either of you.”

I pulled on my jacket-my blade and fan still in the pockets-and headed for the door. Kaylin, Chatter, Peyton, and Rex followed me into the blinding snows.

Ulean guided us out one of the side exits, where we found my father, leaning against the building, waiting.

I ran up to him. “What’s going on? Who is it?”

“Day-runners. And no, I didn’t see Leo among them, but they look well armed and out for trouble.” He brushed a swath of snowflakes off his hair. “They’re around front, looking for a way in.”

“Split up, then. Peyton, you take Chatter and Rex and head that way. Kaylin, come with me and my father.” I pulled out my fan, getting it ready. I preferred working with the wind rather than with a blade. It felt more comfortable.

“What do we do when we find them?” Peyton began to shimmer, and I knew she was about to transform.

“Catch them if you can-we need to know what the fuck they want. If they put up a fight and we can’t take them down without harming them…kill them.” I shivered at the cold streak in my voice, but we were at war.

They nodded and headed off to the left. We swiftly crept along the building to the right, crouching as we went. My father pulled out a wicked-looking dagger-brilliant silver flashing in the eternal whiteness that shrouded us. Kaylin held his shurikens, and I readied my fan.

The warehouse was a long, gray metal skeleton stretching out under the silvery sky. With the snow on the ground, it blended, a blur that reminded me of staring out over the ocean on one of those days when the sky was the same color as the water. The snow mimicked cresting waves on the surface.

As we came to the end, I called Ulean. Is there anything directly around the corner?

No, but they are close around the other side. Be cautious when you reach the next turn. They are waiting and they know you are coming. There are four. Two waiting on your end, two on the other.

How did they find out? And can you possibly get word to the others? Chatter can hear you if you want him to.

I do not know how they were warned, but I can tell by their stance, they are waiting to ambush you. She swirled around me, a shroud of caution. I will take word to Chatter now.

I sucked in a deep breath and turned to Kaylin and Wrath. “Ulean says they know we’re coming. They’re not around this corner but around the next. Ulean’s taking word to Chatter now. There are two on the other end, waiting down there, and two on our end.”

“I suppose since they know we’re here, we might as well…Hold on.” Kaylin stood back, looking up. “We can still get the drop on them.”

I followed his gaze. There was enough junk nearby to create a pile that would allow us to reach the roof. We could go up and over. Wrath caught our plan and shimmered into owl form, smoothly gliding up to land on the roof and transform back. He leaned over, his hand out, to help us scramble up from the junk to the roof.

As silently as we could, we crawled up the A-line roof. The snow was cold under our bellies as we forged a silent path. The gentle flaking of fresh snow landed on our shoulders, our hair, our backs. My hands were freezing, but I didn’t want to put on gloves. They interfered with using my fan, and I couldn’t afford the time spent yanking off a pair of gloves in order to unfurl the weapon.

As we reached the top of the roof, I cautiously slithered over the apex and edged my way down to just before the edge, peeking over. There they were. Day-runners. They wore the same style of clothing Leo had worn, and I could feel vampire written all over them. Wrath and Kaylin joined me.

The drop to the ground was daunting-we’d crawled up a fifteen-foot pile of crap in order to get on the roof in back. But the snow was knee-deep, so maybe the landing wouldn’t be so hard. The men were still waiting and I was surprised to see that the others hadn’t already engaged their pair, but as I looked down to their end, I saw that they’d had the same idea. They were on the roof, in approximately the same place we were.

I can make others hear me when I choose to, and it seemed a good idea to tell them what you were doing. They chose to approach in the same manner. Ulean sounded almost giddy. The wind was picking up and I could feel her responding to it, even as my own body did. It coaxed us to come, to play, to dive in. My owl self beckoned me to shift and fly out on the gusting currents, but I pushed the urge away.

With a glance at Kaylin, who gave me a thumbs-up, I swung my feet over the edge and dropped directly on top of one of the men. Kaylin followed, landing to take down the other, and within the blink of an eye, Wrath joined us.

I heard a loud shout from the other end-the others must have attacked at the same time we did-but I’d learned by now to keep my eyes on my own opponent. I quickly rolled up off the ground. When I’d landed on the man, I’d gone down on my knees, but the snow had cushioned the worst of the shock. As I rose to my feet, I was surprised to see that he was already standing.

“Who are you? What do you want?” I circled him warily, as Kaylin mirrored my movements with his opponent.

“Stand back. Or you’ll regret it.” With one quick sweep, the man I was facing pulled out something fist-sized and opened his palm for us to see.

“Fuck, a grenade? What the hell are you doing with a grenade?” My first thought was that Geoffrey had sent them here to blow us all up, a suicide bombing mission. Bloodwhores would do whatever their masters asked. But something in his demeanor told me he was no bloodwhore. No, day-runners were more valuable than bloodwhores.

“You-and the redhead-come with us and we’ll let the rest of them go.” He flicked his finger toward the pin.

I glanced at the grenade, then back at him. “How bad do you want us?”

“My orders are to bring the two of you back with me.” As he spoke, the two men from the opposite end of the building herded Rex, Peyton, and Chatter back toward us. They, too, had a grenade.

“No. You want us that bad, you’re not going to blow us up.” I shook my head. “This is so not going to happen.”

“You think so?” The man stared at me, his duster dark against the snow, and then he nodded to his buddy, who marched over and grabbed Peyton, dragging her in front of me. He tied her hands behind her back, and then pulled out a roll of duct tape and quickly strapped the grenade to her, while his partner kept us at bay with the other grenade. As he looped a string around the pin of the grenade and stepped away from Peyton, unwinding the string as he went, I suddenly realized what he was doing.

“Stop-don’t. Don’t do this.”

“You and your cousin come with us and we’ll let this one go without blowing her into a thousand bloody pieces.”

As I began to panic, Wrath suddenly turned into an owl and headed directly toward Peyton. Kaylin sent a shuriken into the man’s hand. He screamed, dropping the line leading to the grenade’s pin. At the same moment, Chatter turned into a pillar of fire and began spinning toward the man still holding the grenade.

“Get back! Get back!” I screamed to Rex, as I dove for a nearby snowbank. I shaded my eyes, tried to see what was happening without raising my head too far, but a large explosion lit up the area. Sharp screams filled the air, one after another. I staggered out from behind the snowbank, glancing around wildly. As Wrath lobbed something the other direction, yet another explosion rocked the ground.

Trying to catch my breath, I tried to ascertain who was still standing and who wasn’t. Rex was over by Peyton’s side-apparently he’d run toward her instead of diving for cover. He was stripping the ropes off of her hands. Chatter was standing there, looking slightly crazed. I ran over to him and he opened his arm to me.

I grabbed him around the waist, holding tight. “Oh, Chatter, I thought you blew yourself up.”

“My fires are far greater in power than his weapon. But we’d better take care of the one who is left.” He nodded over to where our opponents had been standing. “Best to assess who he is and what they were after.”

The first man with the grenade was nowhere to be seen, but shredded material and body parts told me that he’d gone up in the explosion when Chatter engulfed him. The man who had tied up Peyton was on the ground, bloody and dead-Kaylin was leaning over him with a dripping blade. Wrath had taken out the third man, who was now sprawled dead near his feet. And the fourth was cowering on the ground, his hands in full sight above his head.

I hustled over to him. “Take your coat off. Slowly. Drop it on the ground.”

He obeyed, and then I made him strip down all the way. When he was standing shivering and naked, I nodded.

“No hidden explosives. You can put on your boxers and undershirt again.” He did, as I motioned for Kaylin to pick up the guy’s clothing.

“Let’s get him inside and see what we can find out about him. Blindfold him first, though.” We couldn’t let him go, but on the off chance he escaped, I didn’t want him casing the joint for info on us.

We dragged him inside. Rhiannon gave me an odd look.

“We heard explosions. Are you all okay?” Luna hurried forward. When she saw we’d tied the man up, she pulled out a chair and pushed him into it, firmly knotting the ends of the cord around his wrists to the back of the chair.

“We’re okay. We survived to fight another day.” I frowned, feeling useless.

Peyton clapped me on the shoulder. “At least you weren’t tied up with a grenade strapped to your chest.” She tried to force a laugh, but her eyes told me just how drained she was from the experience. Rex came up behind her and led her to a chair, stroking her hair with an unexpectedly gentle hand. I glanced at him and he gave me a soft smile. Right then, I knew that he would love Peyton more than her mother had ever professed to.

“Yeah…that was…unexpected.” I cleared a space on the table and pulled up a chair, looking at our prisoner.

Rhiannon turned then, and her eyes lit up when saw him. “Erik!”

I stared at her, openmouthed. “You know him?”

“Know him? Leo and I double-dated with him and his girlfriend several times.” She suddenly dropped to a chair. “What the hell was going on out there?”

There was no way to avoid telling her. “This guy and three others came to kidnap the two of us. I’m not sure who the hell sent them-”

Rhiannon paled. “Erik is a day-runner for Geoffrey, just like Leo.”

Erik snorted. “Leo ain’t no day-runner anymore.”

A knot in the pit of my stomach churned. “What do you mean?”

“Geoffrey turned Leo. He’s one of the vamps now.”

“Vampire?” Rhiannon deflated, a look of horror on her face. “You mean…”

“I mean, Geoffrey gave him what he wanted.” Erik spit on the floor, then shivered. “It’s cold, can you give me a blanket or something?”

“You tried to kill us, and you want a blanket because you’re cold?” He had balls, that much I’d say for him.

He shrugged. “Believe what you want. I wasn’t sent here to kill you. I was sent here to take you and Rio back to the boss men.”

“Rio?” Now I was confused.

Rhiannon bit her lip, tears forming in her eyes. But she left them unshed. “That’s what my nickname was among Leo’s friends.” She examined him, shaking her head. “I can’t believe it. Leo’s really a vampire now?”

Erik let out a little sigh. He sounded almost disappointed. “Yeah. Geoffrey turned him yesterday. And that means, no more hanging out together. Leo already thinks he’s better than us. Geoffrey promised him that if he served him faithfully, he’d turn him, and now that it’s happened Leo’s already flying high on the pig.”

I smelled sour grapes. Maybe we could turn this to our advantage. “What happens to you if you go back without us? Geoffrey was smart enough to outfit you with grenades. Obviously he knew we wouldn’t go without a fight.”

Erik shivered. “The Master’s not going to be pleased.”

I motioned to Kaylin. “Get a blanket, would you?” Then, casually, I turned back to Erik. “Maybe he won’t do a thing. Or maybe…he’ll give you to Leo to play with. How is Leo handling the whole vampire thing, so far? He thirsty? I hear newborn vamps have an incredible thirst and they don’t care who they suckle from.”

Erik nodded, paling. “Yeah, he’s been working Geoffrey’s stable, all right.” He turned to where he must have guessed Rhiannon stood. “Honestly, I didn’t want to bring you in. Leo’s pissed at you right now, but he said he’s willing to take you back if you apologize. And you”-he looked in the direction of my voice-“he hates. He told me…Never mind.”

I could just imagine what Leo had said about me. I’d rather be locked in a room with Lannan any day now that I knew Leo had gone over to the Crimson Court. He wouldn’t last long, though, if he kept up his snotty attitude.

“Yeah, I know what he thinks of me. What does Geoffrey want with me?” As if I didn’t know. I had the feeling that our prestigious Regent was looking to turn me as per his original plan.

“He doesn’t tell his day-runners all his plans.” He squirmed a little as Kaylin dropped the blanket over him, but then his teeth stopped chattering. “What are you going to do with me? You going to kill me, too?”

“See, we have a problem here, Erik. We can’t really let you go back to Geoffrey now, can we? Or maybe…maybe we can.” I circled him, longing to give him a punch or to twist his hair or pinch him-anything to pay back what he’d threatened to do to Peyton.

“Send him back as a messenger?” Kaylin wasn’t as hesitant as I was. He reached out and gave Erik a sharp slap on the cheek. “Buck up, old boy. Maybe you won’t die after all. At least not until Leo gets his fangs in you.”

“Yeah, maybe he won’t die right away.” I nodded. “Erik, listen to me.” I leaned down and spoke gently into his left ear. “Does Lainule know that Geoffrey sent you here?” I watched him squirm as he tried to avoid my breath hovering around his neck. I reached out and played with the jugular vein. “My lover Grieve could easily take a nip out of you. Or Lannan, perhaps. You know we have Lannan Altos on our side?”

“Please, not that freak. Though I don’t know if Leo’s going to be much better.” Erik fidgeted and then his head lolled forward and his voice was soft but clear. “No, the Summer Queen doesn’t know about this. Geoffrey told me to keep it all on the down-low. That we weren’t to let anybody know what we were doing. She-they-had a big argument the other night. I heard them. She threatened to stake him and he ordered her out of his mansion.”

So there was trouble in paradise.

“Do you know why they were fighting?”

“Not really, but it was about you. She was saying they’d made a huge mistake. Geoffrey was yelling at her, saying that if she had let him take you by force, the plan would have gone off without a hitch.” He stopped, then breathed very slowly. “Are you going to kill me? You might as well. Geoffrey will know I talked, and he’ll punish me. Or he’ll give me to Leo, who’s going to be pissed out of his mind that I’m coming back without Rio.”

“You’re quite the loyalist.” Rhiannon walked over and gave his leg a sharp nudge with her toe. “I’m disappointed in you, Erik. I thought we were friends.”

Erik shrugged. “Day-runners have no friends. You should have figured that out by now. We’re bound to our masters and there’s no getting away. The only way out is either to become a vampire, if they’ll agree to it, or a bloodwhore, or die.”

Rhia knelt by his side and lightly put her hand on his knee. “Leo always planned on this, didn’t he? He wasn’t doing it just for the money.” Her voice sounded strained, and I realized that all her illusions about Leo were crashing to the floor. Even if he wasn’t her true love, she had loved him. And betrayal hurt.

Erik hung his head again and when he spoke, I had the feeling he genuinely regretted what he was saying. “Yeah…he told me when he first started that he wanted to be a vamp. He told me he wanted the power and money and respect that came with it. When he met you, he started talking about how he planned on first becoming a vampire and then bringing you over to be with him.” He coughed, adding, “Rio, he really does love you…in his own way.”

“You mean he’s wants to possess me. He doesn’t give a damn about what I think. He wants me under his control. I’ll bet…you said he’s going through Geoffrey’s stable. You don’t just mean he’s drinking from the bloodwhores, do you? He’s fucking every woman he can, isn’t he? Am I wrong?”

After a pause, Erik shook his head. “No. You’ve got him pegged.”

I motioned to the others and we moved away where he couldn’t hear us. Being a yummanii, he wouldn’t have exceptional hearing. As we gathered in the far end of the room, I glanced back at our bound, blindfolded prisoner.

“What do we do with him? We have two choices. Kill him or send him back. Ten to one, if we set him free he’s going to bolt, try to run. Geoffrey and Leo will kill him.” For the first time, I actually wished Lannan was awake. We could use a vampire’s input on this. “We could keep him till Lannan wakes and ask him, but Geoffrey will know something’s wrong.”

“No, he won’t.” Kaylin shook his head. “He won’t know anything is amiss until tonight because Geoffrey-and Leo-have to sleep during the daytime. They’ll be aware of something going on when they wake to discover Erik and his cronies aren’t back, but there’s not a damned thing they can do through today. I say we keep him here. Tonight we’ll ask Lannan for his opinion.”

We headed back to the bound day-runner. “So, you know Lannan Altos? If we ask him what to do with you, what’s he going to tell us?”

Erik paled even further and struggled a little. “Lannan Altos is a freak. You’re going to hand me over to him? Why don’t you just kill me now and get it over with?”

Curious and about out of patience, I tapped him on the shoulder. “Tell me something, Erik. Haven’t you ever wanted to be a vampire? Why did you become a day-runner in the first place?”

His answer took me by surprise. “My mother was sick, and we couldn’t afford her medicine. I couldn’t work three jobs to pay the rent, keep her in the drugs that made her last year bearable, and be there for her in the evenings. So I asked Geoffrey if he’d take me on as a day-runner. I worked damned hard and soon he was paying me really well. By the time my mother died, I realized there was no getting out, so I stayed.”

“Do you have a girlfriend, Erik?”

Rhiannon shook her head. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen him with the same girl twice, have I?”

“Nah. I knew better than to get involved. You get entangled, fall in love, and Geoffrey and his cronies have something to hold over your head. I decided it was better to stay single. Live for the day and enjoy what I could. That way, if he got pissed at me, I would be the only one to pay for it.”

Angry, because I was beginning to like him despite what had happened, I motioned to Kaylin. “Take him in a different room and make sure he’s covered up from the cold. Get him something to eat.”

As Kaylin and Chatter lifted the chair and carried Erik out of the room, I glanced at the clock. It was nearly one thirty. “Kaylin and Rhiannon and I had better get a move on if we expect to drive up to Monroe to meet Ysandra. Rhia, get your coat. We’ll take Kaylin’s car.” I’d rather take Favonis but it was too recognizable. And after our little tiff with the day-runners, I had no desire to be a speeding target.

While waiting for Kaylin to return, Grieve and I slipped off in one of the side rooms. He took me in his arms and I slid my hands along his skin. We’d had very little privacy since coming here and I wanted him-here, now, inside me.

He pressed his lips to my forehead as I listened to the beating of his heart. “Cicely-be cautious. Please. I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t. No matter what, you’ll never lose me.” My emotions threatening to break through, a tear slid down my face as I gazed into his eyes. His long platinum hair coiled down to his shoulders and for a moment, I could almost see the cornflower blue his eyes had been before Myst sunk her teeth into him.

“You’re my world.” His lips sought mine and I lost myself in their soft touch as his tongue gently explored my mouth. And then the passion rose and we were clutching one another, his hands slipping beneath my shirt as my breath came in ragged pants.

“I want you. Now…I need you.” My heart was beating a million miles a second as his hands stoked the fire that raged between my legs, in my breasts, throughout my body.

He slid one knee between my thighs and I rubbed against it, my clit aching for his touch, my pussy wet and hungry for his girth.

“How long do we have?”

“Five minutes, if that.” But even as I spoke, I unzipped my jeans and shoved them down, turning to lean against the wall. Grieve slid one hand around to stroke my clit and the ache rumbled through my belly as he drove his cock inside of me, from behind, plunging between the slick folds of my cunt. I tried to keep quiet but couldn’t help let out a soft moan as he began to thrust-at first slow but then driving himself into me again and again, as he pounded deeper and deeper into my depths.

“You are mine, Cicely Waters. You’re mine, and no one will ever take you away from me. I’ll kill any man who touches you. And I’ll rip out Altos’s heart if he dares to hurt you.”

And right then, I knew he would. Grieve would let the dark side of the Indigo Court out to wreak havoc if Lannan tried to fuck me again.

But thoughts of Lannan and retribution vanished as Grieve stroked me into a frenzy. I bit down on the strap of my purse, longing to scream, longing to let loose and echo my hunger from the ceilings. But before I found my voice, before it became impossible to keep silent, I suddenly felt myself at the precipice, and as Grieve let out a long, slow groan-coming deep within me-I tumbled over the edge, my body jolting with the force of our orgasm.