Night Veil (43 page)
Authors: Yasmine Galenorn
“I’m afraid.” A thin river of regret ran through me and I glanced up at Kaylin. “I’m afraid this blade can change who I am.”
“Only if you allow it to. Take charge. You have to be the one to rule. You cannot allow it to have its head—just like breaking a horse. You have to maintain control.” He leaned over me. “We need every advantage we can get to stop them. You have to be strong, Cicely. You have to give a little of yourself—not all, not what Geoffrey and Lainule were asking—but a little . . . in order to help win this war. You can’t remain the same and come through it unscathed. None of us can.”
I slowly inhaled, hefting the lightweight blade in my hand, feeling the rushing waves of destructive joy run through me. “I know. I know that we’re not coming out of this without some damage.” Staring at the blade, I understood—it would bring me in touch with who I used to be, who I was a lifetime ago, as Myst’s daughter. It would take me to the same place Geoffrey wanted me to go, but without losing all of who I’d become in the process.
“I’ll do it. I will carry the blade.”
A light knock on the door and my wolf whimpered, excited. “Please, go. Give us just a moment and we’ll be down.”
Grieve came in, his eyes glimmering with stars against their blackened background. “We have little time. They’re approaching the house. Cicely, I’m not sure how you did it, but I know you’re responsible for Wrath freeing me. I hate Lannan with a passion, but I will fight alongside him now, and do my best to control my nature.”
He swept me up in his arms and I melted against him, pressing my head to his heart, shuddering in the warmth of his embrace. I wanted him, then—there, without pretense. Wanted to be with him forever, wanted to be his and only his, to run away from the war and live in a quiet place where we could settle in and just be happy.
“The enemy is storming our gates, my love,” I whispered. “Myst has come to play and she’s looking for you.”
“I won’t let her take me back.” He pressed his lips to mine and kissed me. I could have lived within his kiss forever, but there was no time.
“Let’s go—we can’t let the others down.”
I took his hand, then stopped and turned. “I’m sorry—I’m sorry I wasn’t ready when you asked me so many years ago. I’m sorry that . . . I needed time to know how I felt.”
He shook his head. “I asked too soon. You were very young. I should have known better. I just hoped you would have remembered, but no matter now. We’ll make it through, Cicely. We’re survivors. We’ll have our time.”
And then we were headed down the stairs, racing to meet the oncoming storm.
“Where are they?” I swung into the kitchen, where the rest of them were, but realized I’d just interrupted an argument. “What’s going on?”
“Geoffrey just called me,” Leo said. “He told me what happened. It appears I’m being forced to choose. He’s given me an ultimatum.”
“You have to pick sides.” I knew it would come to this.
He nodded, staring at me with ill-disguised anger. “Yeah, thanks to you. I know where my strengths lie, and it’s not with you and your war. Rhiannon, you’re my fiancée. Kaylin—you were my friend first. Choose. Come with me and fight this war in a sane manner. Lainule and Geoffrey had a plan, and Cicely fucked it up.”
“I chose not to hand my life over to Geoffrey—I chose not to let him turn me into a monster. That is hardly fucking things up, in my opinion. But choose—by all means. If you truly believe that I should have sacrificed myself on the altar for the vampires, then go with Leo—because you won’t be of help here.”
Rhiannon, bitter tears streaking her cheeks, shook her head. “No. I stand by Cicely—Myst took my mother. And I won’t see her claim Cicely by default.”
“I can’t believe you’re choosing your cousin over me. So be it, then. But don’t come crawling back to me when you’re alone and scared. Because I won’t play second fiddle to some freak.” He turned to Kaylin. “What about you?”
Kaylin’s face clouded over. “Leo, dude, your ego’s speaking. You’d rather be a little fish in a big frying pan than a little fish in a little frying pan . . . either way, you’re going to get your fins burned.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Just this: No matter how hard you try, Geoffrey’s not going to turn you. That’s what you want, isn’t it? I’ve been watching you for some time now. You crave power, and if it takes becoming one of the vamps, you thought why not? But Geoffrey won’t turn you. And if he hasn’t offered by now, he’s not going to. With us, you aren’t skilled enough to be one of the up-front fighters—and you aren’t content with what you
can
do to help. You’ll never be happy until you can accept who you are.”
can
do to help. You’ll never be happy until you can accept who you are.”
“Fuck that shit.” Leo turned and, jamming his coat on, headed toward the front door. “I’ll pick up my things later,” he called over his shoulder. “If you are still alive to give them to me.” Grabbing Bart’s carrier, he slammed out the front door with the Maine Coon.
“Crap.” I turned to the others. “We meet the Indigo Court outside. They’ll tear down the house if we let them in here.”
“We have another choice. We can make a run for it, move to a new location and plan out what we’re going to do.” Kaylin stopped my protest. “Before you say
no
, think about it: There are at least a dozen Shadow Hunters out there. They could have made a move earlier but were waiting—they were waiting for you to get home, Cicely.”
no
, think about it: There are at least a dozen Shadow Hunters out there. They could have made a move earlier but were waiting—they were waiting for you to get home, Cicely.”
He glanced out the window. “I can’t see any of them now. But you can bet that they haven’t faded back into the forest.”
“Where would we go?” Rhiannon whispered.
But then, even as she spoke, the kitchen door slammed open and two of the Shadow Hunters broke through. At the same time, Lannan came racing through the front door, iron stakes in hand.
I was nearest the living room, and I reached out and grabbed one of the stakes from him as he passed by. He tossed the others to Kaylin, Peyton, and Rhiannon, keeping one for himself. Luna, looking horrified, grabbed up a flute, and my first thought was,
You aren’t going to charm these savage beasts with music
, but the sound that came out of her instrument was low and sultry and quickened my blood. I stared at her, realizing she was casting a charm over all of us—a fighting charm.
You aren’t going to charm these savage beasts with music
, but the sound that came out of her instrument was low and sultry and quickened my blood. I stared at her, realizing she was casting a charm over all of us—a fighting charm.
And then there was no more time to stare because one of the Shadow Hunters was staring me in the face. I swung, striking with the obsidian blade. The blade seemed to adjust my aim and I managed a clean swipe along the Shadow Hunter’s arm. He let out a shriek, unlike any I’d heard when attacking with my switchblade, and a sudden fountain of blood sprung up and began to bubble over onto the floor.
The knife made the wound worse than it normally would have. I glanced at the blade and felt a rush of joy, powerful and strong, as the pain from the Shadow Hunter raced through me and I leaned my head back and laughed, undulating a horrible yipping cry through the kitchen.
The Shadow Hunter took a long look at me as I glared at him, the power of death flushing my cheeks. I held the power to destroy in my hands. I held the power of the night and the dark and the shimmering blades that ripped out hearts and tore apart the chest. Another swipe and his arm was hanging from a thread and he went down, frothing at the mouth, shivering as the blood spilled across the floor in an orgasm of ripples.
I turned to the second Shadow Hunter, who had engaged Kaylin. He saw me swing in his direction and yelped, racing for the door. I leaped over the dying Indigo Fae and gave chase.
“Cicely!”
“Where are you going?”
The voices were faint, behind me, mere annoyances. I had my enemy within range, and nothing would stop me from destroying him. I gasped as the cold hit my lungs but flew down the steps, keeping up with the creature that raced on ahead of me. He would not escape—no one did. No one ever escaped Myst’s daughter when she chose her target.
Cicely—can you hear me? Cicely—slow down. Wait for the others!
But I didn’t want to listen. Ulean howled along beside me as the yard went by in a blur and I raced directly into the forest. My blade sang, demanding blood, and I had to feed her. She was thirsty and so was I.
And then I saw him coming toward me, a bigger member of Myst’s Court—one of her guards, no doubt. I let my body take over and instinct kicked in as I went sailing head over heels and landed nose-to-nose with him. I swept the blade across his chest before he could move, and he shrieked.
Laughing, I hoisted the iron spike in my other hand and leaned back. My blade was feeding; let it feed well, the spike would provide it with much blood. He tried to fight back, tried to wave me off, but I plunged the tip through his chest, ramming it into the bone, and blood spread across the snow like a crimson rose.
As he fell, I went down by his side and pressed my face to his wound, rubbing my cheeks in his blood. I dipped the blade into the hollow next to the spike and—as he still screamed, though much, much fainter—I let the blade feed in the steaming pool.
“Cicely!”
The voice was not Ulean’s, and harder to ignore.
“Cicely Waters, stand before your father!”
Wrath’s voice broke through where Ulean’s could not, and I slowly raised my head, my surroundings coming into focus. Oh fucking hell! I was over the border—but then again, they’d broken through the wards, so did it matter?
“Get your ass off the ground and finish him off like an honorable opponent. The Indigo Court may have no honor, but
we do
.” He reached out and snatched the blade from my hand. “That should make it easier.”
we do
.” He reached out and snatched the blade from my hand. “That should make it easier.”
I forced myself to my feet, feeling the sticky mess on my face. My breath was sour with his blood—I’d been licking it up. Queasy, I turned back to my opponent and realized he was still alive, and suffering terribly. I grabbed the end of the stake and, feeling faint, shoved it through him, ending his life.
Without a word, I turned to my father and, shaking, allowed him to grab me around the waist. The next thing I knew, the yard was a blur again as we raced faster than even Chatter and Grieve could.
Back at the house, I saw Kaylin and Chatter fighting one of the Shadow Hunters. Another was trying to get near Rhiannon, but she was holding him off with a firestorm. Luna was treating a wound on Peyton’s arm that was bleeding profusely. Grieve was finishing off another one of the Vampiric Fae.
“We can’t hold the house,” I said roughly. “We can’t hold it. We’re vulnerable as long as we live here. Even if we take out this group, another will take its place. Until we can strike at the heart of their Court, we’ll just keep getting eroded away by insurgent attacks. There is great power here, but we have no ability to tap into it. Yet.”
“You’re right.” Lannan came up beside me. “You can’t hold it. Best to fall back, regroup, and strategize.”
“Where can we go? We can’t go to Peyton’s house—Anadey has linked herself to Geoffrey and Lainule.”
Lannan let out a long breath. “For now, you may come to my place. All of you. You cannot stay there—that would not be wise, but you may come.”
And then Rhiannon raced over to Luna and was shouting frantically to her. Luna nodded and ran into the house, as Rhia motioned to me.
“The house, the house is on fire. Do you have anything in there? Do you have your necklace and fan?”
I nodded. “Yes, I have them with me. But all your things—all of our memories—where’s the fire?”
Just then, Luna came out leading a string of cats, following behind her, as she played a tune, leading them like the piper. Rhia jogged over and, together with Chatter and Grieve, grabbed up all seven of them.
I pulled out my keys. We sprinted around front and I opened the back door to Favonis, and we piled the cats in there. Luna crawled in with them, playing to charm them into a lulling sleep.
Turning to Rhia I said, “Where’s the fire? I don’t see the fire.”
“I saw it—I know I saw it—”
As she gestured frantically, a sudden fireball appeared from the back and the roof lit up. The others raced around, Peyton and Kaylin and Wrath, and we watched as the flames engulfed the roof of the Veil House.
“Who set it on fire?”
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