I stumbled over one of the dead Cambyra, but managed to catch myself before I fell. I looked up to see Luna screaming as one of the Shadow Hunters fastened on her shoulder with his teeth. Zoey was beating on the creature’s back, and Peyton was racing over to her side. Kaylin was off somewhere else, embroiled in another battle.

I shook my thoughts clear and leaped over the body in front of me, racing in to plant the silver dagger deep in the Shadow Hunter’s shoulder. This time no bloodlust overwhelmed me, but my own desire to see these freaks dead took over. I stabbed him several times, twisting the knife as I plunged it in up to the hilt.

The Shadow Hunter stumbled, falling to his knees, and without a single hesitation, Luna brought out a short dirk and planted it in his forehead. She yanked the blade out again and the Shadow Hunter gurgled and fell forward, hitting the floor with a slick thud. I shoved him out of the way with my foot and turned to find the next one.

And on we went, driving through. There had been at least twenty of them coming through the door, and who knew how many more behind them, and so we fought through the mob, one after another, losing count. Peyton, Luna, Zoey, and I formed a quartet, moving in from all sides, our daggers on overtime.

At one point, we dropped a Shadow Hunter just in time to see another attacking Rex. He was doing his best to fend off the creature and looked about to shift, except I knew that even in his cougar form he wouldn’t be able to fight the Shadow Hunter. It transformed into the true monster it was and bit down on his leg, ripping a chunk of flesh from the bone. Rex screamed and toppled, and the four of us moved in. Peyton jumped in front of her father, trying to protect him, as I attacked from the side.

When they were in their natural form, the Shadow Hunters were far more deadly, albeit with less choice in weaponry. I landed the dagger in its shoulder, plunging deep into the muscle. Zoey swiped it down the hindquarters, leaving a nasty trail, and Luna began to sing a charm that made the blood flow much more quickly. The Shadow Hunter, bleeding out, turned on us, mouth gaping wide, wicked teeth razor sharp and serrated.

I glanced at Rex. He was near the sideboard, and there was room beneath it for him to hide. I motioned to the heavy furniture. “Get beneath it, bind up your wounds. I know it hurts, but get under there.” He’d be safer out of the way, and his leg was bleeding like a stuck pig.

Peyton pushed him under, shoving her bandanna in his hand. “Use this. Please don’t faint on us. You have to take care of yourself until we’re done. Keep yourself alive.”

She turned back and we whaled on the Shadow Hunter, stabbing the beast over and over until it broke away, looking for someplace to hide. But at that moment, a couple of shurikens came singing through the air, striking it in the forehead between the eyes. The creature collapsed before it could make it another foot. Kaylin dashed over, grabbed up the shurikens, stopped to give an astonished Luna a quick kiss, then raced off again.

Peyton made certain that Rex had bound up his wound and then the four of us pressed on. We swung back into the fray. I caught sight of Rhiannon and Chatter, working in tandem, creating fireballs to scorch and disrupt the Shadow Hunters. Grieve was still in wolf form, attacking as he could. Wrath and Lainule were working with the Fae. Lannan and Regina were yucking it up over another dead body, and the vampires were still scuffling. And Ysandra and her witches surrounded three of the Shadow Hunters, finishing them off with a well-placed lightning bolt.

The dizzying scent of blood was too much. I staggered over to an urn and, using it to lean on, upchucked everything I’d eaten that day. The sour smell filled my nose, and my mouth felt like I’d eaten rotten eggs, but my stomach felt better. I wiped my lips on my sleeve and turned around. One last shriek echoed through the room, and then, without warning, we were standing alone, no one left to fight.

The sound of heavy breathing and an occasional moan filled the room as I stared over the carnage. It was hard to tell how many were dead.

I quickly scanned for my friends—everyone had made it, though Rex looked worse for the wear. It was hard to tell where our enemies’ blood left off and our own took up. The vampires gathered around Lannan, and Lainule called for the Fae to line up. Ysandra snapped her fingers and the Consortium members still alive joined her. We added up our losses.

Twenty vampires were missing. No doubt they’d been staked. And five of the twelve Fae warriors were dead. Two more were severely wounded and I doubted they’d make it. Five members of the Consortium team were dead.

Grieve counted the bodies of the Shadow Hunters. He looked up, his face grim. “Thirty-five. We lost thirty…possibly thirty-two,” he added, glancing at the wounded men. “It’s bad but not as bad as it could have been.”

Lannan motioned for his remaining men to begin separating the bodies. “Make certain the Shadow Hunters are truly dead. Then take the remaining Fae warriors and scour the grounds. Nobody goes unattended. Make certain our defenses are back in order.”

As they began the gruesome work of cleaning up the dead, we wearily filed back into our planning room. We were all covered with blood and I noticed more than one vampire’s nose twitching as we walked by. But to give them credit, they didn’t make a move.

I was at the back of the line heading into the room when Lannan stopped me. I turned to him, still caught up in the adrenaline surge of the battle. He stared at me for a long moment, then pushed me against the wall, his tongue slamming into my mouth as he spread my legs with his knees.

My blood ran hot at his touch. I pushed against him, not wanting to feel aroused, but the adrenaline surging through my body was desperate for a release. “Lannan, stop. Grieve will kill you. Especially with emotions running so high. And frankly, though I wouldn’t weep over your death, we need you right now.”

“You need me right now,” he said, his hand pressing against my breasts. “Admit it. You need me. You need to fuck and you need to fuck hard. You don’t want love right now, you want pure carnality. Pure lust, to work off the strain of battle.” His hand slid down to unzip my jeans.

“No, stop it—stop.” My body responded, but my anger was just as real. “Don’t touch me.”

Lannan slid me along the wall, around the corner. His men went about their work, never once looking up at us. But I could see the Fae staring at me, and I motioned to them. They began to head our way.

“Keep it up and Grieve won’t need to put a stop to this.” I bit his lip, drawing blood, and without thinking, licked the drop that welled up off his mouth.

He snarled, jamming his hands down my pants. I could feel his fingers oh so near me, and my body wanted to squirm, to assist him, but before I could battle it out in my mind, one of the warriors shoved him away from me. I dropped to the floor, tears of desire and of humiliation spilling over.

The warrior helped me up and turned to Lannan, who was staring at him with pure fury. But he simply shook that gorgeous mane of golden hair back into place and, giving me a long look, whispered, “We aren’t finished with this, Cicely. We aren’t done by a long shot.” And then, adjusting his bloody clothing, he turned and walked around the corner.

“Thank you.” I looked up at the Fae guard who was staring at me with what looked like pity. “Thank you. I…I…”

“Go now. Your friends await, Mistress of the Owls. Go and be safe.”

His niceness eating a hole in my heart, I smiled faintly and grabbed his hand, pressing it to my cheek. “You too. He will seek any way he can to punish you for helping me. And Lannan…as much as he can help, he can hurt.”

“Remember, I came through the routing of the Summer barrow. I have fought darker demons than Altos, and I am still alive. Go now.” And with that, he turned, and I walked into the boardroom. Everyone was milling around, and a servant had brought food, hot coffee, and a first-aid kit.

Rex was lying on the table, Peyton by his side, holding his hand. The chunk the Shadow Hunter had bitten out of his leg was long gone, and there would be a nasty scar, but hopefully it would heal without getting infected. A member of the Consortium was examining the wound and whispering healing charms over it while dousing it with antiseptic and preparing a bandage.

I looked over at Lannan. He caught my gaze and those dark eyes of his drew me in. Shivering, I turned away to see who all had been hurt.

We all were covered with bruises and scratches, and I had a nasty bite in my shoulder, but my enemy hadn’t managed to rip flesh out of me. As I stripped off my shirt, sitting there in my bra, waiting for the healer to attend me, somebody pressed a cup of coffee in my hand, along with a couple of cookies. My mouth felt dry and fuzzy, and I wanted to go rinse it, but before I could, weariness hit me like a sledgehammer and I hung my head, staring at my feet.

We were managing to stay alive, and we’d taken out a sizable number of Myst’s guards—but at a great cost. We’d lost almost as many of our own. I looked up, staring at the others with a bleak heart. It was time to pick up the pieces and decide our next move.

“What next? What the fuck do we do next?”

“We go down to the station and I make my announcement. We have to do it tonight or we’ll never get another chance. Not after this fiasco.” Lannan’s voice was clear, showing none of the antagonism he’d aimed at me only a few minutes ago. I was beginning to think he was bipolar.

I let out a long sigh. “And then?” But I knew what came after that. We would sleep, and tomorrow we would perform the ritual on Grieve. And maybe, with a little luck, the tide would turn and something would go our way for once.

Lainule moved to my side. She rested her hand on my good shoulder and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “You must see that Grieve maintains control. I can only hope this ritual works. Much depends on it.”

Startled, I turned. “You know what we’re planning?”

She nodded. “Wrath told me. Cicely, so much more depends on you and Grieve than you realize. And on Chatter and Rhiannon, too. The four of you must stay alive, no matter the cost. Before, there were other options, but now…those are gone. You four are the hope for the future. Remember that. Be safe. Do what you need to in order to stay alive. Anything you need to.” With that pointed bit of advice, she moved away again, leaving me to wonder how much worse things could get.

Chapter 17

We had to clean up before we could head to the radio station, and so I took my third shower of the day. Grieve came in with me, for which I was both grateful and nervous. I didn’t tell him about Lannan’s kiss. We were under enough pressure as it was, and if he knew Lannan had been groping me again, well, that would just put the nail in the coffin. Or the stake in the vampire.

“Where did they put the cats? I can’t stand to think of them in danger from Lannan’s people.” Cats didn’t like vampires. They had good reason.

Grieve smiled softly as he washed my hair. “Worry not about the furry creatures. Luna has been given a large suite and they’re all in there with her, safe and sound. I have to admit, for all of his folly, Altos seems to like Luna—he treats her with a respect that surprises me. I saw it while you were out of the room today.”

“She has a way of inspiring that in both man and beast.” I paused, my hands on the knobs of the shower. “I was worried she might be too easily hurt, too vulnerable, but I have the feeling she has a lot more power than I gave her credit for. It’s a quiet energy but runs strong in her.”

As I turned off the water and we dried off, I wanted nothing more than to take another nap. I was bone-weary, more tired than I’d ever been. The battle had been draining, even with allies, and the adrenaline that had been coursing through my body was now just as quickly departing.

I leaned against the wall, trying to focus. “I need more coffee or something.”

Grieve pulled me over to the bed.

As much as I loved him, as turned on as I’d been a half hour before, now I couldn’t muster up enough oomph to even think about sex. “I’m sorry, I just don’t have the energy—”

“No, my love. That’s not what I had in mind.” He sat me down and took my hands. “I taught you many things when you were little. Now I will teach you again. You are half–Cambyra Fae. You have the blood of a king in your veins. You will have some of the powers of the Fae, but you have to learn how to call upon them, to activate them.”

I waited, letting him hold my hands, drifting on his words. I was so sleepy, I just wanted to sail out to sea, to glide on the winds, to let the currents take me where they desired.

“Close your eyes. Listen to my voice. Follow me down, into the energy, into the slipstream.”

I followed his instructions, slipping into a light trance, letting his voice lead me into a somnolent state. The energy swirled around us, light whisperings on the slipstream, and I listened as they fluttered past, the light pattering of butterfly wings on the current.

Grieve’s voice echoed past. “Now enter the slipstream and follow me inward. Follow the trail I leave.”

And so I dove into the slipstream, and there it was, the trail of lights that signaled his energy, the trail of bread crumbs leading me onward. I spiraled and looped, the wind racing through my hair, through my thoughts, clearing the cobwebs out, refreshing me. We were running, racing through the slipstream, letting it carry us along, and for one moment, everything felt perfect.

“Now jump…follow me. Keep your eyes closed.”

I jumped. And the scent around me was of autumn and bonfires, and I felt it lure me in because it was Grieve’s energy. He was no longer the sweet freshly mown grass of summer, but the sound of crisp autumn leaves beneath my feet, and the scent of rain on cedars, and his lips tasted like sweet pumpkin and cinnamon sticks. I embraced his change, sank into it, realizing he was no longer of the Summer Court, but neither did Winter fully claim him. He was balanced between the two realms, walking a thin line.