"I didn't sleep so well myself. I had a little adventure out near the diner. Not one I care to repeat." As we headed into the kitchen and she poured me a cup of tea, I told her about my experience at the motel.
We settled in at the big oak table and Rhiannon let out a long sigh. "I think the men who followed you might have been from the Lupa Clan. Remember, lycanthropes have a strong dislike and distrust of the magic-born and they've been on edge lately. The whole town has. And whatever that thing in the shadows was . . . I don't know. All I know is that nobody hangs out after dark anymore except the vamps."
"What the hell is happening, Rhia?"
"It's all over town. The kids at the school feel it. I can tell--I watch them. They hurry to their classes, as if they don't want to be outside too long."
Rhiannon worked at the New Forest Conservatory, one of several academies across the country for the gifted. And by gifted, I mean advanced students with supernatural talents, who aren't entirely human. Mostly the magic-born. Some vampires, a few Fae. The Weres usually kept to themselves.
I stared at my cup. "This is a nice friendly street, with nice friendly neighbors. Everything looked so normal as I drove across town today."
Rhiannon bit her lip as if she was trying to decide how much to say. "Be cautious, Cicely. You actually use your powers, unlike me. I think whatever this thing is, it eats magic, like food. People have gone missing, people have died. I don't know if Heather told you on the phone, but a number of members of the Thirteen Moons Society have vanished or turned up dead."
I closed my eyes and inhaled deeply. The faint taste of leather and sweat and passion. And something behind it. Magic rode the currents. Shadow magic, spider magic, blood magic. The taste of sweet poison and wine. The energy swept over me like a web, muting my ability to sense my touchstone. Whatever this force was, it was strong. Powerful. Old.
Dizzy, I glanced at her. "Did Marta say anything about what's going on? And by the way, I'll need to talk to her lawyer, if Heather was right and I inherited her business."
"Oh, you are her beneficiary, all right. I'll give you his name and you can talk to him tomorrow." Rhiannon shrugged. "The past six months, Marta closed down. She kept to herself a lot, and now she's dead. In the past three months, five members of the Society vanished without a trace, and three others are dead."
"Fucking A. That leaves . . ."
"Four. There are only four left of the local group. Rupert and Tyne. LeAnn, and Heather. And now Heather's gone. And it's not just the magic-born, but townsfolk. Marta mentioned a few weeks ago that she was getting a lot of business for protection charms and amulets. People are afraid."
She was whispering, but that wouldn't stop prying ears. There were always creatures listening. The wind carried secrets. I could hear them.
"Whatever attacked me, whatever's behind the shift in this town, it's hiding in the ravine out there. And the woods beyond." I frowned, thinking. "When was the last time you went into the forest? Or Heather, that you know of?"
She thought for a moment, then said, "At least a couple of years for me. As far as my mother . . . I don't know. She does a lot of wildcrafting in the forest. I doubt if it's been more than a few months. The energy was slow to show itself at first, like a storm gathering offshore. Nobody thought it would stick around. I guess we didn't take it seriously. And then, one day a few months ago, we woke up and the town was engulfed in a shadow. Shortly after that, the Society started to fall apart. People began to vanish."
"Heather said Marta's throat had been ripped apart, she'd been drained of blood. But your mother also said she didn't think it was the vamps that did it. What about you? What do you think? I know the bloodsuckers aren't to blame for everything, but when trouble comes home to roost in a supernatural way, nine times out of ten vampires are involved."
Rhiannon blushed. "Honestly? No, I don't believe they did it. My boyfriend, Leo, is a day runner for Geoffrey. And while Geoffrey admits that the energy feels similar to his people's, he insists that they aren't to blame for what's been going on."
That was news. First that Rhiannon had a boyfriend--she'd always been rather shy--and second, that she was dating someone who worked for the vamps.
The Vein Lords--also known as the Crimson Court--kept to themselves for the most part, but on occasion, they mingled with people. As in socially, not a feeding frenzy. They tended to hang out with the magic-born more than anybody else. The vamps had their bloodwhores, but most of them were willing humans, only too happy to play host for their masters.
My aunt and cousin had kept me abreast of the latest exploits of the bite-me set over the course of our phone calls and my brief visits home.
"But can we believe Geoffrey? I'm not up to snuff on vampire lore, but they are predators. There's nothing to say they can't lie."
"I think we can take his word for it. The Vampire Nation has a lot to lose if they're lying. They're stronger than we are, but they are stuck in stasis half the time, and the retaliation would be horrible if they turned on their word. No, our problem is hiding out there.
"No." She shook her head and glanced out the kitchen window. "Whatever caused those deaths, and the deaths of our Society members, whatever is taking the people of New Forest, isn't human. And I don't think it ever was."
"Then I guess our next step is to search the forest, and for me to contact Grieve. Do you have anybody that can help us? Maybe your boyfriend?"
She let out a long sigh and nodded. "I haven't talked to him about Heather yet, because his sister was one of the Society members and she vanished, too. And he was studying wortcunning--herbal lore--with Heather. She really liked him and ever since Elise vanished, Heather acted as kind of a buffer for him--almost like his aunt. I didn't want to put him through the pain of losing someone all over again until I knew for sure. But I guess . . . do you think she's really gone? Could I be wrong?"
I hated breaking the fragile hope in her voice, but right now, we needed to face reality. "Yeah, and if we don't find her soon, who knows if we'll ever have the chance? You call Leo while I get my things from the car and take a shower. Then we'll bundle up, and head out to the woods to see what we can find."
And just like that, without ceremony or even time to sit and chat, I was home.
Chapter 3
While Rhiannon called Leo, I headed upstairs to my mother's old room, to unpack and take a shower. The incident at the hotel had made me so uneasy that I'd slept in my clothes, not wanting to be caught unprepared. After two days on the road, I was overripe and ready to hose myself off.
The thought of looking for Grieve weighed heavily on my heart, but I had to face him sometime. The memory of his skin against mine, of his lips against my lips, flashed through my mind and I bit back my heartache.