Yasmine Galenorn - Night Seeker

The snow grew heavier the farther we got from New Forest. We were headed east, toward the mountains, but Myst’s reach was extending. The entire western half of the state was feeling her chill.

Trying to push thoughts of the Winter Queen out of my mind, I turned my attention to the upcoming meeting with Ysandra. Would she be pissed that we had lied to her? Or would she understand once I told her what had really happened to Heather and explained why we’d scrambled for a cover story? Would she be able to help us? Would she be willing?

No sense borrowing trouble before it lands on your doorstep, Cicely.

Once again, Ulean soothed my ruffled feathers. We didn’t even know if the Consortium’s help would be worth anything. They might turn out to be so much hot air. Or a bureaucratic nightmare. But we had to try.

Kaylin cleared his throat. “Rhiannon, are you okay? Now that you know about Leo?”

Rhia rested her elbows on the back of my seat, her chin on her hands. After a moment, she let out a long breath. “Honestly? I don’t know. My heart is breaking. It’s hard to accept that I’ve been living a lie without knowing it. But I wonder, if all along, I sensed it would never work out. If I really search my heart, maybe I knew we’d never get married. That could be why I kept putting off choosing a wedding date. Leo was always pissed by my hesitation but something held me back. Some aspect of self-preservation… some inner light within me…saw through his illusions.”

“I am so glad you found out before it was too late.” I turned again, struggling against my seat belt, to try to kiss her forehead, then returned to solemnly watching the road ahead.

Rhiannon wasn’t done, though. Apparently Kaylin’s question had offered her permission to talk about the situation. “But did I really find out in time? From what Erik said, Leo is out to kidnap me. I have to stake him if I’m ever to be free. Once he gets an idea in his head, he won’t let go. Frankly, the thought of him out there, wanting me, scares me to death now that I know he’s a vampire.”

She said it so casually I almost missed the gist of her meaning. When her words registered, I sucked in a deep breath.

“You really plan on staking Leo?”

Solemnly, she nodded. “Yes. I don’t think there’s any other way to be free from him. It’s almost as bad as my mother, except my mother didn’t ask for it-she did it to save Peyton. Leo-he wanted to become one of those monsters. He chose the path. And he did it for glory and money and power. He’s going to be far more dangerous than Lannan, mark my words. Lannan likes to humiliate, but he’s behaving himself around your father and Grieve. Leo doesn’t have that much restraint.”

“Lannan’s been alive for thousands of years. He has more control over his actions, though he’s far more powerful than Leo can possibly be at this point.”

“True, but Geoffrey is Leo’s sire and mentor. That makes him dangerous. Geoffrey is as powerful as Lannan, isn’t he?” Rhiannon frowned. “When you get past one or two thousand years…can another thousand make any difference?”

“I don’t know, to be honest. Lannan’s older than Geoffrey, and chances are he could be the Regent if he wanted to be. But Lannan doesn’t want the responsibility.”

Kaylin flipped the windshield wipers to high speed as the snow began to fall thicker and faster. “Not to change the subject, but I don’t like this. This storm is setting in to be a bad one. We can’t spend a lot of time talking to the Petros woman-I want to get home before too late, and the roads are going to be bad. They’re already icing up even though it looks like they were plowed this morning.”

Even as he spoke, the car swerved and he eased into the skid, avoiding a fishtail as he lowered the speed and leaned forward to look out the window, keeping his eyes firmly on the road. The windshield wipers were going full speed but could barely keep up with the snowfall.

“As I said, it’s going to get worse before it gets better.”

“That seems to be the general theme of our life lately, doesn’t it?” I glanced at the map on my phone. “Penny’s Pit Stop is near the entrance to the town. Take the exit leading to North Kelsey Street, then turn onto West Elizabeth. The restaurant should be a block or two down from there.”

Kaylin glanced over his shoulder briefly at Rhiannon. “Fasten your seat belt again, please. We’re in dangerous territory. Ice and sleet on the road, snow coming down. I really don’t want to worry that if we have an accident, you’ll go sailing through the back window or something.”

Rhiannon settled back in her seat and fastened the belt. Another two slip-and-slide moments, and another fifteen minutes put us on the streets of Monroe. It felt odd to enter a town that wasn’t under siege, at least not yet. But if Myst wasn’t stopped, she would spread the cancer of the Indigo Court in this direction, and eventually, everywhere. Thanks to Myst’s long winter, it seemed like we were headed toward another “Little Ice Age.”

But as we entered Monroe, the constriction in my chest loosened and for the first time in days, I felt like I could breathe as I looked out the windows. No vampires were out and about yet-but vampires weren’t the danger here. No, the holiday shoppers went about their lives, blissfully unaware of the war going on just a stretch down the highway.

A glowing neon sign in the parking lot of Penny’s Pit Stop cut through the gloom. The brilliant blue and yellow lights led us into the lot, which had been plowed earlier, but the empty parking spaces were beginning to cover over again. Kaylin gingerly parked in a spot that seemed the least likely to keep us prisoner.

Breathing a deep sigh of relief-we’d actually made it here in one piece-I slipped out of the car. Almost immediately, I was hit by the cold, my breath sucked out of me in one quick rush. I snuggled my jacket tighter around me, and covered my nose with my hand, trying to warm the air before it hit my lungs. Rhiannon and Kaylin joined me, and we hurried across the compacted snow toward the entrance and pushed through the door.

The blast of heat was like honey on warm bread. It oozed over me and I let out a long sigh, breathing deeply. The ache in my side eased as I was able to take a full breath without the slashing cold driving deep into my side.

“Welcome to Penny’s Pit Stop. I’m Rae-Ann. May I help you?” The hostess hurried over, though one glance around the place told me that Penny was going to be taking it easy tonight. Only three tables held patrons, and one booth had a woman sitting in it-Ysandra.

I pointed to the booth. “We’re here to meet her.”

As Rae-Ann led us through the carpeted dining room, quiet music played in the background. It wasn’t wet-dream elevator music but classical, and it soothed my thoughts as I tried to relax.

Ysandra looked as prim and proper as I remembered-with a high-button, ruffled yoke shirt in a rich plum that contrasted with her black skirt. Her blond hair was pulled back in a chignon, with lacquered chopsticks holding it in place. A pair of leather driving gloves were neatly folded across her handbag. And it was a proper handbag, double strap, designer by the looks, in classic ecru.

She wore half-glasses, and if I tried to put an age on her, I’d place her somewhere between thirty and seventy, which pretty much meant I had no clue-she didn’t look old but she didn’t feel young. Ysandra was one of the magic-born and a very powerful witch. We slid into the booth as she gestured for us to join her. As she closed her menu, she smiled.

“Kaylin, Cicely, Rhiannon-I’m pleased to see you again.”

The waitress waited until we were seated before handing us menus.