“You might as well quit trying,” Anadey said, glancing down at me. “The drink I gave you will last through the ritual. I’m sorry, Cicely, but I cannot chance having my fucking ex come here and take away my daughter. He tried, you know, once before. He tried to kidnap her when she was still young, and I stopped him. He still bears the scars of that lightning bolt. But now he’s gained powerful allies, and I have been offered a choice. I won’t lose her.”
I forced my gaze up to meet hers and saw stark fear emblazoned across her face. “Anadey—what are you doing? Are you going to kill me? Hand me over to Myst?”
She stopped, her eyes wide. “Oh no, my dear. I’d never do that to you—please, don’t think I mean to hurt you. I’m just going through with the spell we agreed on, with a twist. I’m going to take away your love for Grieve. Forever.”
As she lightly stepped in the circle again, I tried to catch her by the hem of her robe, to trip her up, but it didn’t work, and I let out a little cry.
“You can’t break the connection—you’ll kill us both.”
“Don’t be ridiculous,” she said, kneeling down. She stretched my arms and legs out, tying me to four pegs that she’d hammered into tiny holes in the floor. After that, she began to draw on me with a brush dipped in red ink. Dragon’s Blood ink. I shivered as the bristles tickled their way over my skin.
“It’s true, Anadey. Please, believe me. Talk to Chatter—”
“He’d just make up a story. He misses his friend. No, we have to go through with this and then you and your cousin will be safe, and so will my Peyton. It will work out best for everybody.”
“What are you doing to me?” I whispered, my voice falling mute even as she drew. “Peyton—does Peyton know what you’re planning?”
“No, she doesn’t, and I’m doing what I was told. This is the only way I can ever ensure that Rex won’t get his hands on Peyton. You have to trust me, Cicely—please trust me. I won’t hurt you, I promise. I would never hurt you.”
But even as she continued to emblazon the symbols across my body, I knew that what she was doing would hurt me far worse than any beating I would ever endure.
Ulean, Ulean, help me. Can’t you please help me?
But no answer came. Ulean couldn’t hear me—or I couldn’t hear her.
“Just a little more, and then I can begin the ritual.” Anadey stood, and, eyeing me, gave a little nod. “Done.”
As she stepped out of the circle, I felt a rush of energy surround me, and for the first time in a long while, I felt totally isolated. There was no one here to help me. I focused on my wolf, calling to Grieve, but he was nowhere to be sensed. Truly alone. I am truly alone.
Anadey waved her hands as she began to circle the ring of salt. A faint bluish mist seeped out from her fingers and drifted lazily into the circle with me, filling my lungs with the scent of ocean waves and salt brine.
Water to water, wave to wave,
Love built through time, I seek to stave.
A flush of energy rushed over me and I was breathing water, choking on the liquid as it rushed through my body, cleansing me fully, seeking all corners of my heart and soul, looking for inroads to fill me full with its briny depths. I began to cry as it dislodged feelings and thoughts and began to buoy them up on its ever-encroaching currents.
“Anadey—stop—you’re stealing my memories!” I tried to scream, but my words were so many bubbles floating up to the surface of the flood that flowed through me.
Anadey returned to the beginning of the circle and began a second sweep.
Earth to earth, stone to stone,
Sever connections that have been sown.
The mist turned to green, and as it flowed into the circle, it felt like a landslide, rumbling. And then I was looking up as a billowing cloud of mud and rock towered over me. I gasped but there was no air to breathe, only the deep gases of the earth, only the dust and soot-laden clouds that swept around me. As the energy began to seep through me, it uprooted connections and bonds, and I felt numb. Empty, and so truly alone.
Anadey returned to the beginning of the circle, to commence a third sweep.
Fire to fire, flame to flame,
This questing love, the sparks shall tame.
Crimson . . . the mist was a crimson cloud and smelled of bonfires and graves, and hearth fires. It burned as it neared, chafing my skin, and brought with it the crackle of embers. And it ate—gobbling up the will of my heart, the love I felt inside, my desire to be with Grieve. As I felt my need for him seeping out of me, I opened my mouth to cry out but there were no words. My lips were silent.
Anadey paused, staring down at me. I looked at her, pleading. After a moment, tears in her eyes, she began her final sweep.
Air to air, gale to gale,
Travel now, beyond the pale.
As the mist faded into white, I felt myself melting, as a rush of air buoyed me up, and then—a sudden jolt and I was gloriously free, rising up in owl form to hover near the top of the ceiling. Anadey gasped, and the mist began to retreat.
“Cicely—get down here! You can’t break the spell, not this way—it will backfire in hideous ways if you don’t allow me to finish it.”
But I didn’t give a fuck what she was saying. As far as I knew, Anadey was my enemy, as surely as Myst. Even more so than Lannan.
At that moment, Peyton broke through the door.
“Cicely! What’s going on! Mother, what the fuck are you doing?” She gasped. “What’s all this?”
She’d no sooner spoken than I took a chance and dove for the door, winging my way out and up into the sky, and then headed for home, free and wondering just what the hell Anadey had done to me.
Chapter 16
I flew into the night sky, winging my way into the heavens as Anadey and Peyton shouted from below—Anadey yelling at me, while Peyton was shaking her mother’s shoulders. No way was I going back and chancing getting caught by Anadey again. Shaken, confused from the drugs and the spell, I headed in the direction I thought was home, terrified I’d transform midflight and go tumbling to the ground.
As I soared over the streets, my head began to clear and all of a sudden, I could hear Ulean. She was riding the currents beside me.
Cicely, Cicely? Can you hear me yet?
Ulean! Oh, Ulean, help me. I’m so confused and not sure where I’m going.
Keep on in this direction and I’ll get you help.
And then, her presence was gone. I focused as best as I could, following the breeze as it carried me aloft. The night was chill, but no snow was falling and the clouds parted to allow the moon to shine through. What was I going to do? She could have killed me. She could have killed both Grieve and me if she’d succeeded with her spell. But how much damage had she done?
And then it hit me. I thought about Grieve, and my heart didn’t skip a beat. I thought about my love, and realized that I felt numb. I tried to summon my wolf, but in owl form I couldn’t connect with it. Thoroughly defeated and afraid, all I could do was keep flying.
At that moment, another owl came gliding in from behind me. The great horned owl. Ulean was riding the slipstream along beside his wing.
Help me—something’s happened to me and I don’t know what.
Follow me. His thoughts came through clear and he turned, heading toward Dovetail Lake. I turned on my wing, following him, able to take direction better than make my own decisions at this point.
We flew under the moon until we reached the lake. A shimmer resonated through the night and the great horned owl flew into the light. It glimmered like summer, like warm leaves and dusky dreams, and a steady breeze that carried roses and night-blooming honeysuckle soothed my senses. I followed the owl through the portal and blinked as the land beneath us opened up, with rich grass untouched by snow, and lakeshore waters lapping gently.
The owl slowly spiraled down to land on a low branch near Lainule’s throne, and I followed suit. I’d never been in the realm of Summer while in owl form and now, every breath, every sound, every movement was magnified.
A moment later, the Queen of Rivers and Rushes appeared, dressed in gossamer white. She steadily approached the throne and looked up at the two of us. After a moment, she let out a long sigh and slowly inclined her head.
“Cicely, take form.”
I flew to the ground, and then, trying to focus through the fear, I shifted back into myself, naked and cold and shivering. As I stood, I found I wasn’t ashamed or even embarrassed—I was too worried and miserable to care about what I was wearing. Or not wearing.
Lainule considered me for a moment, then removed her own cloak from her shoulders and gently wrapped me in it. The thin shawl was surprisingly warm, and my breath slowed as I began to let go of my immediate fear. She nodded to the great horned owl and he flew to the ground. A moment later, I was staring up at a gorgeous man with jet-black hair. He wore clothes, so he must be full Cambyra Fae—but his clothing matched the shimmer of Lainule’s own gown and as I gazed at him, I realized that this was no ordinary Fae.
Lainule pressed her lips together and looked terribly sad, but then she tossed her hair back and straightened her shoulders. “Cicely, say hello to my Consort, the King of Rivers and Rushes. He has been guarding you since you returned. Bow before your father, Wrath, Lord of Summer.”
I let out a sharp gasp as her words ran through me like an electric current. My father, Wrath. I’d had some inkling the great horned owl might be my father—I hadn’t been sure, but the thought had crossed my mind. But . . . Wrath was the Lord of Summer? Lainule’s consort?
“Aren’t you going to say something?” She gave me a short look, and I wasn’t sure if she was perturbed or merely curious.
“I . . . I’m not sure what to say,” I whispered, looking up into Wrath’s eyes. They were kindly, but stern. Ancient and wise, as were Lainule’s, and lit by a vivid light that knew no sense of mortality. “I was hoping to meet you . . .”
“I did not want this meeting to happen yet—there is too much at stake, but my Lord would never bring you here were matters not grave.”
And with her words, Anadey’s betrayal came sweeping back and I slid to the grass, tears flowing down my face. “Everything’s so dark right now. I can’t find my way. Anadey did something to me—the spell didn’t fully take, but I know she did something to me.”
“Tell us what happened, Cicely. We have all the time in the world to discuss the fact that I’m your father. But this . . . you say Anadey betrayed you?”
I nodded, my face red and hot. “I trusted her.” And then, before I could stop myself, I spilled out everything. My plan to rescue Grieve, my need to be with him, the worry over hurting my friends because of being ensnared by his venom, Leo’s suggestion that Anadey might help, and the choice I’d made to see if we could neutralize that effect. “I just wanted to be thinking with a clear head. But now . . .”
Placing my hands on my wolf, I sought for him, sought for the connection, but there was nothing. The tattoo was so much ink on my belly.
“Describe the spell that she cast.” Lainule neither comforted me nor chided me.
Biting my lip, I did my best to describe everything that happened. So much was fuzzy—the drug she’d given me had been strong, but here in the realm of Summer, it seemed to be negated and I was able to focus more easily.
Lainule glanced up at Wrath and I could sense some conversation, unspoken, going on between the two. After a few moments, she stood. “Stay here. Talk with your father for a few moments. I am going to bring you something that will help.”
She glided away, a mist of shadow in the night.
Wrath watched her go, his eyes longing and loving. As I stared at him, all I could think of was one question. “Why my mother? Why, when you are Lainule’s consort, would you sleep with my mother?”
He turned to me, his smile steady but firm. “Because my love requested it. We have watched over your family for years. The boneseer told us you should return to life in this family as a half-breed, and so we chose the time and place of your birth. Myst has been waiting for your return all the years since you and Grieve—Shy died. If she found you first . . . it would not be good.”
I bit my lip. My birth had been planned. “You seduced my mother?”
“Not a difficult task. She was comely, if terribly shy and self-conscious. I could not stay with her, of course. Nor could she know who I was. We did not expect her to run and take you with her. However, perhaps that was best. Myst came to find both Geoffrey and you, but you were not here. So she turned her sight on the vampires and left it at that for a while.”
“Ulean said that she belonged to Lainule before she was bound to me.”
“Ulean was Lainule’s personal Elemental, as the fan you carry was hers. The pendant, I enchanted. We knew you would come home, Cicely, and did what we could to prepare for your return.”
I wrapped my arms around my legs and stared up at the sky. “Can I stay here? Can Rhiannon and I just come live in the realm of Summer and be safe?” It was a wistful question, I knew, and futile, but I had to ask.
“You have bound yourself to the vampires, so no—we could not let you shirk your oath. And you and Grieve must find one another again.”
“How did I meet him in the first place? My mother was Myst . . .”
“You will remember in time. This is no war that can be won lightly. This is no skirmish. We are in for the long haul. The important thing is to mitigate our losses as much as we can at this point.” He laughed and stretched out on the grass beside me. “You grew up lovely, my dear. I’m so glad that I was finally able to tell you. Cicely Waters, you are the daughter of a king. And yet you have not asked me for anything—for money or jewels or power.”