"Hush," Kaylin whispered. "We can't be seen, except as a fleeting shadow here or there, but if they have anybody who has clairaudience, or who can hear the wind like you can, they might be able to pick up on us."

I squinted, trying to focus on the physical. The astral was superimposed over the swath of trees, but if I kept my attention on the forest, it became clearer, more distinct.

We emerged into what looked to be a large, circular glade. The forest was lit up like a pack of matches, the energy racing through the trees, flaring with deadly brilliance. Everything was swathed in a sparkle of silver, in tones of deep indigo. The trees were barren, their branches weaving a latticework of silver webs across the sky.

Rhiannon's vision! This had to be the home base of the Indigo Court. Or at least their headquarters in our area.

You're right. Ulean was drifting along behind us and I was relieved to see that she'd made it through the barrier okay. I hung back, letting Kaylin lead.

The Marburry Barrow was huge--the entire New Forest Conservatory campus could have fit inside--and it looked like an overgrown bump in the ground. A number of figures wandered around the outskirts and from here, I could see a shimmer against the lower edge. No doubt an opening.

The Barrow looked as though it had been built on a circular platform raised some fifteen feet above the ground. Steps along one side led up to the top of the mound itself, and at least two figures were lounging on the snow atop the dome.

I scanned the figures. All had a particular tint to their auras, and I began to understand why they were called the Indigo Court. The energy swirled, indigo and deep purple and black and silver--the colors of night and of shadow. Incredibly beautiful, their energy was magnetic and seductive and I longed to edge closer to the group, to bask in their presence.

Kaylin hissed. Startled, I slipped out of my reverie and looked at him with a grateful nod. I raised my hands to assure him that I was okay.

We watched for a few minutes as I tried to memorize the spot of shimmer that I was sure was a doorway. If we were able to sneak back on the physical, we'd know where to go without having to scout around for the entrance.

And then, it happened. The shimmering door parted for a moment and a contingent of the Indigo Court came out with two figures between them. Two figures who weren't of the Vampiric Fae. Both whose auras read as being of the magic-born, one weaker than the other in power.

Your aunt and your friend. Ulean was right behind me.

"Heather! Peyton!" I jerked away from Kaylin, heading for Heather.

"No! Cicely, come back!" Kaylin was on my heels, reaching for my arm. He managed to catch me before I'd gone more than a few yards, but then Heather swiveled in our direction and I caught her little cry on the wind.

At that moment, one of the Indigo Court turned toward us and shouted something, waving in our direction.

Shit! We'd been spotted.

"Run, run as fast as you can, we have to get out of here and off the astral!" Kaylin spun around, dragging me behind him on a breakneck race for the portal.

"But we haven't rescued them--"

"They'll kill us if they catch us!" He yanked me between the oaks and the jolt stilled the protest lodged on my tongue. We headed toward Rhiannon and Leo.

"We don't have time to come off the astral easy," Kaylin said. "This may hurt so get ready!"

He threw his arms around me and there was a numbing flash as we tumbled, bodies solidifying, the smoke of our shadows dissipating. It was like flying, then being yanked out of the sky by an anchor of flesh.

I blinked hard as I tripped and went sprawling in front of Leo, who hurried to help me up. Kaylin, right behind me, was motioning toward the path.

"We have to get out of here. They spotted us!"

"Oh shit." Leo grabbed up our packs and tossed them to us while Rhiannon headed toward the path.

But it was too late. There was a noise from behind us, from between the Twin Oaks, and three men jumped from the portal. They had pale skin and a cerulean cast to their countenance. Vampiric Fae. Shadow Hunters.

I started to run, but in my heart I knew they were faster than we were. They'd catch us and they'd feed on us and that would be the end of everything.

"No!" Rhiannon's voice echoed through the air. She stopped, turning.

"What are you doing? Run!" I reached for her but she waved me off.

"I won't let them hurt us . . . I won't let them take us like they took my mother!" Her eyes flared dangerously and sunbursts writhed around her, struggling to free themselves as she pulled out one of the firebombs.

The men slowed, staring at her warily, but still heading in our direction. They glanced at the rest of us and I could tell they were trying to figure out just what the hell we were up to.

"Don't come any closer. I'm warning you!" Rhiannon's voice was close to breaking. And then, tears running down her face, she raised her arms. "I told you to stop . . ."

The next few seconds were a blur. She tossed the firespark in the air, held out her hands, and screamed one word--I couldn't catch what--and a wall of flame came writhing out of her palms. Green and gold and red, a beautiful, deadly burst of fire aimed in their direction, exploding the bomb into a shock wave of flame.

The men shouted and turned to run as the jets licked at their clothing, catching their gossamer tunics alight. The bushes around the portal began to smoke as sparks flew off, sizzling against the snow.

"Rhiannon, pull it back! Pull it back!" I raced over to her side, not sure how to help her restrain the fire that had so long been repressed. She was screaming now, as the flames licked out of her hands, and her eyes had gone wide like a deer caught in the headlights.

"Move!" The voice came from the huckleberry bush to the right, and Chatter emerged. "I'll help her."

He pressed one hand against her arm and she gave him a dazed look. As he began to whisper to her, the flames lessened, and within a few seconds, she sucked them back into herself.

"Now, run--you've bought yourself time, but you've got to get out of here." He bit his lip, looking at all of us. "I can help--I can take one of you. I can run a lot faster than any of you."

"Take Rhiannon. Now!" I shoved her into his arms and she complied, still dazed. He turned and, in a blur, they were gone. "Kaylin, you get out of here on the astral."

"What about you two? I can take one of you--"

"I'll take her." Grieve emerged from the bushes, near where Chatter had been. "You take Leo and I'll bring Cicely."

I stared at him, open-mouthed. "How'd you find us?"

"I followed Chatter--did you really think I'd leave him alone with that crew from the Barrow around? Now shut up and get over here. We have to move before they come back through the portal." He opened his arms and, without another thought, I walked into his embrace, and then we were off in a blur of motion, with my Grieve holding me tight.

Chapter 17

Grieve swept me up in his arms, and pressed me against his chest as we made a beeline through the wood, faster than I could have ever imagined. While neither vampire nor Fae walked the astral, they could run like the wind--a blur of speed and movement.

I leaned against him, breathing in the intoxicating scent of autumn dreams and bonfires and old ink and pungent earth. The cadence of his heartbeat was different than my own, but he was still alive and breathing. The Vampiric Fae of the Indigo Court scared me speechless, but Grieve hadn't started out as one of them--and I still didn't believe he had been totally won over by his new nature. He wouldn't be helping us if he had been.

We flew through the trees; they went past us in a blur of snow on boughs and gnarled branches and the steady fall of flakes softly drifting down from the clouds. Wind whistled through my hair, streaking it back as we ran. A bevy of whispers whistled past, a flurry of voices buffeting my ears as we raced through the forest. I tried to catch what they were saying but the cacophony was too loud, and finally, I gave up trying.

And then, we were at the ravine, and down and up the other side, and into the yard. Grieve didn't stop, though, not until we reached the porch and I suddenly found myself standing in front of the screen door. Rhiannon was on the other side, waiting, and she opened the door and yanked me in. Grieve followed.

"Have Kaylin and Leo made it back yet?" I asked, a little breathless from the trip.

Rhiannon shook her head. "Not yet." Her face was flushed, and she blew a strand of hair back from her eyes as she nodded to the living room. "Chatter's in there, Grieve."

"Give us a minute, would you?" I put my hand on Grieve's arm. "I need to talk to you."

He followed me into the kitchen. A fervorish light in his eyes broke through the sullen expression lingering in his face. He glanced over his shoulder and then turned back to me. "What is it?"

"Grieve." I took a step toward him. "Thank you. Thank you for saving me. Thank you for letting Chatter help us."

"I had to. I can't let her hurt you, and yet I can't break free of her spell." Grieve gazed into my eyes. "Cicely, I'm so torn between duty and my heart. You make me break every instinct my body pushes me toward." His voice cracked.

And then I was in his arms, seeking his lips. "I love you, Grieve. I always have. I can't help it. You're my enemy but I need you. We need each other."

"How can you be so sure?" he whispered roughly. He wasn't smiling, but the faint curve of his lip was more than I could bear. "How can you know we aren't making a mistake that could cost you your life?"

"I don't care. I know you're dangerous--to both yourself and to me. But we are linked . . . and I don't think there's anything we can do to stop it." I threw my arms around his neck and pulled him to me.

His hands slid over my back, over my ass, leaving a trail of sparks wherever he touched. I sought his lips.

One hand fisting my hair, he darted his tongue between my lips as he fastened his mouth on mine. His touch was silk and fire as the kiss raged through my body, soaking into every pore, every inch of my skin. I moaned softly as he slid one knee between my legs and pressed me back against the counter.

I closed my legs around his, feeling the muscles under his jeans, feeling the power wrapped up in his taut, lean body. He held me fast, his lips moving from my mouth to my cheek, then to my neck where he raked his tongue over my skin, setting off a new series of explosions. His teeth grazed the soft skin there, and I felt a thin trickle of blood run free as he nipped lightly. When his saliva hit the raw skin, a growing warmth sucked me under, spreading through my system like a dark drug. And yet, I had no sense of being a bloodwhore, of being used.

Breathing heavy, I pressed against his chest as his hands slid under my shirt to cup my breasts. He rubbed his fingers over my bra as he lapped the thin trail of blood dripping from my neck. The soft slide of his tongue against my skin both irritated and aroused me--there was a sandpaper quality to it, a slight grating and I couldn't get my mind off what it was like to feel that tongue elsewhere.

My wolf growled, low and with pleasure.

Grieve reached for my buckle and I let out a whimper. "Not here, not in plain sight, please."

He quit tugging on the belt. "I forget. The Fae aren't modest about sex. But Cicely--I want you. I want you now."

Reason hammered against the fog. There was a group of Indigo Fae out to kill us, and here we were, standing in the middle of the kitchen, making out.

"Stop--please, just for now. I need to make sure Kaylin and Leo make it home safely." I pushed against his chest. Damn it, I didn't want to stop, not even though I knew he was tasting my blood. I wanted to strip him right here, pull him down on the floor, and fuck his brains out.

He struggled for a moment to hold me, but then lifted his head, his platinum hair falling forward to graze my face, and let go, trembling as I stepped back. A drop of my blood remained on his lips, and his eyes were glowing.

"You taste so good. I want you--all of you, again and again."

His teeth showed, needle-sharp and brilliant white, but I had lost my fear. Whether it was shock from the close call, or just the feeling that we were inevitable, I had to trust that he was on our side--as much as he could be.

I shivered, suddenly cold. "I . . . oh, Grieve, I don't know what the fuck I'm getting myself into but I love you."

Before he could respond, I pulled down my shirt, turned, and darted into the living room. Rhiannon was sitting beside Chatter on the sofa and they looked up at me in unison, Chatter with a worried expression on his face, Rhiannon--questioning.

"Have Kaylin and Leo gotten--" Before I could finish, there was a noise at the door and I stiffened. A second later, Leo and Kaylin burst in, slamming the door behind them. Kaylin looked utterly exhausted.

"We lost them, I think. But they know where we live. We have to ward the house and the land. There's no other way to keep them out."

"We'd better start warding the land. I think we have a book about protection spells in that pile over there." I rifled through the stack until I found a grimoire dedicated to purification and protection spells.

"I think I saw something in here when I was leafing through . . . here it is. A spell for warding an estate. We'll need of lot of quartz crystals--they don't have to be large but they have to be spiked on at least one end. We'll need garlic . . . crap . . . a lot of garlic, and sulfur, and blood. Our blood."

At that moment, Grieve joined us, slipping his arm around my waist. I leaned back against him and he pressed his lips to my head.

"Cicely, do you realize your neck's bleeding?" Leo pointed to my shirt and I glanced in the bronze-framed mirror on the wall. A trail of red droplets slowly dripped from my neck down my right shoulder to stain my shirt.