"i sincerely hope for your sake that you're right. and for your information, i do not seek to defile the girl. i enjoy toying with her because nothing can quench her spirit. i've seen both sides within her-the dark and the light. which way she turns remains to be seen." lannan turned and began walking over the top of the snow, his feet leaving no prints on the surface of the glistening white.

i shivered. everything was in a tailspin, and i felt like i was falling into darkness, into the shadows, into a vortex of decisions needing to be made. geoffrey-was he truly a warmonger? did lannan actually mean what he said? and just what influence did geoffrey have with the crimson queen? or lainule, for that matter?

kaylin tapped me on the shoulder, and i glanced over at him. his aura flared with energy, some golden, some dark red, and i knew he was angry for me. i nodded that i was okay, although i felt anything but, and turned back to watch as lannan strode out of sight and then a great black bat filled the sky, flying off.

geoffrey turned back to wrath, who stood, arms folded, waiting. "continue. i'm sorry for the interruption. will this cause a problem in proceeding?"

"tell me what you plan with my daughter."

geoffrey would not answer, but lainule spoke up, her voice smooth. "there is no need to fret, husband. i have approved the plans and they will not be in vain."

wrath shook his head. "as you will, my love. we will need to recover the energy before continuing. it has seeped away, and the only manner in which to be certain the antidote takes is to build the cone once again. so you must wait for a few more moments, regent, before administering the serum."

"i still think this is premature, but we must take steps before cicely insists on doing something rash. for she is as headstrong as her sire," lainule said, then laughed. "my wrath, you begot a daughter to be proud of, even if she is a handful. lannan altos is wrong. she is now ours, fully and forever. and if it took our finding grieve again in order to bring her spirit to us, then that is a small price to pay. his love for her will not go unrewarded. nor hers for him. if she but agrees to the plans geoffrey and i have made, all will be well."

"we have much to speak of, my lady," geoffrey said, turning to lainule. "you owe me for this, remember."

lainule inclined her head. "the court of rivers and rushes never forgets its debts."

confused, but convinced that it was better if i found out what they were talking about on my own, rather than be seen and have them angry i was spying, i motioned to kaylin that we should leave. he took my hand and we slipped away.

as we were headed back to the house, still on the plane of shadow and smoke, a blur and a flash interrupted us. kaylin stopped short, slamming me in back of him, and stretched out his arms.

"do not attempt to pass. she is not one of the bat people, nor of their children. you cannot claim her."

"i need to settle-i need a host." the words echoed through me with the force of a sledgehammer and i caught a glimpse of the creature over kaylin's shoulder. it reminded me of something . . . the fetish! the twisted creature, part bat, part-something else-had to be one of the night-veil demons. oh crap, was it thinking it could nest in me?

"then you must find a host elsewhere. go to the court of dreams; find a host among the chosen ones. she is not yours and never will be yours." kaylin clapped his hands and the energy reverberated through the air, sending the night-veil head over heels, gusting away from us. it howled once, a pained shriek, then raced off.

"what did you do to it?"

kaylin glanced back at me and, even in his murky, shadow-stuff form, i caught sight of those glowing eyes. he smirked. "i told it to go away."

"so you did, so you did." i debated pressing the matter. kaylin was strong-i already knew that-but i'd never seen him use energy like that. "ever since your demon awoke, you've been different."

"yes, i have." no denials, no defensiveness. just a calm, clear statement.

"it's your demon doing this, isn't it?"

"my hatchling is under my control now, so no-it's me doing it, but the demon gives me the power. we work together." he frowned. "if you're concerned, you needn't be. i'll continue to evolve, but unlike the bat people, i am not enamored of the night-veil demons. i simply accept them for what they are, a tool to an end."

"a tool? but they are sentient-they have a will of their own. yours decked me a good one and i have the bruises to prove it." i wasn't sure how i felt about anyone referring to another creature as their tool, even a demon.

"they are what they are, cicely. there are so many aspects to this universe that you do not understand-that none of us understands. there is no absolute black or white. even myst has a side to her, somewhere, that walks in shades of gray. you may see it one day, and i pray it won't be your downfall."

i bit my lip. nothing could make me feel sorry for myst, but even as i thought the words, i decided not to utter them aloud. no sense in jinxing myself. besides, kaylin would just argue with me.

"let's go home. i have a lot to think about before meeting with geoffrey and lainule tomorrow night."

we headed back to the house, and kaylin helped me leap off the astral, back into the physical realm. i shivered, icy cold. before he left my room, he brushed back the strands of my hair and smiled softly.

"you brought luna into the house. for that i thank you. i feel a pull to her, as i've never felt a pull toward any woman. i only hope she isn't spoken for."

"she's not," i said automatically, before thinking i should have kept my mouth shut. she might not be interested in kaylin-although if i read her energy correctly at dinner, there had been mutual sparks. but whatever the case, the cat was out of the bag.

"that's all i wanted to know." he paused. "cicely, don't worry-if she's not interested, i won't press the matter or make her uncomfortable. i'm not the one you have to watch out for."

he left, closing the door behind him. i locked it, hating the fact that i felt like i had to lock my door now, that i didn't know if i could trust everyone in the house. after anadey, i had lost confidence in my ability to know whom to trust. what if luna wasn't who i thought she was? what if leo really was in cahoots with . . . well, at this point, was lannan worse than geoffrey? and geoffrey had seemed nice compared to the others, but lannan's words rang in my head. and so did geoffrey's own-how he had bragged about the swath of destruction he left behind him.

i crawled back onto the bed, pulling the quilt around my shoulders and wrapping my arms around my knees. as i huddled, another knock sounded at the door.

"am i grand central station tonight?" i grumbled to myself, but then called, "come in."

"it's locked."

i clambered out of bed and opened the door.

peyton entered the room. she followed me back to the bed and-without the pretense of small talk-sat down beside me.

"what did my mother do to you? you have to tell me."

i thought about what lainule had ordered and shook my head. "don't want to talk about it."

"i know it was worse than you let on. i know she fucked you over a good one-and i know that it has something to do with me." her eyes flared. "i'm moving out for good. i've talked to rhiannon, and she said i can move in here. i'll be taking the downstairs maid's bedroom. i can't trust my own mother, and if i find out she put you in danger . . ."

"stop. stop right there." i was furious at anadey, but the last thing we needed was for peyton to go all wild child on her. "i can't say anything right now, but yes-she did try to fuck me over. and yes, it does have something to do with you." i paused, remembering anadey's rant about peyton's father. "have you talked to your father recently?"

peyton shook her head. "i was going to call him, set up a time to meet him here."

"call him now, but hold off on the meeting for a few days. do not tell anybody else about it, and do not use your own phone. use kaylin's phone." anadey had access to rhiannon's cell phone when she helped her with her magic, and she'd have access to peyton's cell phone without any trouble. who knew whether she'd messed with mine while i was there? but kaylin-she barely had anything to do with kaylin. "go ask him to borrow it now, then come back here."

i waited for her. after a few minutes, she returned. i prayed her father would still answer-if anadey had been using me to . . .

"dad? this is peyton . . ." a pause, and she frowned. "what? where are you? why . . . okay . . ." a pause, and then a longer pause. after a few minutes, she whispered, "please, be careful. i'll call you back when i've thought of what to do." as she hung up, she gazed up at me. "you knew he was in danger, didn't you?"

i bit my lip. "i suspected. i don't know the details, and as i said, i can't tell you everything that happened . . . yet . . . but you have to warn him to be careful. don't try to see him yet. he needs to lie low and not tell anybody where he is. and whatever you do, don't talk to him on your phone or on rhiannon's phone."

after a moment, a light flashed in peyton's eyes. "mother. mother's behind whatever is happening to him. he told me that he's been followed for the past two days-that he was almost sideswiped by a black limousine today and only managed to escape by driving into a parking lot and losing himself in the crowd. he grew suspicious and decided to go into hiding."

"i think anadey is behind this, but she's working with someone and we're trying to find out who. you absolutely have to keep quiet. anybody could be in on this."

"by anybody, you mean leo. black limousines? come on, that has vampire written all over it."

i realized that she thought leo might have been the one driving the car that tried to sideswipe rex. the thought hadn't occurred to me-i'd just assumed it was some vamp for hire that anadey had come in contact with. but now, the idea that it might have been leo loomed large in my mind. anadey had been trying to strip away my connection to grieve, and leo had been on a real bender lately about that same subject. suppose he'd promised her something in return-such as rex never getting to see and talk to peyton?

"i really hope you're wrong. i want leo to be a good guy. i want him to have our back. but . . ." i rubbed my cheek where he'd backhanded me. "any man who hits a woman out of frustration . . . i just can't trust him, even if that's the only bad thing he ever does. i'm nobody's punching bag."

peyton bit her lip. "i think i'd better do a little private sleuthing on leo-what's his background? how much do we really know about him?"

"i only know what rhia has told me, and what leo's said. for all i know, he comes from mars and secretly phones home once a month." i pointed toward her phone. "you'd better call him back, warn him to lie low."

she punched in the number and mumbled a few words into the receiver, then hung up again. "okay, done. i didn't tell him why i wanted him to hide out, but he seemed to agree it was a good idea. as soon as they give you permission to talk about what happened, you better tell me. anadey's my mother, and if she's fucking up, i want to know. i've always trusted her . . . it kills me to think that she might be a traitor."

"or maybe, just a very worried mama . . ." i stared out the window. "i'll know more tomorrow night. go to bed now, and try to get some sleep."

as soon as peyton left, i slid out of my clothes and into my bed. i was worn through, but it took me a couple of hours before i could take my own advice. once i dropped off, though, i slept like the dead.

with morning came an e-mail from lannan. i glanced at the time stamp-he'd written it shortly before dawn. or, at least, he'd sent it around then. i hesitated, my cursor hovering over it before i finally decided to open it.

i'm going to tell you this once, and once only. i've hinted before as to geoffrey not being all he seems. tonight, you will find him charming, witty, and he'll give you your heart's desire. you will probably trust him and come to doubt anything i have to say. but i say it anyway: don't be a fool. listen to your head, not your cunt-perhaps odd advice coming from me, but truly, for a breather, i've come to enjoy your company. i'd prefer to meet you in the flesh than to remember you in spirit. lannan.

i stared at the e-mail, then printed it out, tucked it away with my magical supplies, and deleted it. i then emptied my deleted items folder and cleared my cache. of course, lannan had no clue that i'd seen what had gone on. like lannan or hate him, i suspected that i could trust his word more than geoffrey's. the feeling unsettled me.

after i showered and dressed, i wandered downstairs. rhiannon and luna were cooking breakfast. kaylin was reading through the rise of the indigo court, searching for something we could use. the book was slow going, though, dense and filled with arcane facts and obscure references. leo was outside, shoveling snow, and chatter was staring out the window at the golden wood, a pensive look on his face.

"where's peyton?"

"she was up early and headed out. she said she'll be back around ten a.m. to open up for business. is she really quitting the diner?" rhia shook her head. "whatever anadey did, it must have been bad." her voice lingered over the words, but she didn't ask any questions.