Night Myst (15 page)

Sweet heaven. Or
hell
. An invitation to a Crimson Court party was like receiving a summons from the Queen of England. In a way, it
was
a summons from a queen. The Vein Lords ruled over the Crimson Court.

“I think Geoffrey got our message.” I read the invitation to her.

“I think you’d better wake Leo up. I’ll get off early and come home. This sounds important. Cicely . . .” She paused.

“What is it?”

“Regina Altos has a brother who teaches here at the school. His name is Lannan. He’s . . . don’t cross him. Don’t get involved with him. Rumors about his habits and preferences are frightening.” Her words were constrained but I sensed a serious bout of worry behind them.

“Why do you think I would?”

“Because Lannan takes what he wants. And from what I’ve seen around campus, you’re—” Again, a pause, then, “I have to go. We’ll talk more tonight.”

I slowly put down the receiver and looked at the invitation again. Regina was Emissary to the Crimson Court. Her brother was a professor. A thought occurred to me and I dug through the boxes of books I’d brought back from Marta’s house. Sure enough, a book that had caught my notice was sitting near
The Rise of the Indigo Court
.

Another history . .
.
this one
A History of the Vampire Nation
. . . The leather-bound volume smelled like garlic, and it had a silver belt holding it shut. Which meant that Marta hadn’t wanted the vampires getting their hands on it.

Picking it up, I began to flip through the pages. It was typeset, not written by hand, but my bet was that there were no e-books or audio versions of this book.

And Regina Altos was an emissary, therefore not even Geoffrey could thwart her. Which meant . . . well, I wasn’t sure what it meant except that Regina had to be treated with kid gloves. I glanced back at the book, rifling through the pages until I caught mention of the words
deal
and
business
.

Slowly closing the book, I thought about our plan to ask Geoffrey for help. Obviously, Leo had talked to him—wait a minute . . . had Leo talked to him? And if not, why had we been issued the invitation?

I set the book back down on the pile and took the stairs two at a time to Rhiannon’s room, where I tapped softly on the door. No answer. I opened it a crack and saw Leo, dead to the world, sprawled in her bed.

“Leo? Leo!
Hey you
.” Not wanting to take a chance on embarrassing both him and me—the blanket was barely covering his nether regions and I didn’t want to startle it off of him—I raised my voice.

Blinking, he began to come around, then shook his head and propped himself up on his elbows, squinting at me. “What’s up?”

“Need to talk to you about something. Meet me downstairs? I’ll make you some breakfast.”

“Sure. Be down in ten.” His tousled hair was sticking every which way as he rubbed his eyes and yawned.

I slipped back outside the room and returned to the kitchen, where I pulled out a skillet and the eggs, then found the bread and butter. I popped four slices of bread in the toaster, then scrambled half a dozen eggs. Might as well make some for my lunch, as well.

Leo came into the room, freshly shaven and dressed. “What’s up that you would disturb my beauty sleep?”

“Lots going on today and most of it bad,” I told him.

“I guess you’d better give me the bad first.” He poured orange juice for both of us and added a jar of jam to the table as I set his plate in front of him and sat opposite with my own food.

“Where to start?” I told him about Peyton and everything I’d found out.

“Shit.” He hit the table with his fist. “Not Peyton, too? She doesn’t deserve this—she’s had a hard life and now . . . now we don’t even know if she’s alive. So what else . . . and I hope it gets better.”

“That remains to be seen. Did you talk to Geoffrey about us wanting to see him yet?” I leaned back in my chair and savored the hot food. I was hungrier than I’d thought.

“Yeah, he said he’d decide in a few days.”

“Well, it would seem he’s already made up his mind.” I handed him the invitation. “What can you tell me about Regina . . . and Lannan? Rhia told me to be careful around Lannan.”

Leo’s gaze flickered up to meet mine. “Yeah, I can see why she would. Lannan’s . . . Lannan is a pervert, pure and simple. He thrives on the decadent vamp scene—the bloodwhores and the raves. In fact, I have a feeling that’s what this little party is all about. And for some reason they want you there.”

“Give me the lowdown on decorum. I need to know what
not
to do.”

“Good idea. Formality among the vamps is never to be taken lightly. If they were responding to my question, the invitation would have been addressed to me. No, they want to see
you
for some reason. Don’t trust any of them, but you can’t refuse to show up. Nobody can refuse the Emissary.”

I fingered the invitation, my stomach lurching.
Decadent vamp scene
didn’t sit well with me. And bloodwhores sat even worse. My mother had been a bloodwhore and it had gotten her killed.

“Rhia said something about me being careful around Lannan,” I said.

Leo bit into his toast, and chewed thoughtfully. After a moment, he swallowed and said, “I don’t like talking about them. They employ me and I have to be careful in dividing my loyalties. But she’s right. Lannan Altos prefers his bloodwhores with dark long hair, muscled, and . . . to be blunt . . . hot. You have the look he’d go after.”

Hot? Me? I blinked. I never thought of myself in that category. But it would sound like a come-on if I protested. “Wonderful. Just what I need. Some creaking, ancient lecher after me. One with fangs, no less. “He’s going to get a surprise if he tries anything. I don’t swing that way.”

“You’re in for a surprise. Lannan is a golden boy. If I swung his way, it would be hard to resist but I’m straight and under Geoffrey’s protection, so he can’t touch me. Hey, you have anything to wear to this formal shindig?”

I stared at him. “Dude, I just got in from LaLa land, I’ve lived on the road since I was six—more or less. Do you
think
I have anything appropriate?” I didn’t have time to think about shopping, not with everything going on. But Leo wouldn’t let it drop.

“Then let’s get going. You were the one invited, you have to look good. I’ve got a tux they bought me just for these occasions. And I know Rhiannon has some pretty dresses that will work. Finish breakfast. We’re going shopping.”

Staring at him like he’d just grown another head, I finished my eggs and toast, and silently followed him out to the car.

“I hope you realize I’m not about to spend all of my money on some shiny ball gown,” I mumbled.

Leo shook his head. “Don’t sweat it. I’ll expense the cost. Geoffrey will approve.” And just like that, the vampires were buying me a fancy new dress.

After she got home from work and spent a few minutes with Leo, Rhiannon joined me in my room. We had three hours before we had to be at the party and both she and Leo were insistent that I had to dress the part.

“What does one wear to a vampire soiree?” I held up the little black dress I’d bought. It was short, sophisticated, and could pull off cocktails or dancing without a problem. Speaking of cocktails, the thought of what might be on the beverage menu made me a little queasy.

“That’s nice—what is it? Silk?”

I nodded. “Leo wouldn’t let me buy anything cheap.”

“It’s got a sweetheart neckline. Hmm,” she said, a thoughtful look on her face. “Whatever you do, don’t bring attention to your neck. No flashy necklaces or chokers. Not a good place to accentuate.”

She smoothed the velvet skirt and top she was wearing. “How do I look? Okay?”

“Okay? That green sets off your hair and turns you into a torch. You’re gorgeous. You look Old World beautiful.” I paused. “Hey, Leo warned me about Lannan. I’ll be cautious. I’m nobody’s bloodwhore.
Ever.
”

“I know this is hard.” She paused. “How much do you hate them, Cicely? And is it just for what they did to your mother?”

I glanced up at her, trying to figure out how to explain. “I don’t. Not really. Krystal was a grown woman and she made her own choices, as stupid as they were. The truth is I don’t hate vampires. I just don’t
trust
them. No matter how many safeguards you put into place, they’re predators and they can lose control. And when a vamp loses control, you’re toast.”

“Is that how you feel about Grieve now?”

I winced. “I love him . . . but can I ever trust him? I don’t know. He’s in the court of the enemy. They rip people to shreds. They feed on life energy as well as blood. When you think about it, the Indigo Court is far worse than the Vein Lords. Vampires you can reason with to an extent, and they’re willing to make deals. I don’t think the Indigo Court Fae are quite so civilized.”

I held up the braided red leather belt I’d bought. “What do you think about this belt? I still don’t know what shoes to wear.”

“The belt’s great. Wear these,” she said, hunting through my mostly empty closet and holding up a pair of patent leather ankle boots with padlocks. “Cute. Very fetish. They’ll go over well.”

“I love boots.” I slid them on, zipping up the sides and fastening the padlocks. Testing the stilettos cautiously, I hung the key around my neck, then stood to buckle the belt around my waist. “How do I look?”

Rhiannon gasped. “Gorgeous! You look so hot! You need makeup though.” She paused, then added, “I never thought I’d be looking forward to a vampire’s party. Hell, I never thought I’d ever be attending a vampire’s party. Leo leaves me out of his job affairs and that’s pretty much the way I want it. But if they can help me save my mother, I’ll go.” She paused, her words soft. “Life’s changed for good. There’s no going back, is there?”

I shook my head. “No, there’s no going back.”

“Do you think Myst is going to kill Heather?”

The question was so plaintive, so unexpected, that it drained the energy out of me and I slumped on her bed next to her.

Shrugging, I shook my head. “I don’t know, Rhia. I don’t know what’s going to happen. But take a little time off from work. Tomorrow, let’s go hunting in the ravine. Didn’t you say Kaylin was going to be coming over today?”

“He called. Had to make it tomorrow. He’ll be over in the morning. You really think we can go into Geoffrey’s mansion, into a nest of vampires, and manage to walk out alive?”

I nodded, faking confidence. “We have to stop Myst. We have to find Peyton and Heather. When we come home, we’ll go through Marta’s charms and look for something to help protect us.”

“What if they’re feeding off her? Off Peyton? What if they’re . . . using them?” The brilliant amber of her eyes grew watery.

“Then . . . we pray they can hold out till we find a way to save them. Your mother is strong—she possesses a lot of power. Peyton’s no wimp. Try to keep hope. Sometimes, hope is all we have.”

With a sigh, she nodded and gathered up her purse. We put on our finishing touches—makeup, jewelry, and headed downstairs to where Leo waited with a limo—sent from Regina herself.

One thing for sure: Life certainly wasn’t boring. And another: Walking into a nest full of party-hearty vampires scared the hell out of me. Especially when I didn’t know what they wanted.