“No, it’s not,” I said slowly. “But . . . what if he thought I was interested? What if I asked him to show me his stable of vamps, to introduce me, so I could think about it? And what if I brought you and Rhiannon with me, and while Geoffrey was off with me, you guys just happened to find the antidote? I know it’s a long shot. I know it’s dangerous, but damn it, that’s the only way I can think of to get invited into his house without waiting for him.”
Peyton stared at me, her mouth agape. “I dunno about that. It sounds like a setup for a bad end. You know I’ll do whatever you need me to, but are you sure you want to put your cousin in danger? What if they catch us?”
Reality hit with a sledgehammer. “Yeah . . . I know. A bad idea all the way around, I guess—”
“What if
who
catches us?” Rhiannon entered the kitchen, cocking her head to the side. “What’s going on? What are you planning?”
I frowned. “I thought of a way to go after the antidote. But Peyton’s right. I can’t risk you guys.” I quickly explained Geoffrey’s offer to her. “If I could get in there, keep him occupied, maybe . . .”
“Too dicey. But what about this? It’s still dangerous, but . . .” She hesitated.
“What is it? Dangerous I can handle, as long as there’s a chance of breaking through.”
“Kaylin took you dreamwalking once before. Suppose you go dreamwalking through Geoffrey’s mansion and find out where he’s keeping the antidote? If you can find it, and nobody’s guarding it, maybe you can manage to steal some for Grieve?”
Rhiannon looked positively shocked at herself, and I almost laughed. She had spent so long keeping her nature under wraps that it was going to take some time for her to get used to putting herself out there.
“That’s actually got a chance of working. It means getting Kaylin on our side.” I bit my lip. “But it’s the only way I can think of. It also means I have to find a safe place to keep him once we have him free, because even though I love him with all of my life, I won’t chance you guys living in the same house with him. I’m not that stupid. Even without the light-rage, he’s still plenty dangerous.”
I thought of Leo, of how he’d react. “We’re going to have to tell all the guys, but we have to put up a united front or they’ll let testosterone get in the way. This isn’t up for a vote. I’m going to do this . . . well,
if
Kaylin agrees.”
“Leo will be home in a few minutes for an early dinner. He’s got some evening chores to attend to for Geoffrey. I guess I’ll go get Chatter and Kaylin.” Rhiannon pulled out a frozen pizza. “Here, stick this in the oven. Make sure we have something sweet for dessert. You know the best way to influence men is through their stomachs, and we need all the help we can get.”
Then she took off to look for Kaylin and Chatter. Peyton unwrapped the pizza while I dug through the cupboards and found pudding mix and cookies. I whipped up some instant chocolate pudding and topped it with whipped cream, then set it in the refrigerator and opened the cookies.
“Do you trust Leo?” Peyton suddenly asked, her voice low.
I glanced at her, surprised. “He can be a butthead, but yeah, I guess. Why?” Actually, I’d had nagging doubts over the past week or so, but ascribed it to my own nerves.
“I don’t know. He’s in thick with the vampires. He owes his loyalty to Geoffrey—and every time we bring up your connection with the vamps, he seems defensive, like he thinks he’s being edged out.” She shrugged. “Maybe I’m imagining things, but I am a little uneasy with the way he acts.”
I blinked. I’d had the same thoughts but hadn’t wanted to articulate them because they sounded petty. Coming from Peyton, they sounded reasonable.
“I . . . I’m not sure. I kind of wondered, but Leo’s in love with my cousin. They’re engaged to be married. I can’t just up and ask him, ‘Are you jealous because I’m indentured to Geoffrey and Regina? And Lannan, by default.’”
“Yeah, I guess not. If he were, he wouldn’t admit it. And if he’s spying on you for them, he’s not going to tip his hand.”
Now I was nervous. The thought that Leo might be spying on me for Lannan made me queasy, and I would have wiped the thought right out of my mind if I were sure about him. But honestly, I didn’t know. I couldn’t say for sure how much I trusted him.
Stricken, I stared at Peyton. “What if you’re right? What happens if he runs back and tells Geoffrey what I’m planning?”
“Then I guess we’d better be ready for the shit to hit the fan. Because I don’t think we can pull this off without everybody in this house knowing what’s up.” She began to set the table as I checked on the pizza.
“Fifteen more minutes.” I stared out the window. We were all in the midst of personal crises. And things didn’t seem to be lightening up any. “Have you decided what to do about your father?” I finally asked, pushing the matter of the antidote to the side.
Peyton nodded. “I’m going to see him, but do you mind if he visits me here? I can’t ask him to come to my house, not with my mother there. And I’d rather chat someplace where we’ll have more privacy than a coffee shop.”
I nodded, absently wishing my only problem were meeting my father for the first time, then immediately felt guilty for thinking that. Peyton had a lot riding on getting to know her father.
“Sure,” I said, glancing over at the door. Leo was scuffing the snow off his boots out on the back porch. “Well, I guess we’re about to find out which way the cookie crumbles.” I flashed Peyton a strained grin. “Let’s just hope the crumbs all fall close to home. Hansel and Gretel had it easy compared to me.”
“Yeah.” She gave me a thumbs-up. “Because if Lannan so much as gets a whiff of the gingerbread house, he’s going to be on your tail like white on rice.”
“Or snow on snow,” I added softly, staring out the window at the drifting banks that continued to grow ever taller.
Chapter 14
Leo was grumbling as he came through the door. “Damned snow. I wish it would give it a rest.” He looked up and saw Rhiannon entering the kitchen, with Kaylin and Chatter right behind her, and the frown turned into a smile as his face lit up. “Hey, honey, I’m home!”
As he enfolded her in his arms for a long kiss, I hoped to hell that I wasn’t going to be a wedge between them. I also hoped that Peyton was wrong about Leo—and that my own secret suspicions were off.
I sliced the pizza and slid the pie on the table while Peyton poured drinks all the way around and set out the pudding and cookies. Kaylin and Chatter slid into their places and I stared at Kaylin, wondering what he’d say. He’d been against my dreamwalking with him the first time, but a lot had happened since then. He glanced up to meet my gaze, unblinking. A dark smile fell across his lips as he lifted his beer and slowly saluted me with it.
As we all fell to eating, I glanced over at Rhiannon. She nodded. No time like the present. I leaned back and licked the melted cheese off my fingers.
“Guys, I need to talk to you about something. I need your help.”
“Peyton and I have already agreed to help her in this, and we’re not changing our minds, so I suggest you think twice about turning her down.” Rhiannon swallowed her pizza and blinked. “Kaylin, we especially need your help.”
“Why do I think I’m not going to like this?” Leo frowned, pushing his food around on his plate.
“Because you feel it’s your duty to protect us even when it’s not. But we’re here to help each other, and no single one of us is strong enough to protect the others.” Rhia gave him a playful kiss, but he scowled at her.
“What’s up? I can feel something coming.” He reached for another slice of pizza.
I took a deep breath. “I’m planning something. I need your help, Kaylin, but if you aren’t comfortable then I’ll find another way. No matter what, I’m going through with this.” In a rush, I spilled out, “I’m going to steal some of the antidote and give it to Grieve.”
Leo choked on his pizza, coughing so loud I thought we were going to have to thump him on the back. I glanced over at Kaylin, who raised his eyebrows but didn’t say a word. Chatter looked at me like I was crazy.
After a moment, Leo pushed his plate back and stood up. “This is insane. You’re going to get all of us killed.”
“I’m not asking
you
to help. I’m not asking Rhia and Peyton to go in with me. I’m just asking you to keep your mouth shut about it. As far as you’re concerned, you don’t know anything.”
“If Geoffrey finds out that I’m keeping this quiet, he’ll rip my throat out—and yours, too!” Leo slammed his hand on the table. “You can’t do this! I know you’re hot for Grieve, but face the fucking facts: He belongs to Myst now. You lost him, he’s gone. Buh-bye!”
I slid out of my chair, staring at him, unable to believe the extent of his anger. Leo seemed mild-mannered on the surface, but he’d shown a nasty temper more than once now.
“Excuse me, but you don’t own this house and you don’t own me. You’re not my brother or my keeper. Grieve means more to me than you can ever comprehend. If you can’t accept the fact that he and I have been bound for lifetimes, then you never will.”
“We don’t always get what we want.” He turned a cold eye at Chatter, then back at me. “We don’t always get
who
we want.”
He was jealous. Chatter had a crush on my cousin, and Leo knew it, so he was taking it out on all of the Cambyra Fae.
“You’re threatened—Grieve and Chatter threaten you!” I shoved my finger against Leo’s chest. “Grieve scares the hell out of you and you’d do anything to keep him out of my life. And Chatter—you don’t want him near Rhiannon.”
“Fuck that! I’m not scared of some freakshow Fae. What I am scared of is having a member of the Indigo Court under the same roof as me. A member of the race that killed my sister. That killed my fiancée’s mother.
Your
aunt, might I remind you! And I take my job for Geoffrey seriously. I owe him—”
“You owe him what?” Rhiannon turned on him. “A paycheck? He’s one of the
vampires
, Leo. I don’t mind you working for them, but I’ll never trust them.”
“At least the vampires keep their word—”
“Yeah, right. And they use every trick in the book on us. Look at the contract I signed with them.” I waved my hand, accidentally knocking over my juice. I ignored it as it trickled across the table. “Lannan’s not going to keep his word—he’d love a chance to humiliate me, especially now. You think they have respect for you just because you play toady for them?”
“Don’t you ever call me that again!” Leo knocked his chair over as he backhanded me across the face.
I reacted instantly, kicking him in the stomach and knocking the wind out of him. “You
ever
touch me again like that and I’ll make you wish you hadn’t.”
His eyes wide, Leo slid to the floor. “I’m sorry . . . I didn’t mean to hit you . . .”
“Bullshit. You knew what you were doing.” I rubbed my cheek. “And for your fucking information, dude, I’ve been thinking about alternative places where I can keep Grieve. I value my cousin and Kaylin too much to chance having him in the house with them.
You
—I’m not so sure about right now.”
Rhiannon stared at him, horrified. “I can’t believe you just did that. I thought I knew you.”
“Please, don’t look at me like that. Honey—sweetie . . . I didn’t mean to hurt her.” Tears in his eyes, he turned a dark gaze on me. “Geoffrey
does
respect me. And since that seems to be all the respect I get around here, then maybe I should move back to my apartment. Rhiannon, come with me. Get the fuck out of this place and cut your losses.”
She shook her head, slowly backing up from his outstretched hand. “Leo, what the hell are you doing? I know you’re upset, but nobody touches a woman like that in this house. Cicely, are you okay?”
I nodded. My jaw was sore, but he’d grazed me rather than hit spot on. “Yeah, I’m all right.”
Leo stared at the table. After a moment, he said, “I can’t excuse myself. I can’t take it back, but Cicely, please. I didn’t intend to hit you. I don’t know what I thought . . .”
“You’d better leave—” Rhiannon started to say, but I stopped her.
“No,” I said, moving between her and him. I faced him down. “There’s nothing more I’d like to do than throttle you, Leo, but we can’t afford to divide up. Myst would come after you in a heartbeat. Not only are you a day-runner for the vamps, but she assumes you’re a friend of mine. I’m no longer sure she’s right, but you’re a sitting duck. However, understand this: I will rescue Grieve if there’s any chance of doing so. You’re going to have to get over your fear and learn to accept it.”
He smoldered but then ducked his head and nodded. “I don’t like it. And I won’t pretend to.”
“You don’t have to. You just have to stay alive, and your best chances of doing that are while you’re here. Got it?”
Rhiannon was staring at him, arms crossed. After a moment, she turned away. “So, Kaylin, after all this, are you going to help us?”
Kaylin let out a quiet snort. “Whatever you like.”
I turned back to him, searching his face. The old Kaylin would have objected, but he seemed blasé about the whole matter. Everything felt like we’d been shifted onto quicksand; the landscape was changing even as we walked through it. “Thanks.”