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Queens and the populace of New Forest. With Crawl free among the townspeople, the Vampire Nation could suffer irreversible damage to our reputation. Second: We return him to his prison. And third: We terminate Geoffrey and Leo.”
    “Do you know where they are?” I asked.
    She let out a soft whisper. “No. We have no idea. I sent in guards to raid their last known hideaway earlier this evening. There was no trace of them or where they went. The owner of the club died without revealing their whereabouts. My men used every form of
persuasion
possible. The club owner died in the process.”
    I crossed to the big bay windows. Every morning, they were covered with steel shutters. Now, I stared outside, into the dim night. The snow was piling up again. Myst was still out there, gunning for us. And Leo and Geoffrey had freed a monster from his dark and fiery hell to claim the streets of the town for his own.
    Myst was a holy terror, but at least, she was somewhat predictable. Whereas Crawl…Crawl was as alien as an insect, and as dangerous as any predator who ruled the top of the food chain. Crawl wanted my blood, and Leo and Geoffrey were only too happy to serve me up on a platter.
    Lannan was suddenly behind me, making no noise with his approach. He placed his hands on my shoulders and leaned down to whisper in my ear. “Are you afraid, Cicely?”
    I turned to stare at him over my shoulder. He wasn’tbeing sarcastic this time. His question seemed oddly genuine. “Yes, I’m afraid.”
    “My offer stands, you know. Let me turn you. Renounce the world of Fae and join me. It would be easy for you to fight back, then. With your powers, combined with me as your sire, you could defeat Leo and Geoffrey.”
    His words entwined around me, and the wolf tattoo on my stomach growled a low warning note. Grieve could tell I was all too close to his rival.
    I shook my head. “No. I refused to let Geoffrey turn me—I would become a bigger monster than Myst. But thank you. I think you really mean it—you really want to help.”
    “Don’t be so quick to think you know my mind, girl.” Lannan let out a low laugh. “I just don’t want to lose you.” But the look on his face told me that Rhiannon and I weren’t the only ones who were afraid. I turned to look at Regina. She, too, wore a look of concern on her face.
    As I stared back into the night, too aware of Lannan’s hands still on my shoulders, I thought I saw something dart past the window. As I wiped my eyes, whatever it was seemed to disappear.
    It was all too much. Too many enemies. Too much stress. I just wanted to go home and crawl under the covers, but even home now had a new meaning, and was still an alien and strange place. Rhiannon joined me at the window and I took her hand in mine. We stood there, linked, twin-cousins, fire and ice against the shadows outside, as they grew dark and long, and looming.

Chapter 2
    The first thing we did when we got back to the Barrow was check on Luna. She was resting, but still shaky. Peyton confided to me that Kaylin hadn’t left her side since they’d returned.
    “What happened? What did they say about the attack on Luna?” Peyton leaned against the counter—the marble tops gleamed against the dark oak cabinets that were hand carved and as old as time.
    “Tell you in a minute.” I wanted to breathe first, to sit down and relax. As I glanced around the Marburry Barrow, it hit me that this place was starting to become familiar. I still didn’t think of it as home, but it was a safe haven, and there had been precious few of those lately.
    “Let’s have tea.” Peyton put the kettle on and played with the knobs. I still had no clue as to how to work the Cambyra gadgets. The stove was fueled by both wood and magic, and I hadn’t had a moment to pay attention to anything like that, with the rush of training we had been undergoing.
    We were gathered in the common room that served as a combination dining-living-office space for