Lannan searched my face. “What weighs so heavily on the Ice Queen’s heart?” Again, his words were punctuated with just a hint of snideness—a soupçon of snark.
With a glance at Rhiannon, who nodded, I launched into what we had learned, and what we needed to ask. By the time I finished, Regina was staring at me, jaw slightly open. Lannan was shaking his head.
“That crown truly has changed you. How does it feel, now, to be on my side of the tracks? To play the sadist—for you know that’s what this will end up being, should we agree?” He let out a faint snort. “Sweet Cicely, you truly do have a heart of ice now, don’t you?”
I wanted to slap him but held myself in check. A quick glance at Grieve told me he was close to doing the same. My wolf shifted and growled, and I knew Grieve was pissed out of his mind.
Regina, however, simply sat there, as pale as porcelain. She folded her hands together on the desk. “You’re truly serious about this? You would have us take the night-veil to Crawl? To let the seer peer into his heart and future to see if he’s loyal?”
I bit my lip, wanting to hang my head. But Lainule had taught me well, and I forced myself to meet her gaze. “Yes. We have to know. Then he can test our other friends. There is far too much at stake to risk putting our trust in anyone unless we know for sure that trust is warranted. We know you will not side with Myst—it’s inborn in your nature to go against the Vampiric Fae.”
And truth was I was right.
Eons ago, Geoffrey, before he had taken the name Geoffrey, had attempted to turn the Fae of the Unseelie Court. He had taken Myst down, drank her to death’s door then fed her his blood, hoping she would turn when she died and come back to life. But Myst had not died.
Instead, she regenerated at a vastly increased rate of healing, and along with her own dark powers, she now possessed the powers of the vampire, along with others that had developed out of the unholy union. The whole idea had been a conspiracy between the pair, but once Myst found herself growing more powerful than Geoffrey, she had cast him aside as she turned others of her kind.
The Vampiric Fae fed on life force and body, as well as blood, and they evolved into the Shadow Hunters: ruthless killing machines. Worst of all—the Vampiric Fae could breed. With no more need for Geoffrey’s help, Myst turned against the vampires, creating her own empire. And eventually I had been born, her daughter Cherish, and we came to the New World in search of land in which to breed, and conquer.
Now, the Vampiric Fae had grown strong, and they were rising, not only to fulfill a long-prophesized war against the vampires, but to spread their disease throughout the land. Turning the magic-born and Fae as they went, they set out to enslave the yummanii and the magic-born as their cattle, and to destroy the balance between Summer and Winter.
Regina glanced at Lannan, who gave her a subtle nod. “We can do this thing,” she said, “but it will require a price. You know the Blood Oracle requires a sacrifice of—”
“Of blood. I remember. I will pay it.” I hated the thought of seeing him again. He’d almost killed me. He’d had more of my blood than I ever wanted to give him, and the thought of coming into close contact with him again gave me the creeps. What if he managed to catch hold of me again? What if he tried to finish the job he’d started?
Grieve must have caught my fear because he stood. “I will go with her. I will not allow her to go there alone.”
I turned to him. “You can’t. We can’t afford to chance both of our lives. The Barrow must have guidance.”
“You are the heart of the Barrow, so if anyone remains behind, it must be you.” Grieve’s eyes gleamed in the dim light of the shadowed room. Outside, the snow fell silently, blanketing the already whitened lawn.
I turned to Regina. “He’ll demand my blood, won’t he?”
She nodded, a solemn look spreading across her face. “None other will do. I know the Blood Oracle too well. He is . . . unswerving. You escaped him. Now he thirsts for you—to drink you up and leave you a shallow husk. Like all spiders, his thirst never abates. But once we caught him after Geoffrey and Leo set him free, we keep him on a short leash. There is no way to fully guarantee your safety, but we will do as much as we can to keep you from harm.”
Lannan, for a change, turned serious, and the smarmy look vanished. “Definitely. Regina will guide you there. If I go with her, it may set him off. He remembers that I freed you from his grasp, and he’s not taken it well. The Blood Oracle would as soon drink me down as he would you. I am now his enemy.”
I hadn’t expected that, but it made sense. Crawl might put the true vampires above everything, but if someone crossed him, I had no doubt that he would waste no time in eradicating them if at all possible.
“So, by saving me, you put yourself at odds with the Blood Oracle. I’m truly sorry about that.” And for once, I meant it.
The politics of the Crimson Court were complex, a minefield of hazards. This could make it dicey for Lannan if Crawl had supporters who might not appreciate Lannan rescuing someone who wasn’t a vampire. However, the fact that I was the Fae Queen, and that he had managed to avoid a dispute between the Fae Courts and the Vampire Nation probably swayed opinion to his side more than anything else.
Lannan caught my gaze, holding it. “Do you think I care what anyone thinks about me?”
“That’s precisely why the Crimson Queen questions your ability as Regent,” Regina said, walking behind him. She stopped to cuff him lightly on the head. He snarled at her, showing his fangs, and she laughed. I had the feeling this was foreplay between them.
“Then she should choose someone better for the job. I never once expressed an interest in wearing this hat. I much prefer my job as professor at the New Forest Conservatory.” He arched one eyebrow at me. “All those lovely young coeds, both magic-born and vampire. But none, none can hold a candle to the Queen of Ice.”
Grieve stiffened. I could feel his reaction through my wolf, but he said nothing. Truth was Lannan was to thank for me still being alive, and we both knew and accepted the ugly truth. We owed the vampire a favor, and Lannan knew it as well.
“Back to the subject at hand. When can we go? And Kaylin doesn’t have a clue about this. We didn’t dare take a chance, just in case—”
“Just in case the night-veil demon is your spy. Of course.” Regina motioned to Lannan. “You will summon the man. Leave the others where they are and make certain they are protected.”
“As you wish.” Lannan slipped out of the room, softly shutting the door behind him.
Regina followed him out the door with her gaze, then brought her attention back to us. “Rhiannon, you and both consorts will remain here. Cicely and I will take Kaylin to the Blood Oracle. Check, you may come as your Queen’s guard, but you will obey me. Do you understand? If I say jump, you jump. If I say drop down on the floor—”
“I will drop. Yes, Emissary.” Check snapped to attention, clicking his heels together smartly as he straightened his shoulders.
The fact that Regina addressed neither of us by our title didn’t bother me, and I knew it didn’t irk Rhiannon, either. Regina had known us both before our coronations, and somehow, rebuking the Emissary to the Crimson Court for overlooking a few words would just be borrowing trouble. There was no disrespect in her voice, and I doubted any was meant.
As she finished speaking, Lannan reentered the room, Kaylin in tow. I caught my breath, wondering how the fuck we were going to explain what was about to happen. We couldn’t just drag him along with us and then throw him to the wolves, so to speak.