We slammed through the door after her and spread out, trying to circle her. The Shadow Hunters began to transform and I did the only thing I could think of doing-I summoned the wind.
Ulean was with me. Call the hurricane…it will knock them off their feet.
And so I raised my hands to the sky and summoned the winds to sweep through me. As the raging gusts began to swirl around me, I dropped my head back, laughing.
“Do not run. You will not survive my storm.” I turned toward Myst. “Surrender now, and we will make it easy on you.”
She cocked her head, her face a mask of pain as the light hit her eyes. “Do you really think I’d surrender to you? I have no intention of letting you capture and kill me.” And as she spoke, she began to grow, stretching up and over the woods, shimmering in a cerulean shadow.
I cast out, grabbing hold of the winds and sending them swirling out in front of me as I began to move forward. Trees began to shiver and, in a fury, I uprooted a small one and sent it hurtling toward one of the Shadow Hunters, hitting him square on with it. His partner began to howl and moved back, eyeing me cautiously.
Myst hissed, reaching out with one long, thin arm. “I am the Queen of Winter, not you, my girl. You will not usurp me, long-lost daughter of mine. We are not done yet.” The snow began to pour so thick and fast we could barely see. The flakes caught in the vortex of wind I was spinning, blinding the world, clouding it with a fury of white.
Cicely, let go of the storm. Myst can traverse a blizzard and while you will soon become the Queen of Winter, right now she has the power to command the weather in a way that you don’t.
I didn’t want to listen to Ulean, but I knew I had to. I pushed one final gust toward the last place Myst had been standing and then released the winds. As they died down, I glanced around anxiously. The blizzard was raging now and it was impossible to see beyond my outstretched hand.
Is she here? Where is she?
She is gone. Ulean let out a long sigh. She has vanished for now. The other Shadow Hunter went with her.
The snow began to die down, and we were standing there alone but for one crushed Shadow Hunter. And Myst was nowhere to be seen.
Chapter 21
“We lost her.” I stared at the woods. “She’s gone.”
“There’s nothing we could have done. But we can help back in the barrow.” Kaylin shook his head. “We will find her again. Or…she will find us.”
“He’s right.” Grieve put his arm around my waist and turned me toward the barrow. “Myst will not forget that she has you to thank for this. And she will wish to return the favor. We are in far more danger now than before. But come, let us return to the others and see if they need our help.”
As we reentered the passage, I tried to put the sting of defeat out of my mind and hoped that the others had had better luck than we had. We hurried back to the main chamber, shutting the door to the outside behind us and locking it. Myst might’ve been able to break through, but Luna sang a charm to trigger an alarm should the door be opened from the outside. It was the best we could do until someone with stronger powers could get to it.
When we reached the main chamber again, I feared what I would see but took the lead anyway and marched into the room. There was plenty of carnage, but it looked like our warriors were on the winning side this time. The room was slick with blood and dead Shadow Hunters. And a handful of our own, as well.
Lainule and Wrath looked up from where they knelt over one of the warriors. He was dying, and as Lainule murmured something in his ear he closed his eyes and let go.
We stood, waiting. A group of guardsmen came in from the passage leading into the main chamber. They were covered with blood-and some were hurt-but they knelt before Lainule.
“Your Majesty, we have routed the enemy. The barrow is clear. There are still more outside, but we’ve sent word to the realm of Summer for more volunteers to come scour the woodland and find the rest. We killed over three hundred Shadow Hunters this day, and more.”
Lainule smiled softly. “You have done well. Have my guard comb the forests. Be cautious, Myst is still on the run.” She looked over at me.
“We could not catch her. She is still out there, but she had only one Shadow Hunter with her. She’ll likely gather the remnants of her people to her before she makes another attempt. Is there a way to guard the woodland so she can’t summon new recruits?”
Ysandra, who looked weary beyond belief, nodded. “We can set a ring of wards around the Golden Wood, but it will be a great task. We need a treaty with the Queen of Rivers and Rushes before we can set to such an undertaking.”
Lainule let out a small laugh. “I will make such a treaty as one of my last acts here.” She turned to Rhiannon and me. “You must undergo your initiations as soon as possible, so that Wrath and I may take our places with the others who have reigned and passed out of this realm.”
I stared at her. “It’s all happening so quickly.”
“And so it must. There is no time to process the journey, owl-daughter. If we had time, I would willingly give you more. But so it must be…and so it will be.” And with that, she dropped to one of the divans that had escaped being splattered with blood. “I already feel my power beginning to wane. Night is coming for me, at least here in this world.”
Lainule and Wrath sent us back to the mansion for the night while their people cleaned the barrow. Myst had vanished, and no one knew where she was. Ysandra and her squad from the Consortium returned to Lannan’s estate with us. We reached the gates late-and apparently every vampire on the premises was out looking for us.
As we wandered through the doors, blood-soaked, cold, and exhausted, Lannan was standing there, waiting. He stared at me, his gaze holding me fast. After a moment, he scanned the rest of the crowd.
“Get them clean clothing, showers, and food. Cicely, you will attend me in my office when you are warm and clean and dressed.” And with that, he turned and exited the room.
I didn’t have the energy to argue. So much had gone on that I almost welcomed the chance to sit and talk about it with someone who wasn’t entirely involved. Grieve glowered, but I just shook my head as we trudged up to my room.
“Don’t even go there. Just don’t. All I want to think about right now is a hot bath and clean clothes, and to feel like maybe, for just an hour, we can breathe without something else happening.” I kissed him on the nose, then stripped off my clothes.
Grieve let out a snort. “You know as well as I do that he’ll try anything to get in your pants. But my love, you will do as you must. As you always do.” He seemed at ease with himself, no longer struggling with his inner demons since the ritual, as if a constant edge were gone. “Shower, and I will lay out an outfit for you.”
The water sang against my skin, and I embraced the heat, drawing it in, letting the stream pound on my sore muscles. It began to ease the knots in my back and my legs. Soaping up with a lavender-scented bath gel, I lingered under the shower as long as I could, until the water began to cool.
As I stepped out and wrapped a towel around myself, I wiped the fog off the mirror and stared at myself. So much had happened. So much was happening still, and I wasn’t quite sure how to take it all in. Staring at my reflection, I finally shook my head and stepped out of the bathroom.
Grieve was waiting for me, and before I could say a word, he drew me to him and silently, slowly, kissed me. But instead of moving to make love to me, he stood back and handed me my bra and a clean pair of jeans and comfortable turtleneck.