Night Seeker by Yasmine Galenorn Page B

letter after letter. Now I know she destroyed them.”
    Peyton’s jaw dropped. “I never saw one of them. Not one.”
    “I finally realized you weren’t getting them when Old Joe One Shoe, a friend of mine here in town, overheard Anadey telling one of her friends that she tore up all my letters. When he told me that, I took off, spent several years on the road.”
    “Why did you come back?”
    He smiled softly. “I decided it had been long enough—the cougars were speaking to me, they sang to me in the night and told me it was time to return home. That my baby girl was in trouble and needed me. So I hit the road and here I am.” Rex let her go then, and Peyton didn’t step away.
    “Mother told me you were an alcoholic. Are you still drinking?”
    “I was when I left. But I’d promised her I’d quit. She didn’t trust me. Shortly after I left, I joined AA. Never slid off the wagon—not once. I’ve been sober since you were knee-high. I tried to get her to let me come home again, but she wouldn’t hear of it. I think Anadey wanted you all to herself. I think she was jealous when you used to run up to me instead of her.” He said it slowly, like a man not wanting to spill secrets, but it rang true.
    Peyton nodded. “You’re probably right. Anadey has always guarded me. She wants me to have friends, but then…” She glanced over at me. “She almost killed Cicely as a payment to keep you from getting to me.”
    Rex gave me a stout nod. “Miss.” He touched his forehead in a two-fingered salute. “Baby girl, why don’t you introduce me to your friends.”
    Peyton blushed. “I’m sorry—I was just so excited. And nervous.” As she went round, giving our names and what we did, Rex shook our hands. His skin was warm and his handshake firm, rock-solid. I liked the man.
    I think you can trust this man. His energy reads clear.
Ulean flurried around me, her breath tickling my neck.
    “You should know, we have one of the vampires in our midst, but I doubt if he was among those seeking to kill you. He does, however, have his own agenda.” I pointed to a chair. “Sit down?”
    Rex swung it around, straddling it. “Why do you let him stay?”
    “Believe it or not, he’s an ally, though a hedonist and all-around pervert as well.” I went back to the last of my breakfast.
    Luna slipped over to the counter and returned with a plate of donuts. “Would you like some coffee, Mr. Moon Runner?”
    Rex grinned at her. “That would be Rex, my dear, and I’d love some. Black, with one sugar if you have it.”
    “Lannan Altos doesn’t just have
an
agenda,” Peyton said. “His agenda is
Cicely
.” She glanced at me. “Should I tell him everything?”
    “We probably should. While you’re filling him in, I’m going to go call Ysandra and see if she is willing to meet with us.” I walked to the other side of the room, away from the conversation. Pulling out my phone, I hunted through my purse and found the card Ysandra had left with me. After a moment’s hesitation, I punched in her number.
    Ysandra answered on the second ring.
    “Hi, this is Cicely Waters. Remember me?” I wasn’t sure what to say—should I just spill out all the informationat once and chance sounding like a raving idiot? Or play the mysterious card and hope she wouldn’t hang up on me?
    “Cicely—of course I remember you! I’m so glad you called. Have you filled out the paperwork yet? We’re looking forward to meeting you and your new Society.” She sounded pleasant enough, almost like she really was looking forward to seeing us again.
    I closed my eyes and plunged in. “Ysandra, we really need to talk to you. It’s an emergency. Is there any way you could meet us in Monroe today? There’s a diner there—Penny’s Pit Stop. Please, will you meet us there this afternoon? There’s so much I need to tell you and I can’t do it over the phone.”
    She paused, I could almost hear the thoughts running through her head. Then,