Night's End by Yasmine Galenorn Page A

belly, letting out an anxious huff.
    â€œI’m all right,” I told him. “Just . . . nostalgic. But I’m nostalgic for what might have well been a dream. I only miss the life I had before I was six, before Krystal dragged me away. I remember it through a child’s eyes. For all I know, it might have been hell on earth for Heather and Krystal. Maybe Krystal left for a good reason. I’ll never know, not now. Everybody who could tell me the truth is dead.”
    â€œYou miss what might have been.” Grieve gazed at me, his eyes black as night with glittering stars. “But love, that’s not a bad thing. I, too, think of what might have been. . . .”
    I nodded. He had his own demons. He’d been born to the Court of Rivers and Rushes, and Myst had taken him forever into the ice and chill. My Summer Prince was now as bound to the Winter as I was. Together we would rule a land neither one of us would have picked, if given a choice.
    Check stood guard by my side while Fearless reconnoitered the area. Ulean swept past, also checking for hidden threats and dangers. A moment later she was back.
    The area is clear, but they have been past. The Shadow Hunters. I can feel their energy on the slipstream. Their hunger is strong. And Cicely? In town . . . there is trouble. Horrible trouble.
    Vampire trouble?
    No, Lannan’s people still sleep—it is not yet dusk, even though the storm holds the light at bay. Myst’s hunters . . . They are feeding.
    Her thoughts were tinged with pain, and I cringed. New Forest, Washington, had already seen a decrease in population recently, as people fled from the attacks that had run rampant through the city. A few people had started to trickle back, but fresh murders might destroy the city for good.
    New Forest was a small town near Snoqualmie, Washington—nestled between the larger urban areas that comprised the GSMA—the Greater Seattle Metropolitan Area—and the Cascade Mountains. But sometimes it seemed as though New Forest was off the grid. The town felt so disconnected from the other cities and communities. I couldn’t remember if it had been that way when I was a child, but ever since I’d returned, the city felt severed from most of the world.
    I steeled myself as Fearless returned. While he didn’t have the same information regarding the town that Ulean had, he verified that he’d seen no sign of the Vampiric Fae around the perimeters of the land. Nodding, I motioned toward the house, and we strode out of the woods into the clearing and raced across the wide lawn separating the Golden Wood from the town.
    The door opened as we neared it. Luna stood there. Short, plump, and curvy, the yummanii bard motioned us to hurry in. She stood back as we burst through the door. The television was on, and she held her finger to her lips as she bustled back into the living room.
    We followed.
    There, Luna, Peyton, and Kaylin were watching the news. Peyton was part Native American. She was half werepuma and half magic-born. Rex, her father, had recently reentered her life, only to be struck down by one of our enemies—a vampire named Geoffrey, who was now dust. And her mother had betrayed us and almost managed to kill me. She, too, had died at the hands of the vampires. Peyton had taken both losses hard, but she was stoic, as usual, and doing her best to weather the situation.
    She waved at us, but her gaze was still glued to the television. Another moment, and I understood why, as the newscaster returned.
    â€œWe repeat—stay inside your homes. Lock the doors. The attacks continue and a representative from Lord Lannan’s estate has informed us that the danger we face still stems from the Vampiric Fae—from the Shadow Hunters.”
    Lannan must have had a speech prepared for this eventuality. As much as I loathed the vampire, I had to admit he was smart, especially for someone who