Night Seeker by Yasmine Galenorn Read Free Book Online Page A

“Leave it. A charm that our future will be filled with cupcakes and fluff and the lightness of summer.”
    As the last of the candles died down, leaving us in darkness, I opened the door. Clean, ready to plunge back into the battle, we returned to the main room.

     
    Lannan was still there but about ready to leave to do whatever it was he intended to do. He watched every move we made as we reentered the room but said nothing and vanished around the corner.
    Grieve glared after him, whispering, “I hate that he can make your body respond to him.”
    “But my heart doesn’t. Bodies are…physical. I can’t help my reaction—he’s a vampire and I’ve drunk his blood. But my love for you is never tainted by his touch.”
    “I
hate
that he can make you enjoy his attentions. I know that you can’t stand him and I would do anything to put an end to his attentions. But there’s nothing I can do to stop it except to kill him and you won’t allow me.”
    “You
can’t
. Not yet. We need him, as much as I hate to admit it.” Lannan was a necessary evil at this point, and we all knew it—especially Lannan. Which meant he could be as cocky as he wanted and get away with it.
    “As you wish. But if he hurts you, I will stake him, brutally and with as much pain as I can bring to bear. You belong to me. And no one can sever our bond.” Grieve pulled away, shoving his hands in his pockets. He began to pace. “I feel cooped up, trapped here. But if I go out, Myst will hunt me down.”
    Luna, who had been standing back, watching but saying nothing, stepped forward. “You know that my sister is one of the Akazzani. Maybe she can help us? I told you, they have a lot of ancient texts.
The Rise of the Indigo Court
can’t be the only treatise written on the Vampiric Fae. There
has
to be more information hidden away in the vaults of the Society. Maybe…maybe there’s something about reversing the process, if you aren’t born into the Indigo Court?”
    We turned to her. She was a pretty woman, shorter even than I was, and plump, with long dark hair gathered back in a sleek ponytail. Her eyes were the color of her hair, ringed with silver sparkles. Luna was a bard, one of the yummanii—human, but her magical powers were stronger than the average person, and her voice was like a melodyscaling a mountain, crystal clear and ringing one moment, throaty and rich the next. Kaylin had been instantly drawn to her—I could see it in his demeanor, but I had no clue whether she felt the same way. Or if she even sensed his interest.
    “Do you think there’s a possibility of finding something to change Grieve back?” It had not occurred to me that we might be able to reverse the process.
    She shrugged. “I haven’t a clue, to be honest. But we can find out.”
    “How would we go about doing that? I thought the Akazzani is supposed to be a closed society.” The thought of diving into those books, of perhaps gleaning far more than a cure for Grieve, lured me in. And what if we could find other vulnerabilities that we could exploit against the Indigo Court?
    “Zoey is loyal to me. I know her oaths bind her, but if I tell her what’s at stake…” Luna pulled out her cell phone. “I should call her.”
    “They allow cell phones in their midst?” Kaylin cocked his head, giving her an odd look. “Last I heard, secret societies at least tried to stay…well…secret.”
    Luna snickered and blinked a flirty look at him. I didn’t even think she realized she was doing it. “This is the twenty-first century, not the 1900s. They not only allow cell phones, but they sanction occasional visits home, as long as the society member observes the rules. Zoey could sneak out the books and return them when we’re done. Books are to be used—information should flow rather than be locked up away from the world. Though Zoey’s the only member of my family I’d trust with the information about where we are and why.”
    She paused, waiting for