them were already asleep, and in their dreams drifted a suggestion, scented with bay and cedar.
Sally McKenzie was giggling with her roommate, Isis, and talking about how handsome Dragon was when suddenly she cocked her head and told Isis, “I-I think we should change our minds.
Isis, her giggles stilled, shrugged and nodded in agreement. Both girls blew out their bedside lights and went to sleep feeling more than slightly uneasy.
Into the two infatuated boys’ minds came the clear thought:
One fledgling wept quietly into his pillow. The other stared at the full moon and wondered if he would ever be loved.
Four of the six fledglings who were finishing their turn at kitchen duty hesitated at their work. Camellia looked at Anna, Anya, and Beatrice and said:
“
Anna gasped and dropped the porcelain cup she was holding. It shattered into the stunned silence.
Then Anya spoke, bending to help Anna clean up the shattered cup:
Next, Beatrice’s face lost all of its color as she whispered:
In the sumptuous living quarters of the Tower Grove House of Night’s High Priestess, Pandeia was welcoming her mate into their bed when Diana’s beautiful face registered surprise and she said:
“Diana? Are you well?” Pandeia touched her mate’s cheek and looked deep within her eyes.
Diana shook her head like a cat ridding itself of water. “I am. I-that was odd. Those words were not mine.”
“What were you thinking of before you spoke?”
She shrugged. “I suppose I was wondering if all the Warriors had returned from the games yet, and was thinking that Dragon has done our House proud.”
The High Priestess nodded, suddenly understanding. “It is Anastasia’s spell. It has drawn the truth about Dragon to those who were thinking of him at its casting.”
Diana snorted. “I am hardly a besotted fledgling.”
Pandeia smiled. “Of course you are not, my love. This demonstrates the strength of young Anastasia’s spell. We can rest assured there will be no obsessed fledglings trailing about after him tomorrow.”
“I almost feel sorry for the boy.”
“Do not. If any of the fledglings were meant to love him, a splash of reality wouldn’t wash true love away. And anyway, what was revealed to you shows that Dragon does, indeed, have a bright future.”
Diana returned her mate’s embrace, saying, “Or, at the very least, he’ll have an interesting one.”
At the Chicago House of Night, where the Vampyre Games had recently concluded, Aurora, a beautiful young vampyre, paused mid-word in the letter she was composing to the fledgling who had warmed her bed and her heart after he had defeated every swordsman who came against him. Dragon Lankford had claimed the title of Sword Master, along with Aurora’s affection. Yet now she found herself putting aside her quill and lifting the thin paper sheet to touch the flame of the closest candle to her as she realized the truthfulness of the words that flitted through her mind whispering:
What had she been thinking? Dragon had been a lovely diversion and no more.
And, finally, inside the forbidding brick building that served as jailhouse for St. Louis, Missouri, the whispers on the wind drifted down… down… down… to the bowels of the place and the hidden room in which Sherriff Jesse Biddle paced back and forth in front of the creature he held his captive in a cage of silver. He didn’t actually talk
The keening from the creature was eerie. It made Biddle’s skin crawl.
“Shut up or I’ll throw some of that salt water on you again. That’ll burn you up good like the proper chicken you are!”
Eyes that looked disturbingly human in the face of the enormous raven met his. Though the creature was only semi-substantial, its eyes glowed a strong, steady red.
