Free Night Myst by Yasmine Galenorn Page B

life that I knew would be waiting for me here.” And the last time, at seventeen, I wasn’t ready to commit to Grieve, as much as I loved him. But I didn’t want to say it aloud.
    “And now, the wind has brought you home. You, and Ulean.” Anadey looked like she wanted to say a whole lot more but she kept her silence.
    “We went looking for Heather today, just to the edge of the wood. And we were attacked. Twice—well, I was attacked twice. But Rhiannon and Leo fought off the first creature that threatened to choke me. When I returned,
    I found Grieve. But he was much changed.” I gave her a condensed version of what had happened, including the difference I’d noticed in Grieve.
    “The creature you describe is a tillynok, but they’re usually peaceful. Something must have set it off. And the snow Elemental—they’re not known to play tricks on humans. Unless they’re bonded, like your Ulean, they usually just ignore us. A strange magic has taken over the forest.”
    “What about Grieve? What about the Indigo Court that he mentioned? That Rhiannon envisioned?”
    “I don’t know,” Anadey said.
    “Cicely? Look.” Rhiannon turned around, holding one of the books she’d picked up off the shelf.
    A strange tingling started through my hand as I reached out to take the volume from Rhiannon. The energy surrounding the book was frightening, wild, ancient. I didn’t know if I really wanted to touch it, but I had no choice. I had to look. The tome was large, with a navy cover. I flipped open the cover—which was blank—and read the title, which appeared only on the inside.
    The Rise of the Indigo Court.
    “It would seem we’ve found an answer.”
    “Somehow, I think your answer is just going to lead to more questions,” Anadey said, glancing at it. “Why do I feel like we’re opening Pandora’s box?”
    “Because we are.” And I opened it to the first page.

Chapter 6
    I slowly made my way to the dining room table, and the others followed me. Setting the book on the table, I opened it to the first yellowed page. The words were handwritten, in a tight, clear text. Old ink. Old pages. The smell of library dust and time gone by.
    Steeped in a secrecy far deeper than even that of the Unseelie Court is the Indigo Court. While the Unseelie are nefarious and dangerous, the Indigo Court are considered the Fallen Fae, corrupt for they not only bear their own bloodline, but the blood of the Vampire Nation. The merging of the two races evolved into a breed stronger than either, and yet with their own unique vulnerabilities.
    I stopped, looking up. “Vampiric Fae?” The thought made me cringe. Somehow that just seemed . . . so wrong . “I’ve never heard of them before. Has Leo ever mentioned them? He works for the vampires.”
    Rhiannon shook her head.
    “I’ve never heard of them either, but obviously Mother knew about them or she wouldn’t have the book.” Anadey leaned in to look over my shoulder.
    “How did they start? How on earth could the vampires mix with the Fae? Did they turn them like they do humans?” Peyton looked as confused as I felt.
    I skimmed through until I came to a passage that seemed to answer her question.
    Some thousand years ago, a scouting group from the Vampire Nation led by Geoffrey the Great attempted a raid on the Unseelie Court. They took prisoners—a group of the bewitching dark Fae. Intent upon siring the women as vampires in order to infiltrate the Unseelie, they used the techniques that they’d always used successfully on humans.
    What they did not expect was for the women—nearing death and forced to drink of the vampires’ blood—to live and regain their strength at an alarming rate. But the vampire blood had changed their makeup.
    First, the vampires quickly discovered their new daughters weren’t bound to them the way humans would be. Second, the Unseelie women could still use most of their magic, as well as having the vampires’ strength. But they’d shifted