“I…I…you aren’t…you are, but…” He stuttered, looking totally confused. “I’m sorry—I didn’t mean to pull back.”

I cocked my head. “You’re blushing.” I’d never seen Smoky blush before, and I rather liked it. Then it hit me. “You feel uncomfortable kissing me because I don’t look like myself!”

He glowered. “No—I just…”

“Dude, she’s totally right.” Vanzir snickered, quickly sobering as Smoky whirled on him.

“You have something to say, demon?” Smoky might think he hadn’t fully forgiven Vanzir, but the truth was, after Hyto had stolen me away, Smoky had never fully forgiven himself, even though we all told him it wasn’t his fault. He blamed his temper for leading to the disaster that had followed.

Vanzir shook his head and held up his hands. “Peace, dude. I’m not saying a word. Nothing.”

“Enough. It’s time to book.” I picked up my purse—another loaner from Nerissa—and headed toward the door.

Smoky stopped me. He pulled me into his arms and leaned down, brushing my lips with his own. “Whatever you look like, wherever you are, you’re my love. That’s all that matters.”

And with that, we were off.

Chapter 17

The Greenbelt Park District Community Center was as ratty as I’d been warned. I stood outside the double doors, steeling my courage. I was Morning Glory…Morning Glory…and I was alone, and worried, and lonely. Sucking in a deep breath, I pushed open the door and walked in.

The room was large, the walls a pale brick. I scoped out the exits—right where they showed on the map. And the men’s and women’s bathrooms, too. Two sets of double doors against the back wall should lead to a hallway running parallel with the event hall, as well as the other event rooms and offices, and two more exits.

The room wasn’t full, exactly, but there were at least fifteen people milling around, and I could tell they weren’t already members of the Aleksais Psychic Network because they all looked rather confused and unsure, just like I was supposed to feel.

A table to one side held snacks—chips, cookies, several pitchers of neon pink juice. Staring at it, I remembered Iris’s warning and decided to leave the food and drink alone.

A group of chairs were set up in a semicircle, with a table and a chair in front. Three high stools sat behind the table. And a banner hung over one set of the double doors leading to the hallways that read: WELCOME TO THE ALEKSAIS PSYCHIC NETWORK. JOIN US!

As I made my way over to the chairs, a figure came through the other set of double doors, and I stopped cold. Halcon Davis, and he had three people with him who weren’t people at all, but Tregarts. I could smell a Tregart demon a mile away. But rather than looking like bikers, they looked like hunky Fabio types. And that was when it dawned on me that every one of the people who had shown up were women. I didn’t see a single man around, except for Halcon and his glam-groupies.

That made sense. Among the FBH population, more women were likely to seek out others when they had questions about their psychic abilities, and men still weren’t encouraged to explore that side of themselves. There had been very few men during the assault on the spirit demon egg yesterday, and they’d died just as quickly as the women. But overall, the group of victims had been mostly female.

I made my way over to them, smiling hesitantly. I couldn’t appear too confident. I needed to convince Halcon that I was searching for something to give my life meaning. I needed to become a victim, and that wasn’t an easy act for me. Even with Hyto, I had kept hold of my dignity. I hadn’t let him beat down my soul, even though he’d beaten my body. Now I had to mute myself, muffle my natural inclinations.

I stood on the edge of the group, checking out their energy. Some were bored, looking for something to do. A few seemed to have some sort of power, and a couple of them were just difficult to read. I edged back, trying to look interested, but standing apart so Halcon would notice me. I turned on my glamour but was cautious about how much I unmasked, because if they sensed I was using it, they’d suspect something. The Fae who had come here had probably not bothered to cloak up, but they’d been genuinely interested.

I summoned energy from the Moon Mother. After a moment, when I felt the power build, I glanced over at Halcon. He was staring in my direction. Forcing a wide-eyed, slightly confused look onto my face, I flashed him a tentative smile. And that was when I saw it. Hanging around his neck was a smoky quartz pendant, and it radiated an energy that made me want to run up to him, to be his friend at all costs.

The eighth spirit seal. Motherfucking son of a bitch. Halcon was wearing the eighth spirit seal. And the damned thing was emanating some sort of charm energy that worked on Fae as well as mortals. Holy crap, so that was how he persuaded people to leave their families and to give him all their money. And that was how he had lived so long.

He conferred with his bodyguard groupies and then headed in the group’s direction, but I knew he was focused on me. Nervous now, not wanting to get caught in the trap of his bewitchment, I stepped forward, just a half step, but enough for my body language to say hello.

Halcon looked so much like his picture that it was hard to believe he was almost two hundred years old.

“Welcome, ladies. Welcome to the Aleksais Psychic Network. This is a recruitment meeting, so we’ll be joined by some of our regular members in a bit. Meanwhile, would you like some refreshments before we get started? That will give me a chance to say hello to each of you and get an idea why you’re here.”

This wasn’t the way he usually ran things. I could tell by the startled looks on the Tregarts’ faces. They were eyeing each other, as if trying to figure out what to do.

As we allowed him to herd us to the buffet of chips and desserts, I left just enough room beside me. Halcon took advantage. He slipped in between me and the nearest guest.

“Hello, I’m Halcon Davis. And you are…?” He held out his hand.

Grateful the rune was implanted in my left hand, I offered him my right, making sure my grip wasn’t too firm. A wave of revulsion ran over me and I shivered, wanting to back away. Even the spirit seal couldn’t mask the slimy, grasping energy of his aura. It made my skin crawl.

“My name is Morning Glory.” I gave him a gracious smile. “I’m so excited to be here. I’ve been…” I let my voice drift off.

“Yes, my dear?” He pressed a little closer, his gaze never leaving my face, as his fingers lingered over the tips of my own.

I gave an apologetic little shrug. “I’m just…I’ve been alone for a while and there’s no one to talk to…”

“You’re one of the Fae, aren’t you?” He still hadn’t let go of my hand, and I seriously wanted it back, but I forced myself to let him hold it.

“Why, yes. I am…partially. My father was human; my mother was one of the wood spirits.” I was fighting off the charm of the spirit seal, fighting to keep myself from falling into the swirl of joy and enthusiasm that danced around the room.

Halcon’s brow narrowed. “My dear, you said ‘was’?”

I let out a slow breath and tilted my head. “Yes, they’re both dead. An accident. I’d rather not talk about it.”

His fingers traced a pattern over mine, and again, the combination of love and disgust sent me reeling.

“As you wish, Morning Glory. So you are half-Fae…We welcome your mother’s people in the Network, you know. The Fae are such a magical people. And you’d have many friends if you join us.”

“Thank you. As I said, I’ve been lonely. I don’t have many friends. Not really.” And again I let loose with the winsome eyes.

Halcon patted my hand, then lifted it gently and kissed the top. It wasn’t a sexual sensation, but he felt hungry, and I had a sudden vision that I was Little Red Riding Hood, facing the starving wolf.

I forced myself to keep a smile on my face as he let go of my hand and moved to the front of the room, making perfunctory greetings to the other women. He moved to the table with his bodyguards and enjoined us to take our seats. I slipped to the front row but took a seat on the side.

As Halcon launched into a lecture about the Aleksais Psychic Network, I tried to keep focused. The material felt as dry as cardboard, but the audience seemed rapt, caught up in his spiel, and I knew it was the spirit seal, doing its thing. I reined in my glamour, trying to fade out of the picture while I did some poking around. I couldn’t close my eyes, in case they were watching, but I used a trick Morio had taught me early on—veiled sight.

Cats have a third membrane that covers their eyes, and while we—Fae or human—didn’t, we could effect a magical version of it, allowing us to cut off distractions in the room. Basically, tuning out everything that didn’t matter or that would disrupt the focus on energy. As I willed the veiled sight to wash over me, it was like putting on earmuffs and a milky sleep mask.

As the riffraff of sound and sight muted into the background, I could see the lines of energy emanating from Halcon to the audience. Or rather, from Halcon’s pendant to the audience. The creeping vines of energy reminded me of…Fuck, they were almost like Vanzir’s neon feelers. I sat very still, trying not to show any sign of physical reaction to what I was seeing.

The tendrils were wispy, not nearly as developed as Vanzir’s, nor did they seem to be feeding tubes in terms of sucking energy off those they touched. No, instead they were transferring energy to the audience. And that was when I realized I might be in trouble. One was making an attempt to latch onto me and I had my wards up—it couldn’t gain hold. If Halcon noticed, and I had no reason to think he wouldn’t notice, then I was in trouble.

If I let the thing in, though…what would it find out? I struggled—I had to make a decision soon. I couldn’t just let it continue until he realized he didn’t have me swept up in his net like the others.

There was only one thing I could do. Let down my wards enough for him to attach, but then do my best to keep it at arm’s length. I focused on my aura, looking for the spot least likely to cause me trouble if he managed to break through all the way. The second chakra—the sexual level. While it wasn’t my ideal choice, it didn’t deal with psychic matters as much as the other chakras. And I was pretty sure I could control any urges Mr. Halcon Davis might be inclined to try to stimulate.

As I opened up a narrow channel in the barricades I’d erected around my body and spirit, the feeler seemed to sense the vulnerability and dove for it. I braced myself, and sure enough, within seconds, a warm, viscous energy began to seep into my body. I felt like I was sitting in a puddle of warm pee—not anything I’d choose to experience. By the looks on their faces, the other women were experiencing something quite different.

I gritted my teeth, forcing the smile on my face to brighten, as the energy leaked into my system, drop by drop. Sure enough, within seconds, Halcon glanced at me again, and his smile, a crafty, artful one, made him look all too pleased with himself.

Beginning to doubt whether this was actually a good idea, I contemplated leaving, but then Halcon suddenly stood up.

“Ladies, we’re going to bring in a group of our members for you to chat with. The leader is Jake Evans, and he’ll take care of anything you need. Meanwhile, feel free to visit the refreshment table. If you’re interested in joining our network, our society members will be carrying sign-up forms.”

As I stood with the others, he motioned for me to come to the front of the room. I glanced around, then pointed to my chest, and he nodded. As I joined him, he reached out and wrapped his arm around my shoulders, walking me away from the crowd.

“I want to talk to you, Morning Glory. We have special need of people with a heritage such as yours. I think you could be a valuable asset to our organization, and I think you’d feel right at home here.” His smile was wolfish now, and I was even more uncomfortable.

“You really think I have something to offer?” Again, I fluttered my lashes and affected a hopeful smile.

“Oh, my dear. I know it. We don’t get many of the Fae—even half-Fae—here, and we are always looking to bridge the gap between the mortals and your mother’s people. If you would come with me, please.”

He started to lead me to the double doors leading into the back hallway when one of his Tregarts stopped him and whispered something to him that I couldn’t quite catch. An influx of at least twenty other people seemed to fill the event hall, and sure enough, there was Jake Evans, leading the pack. Their vacant stares reminded me of something…

Stepford wives…

Oh hell yes…the members joining the new recruits reminded me exactly of the women in the movie. I hadn’t seen the remake, but one night, on late TV, Delilah had pressed me into watching the original. It had creeped me out so much that I’d had a hard time going to sleep. I’d had the same reaction to Invasion of the Body Snatchers. And this…this meeting didn’t seem far off from there.

I waited as Halcon finished talking to the Tregart. He turned back to me.

“Morning Glory, is anyone waiting at home for you? I wouldn’t want to keep you if you have a prior engagement. But I do so want to talk over what I envision for you with our group.” Personable and charming. If I didn’t know better, if I couldn’t sense energy the way I could, I would have thought he was just a really nice guy who cared a whole lot about the people in his organization.

Letting out another short sigh, I shook my head. “Not really. I told you my parents are dead, and I don’t have any roommates. So I don’t have to be home early.” Playing right into his hands, I waited for him to pounce on the bait. Which he did, in spades.