indigo court 05.5 - night shivers Read Online Free Page B

and some form of berry compote.
    Grieve let out a sigh. “ The Wave Catcher pulled into port today—or should I say, crashed into the ice floes as it came into the harbor. She took on water and sank.”
    Chatter set down his fork. “What? How many lost?”
    “There’s the puzzle. The ship was empty.”
    “Empty?”
    “Yes, the galleon was completely empty save for a young snow lynx. Oh, there had been people aboard, all right—probably the number we were expecting. There were goods and food, but not one person or body to be found except the cat.” I pushed my food around on my plate. “We have no clue what happened to them. We must contact the Golden Isle to see if they know what might have happened. We made certain no one went down in the ship, but…”
    Rhia’s voice was faint as she said, “You don’t think…”
    I knew what she was about to say because I had been thinking it myself. But it couldn’t be. “Myst? No, she’s dead. We saw her die. This has to be something else.” I frowned. “Remember the stories about the Bermuda Triangle? Do you think it could be something like that?”
    Rhia shrugged. “There are enough places in the world where realities intersect. The journal my mother was keeping? The one about the ley lines? I’ve been studying that, actually. New Forest resides on a huge complex series of ley lines. Think of the town as the epicenter of a Cascadia Fault line of magical energies. I was going to contact Ysandra. The Consortium should know about this.”
    That was news to me. While the realm of Snow and Ice, and the realm of Rivers and Rushes, existed in different dimensions than New Forest, they both intersected in the Golden Wood. And doorways to other realities were found within the woods. And still others within the two Fae realms. We had managed to find our way to the Court of Dreams, and from there, to the home of the Bat People. All in all, the town of New Forest resided smack-dab in the center of a labyrinthine maze of intersecting dimensions.
    “I wonder what her research was for. What do you think she was doing?”
    It had been a little over a year and it was still hard for me to talk about Aunt Heather. I knew it had to be even harder for Rhiannon. Together, we had been forced to kill Heather after she was turned by Queen Myst. The sight of my aunt, spread out bloody on the snow beneath us, had been almost more than we could bear. But bear it we did, because if Myst had won New Forest, she would have won the world.
    Rhia glanced into my eyes. She let out a long sigh. “I think she was mapping the intersection of dimensions found in the Golden Wood and New Forest. There’s no clear statement of that, but looking at her charts, that’s the closest thing I can figure out. I’ll get you a copy of it. If we both work on it, we’ll have twice as much knowledge.”
    Once again, the fact that we were changing the face of the Fae Courts slammed us in the face. Never before had the Queens of Summer and Winter worked together like this. And Rhia and I were determined that division would not destroy our realms again.
    “Good. For now, though, let’s just leave it all alone. Our men are examining what they can of the shipwreck. Until their return, let’s enjoy the rest of dinner in peace.” Grieve shot me a look and I realized that he wanted to keep speculation off the table among the servants.
    “Of course.” I turned the conversation in a different direction. “So, what news did you have for us? Can you tell me yet?” I stared straight at Rhia, knowing full well she’d know what I was asking. We were too closely bound for her to keep it secret.
    She blushed, but ducked her head and nodded. “We made the announcement in the Marburry Barrow yesterday. I’m pregnant.”
    I jumped up, clapping my hands. “I knew it! I knew that had to be it. Congratulations to you, and to Lord Chatter.” What I wanted to do was run around and grab her hands, pulling her close, but I