This time his stagger was not pretended. He felt spirit first. Felt it deep within him. Something stirred. Something that was the opposite of the beast of Darkness that shared his skin. Joy leaped to life. It was an oddly familiar sensation, and with it Aurox turned his head, his gaze automatically seeking and then finding Zoey. Their eyes met. Hers had tears in them. In one hand she held the silver-flamed candle. Her other hand was pressed against the middle of her chest.
“Don’t cry, Zo. You’ll get snot everywhere,” he heard himself say in a perfectly normal, perfectly human voice.
Then air whooshed into him and he gasped—and laughed. It felt like a mini-tornado. Fire was a sizzling rush, which water cooled. Earth was a fragrant field of lavender, calming and strengthening.
Aurox laughed. He looked down at what had been hooves, cloven and deadly. He had hands and feet again!
“Don’t take a victory lap yet. This doesn’t mean shit if you can’t fight.” And Stark punched him. Hard. Blood rained with pain from his nose.
Aurox grunted and threw his own punch, which caught Stark on the side of his chin. “I can fight!” he shouted. Stark went down.
The beast quivered within him, but Aurox thought of the elements and their presence strengthened him, and as it did, he felt the creature shrink and cower.
Aurox was grinning when Darius struck at him. Aurox deflected the blow, knocking the Warrior’s wrist so hard that his grip on the knife loosened. The blade skittered across the basement floor. Aurox was still grinning when he kicked Darius’s legs out from under him and the Warrior fell back on his ass.
Kalona wasn’t so easy. His speed was otherworldly, and now that Aurox didn’t have the beast’s reflexes, he was only able to block a third of his blows. But it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Aurox was still fighting, and he was still a human.
“Okay! That’s enough!” Thanatos’s command came as Stark and Darius rejoined Kalona and were closing on Aurox. The Warriors halted, though Aurox thought they did so reluctantly.
“Spirit, earth, water, fire, air—I thank each of you for your powerful presence. You may depart now, and until next time, merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again!” Thanatos closed the circle. As one, all of the candles flamed high and then went out.
“Huh, it worked,” Zoey spoke into the silence.
Using his shirt, Aurox wiped the blood from his nose and mouth. He didn’t actually think about what he was doing—he just followed his legs as they strode over to Zoey. Then his arms were lifting her and his body was twirling her around and around as his voice shouted, “You did it! It worked!”
A burst of laughter escaped from her, but as soon as he put her down she was stepping away from him, moving to stand by Stark’s side.
“It wasn’t just me who did it. It was all of us.” She took Stark’s hand and, ignoring Aurox, smiled at everyone else. “You guys were all awesome.”
“Okay, yeah, the circle worked,” Stark said. “But how does that translate to helping him get Grandma out of Neferet’s penthouse? Neferet isn’t gonna let you cast a circle up there.”
“Well, I didn’t think that far ahead,” Zoey said.
“Must you see Aurox to strengthen him with the elements?” Kalona asked.
“Actually, no,” Zoey said. “It’s harder, and I don’t know how long we could keep it up, but we don’t have to see someone to send our element to him.”
“I believe a spell of protection is the answer.” Thanatos spoke slowly, reasoning aloud. “Surround the Mayo building. I will open the circle and cast the spell, binding it with salt. Zoey, as long as spirit is at the center of the circle, in the heart of the building, the circle should hold.”
“The lobby of the Mayo is big. There’s a bar and a restaurant in it,” Aphrodite said. “Food’s pretty good, and they actually have a decent champagne list, and it’s dark and romantic.”
“I care because?” Zoey asked.
“Because you and I can sit there, in a corner booth. I can sip good champagne. You can read a boringly huge textbook while you really are lighting a smaller, less obvious version of that purple candle and zapping bull boy with all of the elements.”
“Where will we be?” Stark asked, not looking happy at all.
“Outside, watching over the nerd herd so that some street crazy doesn’t stagger into, say, Queen Damien and cause him to shriek, drop his candle, and fuck everything up,” Aphrodite said.
“I would not drop my candle,” Damien said.
“What if he smelled really, really bad and you thought he had lice?” Aphrodite asked.
“Eeew,” Damien said and shuddered.
“Told you so,” Aphrodite said.
“Aurox, can you do it?” Zoey asked.
He met her gaze and didn’t hesitate. “Yes. I can do it. I will do it. As long as the elements can strengthen me.” Aurox paused and couldn’t stop a smile of pure joy. “Me! I am more than a beast. I am more than Darkness.” He turned from Zoey to Thanatos. “You said I had a choice. I choose Light and the path of the Goddess.”
Thanatos returned his smile. “Yes, child. Yes, I believe you have. I also believe Nyx has heard you.”
“Well, he’s definitely talkin’ loud enough for the Goddess to hear,” Stevie Rae said, but she smiled at him, too.
Zoey wasn’t smiling, though. She’d turned to Kalona. “Can you really catch Grandma? It sounds ridiculous and super scary. I mean, Aurox is going to throw her off the roof of the Mayo.”
Kalona spread his wings. They surrounded the group and brushed against the ceiling of the basement. The immortal’s wounds had opened during the fight, and blood ran freely down his body. Aurox thought he looked like an avenging god.
“I will catch her and once I have her, Sylvia Redbird will be completely safe.”
Zoey nodded. “I’m counting on that. Okay, then, that’s our plan.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Zoey
Waiting until dusk was hell. Keeping my mouth shut when the rest of the depot fledglings woke up slowly and shuffled sleepily around, taking their time, eating cereal and talking about school and homework and other crap that was totally not saving Grandma made my head pound and my stomach clench.
And then, of course, add to everything the fact that Aurox was crouched up in Tower #1, hiding out, waiting until we come back and pick him up right before we start the whole circle-casting-save-Grandma plan because, as Aphrodite said, “We can’t let anyone see him. If Neferet gets one tiny word that Bull Boy stuck his face back at the House of Night and we didn’t totally fuck him up, well, then paint a giant target on him and call Grandma toast.”
So, yeah, I had one humongous headache and I was working on some serious IBS.
“Have a brown pop,” Stark said, sliding a chair over next to where I was sitting at one of the kitchen tables.
“Already had one,” I said.
“Have another.” He leaned into me, kissed my cheek, and whispered, “You’re tapping your foot like a crazy person and the other kids are looking at you like you might explode.”
“I might.” I nuzzled him, using that as an excuse to whisper back.
“Count Chocula, Z?” Stevie Rae asked with exaggerated perkiness.
“Not hungr—” I started, but Aphrodite cut me off.
“She’d love a bowl. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.”
“You never eat breakfast,” I said, frowning at her.
Aphrodite raised her half-empty champagne flute and mock toasted me. “I choose to drink my breakfast, and I do that every day. Orange juice is brain food.”
“And champagne is brain-cell killer,” Shaylin said, through the mouthful of Lucky Charms.
“I like to think of it as a way the Goddess levels the playing field. Consider for a moment how ridiculously much smarter I would be than all of you if I didn’t drink heavily.”
“I think your logic is flawed,” Damien said.
“And I thin
k your hair is flawed. Is that early male pattern balding I see?”
Damien gasped.
I sighed.
“Don’t be such a meanie pants,” Stevie Rae told Aphrodite, and then she handed me a bowl of cereal.
“Speaking of pants, the waist of those bumpkin nightmare Roper jeans you have on today is so high it couldn’t pass a drug test,” Aphrodite quipped as she refilled her mimosa.
“I think Stevie Rae looks cute,” Shaylin said.
“Of course you do. And tomorrow you’ll probably be wearing two different shoes, because that’s the kind of refined fashion taste you have.”
I tried to eat while my friends bickered and Stark stayed close to me, resting his hand on my thigh and giving it a periodic, comforting squeeze.
My mind would not shut up. Okay, I understood why we had to wait until after sunset to go to the Mayo. Two of my five embodiments of the elements would burst into flames if they went outside in the sunlight. And that’s not even counting Stark, who would also turn into a crispy critter. I even got that we had to go to school and our first hour, which was taught by Thanatos. She was going to put us into groups and assign us to different jobs, all focusing around getting the school ready for the open house on Saturday. Conveniently, the jobs that she gave to those of us who were going to rescue Grandma were going to be off campus. So, hopefully, Erin and Dallas and anyone else who might accidentally or on purpose come into contact with Neferet would have no clue what we were up to, or that we even knew Grandma was missing.
What was hard was the waiting, especially since the kids—those who weren’t in on our plan—knew nothing about what was up, so they were meandering around and taking forever to get ready to load into the bus.
Aurox was crouched in a tower on the top of this building. Grandma was being held in a cage created by Darkness. It was hard to pretend like nothing was going on. I wanted to pace. I wanted to scream. Hell, I actually might have wanted to hit something. Or someone. Well, Neferet for sure. But I didn’t want to burst into tears, and I thought that was a good sign.
As I was coming to the end of my cereal and my patience, Kramisha entered the kitchen like fireworks. Okay, well, maybe it was just her outfit that looked like fireworks with her butt-hugging yellow skirt, her purple sweater with her silver embroidered fifth former symbol of Nyx’s golden chariot pulling a trail of stars blazing on her chest, and her bright red patent leather wedges that almost exactly matched the color of her scarlet bobbed wig.
“The bus is waitin’. An’ fine as Darius is, he don’t need to be kept sittin’ out there wonderin’ what’s takin’ everbody so damn long.” She made a shooing motion with her hand at the fledglings. “Go on, scat!”
I could have kissed her. Then she skewered me with her dark eyes and said, “I got somethin’ for you.”
My stomach dropped when she reached into her giant Louis Vuitton bag and pulled out her purple notebook.
“I cannot tell you how much I hate poetry,” Aphrodite said.
“Don’t give me none of your attitude,” Kramisha told her. “Have you had a vision today?”
“No. Today I’m having mimosas instead of visions, but thanks for asking,” Aphrodite said.
“Looks like I be pickin’ up your slack, Prophetess, so don’t be hatin’ on my poetry.” Kramisha made a shooing motion at Aphrodite, too. “Go on. I said this is for Zoey.”
“Good. Some people say fuck yoga. I say fuck figurative language. And no, I don’t mean that figuratively.” Aphrodite tossed her hair and twitched from the room.
“Do you need me to stay?” Stevie Rae asked.
I raised my brows questioningly at Kramisha.
“Nope,” she said. Then she glanced at Damien and Shaylin and Stark. “You can go, too.”
“Hey, I don’t know if I’m cool with that,” Stark said.
“You’re gonna have to be. I got me a strong talk to Z alone vibe, and I’m followin’ it.” Still clutching what I was starting to think of as The Purple Folder of Doom, Kramisha crossed her arms, and tapped her foot at Stark.
“Go on,” I said. “Kramisha’s gut has been right way more often than it’s been wrong.”
“By ‘way more often’ she means every time,” Kramisha said, sounding super impatient.
“Okay, but I don’t like it. I’ll be waiting in the bus.” Stark kissed me, frowned at Kramisha, and left the room.
Kramisha shook her head. “I have three words for that boy: con-trol-ing.”
“He’s just trying to keep me safe, that’s all,” I said.
Kramisha snorted. “Yeah, that’s what my auntie’s second husband said before he backhanded her ’cross the room for lookin’ at him wrong.”
“Stark is not going to hit me, Kramisha!”
“I’m just sayin’. Anyway, this is for you. Alone. Don’t know why I got this strong feelin’ that you gotta hear it, think ’bout it, and keep it to yourself, but I do. You the High Priestess and all, so you can do what you want. But I gotta be honest and tell you every bit of the Juju I get.”
“Okay, yeah, I get it. So, let me read it.” I reached for the notebook.
“Nope,” Kramisha surprised me by saying. “Don’t know why, but this is an out-loud thing. All you got to do is listen.” When she started reading her voice changed. It didn’t get louder, but there was power in the way she spoke, the way she enunciated the words, that made it become more chant than simple rhyming poem.
“Ancient mirror
Magick mirror
Shades of gray
Hidden
Forbidden
Within, away
Part the mist
Magick kissed
Call the fey
Reveal the past
The spell is cast
I save the day!”
She came to the end, and the room seemed very silent.
“Well, that was some weird shit,” she said, sounding like herself again. “Did it mean anything to you?”
“I don’t know. It sounded powerful, like it was more than a poem,” I said. “I like it that it’s saying you’re going to save the day.”
“It wasn’t meant for me, Z. It’s yours. I don’t even know for sure what it is ’cause it don’t feel like none of my other poems. It feels more like a spell than a prophecy.”
“A spell?” I looked around us. Nothing was different. Nothing had happened. “Are you sure?”
“No, I ain’t. Take it.” She tore out the page and handed it to me. “I know they’s somethin’ goin’ on with you and your circle. I know you’d tell me if you could.” She held up her hand to stop what was going to be my non-explanation explanation. “I don’t need no explanation. You’re my High Priestess. I trust you. I just needed to give you this an’ tell you you’re gonna need it. When you do, speak it like I just did. There’s power in them words.”
I took the poem from her, folded it carefully, and put it in the front pocket of my jeans. “Thank you, Kramisha. I hope real soon I’ll be able to tell you how much this means to me.”
“You will. Like I said, I believe in you, Z. Now it’s your turn to believe in yourself.”
“Yeah, I know. That’s what scares me,” I heard myself admitting.
Kramisha pulled me into a warm, tight hug. “Z, if it didn’t scare you, then I’d say you had no damn sense at all. Just be strong, and remember—Nyx ain’t stupid, and she’s the one who picked you for all this stressful shit, and not the other way ’round.”
“That actually does make me feel a little better,” I told her.
“Well, I ain’t Dr. Phil, but I’m smart,” she said.
“And your shoes are cuter than his,” I said, trying to sound at least semi-normal.
“Yeah, they remind me of Dorothy’s ruby slippers, only mine is wedges ’cause I’m more fashion conscious than she was.”
Her comment seemed appropriate because I felt like I was following the yellow brick road into some serious flying monkey bullpoop
ie, which, I suppose, made Aurox Glinda the Good Witch of the West. Me? I was pretty sure I’d be the Cowardly Lion …
* * *
I thought I was ready to see Erin. I was super wrong. I’d expected her to be distant and cold—she’d been working the cold, distant act for the past several days. I’d even known about her thing with Dallas—Shaylin had told us she’d seen them, and their very muddy, very yucky colors, together the night before. And Shaunee had admitted she’d seen them making out (even though she refused to give us what she called ‘the gory details’). Still, I hadn’t expected Erin to be so obvious. But there she was, sitting smack up against Dallas in the back of the class with the other hateful red fledglings when we walked into first hour.
“Oh, hell, no,” Aphrodite muttered as Erin’s sarcastic, oh-my-goddess-I’m-so-sexy laughter bubbled around us sarcastically.
“Don’t give her any attention,” Shaunee whispered as she walked by us while we all gawked at how far Erin had fallen into the gutter. Okay, all of us gawked except Shaunee. Shaunee didn’t even glance at her ex-Twin. She just walked with her head up, like she couldn’t hear Erin’s immature giggles or feel the nasty looks thrown her way.
“Shaunee’s right.” I lowered my voice so only my group could hear me. “Erin’s like one of those bad kids who wants any kind of attention—positive or negative. Ignore her and the rest of them.”
So, we did. I took my seat in the front row with Stevie Rae and Rephaim and Shaunee on one side of me, and Aphrodite, Shaylin, and Damien on the other.
Aurox’s unoccupied seat seemed super obvious to me. What’s he doing right now? What’s going through his mind as he gets ready to confront Neferet and save Grandma? Is he going to chicken out? He’s probably not even going to be waiting at the depot when we go back to get him. He’ll probably be, like, halfway to Brazil by then …
Hidden (House of Night Novels) Page 25
