Hidden (House of Night Novels)

by Cast, P. C. ; Cast, Kristin

  “Geometry? Really? That was best choice for our pretend study session?” I realized I was doing some nervous babbling, but I seriously hated geometry.

  “Pretend is the key word. We aren’t really going to study. We’re just pretending to study, retard.”

  “Yeah, okay, fine,” I said. “I know we’re not really studying. I’m just nervous as hell and worried about Grandma.”

  “Which is completely understandable.” Damien hugged me. “That’s why we’re here. We’re going to get her back.” He looked at Aurox. “Are you ready?”

  Aurox nodded. I didn’t think he looked ready, but then again I probably didn’t look ready, either, so I tried not to judge. Shaylin and I were pulling our element candles from our purses when Kalona, silent as the night itself, dropped from the sky.

  “What news from the school?” Thanatos asked the winged immortal.

  “Dallas and Erin have fragmented the red fledglings. They sow dissention, even within their own kind. They will have to be dealt with when this is over.”

  “Agreed,” Thanatos said. “But the plan worked.”

  “It did. They are so busy lording the responsibility you have given them over the other students that they care nothing about what Zoey and you, or any of the rest of us, are doing,” Kalona said.

  “Erin’s making a big mistake,” Shaunee said quietly.

  “I’m glad she’s making it without you,” Damien said.

  “We’re all glad of that,” I agreed.

  My Bug pulled up then, and Stevie Rae and Rephaim got out. “Sorry, y’all,” she said, hurrying to us with her green candle. “Erin and Dallas were in a car behind me, so I had to pretend to start drivin’ to Henrietta. Jeeze Louise, I was worried they were gonna follow me all the way, but then they turned off the highway and I realized they were just goin’ to Garbee’s lighting store.” She paused and gave me a look. “You okay, Z? You’re remindin’ me of a deer in the headlights.”

  I blinked and realized I’d been staring at her. “It’s just so weird to see you without your tattoos.”

  Stevie Rae lifted her hand and touched her forehead, careful not to smudge off the heavy makeup concealer that covered her beautiful vampyre Mark. “Yeah, looks weird to me, too. All you guys do.”

  “But we’re less noticeable, and that’s the point tonight,” Stark said.

  I understood and agreed that we all needed to keep a low profile—hell, even Kalona was wearing a long leather duster that, in the dark, actually mostly hid his giant wings. But it didn’t change the fact that minus our Marks we looked strange and ordinary. Too ordinary. Tonight we needed to be powerful and confident and extraordinary. I tried to focus on the positive and believe we’d all be okay, but the truth was my stomach hurt and I was struggling not to cry.

  No. I’m not crying. Weak little girls cry. Leaders act. For Grandma’s sake, if not for my own, I am going to act.

  “Hey, your Mark is inside. That can’t ever be covered or lost or forgotten,” Stark said, obviously feeling my tension.

  “Thanks for reminding me,” I said, touching his temporarily tattoo-free face gently.

  “Let us all remember. Our power lies not in the trappings of our kind, but within, through our choices and the gifts given to us by our Goddess,” Thanatos said. “And so, we shall begin. The first step tonight is the opening of our circle and the casting of a spell of protection. Once I have set the spell in motion, our circle will be cloaked. As long as the circle remains unbroken, each of the five of you will be safe. Human eyes will not see you. Human hands cannot harm you. But before and after the setting of the spell, you will all be vulnerable.”

  The little hairs on my forearms were standing up and I had to breathe deeply to keep from freaking totally out. I kept sneaking little glances at Aurox. He had hardly said anything since we picked him up. In my mind, I pictured the Goddess as I’d last seen her—lush and wise and strong—and prayed silently: Please, Goddess, let him be ready for this!

  “Shaunee, the front of the Mayo faces south. Though it is winter, there are bistro tables outside the entrance. That is where you will position yourself with your candle. Darius, you will join Shaunee. Protect her,” Thanatos said.

  “I will, High Priestess,” Darius said solemnly. “I will also be close enough to protect Aphrodite and Zoey, if need be.”

  “The tables are part of the restaurant. They’re still out there because of smokers,” Aphrodite explained. She reached into her purse, felt around, and tossed Shaunee a pack of cigarettes.

  “You smoke?” It seemed silly, but after all we’d been through together the thought that Aphrodite was a smoker shocked me.

  “Hell no. Do you know how many wrinkles smoking causes? Hello, beef-jerky-looking skin at thirty. I know about the smoking tables because I’ve been to the Mayo’s restaurant before, so I came prepared.” Aphrodite looked at Shaunee. “While Zoey and I are pretending to study, you can pretend to smoke and pretend Darius is your boyfriend. Again, pretend is an important word here. Keep in mind I can see you through the picture window and I will kill you dead if you pretend too well. Oh, p.s., order the white chili soup. That, you don’t have to pretend to eat. It’s good.”

  “Thanks,” Shaunee said. “And even though you’re more than kinda hateful, thanks for the loan of your Warrior.”

  “Don’t mention it. Seriously. Ever.”

  “Damien,” Thanatos continued, ignoring Aphrodite like the rest of us, “an alley runs the length of the east wall of the Mayo. It’s poorly lit and is where they keep the refuse. You may position yourself there. Stark, you’ll be with Damien. Should anyone attempt to interfere with him before the circle is cast and the protection spell is set, you are to use all of your mind control skills to make him or her begone.”

  Stark nodded. “I understand. I won’t let anyone mess with Damien. Just like Darius won’t let anyone mess with my Z.”

  “You have my oath on it,” Darius said.

  I squeezed Stark’s hand. I knew he hated me being separated from him, but like me, he understood why. The circle had to be protected, and Damien’s air was the first element to be called, so he’d be there—holding a candle—just hanging out in a cold, dark alley, waiting for Thanatos to walk all the way around the block and set the protective spell in place. Damien was going to be a whole lot more vulnerable than I’d be in a nice restaurant pretending to study geometry.

  “Stevie Rae, Damien’s alley meets a small servants’ entryway in the very rear of the building, just this side of Fourth Street.”

  Stevie Rae nodded to Thanatos. “That’s my north. Rephaim and I will be there.”

  Thanatos turned to Shaylin. “Cheyenne is the street that follows the west side of the Mayo. There is no adequate hiding place for you. It is simply a sidewalk beside a building beside a street. Water is the third of the five elements to be called. I will not lie to you. You will be alone until earth and fire complete the circle.”

  “No she won’t,” I spoke quickly, thankful for the words my intuition was guiding me to speak. “Nyx will be with her. She’s already given Shaylin awesome gifts—True Sight, an affinity for water, and the mind power ability all red fledglings have.”

  “That’s right, Shaylin,” Stevie Rae added. “You haven’t been Marked for long, so you haven’t had much time to practice ’cause, well, we’ve pretty much decided it’s not very nice to poke around in the heads of regular people, but you can do it. If someone tries to bother you, just look at them. Make them meet your eyes, and then tell them what you want them to do while you think about it real hard.”

  Shaylin nodded. She didn’t look nervous at all. She looked rock solid. “I’ll think go away, leave me alone, forget you ever saw me! Is that right?

  “Yep, sure is.” Stevie Rae smiled. “See, easy-peasy.”

  “I will watch out for you as well,” Kalona said.

  “No! Shaylin can handle herself. We all can. You’re not supposed to take your eyes from the t
op of the Mayo and the balcony of Neferet’s penthouse. The second you see Grandma, swoop in and save her. That’s your only job tonight,” I said.

  “Not true, young Priestess,” Thanatos cut in. “Kalona is my Warrior, and as such he has a responsibility to protect our fledglings, as well as me.” She walked to Kalona. “Shadow me as I cast the circle and set the spell. Watch over our people. Be sure that the stage is set for what we mean to accomplish tonight.” Thanatos’s gaze shifted to me and then to where Aurox stood at the edge of our group. “Until the circle is cast, you are not to enter Neferet’s lair.”

  “I will wait until I feel the infilling of the elements,” Aurox said.

  “Remember, Aurox, without the strength of the elements, you have no way to control the beast, and it will emerge when Neferet realizes you have come for her prisoner,” Thanatos said.

  “I will remember,” he said.

  “And I will be sure your circle is cast,” Kalona said. “From the sky I will watch over you. I will watch over all of you.” The winged immortal turned his cold amber gaze to Aurox. “You realize I cannot help you. You will have to battle your way from Neferet’s lair.”

  I felt a little start of surprise. I’d been so focused on getting Grandma safe that I hadn’t even considered what was going to happen to Aurox afterward.

  “Wait, can’t you carry both of them out of there?” I asked Kalona.

  “Safely? No. There are some limits to my immortal strength,” Kalona said. “Aurox, if I drop you from the sky will you be killed?”

  It was so bizarre, listening to Kalona question Aurox about falling from the sky like he was asking him if he liked ham and swiss, or turkey and swiss better.

  Aurox made a restless movement with his shoulders. “I believe that would depend upon whether the beast within me has manifested or not. The beast is much more difficult to destroy than am I.”

  “When Grandma is safe, we’ll recall our elements.” Now I was sounding as bizarrely calm as the two of them. “Aurox, let the beast take over enough for it to help you fight your way out of there.”

  “Do you believe that is possible?” Thanatos asked him.

  “Perhaps. I think it will depend a great deal upon Neferet. I–I have not considered getting out, only getting in,” Aurox said.

  “I agree with Zoey. Use the beast. Neferet needed a sacrifice to control it before. She will need to do so again, and we will have taken her sacrifice,” Thanatos said. “It can get you to safety. When you come to yourself again, make your way back to the House of Night.”

  Aurox’s face seemed to brighten. “To stay? I’ll be able to go to school there?”

  “That is a question too great for me to answer alone. The High Council must decide your fate,” Thanatos said.

  I held my breath, waiting for Aurox to bail out—to realize that he was basically on a suicide mission, to tell us all to go to hell in a handbasket, and take off.

  He didn’t do any of those things. Instead, he met my eyes and said, “I have a question for you.”

  “Okay, what?”

  “What does it mean to be coat-tailing on someone?”

  I couldn’t have been more surprised if Aurox had crouched down and given birth to a litter of kittens. For a second, I couldn’t even think of an answer, and then I blurted, “It means that you haven’t earned what you’ve been given, but that someone else has, so you’re riding his coattails and getting credit that way.”

  Aurox’s face was an emotionless mask. He drew a deep breath and let it out slowly. We were all staring at him, but he didn’t say a word. He just stood there, breathing and looking like an almost-statue.

  “Okay, so, who are you coat-tailing?” Stark’s voice cut the silence.

  Aurox turned his moonstone eyes on my Warrior. “No one. No one at all, and tonight I will prove that.” Then his gaze found mine again. “When I feel the presence of the elements I will go to Neferet. When Grandma is safe, do as you said. Withdraw the elements. Then flee. I will not chance harming any of you, and I cannot be certain that I can retain any control over the beast. Tell Grandma that I said her sanctuary is more important than mine.” His eyes swept our group as he said, “Merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again.” Aurox walked away from us, jogging quickly across the street, and disappeared within the front doors of the Mayo.

  “This night is gonna suck for him,” Stark muttered.

  “Hello, understatement,” Aphrodite said. “This life is gonna suck for him.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

  Neferet

  “So, old woman, what do you think it is about your blood that causes it to be so rancid that my children cannot feed on it?”

  Sylvia Redbird’s head turned slowly. Her eyes were glimmering pools within the cage of Darkness.

  “Your puppets cannot feed from me because I had time to prepare myself for you.”

  The old woman’s voice was hoarse, but there was a strength lingering within it that surprised Neferet almost as much as it annoyed her.

  “That’s right. You are oh, so special and beloved by your Goddess. But wait,” Neferet spoke with mock shock. “If you are really so special and beloved, why are you here, being tormented by my children? Why does your Goddess not save you?”

  “You name me special. I would not call myself that, Tsi Sgili. Had you asked I would have named myself valued by the Great Earth Mother. No more. No less.”

  “If this is how your Great Earth Mother treats a valued child who is crying out for her help, then may I suggest you consider changing goddesses?” Neferet sipped on her blood-laced wine. She wasn’t sure why she felt the need to goad the old woman. Her pain and her impending death should have been enough to satisfy the immortal, but they weren’t. Neferet hated that Sylvia did not scream. She did not beg. Since Kalona had fled, Sylvia had even stopped moaning in pain. Now if she wasn’t silent, the old woman was singing.

  Neferet loathed her damned singing.

  “I have not asked the Great Earth Mother for help. I have only asked for her blessing, and that she has gifted me with tenfold.”

  “Her blessing! You’re inside a cage of Darkness that is killing you slowly and painfully. What are you, a Catholic saint? Shall I crucify you upside down and cut off your head?” Neferet laughed at her own joke, but even to her the sound was hollow. I need adulation and veneration! How can I reign as Goddess without worshippers!

  “You killed the professors.”

  Sylvia hadn’t asked a question, but Neferet felt the need to answer her. “Of course I did.”

  “Why?”

  “To create chaos between humans and vampyres, of course.”

  “But how does that benefit you?”

  “Chaos burns—people, vampyres, society. The victor who emerges from those ashes controls the world. I will be that victor.” Feeling smug and empowered, Neferet smiled.

  “But you already had power. You were High Priestess of the House of Night. You were beloved by your Goddess. Why cast that aside?”

  Neferet narrowed her eyes at Sylvia. “Power does not equate to control. How much power does your Great Earth Goddess wield if she cannot do something as simple as control whether or not I take your life? I learned long ago that control is true power.”

  Sylvia shook her head, finally looking and sounding as weary as she should be. “You cannot truly control anyone except yourself, Tsi Sgili. It might appear otherwise, but we all make our own choices.”

  “Really? Let us test that theory. I assume you would prefer to live.” Neferet paused, waiting expectantly for Sylvia’s response.

  “I would.” Sylvia’s words were a whisper.

  “Well, I believe I can control whether you live or die. Now, let’s see who has the most power.” Neferet raised her wrist. With a quick, practiced movement she slashed one pointed fingernail through the vein that pulsed near the surface there. “I grow weary of this conversation.” Neferet’s tone changed to singsong as her blood flowed.


  “Come, children, taste my rage

  Use my power to close her cage!”

  Her loyal tendrils of Darkness slithered to her, eagerly feeding from her wrist. Refortified, they circled back to Sylvia. The old woman lifted her arms defensively, but as she did so several of her bracelets broke, raining turquoise and silver through the closing bars of her cage, and falling harmlessly in the growing pool of her blood.

  When the old woman tried to begin her song again, her words were cut short as pulsing tendrils filled the skin left naked and unprotected on her arms.

  Sylvia Redbird gasped in pain renewed. Neferet laughed.

  Kalona

  Humans don’t look up. That was one thing that had not changed as the world aged. Man had conquered the sky, and yet unless there was a brilliant sunset or a full, gleaming moon to gaze upon, humans rarely glanced above their heads. Kalona did not understand it, but he was grateful for it. He circled the Mayo, sighting Damien, Stevie Rae, Shaylin, and Shaunee. Then he returned to the ONEOK Plaza building, landing beside Thanatos.

  “The four are in place.”

  Thanatos nodded. “Good. Zoey has gone within. It is time to begin.” She reached within her voluminous velvet robe and brought out a large, dark bag and a long box of wooden matches.

  Kalona gestured to the bag. “Salt to bind?”

  “Indeed, it is a large building. I need a lot of salt.”

  The immortal nodded, thinking that he’d actually come to appreciate Thanatos’s dry sense of humor. “Let’s hope there is some luck in that bag as well.”

  “Luck? I didn’t think immortals believed in it.”

  “We’re rescuing a human, not an immortal. Humans cross their fingers and toes and wish each other good luck. I am simply following suit,” he said. “Plus, I believe we can use all the help we can get. If that means a little luck, then I will take it.”