by P. C. Cast
“I hope you know how nasty that sounds,” Aphrodite said said.
“Aphrodite, I’d chew poo and spit it down Stevie Rae’s throat if it would make her better,” I said.
“That won’t be necessary.” Thanatos’s voice had us turning toward the entrance to the infirmary. She’d opened the door. Kalona stepped inside. Rephaim was on his heels. Barefoot and pulling on his shirt, he sprinted past his father.
He went straight to Stevie Rae. We crowded around the door, watching and waiting.
“Stevie Rae, it’s time to wake up now.” Rephaim sat beside her on the hospital bed. Tears dripped down his cheeks, but his voice didn’t shake. He sounded calm and sure of himself. “I got here as soon as I could. I am sorry you had to be like this for so long, but you know the problem I have during the sunlight. I’m not really myself.” He tried to laugh, but it came out as a sob instead. He cleared his throat and wiped his eyes, saying, “It’s not as bad as your problem with the sun, though.” He reached out like he meant to touch her cheek, but flinched at the rawness and blisters. Instead he rested his hand on her chest, over her heart. “Hey, I need you to wake up now,” he repeated, his tears falling faster and faster.
Kalona pushed past us to stand beside his son. “Rephaim, you must make her drink from you. You are bonded to her, and within your veins pulses the strength of immortals. Only you can heal her.”
Rephaim looked up at his dad. “She’s not conscious. She won’t wake up.”
“Then you must force her to drink.”
Rephaim nodded. He lifted the hand he’d been pressing over Stevie Rae’s heart and bit himself. Hard. Right on his wrist.
I didn’t need to see the blood seeping through the bite. I could smell it. It was super weird. In a way it was kinda stinky, like mold or newly dug-up dirt, but there was something else in it, too, that reminded me of dark chocolate and spices and a cool, moonlit breeze in the middle of a sweltering summer night.
“Wow, that’s bizarre smelling,” Stark murmured.
I didn’t say anything because I couldn’t stop my mouth from watering. All I could do was watch in envy as Rephaim leaned forward and gently cradled Stevie Rae’s head while he pressed his bleeding wrist to her slack lips.
“Drink, Stevie Rae. You have to,” Rephaim pleaded.
Stevie Rae didn’t react at all. Rephaim’s blood ran from the corners of her mouth and pooled scarlet against the white hospital sheets, looking delicious … irresistible…
“Zoey! Help her.”
I realized I’d been staring, spellbound, at Rephaim’s blood when Kalona’s voice jerked me back to myself. “H-how?” I stuttered.
Thanatos answered for him. “Call spirit. Have it strengthen and infill her. Her body will heal if her spirit awakens so that she may drink from her mate.”
“Of course—I understand, sorry.” I cleared my throat and drew a deep breath, ignoring the new rush of blood scent that filled my lungs. “Spirit, come to me!” I felt better when my favorite element responded—more myself—more in control. Grounded again, I commanded, “Go to Stevie Rae. Fill her and strengthen her so that she comes back to us!” My hair lifted as spirit left me and poured into Stevie Rae. Immediately, she took a deep breath, coughing as blood choked her. And then her eyes opened and she clamped her hands around Rephaim’s arm, sucking from his wrist—drinking deeply.
“Not so much that she weakens you.” Kalona put his hand on his son’s shoulder. “She will need to drink from you again, and often, until she is completely healed, and you must be strong enough for her to do so.”
Rephaim nodded and gently put his hand over Stevie Rae’s. “Stevie Rae, you have to stop. You can have more later.”
I saw her eyes when she looked up at him. They were red-tinged. Her expression was feral.
“Uh-oh,” Stark said. He and Kalona tensed at the same time, but Thanatos’s voice was like balm, soothing the tension in the room.
“Let her be. Stevie Rae is a vampyre—a High Priestess. Trust her. She will find herself.”
And, sure enough, Stevie Rae blinked several times and her eyes faded back to normal. She pushed Rephaim’s wrist from her mouth, wiping blood from her lips and looking like she was going to cry. “Did I hurt you? I’m so sorry, Rephaim!”
“Shhh,” he soothed, pulling her into his arms. “You would never hurt me.”
Suddenly she sat back, staring up at Rephaim. I was amazed to see that her skin was already less boiled looking. “You saved me! When you were a raven!”
“You needed me. I could feel your pain. I came to you.”
Shaunee had already told us her version of what had happened, but hearing it from Rephaim was surreal. I mean, the kid was a bird during the day. He wasn’t supposed to be anything but a bird. Yet he’d saved Stevie Rae’s life.
“You’re the most wonderful guy in the universe!” Stevie Rae smiled love and joy at him. “Do you remember it?”
Rephaim wiped tears from his eyes and smiled back at her. This time he was able to lightly touch her red cheek. “I only remember that you needed me and then the raven’s anger.”
“Well, that’s good enough for me,” she said. Then she turned her attention to Thanatos. “Dallas tried to kill me and Shaunee.”
“Oh, Goddess!” Shaunee said. “I knew he was mad when he came back by Erin’s pyre, but I didn’t know he was crazy.”
“He’s not crazy,” Stevie Rae said. “He’s mean.”
“And he’s powerful,” Thanatos added. “Capture him,” she ordered Kalona. “Bring him to me. The High Council may have turned from us, but Death can still judge and can still mete out justice.”
Kalona fisted his hand over his heart in acknowledgment of her command. As he strode from the room Stark said, “I’m going with him.”
“Do so, and be sure you don’t allow the immortal to kill Dallas. I want him returned to me very much alive,” Thanatos said.
“Yes, High Priestess.” Stark bowed quickly to her and then to me before hurrying after Kalona.
“My red fledglings,” Stevie Rae said. “Are they all okay?”
Thanatos nodded. “Kalona and Aurox guarded them while they slept peacefully during the day.”
“And Darius went directly to the basement to join Aurox as soon as Shaunee told us what had happened,” Aphrodite said.
I was surprised to hear Aurox’s name. Now was definitely not the time to mention it, but hadn’t he been super drunk and then passed out all day?
“So it was just Shaunee and Stevie Rae who were his targets?” I asked.
“I don’t know,” Shaunee said. “He seemed pissed at all of us. Well, I mean all of Zoey’s circle. I think he blames us for Erin rejecting the Change.”
“Yeah, he told me he was just beginning his payback by killing Shaunee and me,” Stevie Rae said, leaning against Rephaim like she was absorbing strength from his touch.
“That’s ridiculous,” Aphrodite said. “If anyone’s to blame it’s Neferet.”
“We made more convenient targets,” Shaunee said.
“No one is going to be targeted again—not while Death reigns as High Priestess here,” Thanatos said. “But until Kalona and Stark find Dallas we will all be on high alert.” She turned to me. “Zoey, I know we have all had concerns about the fledglings sleeping in one place together, but I am going to command that you and your circle—along with your Prophetesses—rest with the red fledglings. That gives us two lines of protection. The first will be Darius and the Sons of Erebus Warriors. The second will be your circle itself.”
“You just mean Stevie Rae’s red fledglings, right?” I said. “Dallas has that whole other group who follow him.”
“And are equally as hateful,” Stevie Rae added. “Just last night that little red fledgling, Nicole, you know the one who helped Lenobia save the horses when the stable caught fire?” Thanatos nodded and Stevie Rae continued. “Well, she officially left Dallas’s group and swore herself to me—basically because of
how hateful Dallas and his group are.”
I was opening my mouth to agree with Stevie Rae—no way did I want to be stuck in a basement with those jerks Dallas called friends—but Thanatos spoke first.
“When my judgment of Dallas is finished, there will be no fledglings who follow him.” Her voice was like ice.
I wondered how Thanatos thought she was going to get the jerk red fledglings to be nice, but she had, like, a zillion years of experience and was super powerful. Who knew what kind of magickal vampyre stuff she could have up her sleeve? I hoped it was something uber mean. The truth was that after what had happened tonight, I was done being patient with anyone who wanted to hurt my friends or me—and if that meant Thanatos was going to use the vampyre equivalent of old school corporal punishment, then so be it. Dallas and his friends deserved whatever they got.
“Zoey, would you go check on my kids? Tell them that I’m gonna be okay? You know Kramisha and Shaylin are gonna be freakin’ out when they hear what happened.” Stevie Rae’s voice was getting weaker and weaker, and even though she was smiling at me and holding Rephaim’s hand, she’d laid back on her pillow, looking exhausted and broiled.
“No problem,” I assured her. “I don’t want you to worry about anything except getting well. Aphrodite and Shaunee and I will all go see the kids and make sure they know you’re gonna be just fine.”
“Good. While you’re speaking to the red fledglings you can tell them that even though it is Saturday I have decided the House of Night needs an extra day of classes to make up for all the school time we have missed. I have already notified the professors. I will make a schoolwide announcement in a few moments. I expect everyone in their first-hour classes at eight P.M., sharp. Tardiness is unacceptable. Violence and hatred will not throw my House of Night into chaos,” Thanatos said.
“Oh, for shit’s sake—school—ugh,” Aphrodite muttered under her breath.
“I think that’s an awesome idea,” Stevie Rae said. “Take notes for me, Z.”
“Okie dokie,” I said, thinking that I’d get Damien to take notes for her. “I’ll come see you after class.”
“We all will,” Shaunee said.
Aphrodite grunted.
So, Stevie Rae had been totally right. Her red fledglings were freaked. Kramisha descended on us the second we entered the basement.
“If she ain’t okay I’m gonna shank Dallas my own self.”
“Stevie Rae’s going to be fine,” I assured her and the other kids who were clustering around.
“He really tried to kill her, didn’t he?” Everyone turned to Nicole, who was standing off from the group, with only Shaylin near her.
“Dallas tried to kill Stevie Rae and Shaunee,” I said, meeting her gaze and looking for any clue that she’d known what he’d planned.
Nicole’s expression didn’t betray anything except disgust. She shook her head. “He got worse and worse, but I didn’t think he’d try anything right here at the House of Night.”
“You used to be like him,” I said.
“You’re right. I used to be. Not anymore. Not for a while now.”
“How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Shaunee asked.
“I believe her.” Shaylin spoke with no hesitation. “I’ve watched her colors change.”
I looked to Aphrodite. “You’re still sure about her?”
“Who her? Shaylin or Nicole?”
“Both,” I said.
Aphrodite’s gaze flicked over Shaylin before coming back to me. “I trust Shaylin’s judgment. If she says the girl’s changed, then I say believe her.”
“She used to be Dallas’s girlfriend, and Dallas just tried to kill Stevie Rae and me!” Shaunee blurted. “I’m not being a bitch—I’m just telling it like it is.”
I heard a few of the kids mutter in agreement with her. Nicole’s face had paled, but she’d lifted her chin and faced Shaunee. “Erin was Dallas’s girlfriend and you still cared enough about her to stand by her pyre until after dawn.”
“I knew Erin a long time,” Shaunee said. “I’ve known you for, like, two seconds.”
“Was Erin perfect for that long time you knew her?” Nicole asked.
Shaunee looked away from the red fledgling. “No. No, she wasn’t.”
“I wasn’t perfect in my past, either, but I’m asking for a second chance.”
I’d heard enough. My Prophetesses and my gut had convinced me. “That’s good enough for me,” I said loudly. “And it needs to be good enough for the rest of you, too. If we held the past against everyone, then Kalona wouldn’t be our High Priestess’s Warrior, and Stark wouldn’t be my Warrior. Hell, Stevie Rae wouldn’t even be my BFF.”
“I would have been shunned and cast out of the House of Night along with Neferet,” Aurox said. I hadn’t noticed him before. He was standing behind us, just inside the basement entrance.
I didn’t look at him, but I did nod in agreement. “And if Aurox hadn’t been given another chance my grandma would be dead. Shaunee, we need to be on the same page about this. Too much crap has happened for us to start mistrusting each other.”
Shaunee looked at Nicole briefly, and then her gaze met mine. “Okay, you’re my High Priestess. I trust you.”
“Thank you,” I said. I looked around the group. “Anyone have anything else to say?”
“Is Stevie Rae gonna be okay?” Kramisha asked.
“Completely,” I said.
“Did Rephaim really save her when he was a bird?” Shaylin asked.
I smiled at Shaunee. “Tell ’em the story, but be fast. Remember that Thanatos said she wants today to be a make-up day and everyone has to be in their first-hour class when the bell rings at eight.”
There were a bunch of groans at that news, but they were cut off by Shaunee’s retelling of what had happened earlier. I took the opportunity to exit to Darius, who was standing at the upper entrance to the basement. Aphrodite, of course, came with me.
As I passed Aurox I glanced quickly at him. The kid looked rough. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy and his perfect skin looked kinda chalky and damp. “Hangovers suck, huh?” I couldn’t stop myself from quipping, though I didn’t wait around to hear if he answered me. Aphrodite snickered all the way up the stairway.
“Kalona and Stark are searching for Dallas?” Darius asked as we joined him.
“Yeah,” I said. “Thanatos wants him brought back for judgment. She said she’s done with his red fledglings, too.”
“It’s going to be real interesting to see what she does with all of them,” Aphrodite said. “Well, if they manage to find Dallas. He’s gotta seriously not want to be found.”
“The immortal will find him, have no doubt of that,” Darius said.
“Did anyone do a roll call and see if any of his friends took off with him?” I said.
“I did a quick check after I made sure our fledglings were safe. Dallas is definitely gone, but I don’t believe anyone left with him,” Darius said.
“I hope whatever Thanatos does makes him leave us alone for good,” Aphrodite said.
I sighed. “I don’t know how you’d even begin to lock up a kid who can control electricity. It’s depressing to start thinking about how many ways he could escape.”
“Thanatos is wise. She will pass a righteous judgment,” Darius said.
“I’m worried that righteous and doable are two totally different things,” I said.
“As your Warrior isn’t present to say this, I will stand in his stead and tell you not to worry so much,” Darius said.
“She’s hardheaded. She’s not going to listen,” Aphrodite said, kissing his cheek. “But thanks for trying.”
He smiled at her. “I am used to dealing with a hardheaded woman.”
“Have you been cheating on me with a stubborn skank?” Aphrodite said, pretending to be pissed off. “Don’t make me claw some poor, less attractive girl’s eyes out.”
Darius laughed and pulled her into his arms. I roll
ed my eyes. “I’m going to see if I can get lucky two days in a row and get psaghetti for breakfast. Bye, Darius. Aphrodite, I’ll see you in first hour.”
I’d just decided to detour to my dorm room and actually attempt to brush my hair and fix my face before going to the cafeteria when his voice called my name. Truthfully, I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to pretend like I hadn’t heard him and scurry to my room and keep avoiding him for as long as possible. But I’d seen the kid run. It’s not like he couldn’t catch me. I drew a deep breath and stopped, waiting for him.
“Zoey, may I speak to you for a moment?” Aurox asked as he caught up with me.
He sounded so un-Heath-like and formal that I relaxed a little. “Yeah, of course.”
“I believe I owe you an apology.”
“For what?”
His smooth brow furrowed. “I believe I said something impolite to you last night.”
“You believe?”
“My memory seems impaired. I can only remember pieces of what I said.”
“Aurox, getting wasted does a lot more than just impair your memory. It can make you sick and make you do and say stupid things. You don’t need to apologize to me, just don’t get drunk again.”
He sighed and rubbed his forehead as if he had a headache, which I was pretty sure he did have. “But, Zo, beer’s really good.”
I felt like he’d smacked me in the gut. “How do you do that?”
His hand dropped from his forehead and he gave me a totally confused look. “Like the taste of beer?”
“No!” I threw my hands up in frustration. “Sound just like Heath.”
“Do I?”
“Not most of the time, but you did just then, when you called me Zo.”
Aurox blinked a few times, then he said, “I am sorry I offend you.”
“You don’t offend me. You confuse me,” I said.
“You confuse me, too,” he said.
“Why?”
“Because I feel things for you that I know are wrong.”
“Wrong feelings? Like what?” I held my breath while he answered.
“I am drawn to you. I care about you. I think about you. Often,” he said slowly. “And I know those feelings are wrong because you loathe me.”
