by P. C. Cast
“You mean yuck and bye. Talk to you in a sec.”
The line disconnected and Stevie Rae looked up at Rephaim. “So explain about Neferet.”
“My father wishes to discover a way to sever the bonds that tie him to Neferet. To do so, he’ll need her to be distracted. Her obsession with Zoey is an excellent distraction, as is her desire to use the rogue red fledglings in her war with humans.”
Stevie Rae’s brows went up. “There isn’t any war going on between vampyres and humans.”
“If Neferet’s will is done, there will be.”
“Okay, well, we’ll have to be sure that doesn’t happen. Looks like Z really does need to get home.”
“They want to use you, too,” Rephaim blurted.
“Huh? Who’s they? Me? For what?”
Rephaim looked away from her and spoke very quickly. “Neferet and Father. They don’t believe you’ve firmly chosen the way of the Goddess. They think you could be persuaded to move to the side of Darkness.”
“Rephaim, there is not even one tiny small chance of that. I’m not perfect. I have my issues. But I chose Nyx and Light when I regained my humanity. I’m never gonna change that choice.”
“I have never doubted that, Stevie Rae, but they do not know you as I do.”
“And Neferet and Kalona can never find out about us, either, can they?”
“It would be very bad if they did.”
“Very bad for you or for me?”
“For both of us.”
Stevie Rae sighed. “Okay, so I’ll be careful.” She touched his arm. “You be careful, too.”
He nodded. “You should start back. Call Zoey as you drive. Dawn is too close.”
“Yeah, yeah, I know,” she said, but neither of them moved.
“And I must get back,” he said, as if trying to convince himself.
“Wait, you aren’t staying here anymore?”
“No. The ice storm has passed and there are too many humans about the grounds now.”
“Well, where are you?”
“Stevie Rae, I cannot tell you that!”
“Because you’re with your daddy, right?” When he didn’t speak she continued. “Hey, it’s not like I didn’t already know it was totally b.s. when Neferet announced the whole hundred-lashes-and-banish-Kalona-for-a-century punishment.”
“She did have him lashed. The threads of Darkness cut him one hundred times.”
Stevie Rae shivered, remembered how awful just the touch of one of those threads had been. “Well, I wouldn’t wish that on anyone.” She met Rephaim’s eyes. “But the part about him being banished from Neferet’s side for a century is b.s., right?”
Rephaim gave a quick, almost imperceptible nod.
“And you won’t tell me where you’re stayin’ because that’s where your Kalona’s stayin’, too?”
He gave another slight nod.
She sighed again. “So if I need to see you I gotta go lurk around some scary old building somewhere or somethin’?”
“No! You stay safe and in public places. Stevie Rae, if you need me come here and call me as you did tonight. Promise me that you won’t go out trying to find me,” he said, giving her arm a little shake.
“Okay, okay. I promise. But this worried-about-you thing goes both ways. Rephaim, I know he’s your daddy, but he’s also into some bad stuff. I just don’t want him to take you down with him. So be careful, ’kay?”
“I will be careful,” he said. “Stevie Rae, tonight I saw the rogue red fledglings. They are making their nest at Will Rogers High School. Dallas has joined them.”
“Rephaim, please don’t tell Kalona and Neferet.”
“Why, so you can show them kindness and humanity and they can have another opportunity to kill you?” he shouted at her.
“No! Just ’cause I try to be nice doesn’t mean I’m stupid or weak. Jeeze, what is it with you and Aphrodite? I wouldn’t run off to talk to them all alone. Heck, Rephaim, I wouldn’t try to reason with them at all. I already proved that won’t work. Whatever I’d do would be with Lenobia and Dragon and Z, at the very least. Basically, I just don’t want them joining Neferet, so I don’t want her to know ’bout them.”
“It is too late. It was Neferet who put me on their trail tonight. Stevie Rae, I’m asking you to stay away from the rogue reds. They mean nothing but doom for you.”
“I’ll be careful. I already told you I would. But I’m a High Priestess and the red fledglings are my responsibility.”
“The ones who have chosen Darkness are not your responsibility. And Dallas is no longer a fledgling. He is not your responsibility.”
Stevie Rae’s smile was crooked. “Are you jealous of Dallas?”
“Do not be ridiculous. I simply don’t want to see you hurt again. Stop changing the subject.”
“Hey, Dallas isn’t my boyfriend anymore,” she said.
“I know that.”
“Are ya sure?”
“Yes. Of course.” He shook himself and his wings unfurled. Stevie Rae’s breath caught as she watched him. “Call your Zoey as you drive back to the safety of the school. I will see you again soon.”
“Stay safe, ’kay?”
He turned to her and cupped her face in his hand. Stevie Rae closed her eyes and stood there, taking comfort and strength from his touch. Too soon it was gone. Too soon he was gone. She opened her eyes to watch his majestic wings beat against the night air and lift him higher, higher, until he disappeared into the barely discernable lightening of the eastern sky.
Rephaim had been right. It was too close to dawn for comfort. Stevie Rae hit redial as she hurried through the deserted mansion and back to the Bug.
“Hey, Z. It’s me. I got some hard stuff to tell you, so brace yourself…”
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Zoey
“Z? Are you still there? Are you okay? Say somethin’.”
The worry in Stevie Rae’s voice made me wipe the snot and tears from my face with the sleeve of my shirt and kinda sorta pull myself together. “I’m here. N-not okay, though,” I said with a little hiccup.
“I know, I know. It’s terrible.”
“And there’s no chance of a mistake? Jack’s really dead?” I knew in my heart it was ridiculous to cross my fingers and close my eyes when I asked, but I had to give it one silly little-girl try. Please, please don’t let it be true …
“He’s really dead,” Stevie Rae said through her own tears. “There’s no mistake, Z.”
“It’s so hard to believe, and it’s just not fair!” It felt good to get mad, better than breaking down in completely useless snot and tears. “Jack was the sweetest guy in the world. He didn’t deserve what happened to him.”
“No,” Stevie Rae said in a shaky voice. “He didn’t deserve it. I-I wanna believe Nyx has him and is takin’ care of him real good. You’ve been there—to the Otherworld, I mean. Is it true that it’s wonderful there?”
Her question tugged at my heart. “I know we’ve never talked about it, but didn’t you go there, before, you know, when you—”
“No!” she said as if she wanted to cut off my words. “I don’t remember much from that time, but I do know I wasn’t anywhere nice. And I didn’t see Nyx.”
The words came to me as I began to speak and I knew in my soul that Nyx was talking through me. “Stevie Rae, when you died Nyx was with you. You’re her daughter. You have to remember that always. I don’t know why you and the other kids died and un-died, but I can tell you that I am one hundred percent sure Nyx never abandoned you. You just took a different path than Jack. He is in the Otherworld with the Goddess, and he’s happier than he’s ever been in his life. It’s hard for those of us back here to understand, but I saw it with Heath. For whatever reason, it was Heath’s time to die this go-round, and he belonged there, with Nyx. Just like Jack belongs there, too, now. I know in my heart that they are both completely at peace.”
“Promise?”
“Absolutely. We have to
be strong for each other back here, though, and believe we’ll see them again someday.”
“If you say it, then I’ll believe it, Z,” she said, her voice sounding better. “You really need to come home. It’s not just me who needs to hear your High Priestess everything’s-gonna-be-okay speech.”
“Damien’s pretty bad, huh?”
“Yeah, I’m worried ’bout him, and the Twins, and the rest of the kids. Heck, Z, I’m even worried ’bout Dragon. It’s like the whole world is drownin’ in sadness.”
I didn’t know what to say. No, that’s not true. I did know what I wanted to say: I wanted to shriek, If the whole world’s drowning in sadness why do I want to come back to it? But I knew that was weak and wrong on many different levels. So instead I said, kinda lamely, “We’ll make it through this. We really will.”
“Yeah, we will!” she said firmly. “Okay, look, together you and me, we gotta be able to figure out a way to expose Neferet’s evil to the High Council once and for all.”
“I still can’t believe they bought that load of bullpoopie she shoveled at them,” I said.
“Me neither. I guess it basically came down to a High Priestess’s word against a dead human kid. Heath lost.”
“Neferet isn’t a High Priestess anymore! Jeesh, it pisses me off! And now it’s not just Heath, but Jack. She’s going to pay for what she did, Stevie Rae. I’m gonna make sure she does.”
“She’s gotta be stopped.”
“Yeah, she does.” I knew we were right—that we had to fight to get Neferet out of power, but just the thought overwhelmed me. Even I heard the exhaustion in my voice. I was tired all the way down to my soul, truly sick and tired of fighting against Neferet’s evil. It seemed like for every one step forward I won I was somehow, eventually, no matter what, knocked two steps back.
“Hey, you’re not in this alone.”
“Thanks, Stevie Rae. I know I’m not. And anyway, this really isn’t about me. It’s really about doing what’s right for Heath and Jack and Anastasia and whoever else Neferet and her evil horde decide to mow down next.”
“Yeah, you can say that, but evil has taken a pretty dang big toll on you lately.”
“That’s true, but I’m still standing. A bunch of other folks aren’t.” I wiped my face with my sleeve again, wishing I had a Kleenex. “Speaking of evil and death and whatnot: have you seen Kalona? No way did Neferet really have him whipped and banished. He’s gotta be all into everything with her. That means if she’s in Tulsa, he’s in Tulsa.”
“Well, rumor has it she really did have him whipped,” Stevie Rae said.
I snorted. “That figures. He’s supposed to be her Consort, so she has him beaten. Wow. I kinda knew he liked pain, but even I’m surprised that he agreed to that.”
“Well, uh, rumor has it he didn’t exactly agree to it.”
“Oh, please. Neferet is scary, but she can’t order around an immortal.”
“Looks like she can order around this one. She has some kinda hold over him because he failed in his, uh, dastardly mission to annihilate you.”
I could hear the humor that Stevie Rae was trying to add to her voice and I attempted a little laugh for her benefit, but I think both of us knew the funny didn’t begin to overcome the horrible.
“Well, ya know, being bossed around by Neferet is something Kalona isn’t gonna like, and it’s about time he got a big old dose of not liking something,” I said.
“I hear you. I think Kalona’s probably here somewhere lurkin’ around all in her nasty shadow, and by that I mean her crotch,” said Stevie Rae.
“Eeeew!” That did make me laugh, and Stevie Rae’s giggle joined mine. For a moment we were BFFs again, being cracked up by the proliferation of skank in our world. Sadly, too soon the less amusing parts of our world intruded and our laughter dried up way faster than it used to. I sighed and said, “So, during all this rumor listening and stuff you didn’t actually happen to see Kalona, did you?”
“Nope, but I’m keepin’ my eyes open.”
“Good, ’cause catching that jerk with Neferet after she’s told the High Council she’s banished him for a hundred years would definitely be a step toward proving she’s not what everyone thinks,” I said. “Oh, while you’re keeping your eyes open, remember to have them pointed up. Wherever Kalona is, those gross birdboys of his will eventually show, too. No way do I think they’ve all suddenly disappeared.”
“Okay. Yeah. Got it.”
“And didn’t Stark tell me that there actually was a Raven Mocker spotted in Tulsa?” I paused, trying to remember what he had said.
“Yeah, there was one seen once, but not since then.”
Stevie Rae’s voice sounded weird, all tight like she was having trouble talking. Hell, who could blame her? I’d basically left her holding the ball there at my House of Night. Just thinking about what she’d gone through with Jack and Damien made me feel sick.
“Hey, be careful, ’kay? I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you,” I said.
“Don’t worry. I’ll be careful.”
“Good. So, sunset is in just a little over two hours. As soon as Stark’s up we’ll get our stuff together and be on the first plane home,” I heard myself say, even though it made my stomach feel sick.
“Oh, Z! I’m so glad! Besides needin’ you back here, I’ve missed you so much.”
I smiled into the phone. “I’ve missed you, too. And it’ll be good to be home,” I lied.
“So text me when you know what time y’all will get in. If I’m not in my coffin I’ll be there to meet ya.”
“Stevie Rae, you do not sleep in a coffin,” I said.
“I might as well ’cause I’m seriously dead to the world when the sun’s up.”
“Yeah, Stark, too.”
“Hey, how is your boy? Feelin’ better?”
“He’s good.” I paused and added, “Real good, actually.”
True to form, Stevie Rae’s BFF radar heard between the lines. “Oh, nuh uh. Y’all did not?”
“What if I said we did?” I could feel my cheeks getting warm.
“Then I’d say a big ol’ Oklahoma yee haw!”
“Well yee haw away then.”
“Details. I want some serious details,” she said, and then gave a giant yawn.
“You’ll get details,” I said. “Almost dawn there?”
“A little past, actually. I’m fadin’ fast, Z.”
“No problem. Get some sleep. I’ll see ya soon, Stevie Rae.”
“Later, ’gator,” she said around another yawn.
I ended the call and went over to stare at Stark where he slept like a dead guy in our canopied bed. That I was totally in love with Stark wasn’t in question, but just then I would really, really have liked it if I could shake his shoulder and have him wake up like a normal guy. But I knew it would be useless to even try to get him up early. Today the sun was unusually shiny on Skye—I mean, super bright with not one speck of clouds. No way Stark would be able to communicate decently with me for—I glanced at the clock—two and a half more hours. Well, at least that gave me time to pack and also to find the queen and break the news to her—that I was gonna leave this place that felt so right, so much like a home to me, this place that Sgiach had decided to bring back into the real world again, at least kinda sorta, because of what I’d brought back into her life. And now I was going to take off and leave it all behind because …
My brain caught up with the babbling chaos of my thoughts and everything clicked into place.
“Because this isn’t my home,” I whispered. “Home is Tulsa. It’s where I belong.” I smiled sadly at my sleeping Guardian. “It’s where we belong.” I felt the rightness of it even as I understood all that was waiting for me there—and all that I was losing leaving here.
“It’s time I went home,” I said firmly.
* * *
“Say something. Anything. Please.” I’d just blurted my guts out to Sgiach and Seoras. Naturally, t
elling the story of Jack’s horrible death had made me bawl and snot. Again. And then I’d babbled about having to go home and be a proper High Priestess even though I wasn’t one hundred percent sure what that really meant, while both of them watched me silently with expressions that looked wise and unreadable at the same time.
“The death of a friend is always difficult to bear. It is doubly difficult if it comes too soon—too young,” Sgiach said. “I am sorry for your loss.”
“Thank you,” I said. “It doesn’t seem real yet.”
“Aye, well, it will, lass,” Seoras said gently. “You should be rememberin’, though, that a queen puts aside grieving fur duty. You cannae have a clear head if ’tis filled with grief.”
“I don’t think I’m old enough for all of this,” I said.
“No one is, child,” Sgiach said. “I would have you consider something before you take your leave of us. When you asked if you could remain here on Skye I said that you should stay here until your conscience bade you leave. Is it your conscience talking to you now, telling you the time is right for you to leave, or is it the machination of others that is—”
“Okay, stop,” I said. “Neferet probably believes she’s manipulating me into coming back, but the truth is that I have to go back to Tulsa because it’s my home.” I met Sgiach’s eyes as I continued speaking, hoping that she would understand. “I love it here. On lots of levels it feels right to be here—so right that it’d be easy for me to stay. But, like you’ve said, the path of the Goddess isn’t easy—doing right isn’t easy. If I stayed here and ignored my home I wouldn’t just be ignoring my conscience, I’d be turning my back on it.”
Sgiach nodded, looking pleased. “So your return comes from a place of power, not one of manipulation, though Neferet will not know that. She will believe that it only took one simple death to make you do her bidding.”
“Jack’s death isn’t a simple thing,” I said angrily.
“No, ’tisnae simple for you, but a creature of Darkness kills quickly, easily, and with nae thought beside her own gain,” Seoras said.
“And because of that Neferet will not understand that you return to Tulsa because it was your choice to follow the path of Light and Nyx. She will underestimate you because of that,” Sgiach said.
