Hunted hon-5

by P. C. Cast

  “Yeah? Ya think so? Well, you’re wrong. I happen to like my bloodlust! I liked doing whatever I want with that girl. It’s time vampyres stopped slinking around. We’re smarter, stronger, better than humans. We should be in charge, not them!”

  “That fledgling isn’t a human.” Darius’s voice was like a naked blade, reminding me that he wasn’t just a big brother-type guy; he was a Son of Erebus and one of the most powerful warriors alive.

  “I was thirsty and there wasn’t a human handy,” Stark said.

  “Zoey, get the girl into the dorm.” Darius didn’t take his eyes off Stark. “She is done serving his convenience.”

  I hurried over to Becca and helped her to her feet. She was a little wobbly but able to walk. As we reached Darius, he moved forward with us, always keeping himself between us and Stark. Just as we were passing by him, Stark spoke with an angry intensity that sent a chill down the back of my neck.

  “You know, all I have to do is think about killing you and shoot this arrow. Wherever you are, you’re dead.”

  “If that is so, then I will be dead,” Darius said matter-of-factly. “And you will be a monster.”

  “I don’t mind being a monster!”

  “And I don’t mind dying if it is in the service of my High Priestess and, ultimately, my Goddess,” Darius said.

  “If you hurt him, I’ll come against you with everything I have,” I told Stark.

  Stark looked at me and his lips tilted up in a ghost of that cute, cocky smile he used to have. “You’re a little bit of a monster yourself, aren’t ya, Zoey?”

  I didn’t think that nasty comment was worth a response, and obviously neither did Darius. He kept shepherding us by Stark, opening the front door of the dorm and helping Becca inside. But instead of me following her in, I paused. Intuition was telling me that there was something I had to do, and much as I’d like to ignore my intuition, I knew I shouldn’t. “I’ll be right in,” I told Darius. I could see that he was going to argue with me, but I shook my head and said, “Trust me. I just need a second.”

  “I’ll be inside the door,” Darius said, threw Stark a hard look, and then stepped into the dorm.

  I faced Stark. I knew I was taking a chance with what I was going to say to him, but I kept remembering Kramisha’s poem and the line that said, “Humanity saves her / Will she save me?” I at least had to try.

  “Jack’s taking care of Duchess,” I said without any preamble.

  I saw that flash of pain in his eyes again, but his voice wasn’t touched by it. “So?”

  “So I’m just telling you that your dog’s fine. She’s had a pretty hard time, but she’s okay.”

  “I’m not who I used to be, so she’s not my dog anymore.” This time I heard a quaver in his voice, which gave me enough hope that I took a step toward him.

  “Hey, the great thing about dogs is that they give unconditional love. Duch doesn’t care who you are right now. She’ll still love you.”

  “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said.

  “Yeah, I do. I’ve spent some time with your dog. She’s got a really big heart.”

  “I wasn’t talking about her. I was talking about me.”

  “Well, I’ve spent some time with red fledglings, too. Not to mention that the first ever Changed red vamp is my best friend. Stevie Rae’s different than she used to be, but I still love her,” I said. “Maybe if you spent some time with Stevie Rae and the rest of the red fledglings you could, I don’t know, find yourself again. They have.” I said this with way more confidence than I felt. After all, I had glimpsed fragments of the darkness surrounding Stark down in those tunnels, around those red fledglings, but I couldn’t help believing it would be best to get him away from here, where evil seemed to come and go so easily.

  “Sure,” he said too quickly. “Why don’t you take me to this Stevie Rae vamp and I’ll see what happens?”

  “Sure,” I said just as quickly. “Why don’t you leave your bow and arrows here and show me how to get off campus without the bird freaks knowing and I’ll do just that?”

  His expression hardened and he was a mean stranger again. “I don’t go anywhere without my bow, and no one leaves campus without them knowing.”

  “Then it looks like I won’t be taking you to Stevie Rae,” I said.

  “I don’t need you to show me where Stevie Rae is. She knows all about their little hideout. When she wants your friend, she’ll have her. If I were you, I’d expect to see Stevie Rae a lot sooner than you thought you would.”

  Warning bells were ringing like a fire alarm in my mind, and I definitely didn’t have to ask who the “she” was Stark was talking about. But instead of showing just how upset Stark’s admission made me, I smiled calmly and said, “No one’s hiding out. I’m right here, and Stevie Rae is right where she’s been since she Changed. No big deal. Plus, it’s always great to see her, so if she shows up here, that’s cool.”

  “Yeah, whatever. No big deal. And I’m cool staying right where I am.” He looked away from me, out into the icy fog that was drifting lazily around us. “I don’t get why you care anyway.”

  And suddenly I knew exactly what to say. “I am just keeping my promises to you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “You asked me to promise you two things before you died. One was not to forget you, and I haven’t. The other was to look after Duchess, and I’m letting you know that I’ve made sure she’s okay.”

  “You can tell that Jack kid that Duchess is his dog now. Tell him…” Still not looking at me, he paused and drew a shaky breath. “Tell him she’s a good dog and to take care of her.”

  Continuing to follow my intuition, I crossed the few feet between us and put my hand on his shoulder, almost exactly as I’d done the night he died. “You know it doesn’t matter what you say or who you give her to, Duchess will always belong to you. When you died, she cried. I was there. I saw it. I didn’t forget. I won’t ever forget.”

  He didn’t look at me, but slowly he dropped his bow to the ground and put his hand over mine. We just stood there like that. Touching but not saying anything. I was watching his face carefully, so I saw the entire transformation. As he pressed his hand over mine, he let out a long, slow breath, and his face relaxed. The last hint of red left his eyes, and the strange, shadowy darkness evaporated. When he finally looked at me, he was the kid I’d been so drawn to and who had died while I held him in my arms, listening to him tell me that he’d come back.

  “What if there’s nothing left in me worth loving?” He asked it in a voice so low that if I hadn’t been standing close I wouldn’t have heard him.

  “I think you can still choose what you are, or at least what you are becoming. Stevie Rae chose her humanity over the monster. I think it’s up to you.”

  I know what I did next was stupid. I’m not even sure why I did it. I mean, I already had unresolved issues with Erik and Heath. The last thing I needed was another boy complicating my life, but at that moment there was only Stark and me, and he was himself again—the guy who had agonized over the gift Nyx had given him because he had accidentally caused the death of his mentor; the guy who had been horrified at the thought of hurting anyone again. The guy I’d felt such an immediate and deep connection to I’d thought that just maybe there really were such thing as soul mates, and had considered, at least for a few brief moments, that he might be mine. That’s all I was thinking about as I stepped into his arms. When he bent and hesitatingly pressed his lips to mine, I closed my eyes and kissed him softly and sweetly. He kissed me back, holding me so gently it was as if he thought I might break.

  Then I felt him stiffen and he pulled away, taking a staggering step backwards. I was sure I saw tears in his eyes before he yelled, “You should have forgotten me!” Stark picked up his bow and bolted away into the roiling darkness of the stormy night.

  When he was gone I stood there staring after him, wondering what the hell was wrong with me. Ho
w could I have kissed a guy who had been attacking someone just minutes before? How could I feel a connection to someone who might be more monster than man? Maybe I didn’t even know myself anymore. I sure didn’t know what I was becoming.

  I shivered. The cold dampness of the night seemed to have settled through my clothes and skin and into my bones. And I felt tired. Really, really tired.

  “Thank you, fire and air and water,” I whispered to the listening elements. “You served me well tonight. You may go now.” Fog and ice swirled around me once, and then rushed away, leaving me alone with the night and the storm and my confusion. Wearily I trudged back to the dorm, wishing I could go inside, take a hot shower, and curl up in my bed to sleep for several days.

  Naturally, my wish was no one’s command…

  CHAPTER 21

  I’d barely touched the door when Darius opened it for me. His sharp look made me wonder if he’d been watching the scene between Stark and me, and I sincerely hoped he hadn’t.

  “Damien and the Twins are in there” was all he said, motioning for me to follow him into the central room of the dorm.

  “First I need to borrow your cell phone,” I said.

  He didn’t hesitate or ask annoying questions about who I needed to call and why. He simply handed me his phone, and then he walked ahead of me into the common room. I punched in Stevie Rae’s number and held my breath while it rang. When she answered it sounded like she was talking into a tin can, but at least I could hear her.

  “Hey, it’s me,” I said.

  “Z! Dang, I’m glad to hear your voice! Are ya okay?”

  “Yeah, I’m better.”

  “Yea! So what’s going on with—”

  “I’ll fill you in on all that later,” I cut her off. “Right now you gotta listen to me.”

  “’Kay,” she said.

  “Do what I told you to do.”

  There was a pause and then she said, “What you told me in the note?”

  “Yeah. You’re being watched in the tunnels. Something is down there with you.”

  I expected her to gasp or freak, but all she said was a calm, “Okay, I understand.”

  I continued quickly. “There’s a good chance the bird things will grab you if you come out of the tunnels anywhere they’re expecting you to surface, so you’re going to have to be really, really careful.”

  “Don’t worry about it, Z. I’ve been doin’ a little secret reconnoitering of my own since you passed me that note. I think I can get everyone there without being seen.”

  “Call Sister Mary Angela first and tell her you’re coming. Tell her I’m coming, too, ASAP. But don’t tell the red fledglings where you’re going for as long as you can keep it from them. Do you understand?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay. Give Grandma a hug for me.”

  “Will do,” she said. “And I won’t let anyone tell her about your accKry Angelaqident. It’ll just stress her.”

  “Thanks,” I said. “Is Heath okay?”

  “Totally. I told ya don’t worry about him. Both of your boyfriends are fine.”

  I sighed, wishing I could correct her and tell her I only had one boyfriend. “Good, I’m glad they’re safe. Oh, Aphrodite’s safe, too,” I added, feeling a little strange about it, but thinking that since I’d checked on my Imprinted human, maybe Stevie Rae would like to check on hers, too.

  Her laugh was happy and familiar. “Oh, Z, I know Aphrodite’s okay. I’d be able to tell right away if something happened to her. It’s weird, but it’s true.”

  “Okay, good. I guess. Hey, I gotta go. And you do, too.”

  “You want me to get everyone outta here tonight?”

  “Now,” I said firmly.

  “Got it,” she said. “See you soon, Z.”

  “Please be very, very careful.”

  “Don’t worry about me. I got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

  “You’ll need them. See ya,” I said, and cut off the tinny connection. It was a relief to know Stevie Rae was going to move all the red fledglings to the basement beneath the Benedictine Sisters Abbey. I had to believe that the darkness I’d begun to see hovering around the tunnels wouldn’t do so well in the basement of a bunch of nuns. I also had to believe Stevie Rae could get all the kids there without being captured by the Raven Mockers. If only the rest of us were that lucky, we could meet and regroup and figure out what the hell we could do about Kalona and Neferet. And I would ask Stevie Rae about the creepy dark shadow stuff. Sadly, I had a feeling she would know way more than me about it.

  I entered the common room. Normally, after school it would have been crazy busy with fledglings hanging out, watching one of the several flat-screen TVs. Comfortable chairs and loveseats were clustered around the room, and kids should have filled them up as they relaxed after a long school day.

  Today there weren’t many fledglings, and those who were sitting around were unusually subdued. Part of that might be because the cable had been knocked out by the storm, but the House of Night had some major backup generators, and kids should have been watching DVDs—I mean, hello! Almost everyone had Netflix. But the few kids who were present were crouched together, speaking barely above a whisper.

  Automatically I looked over at the area where my friends and I liked to gather and was relieved to see Damien and the Twins. They had Becca in the middle of them, and I assumed they were comforting the girl and keeping her from bursting into hysterical tears. When I got closer, I understood that I was very wrong.

  “Really, I’m fine. It’s no big deal,” Becca was insisting in a voice that wasn’t shaky and scared anymore, but had suddenly changed to sounding incredibly annoyed.

  “No big deal!” Shaunee said. “Of course it was a big deal.”

  “The guy attacked you,” Erin said.

  “It wasn’t exactly like that,” Becca said, waving her hands dismissively. “We were just messing around. Plus, Stark really is hot.”

  Erin snorted. “Yeah, I usually find rapists majorly hot.”

  Becca’s eyes narrowed and she looked cold and mean. “Stark is hot, and you’re just jealous that he didn’t want you.”

  “Didn’t want me?” Erin said incredulously. “Don’t you mean, didn’t want to molest me? Why are you making excuses for him?”

  “What the hell’s wrong with you, Becca?” Shaunee said. “No guy should ever get away with—”

  “Hang on,” Damien spoke up. “You know, Becca’s right. Stark is one hot guy.” The Twins stared at him in shock, and he hurried on. “If Becca says they were just messing around, who are we to judge?”

  It was then that Darius and I stepped into their agitated little circle. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” I asked Becca.

  “Totally fine.” Throwing the Twins an icy look, she got to her feet. “Actually, I’m starving, so I’m gonna go find something to eat. Sorry I caused you two a hassle out there. Later.” She hurried away.

  “What the hell just happened?” I asked in a low voice.

  “The same thing that’s happened all over this damn—”

  “Upstairs!” Darius commanded, shutting Erin up.

  I was semi-amazed to see my friends meekly obey Darius. We filed out of the common room, ignoring the curious stares of the few kids who were quietly sitting around. On the way up the staircase, Darius said, “Is Aphrodite in her room?”

  “Yeah, she said she was tired,” Shaunee said.

  “She’s probably hanging upside down from the ceiling in her usual batperch,” Erin said. She glanced over her shoulder at Darius and added, “Speaking of Aphrodikey, she’s gonna give birth to a big ol’ litter of kittens when she sees that you’ve messed up your pretty face.”

  “Yeah, and if you need comfort from her shallow hatefulness, you can try a little café mocha over here,” Shaunee said, waggling her brows at him.

  “Or a vanilla smoothie over here,” Erin flirted.

  Darius smiled good-naturedly and just said, “I will keep th
at in mind.”

  I thought the Twins were taking their lives in their hands, and I was darn sure not going to get between them and Aphrodite if she found out they’d been flirting with her man, but I was too tired to say anything.

  “You know that blue cashmere pullover you just got from Saks?” Damien asked Erin.

  “Yeah, what about it?”

  “I call dibs on it if Aphrodite disembowels you for hitting on her man,” Damien said.

  “She’s just a human now,” Erin said.

  “Yeah, we figure together we can take her,” Shaunee said, then she blew kisses at Darius. “Remember that, warrior boy.”

  Darius chuckled and I rolled my eyes. We were just passing my room when my door opened and Aphrodite called, “I’m in here.”

  We all stopped and filed into my room. “Aphrodite, what are you doing in—”

  “Ohmygoddess! What the hell happened to your face?” Not paying attention to anyone else, Aphrodite ran to Darius and started to flutter her hands around the long thin wound that stretched down the side of his face. “Are you okay? Damn, it looks awful! Does it hurt?” She pulled back the sleeves on her shirt, exposing the newly healed bite marks Stevie Rae’s teeth had left. “Do you need to bite me? Go ahead. I don’t mind.”

  Darius took her hands in his, stilling her anxious movements, and said calmly, “I am well, my beauty. It is but a scratch.”

  “How did it happen?” Aphrodite sounded close to tears as she pulled on Darius’s hands and led him over to the spare bed that used to be Stevie Rae’s.

  “My beauty! All is well,” he repeated, pulling her down on his lap and holding her close to him.

  He said a bunch of other stuff to her, too, but I’d stopped listening. I was too busy staring at the—

  “Cameron! There you are, sweetheart! I’ve been so worried about you.” Damien plopped down on the floor and started petting his blond tabby.

  “Beelzebub, where the hell have you been?” Shaunee chastised the hateful gray creature who had chosen both of the Twins as his own.

  “We figured you were chasing around after Maleficent, and sure enough here you are and here she is,” Erin said.