by P. C. Cast
With a huge effort, Erik straightened up enough to lift his hand again, palm out. “This is what I’m supposed to be doing.” In a voice that was suddenly filled with magick and mystery and purpose, Erik Night intoned the ancient Tracker words, “Shaylin Ruede! Night has Chosen thee! Thy death will be thy birth! Night calls to thee; harken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!”
All of the heat that had been building in his gut, making him feel sick and confused and too hot shot out of his palm. He could actually see it! It smacked right into Shaylin’s forehead. She made a small, surprised, “Oh!” sound and dropped gracefully to the ground.
Okay, he knew he was supposed to be very vampyre-like and melt into the shadows and return to the House of Night, letting the fledgling find her own way there. Charon told him that’s how it was done. Or at least that’s how it was done in the modern world.
Erik thought about melting into the shadows. He even started to back away, and then Shaylin lifted her head. She’d fallen in the middle of a splotch of light, so her face was illuminated. She looked absolutely perfect! Her full pink lips tilted up in a surprised smile and she was blinking as if to clear her vision. If she hadn’t been blind he would have sworn she was staring at him with those huge black eyes. Her pale skin was flawless, and in the middle of her forehead her new Mark seemed to glow a bright, beautiful scarlet.
Scarlet?
The color jolted through him and he started to move to her saying, “Wait, no. That’s not right.” At the same time Shaylin said, “Ohmygod! I can see!”
Erik hurried over to her and then stood helplessly, not sure what to do, as she collected herself and got to her feet. She was a little wobbly, but she was blinking and staring all around them, a huge smile filling her pretty face.
“I can really see! Ohmygod! This is incredible!”
“This isn’t right. I’ve so messed this up.”
“I don’t care if you messed up or not—thank you so much! I can see!” she shouted and threw her arms around him, laughing and crying at the same time.
Erik kinda patted her back. She smelled sweet, like strawberries or maybe peaches—or some kind of fruit. And she felt really soft.
“Oh, god! Sorry.” She suddenly released him and took a step back. Her cheeks were pink and she wiped her eyes. Then those wet, dark eyes widened at something over his shoulder and he spun around, hands up and ready to knock the crap out of someone. “Oh, no. Sorry again.” Her fingers rested on his arm for just a second as she took a slow step past him. He looked down at her to see that she was gawking at a big, old oak. “It’s so beautiful!” With steps that were becoming surer with each stride, she walked to the tree and pressed her hand against it. Staring up into the branches, she said, “I had images in my mind. Things I remember from before I lost my sight, but this is so, so much better.” She wiped her eyes again and then her bright eyes came back to him, and they widened even more. “Oh, wow!”
In spite of the weirdness of everything, Erik couldn’t help smiling back at her with his hundred-watt movie star grin. “Yeah, before I was zapped into being a Tracker I was on the road to Hollywood.”
“No, I’m not wowing about how hot you are, even though you are hot. I suppose,” she said quickly, still staring at him.
“I am,” he assured her, reminding himself that she was probably in some kind of shock.
“Yeah, well, what I mean is that I can really see you.”
“Yeah, and?” Goddess, Shaylin Ruede, Marked or unMarked, was one strange girl.
“I lost my sight when I was a just a kid, right before my fifth birthday, but I seriously don’t remember being able to see the insides of people. And I think if that was common I’d at least have heard about it on the Internet.”
“How can you use the Internet if you’re blind?”
“Really? Are you really asking that? Like you don’t know about stuff for disabled people?”
“How could I? I’m not disabled,” Erik said.
“Again, really? That’s not what the inside of you says.”
“Shaylin, what the hell are you talking about?” Was she a crazy kid? Had his messing up the Tracker stuff made her not just a red fledgling, but a crazy red fledgling? Crap! He was in so much trouble!
“How do you know my name?”
“All Trackers know the name of the fledglings they’re sent to Mark.”
Shaylin touched her forehead. “Oh, wow! That’s right! I’m going to be a vampyre!”
“Well, if you live. Actually, I’m not sure what’s going on. You have a red Mark.”
“Red? I thought fledglings have blue Marks and, eventually, blue tattoos. You do.” She pointed at his tattoo, which framed his Clark Kent blue eyes like a mask.
“Yeah, well, you should have a blue tattoo. But you don’t. It’s red. And could we go back to the stuff you were saying about seeing inside me?”
“Oh, that. Yeah, it’s amazing. I can see you, and then I can also see all kinds of colors surrounding you. It’s like what’s inside you is glowing around you.” She shook her head, as if in wonder, staring even harder at him. Then she blinked, frowned, and blinked again. “Huh. That’s interesting.”
“Colors? That doesn’t make any sense.” He realized she was clamping her lips together, as if she didn’t want to say any more, which for some reason really annoyed him, so he asked, “What colors are around me?”
“Lots of pea green all mixed with something watery. It reminds me of the mushy peas some places try to give you when you order fish and chips, not that that makes any sense whatsoever.”
Erik shook his head. “None of this makes any sense. Why the hell do I have mushy pea color around me?”
“Oh, that’s the easy part. When I focus on it I can see what it means about you.” She closed her mouth then and shrugged. “Plus you have some little bright specks that show up once in a while, but I can’t tell what color they are and only a little of what they mean. Sounds crazy, right?”
“What does the pea green and the watery stuff say about me?”
“What do you think it says?”
“Why are you answering my question with a question?”
“Hey, you just answered my question with a question,” Shaylin said.
“I asked you first.”
“Does that really matter?” Shaylin asked.
“Yes,” he said, trying to keep a handle on his temper, even though she was annoying the living crap out of him. “What does the pea color mean?”
“Fine. It means you’ve never had to work very hard at getting what you want.”
He scowled at her.
She shrugged. “You’re the one who asked.”
“You don’t know shit about me.”
Shaylin suddenly looked pissed. “Oh, please! I don’t know why, but I do know I know what I’m seeing.”
“Hey, it’s not like I have to be dripping in mushy peas for you to figure out this smile has taken me places,” Erik said sarcastically.
“Yeah, well, explain to me why I also know the gray, foggy-looking stuff means something has made you sad.” She put her hands on her hips, squinted her eyes, stared at him. Hard. Then she nodded, like she was agreeing with herself. Looking smug she added, “I think someone close to you just died.”
Erik felt like she’d smacked him in the face. He couldn’t say anything. He just looked away from her and tried to think through a wave of sadness.
“Hey, I’m sorry.”
He looked down to see that she’d hurried up to him and put her hand back on his arm. She didn’t look smug anymore.
“That was really wrong of me,” she said.
“No,” he said. “You weren’t wrong. A friend of mine did just die.”
She shook her head. “That’s not what I meant. I was wrong to have said it like that—all mean-girl. That’s not who I am. That’s not how I am. So, I’m sorry.”
Erik sighed. “I’m sorry, too. None of this happen
ed like it was supposed to.”
Shaylin touched her forehead gingerly. “You’ve never Marked someone with red?”
“I’ve never Marked anyone beside you,” he admitted.
“Oh, wow. I’m your first?”
“Yeah, and I messed it up.”
She smiled. “If me being able to see is a mess-up, I’m all for it.”
“Well, I’m glad you can see, but I still need to figure out how that happened.” He gestured at her red Mark. “And this.” Erik waved his hand around him. “The pea stuff.”
“The pea stuff came from you, but there’s other colors there, too. Like when you said sorry I could see—”
“No!” he held up a hand, cutting her off. “I don’t think I want to know what else you can see.”
“Sorry,” she said softly, looking down and scuffing the toe of one shoe through the winter-brown grass. “I guess it is really weird. So, what happens next?”
Erik sighed again. “Don’t be sorry, and there’s nothing wrong with weird. I’m sure Nyx has a reason for giving you this gift, and this red Mark.”
“Nyx?”
“Nyx is our Goddess. The Goddess of Night. She’s awesome, and sometimes she gives her fledglings cool gifts.” As he spoke Erik felt like a total ass. He had to be the crappiest Tracker in House of Night history. He’d turned a blind kid into a red fledgling who could see inside stuff, and he was just now telling her about their Goddess. “Come on.” He didn’t care if Charon would approve or not—he wasn’t following the damn script anyway. He might as well go for broke and screw everything up. “Show me where you used to live. Pack a bag or whatever. You’re going to come with me.”
“Oh, yeah. To the House of Night in Tulsa, right?”
“Actually, no. First I’m going to take you to a red fledgling High Priestess. Maybe she can figure out what I did wrong.”
“Hey, she’s not gonna try to ‘fix’ me by making me blind again, is she?”
“Shaylin, as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t think it’s you who needs to be fixed. It’s me.”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Zoey
“Zoey, did you hear me?”
I realized that while I’d been maniacally brushing Persephone, Lenobia had come into the stall and had been talking at me. Well, I mean I realized she’d been saying words. Out loud. To me. But I hadn’t really heard them. I sighed and turned to face the Horse Mistress, leaning against the mare’s warm, sturdy side and trying to draw calmness and energy from her familiar presence. “Sorry, no. I wasn’t paying attention. I’m super distracted. What were you saying?”
“I was asking what you know about this Aurox boy.”
“Nothing except that I can promise you he’s not just a boy,” I said.
“Yes, word’s already spread around campus that he’s a shape-shifter.”
I felt my eyes get really big. “Seriously? There are such things? Like Sam and his crazy white trash mom and brother?”
“Sam?”
“True Blood,” I explained. “They’re shape-shifters. They can change into anything they’ve seen. I think. Although I don’t think they can change into inanimate stuff. Jeesh, I need to read those books to get the real deal. Anyway, again, there are such things?”
“A, I don’t watch TV. I never got into the habit. I’ll have to read the True Blood books, too.”
“Actually, they’re the Sookie Stackhouse books by a cool human author named Charlaine Harris.” I registered Lenobia’s look and hastily added, “Sorry, sorry, that’s really not your point. What’s your B?”
“My B is back to your original question, there are a lot of things out there—in this world as well as the Otherworld.”
I swallowed hard. “I know that. Especially the Otherworld part.”
“That said, many cultures have evidence of shape-shifters in their legends and mythology. It only stands to reason that at least some of those stories are based on truth.”
“I can’t figure out whether that’s good or bad,” I said.
“I think the best we can hope for is that it’s like the rest of us—good or bad based on the individual. Which leads me to my next question. Along with campus gossip about Aurox and his ability to at least appear to be able to change form, word has it that you had a pretty strong reaction to him. Is that true?”
I felt my cheeks getting hot. “Sadly, yes. I made a fool out of myself in front of most of the school. Again.”
“Why? When you know better then anyone how dangerously manipulative Neferet can be, why would you confront her publicly like that?”
“Because I’m a moron,” I said miserably.
“No.” She smiled kindly. “You’re definitely not a moron, which is why I wanted to talk with you about this—alone. I think you should play down your reaction to Aurox, maybe even to your closest friends. Keep what you’re feeling to yourself. Put on your poker face.”
“Poker face? Sorry, I only know how to play Candyland.”
“It means to keep your reaction to what you’re seeing and how you feel about it secret from everyone watching you.”
“Why?” She really had my attention now. It wasn’t like Lenobia (or any sane vampyre) to ask a fledgling to keep secrets.
Her eyes met mine and I was struck anew by their unusual gray color. It was almost like she’d harnessed storm clouds within them.
“I learned young that evil sometimes likes to be bragged about, even when it would be best if it kept a low profile. It has been my experience that Darkness’s true struggle isn’t against Light and the strength of love and truth and loyalty. I think evil’s greatest threat comes from its own pride and arrogance and greed. I’ve yet to see a bully who doesn’t gloat, or a thief who doesn’t brag. That’s why they get caught. Darkness could get a lot more of its destructive work accomplished if it was more, shall we say, circumspect.”
“But it’s in Darkness’s nature to brag and gloat, so Darkness understands it when someone calls attention to its actions and stuff,” I said, finally getting her point. “Which means when someone who is trying to fight for good stays quiet, and watches and waits for the right time to act, evil is thrown a curve ball.”
“And caught unaware by the strength that comes from honesty and serenity and quiet determination,” Lenobia said.
I drew a deep breath, looked around to make sure no one was lurking outside Persephone’s stall, and then spoke softly to Lenobia. “From the second I saw Aurox my seer stone got hot. The only two other times that’s happened has been when old magick has been present.” I hesitated, then admitted, “Last night I looked through the seer stone and saw something weird around Stark. It kinda freaked me out.”
“What did Stark say about it?”
“I, uh, haven’t told him.”
“You haven’t? Why not?”
“Well, first because I got distracted by him.” I hurried on, knowing that I was probably blushing. “And since then I don’t know why I haven’t said anything.” I thought about the almost-fight we’d had on the way to school. “No, wait, I do know why. Ever since the whole Otherworld thing things haven’t been the same between Stark and me. Some of that’s good—we’re really close most of the time. But some of it’s weird, too.”
Lenobia nodded. “That’s understandable. An experience the magnitude of what the two of you went through should change the dynamics of a relationship. And glimpsing some old magick attached to Stark could simply be a remnant of his time in the Otherworld.” She smiled. “I imagine if you could look through the seer stone at yourself you might see—”
“Oh, hell no! I don’t want to see anything hanging around me!”
Lenobia’s smile faded. “You sound frightened.”
“I’m freaked, that’s for sure. I think I’ve had enough of old magick and the Otherworld and all that goes with that stuff for a good long while.”
“Ah, I understand. If Aurox carries traces of old magick, that’s why his presence affected you so
much.”
“He definitely made me feel funny, even before I saw him change into a bull.”
“Funny? Like you were frightened then, too?”
“Yeah, but I also had a weird surprised feeling, like my intuition was seeing something that my mind couldn’t handle. And then I got super anxious. There’s something wrong about that guy, Lenobia, and that something is real, real old.”
“But do you see that he looks like a handsome teenager to the rest of the world?”
“Yeah, I guess.” Then I snorted. “I’d like to take him to Skye and find out what that part of the ‘rest of the world’ sees when they look at him.”
“Your seer stone came from Skye?”
“Yeah, the Queen gave it to me. She said if old magick is around when I look through it, I can see it.” I thought about Stark and shadows and creepiness. “Dealing with what I can see with my own eyes is way more than enough for me. I don’t want to look through the seer stone again.” I shook my head, ashamed of my weakness. “I’m sorry. I’m such a big baby. I shouldn’t be so darn scared. I should have looked through the stupid stone at Aurox.”
“And what would have happened had you seen something terrible? Can everyone who looks through the stone see old magick?”
“No.” I wiped tears from my cheeks. “It’s a gift only certain High Priestesses have.”
“So, if you’d seen something of Darkness through the stone, told everyone, and relied on the stone to show them what you were seeing, you would have had no real proof?”
“Yeah, that’s about it. I was and am screwed.”
“No, you were and are wise to listen to your instincts. Something is very wrong with this pawn of Neferet’s. You knew that from the first instant you saw him, and because you knew it you couldn’t just stand there and shut your mouth and pretend to be a vapid child.”
I made an internal note to look up vapid or ask Damien for a quick definition.
Lenobia wasn’t finished. She continued earnestly, “I want you to spend some time thinking about Aurox. Note how you feel and exactly what you observe the next time you see him—but note those things silently. Keep your poker face on. Don’t let anyone know what’s going on underneath that pretty little teenage façade.”
