Hunted hon-5 Read online

  They somehow transferred me to the backseat of the Hummer, pillowing my head on Damien’s lap. Unfortunately I didn’t pass out again. Before Darius closed the door, Erik squeezed my ankle.

  “You have to get well, okay?” Erik said.

  I barely managed a weak “Okay.”

  When Darius closed the door and jumped into the driver’s seat and we took off, I made a conscious decision to avoid the whole Erik-Heath issue until my life was calmer and I could deal with the two of them. I admit that at that moment I left the two of them behind with a guilty sense of relief.

  Most of the ride back was as dark and silent as ice-swept Tulsa had become. Darius had to battle the Hummer to keep it on the sheets of ice that masqueraded as streets, and Aphrodite only commented once in a while on a fallen limb in their way or a turn they should take. Damien, tense and speechless, held me securely on his lap, and the Twins were, for a change, not chattering with each other. I closed my eyes, trying to control the dizziness and the pain. A disturbingly familiar sense of numbness had started to creep slowly over my body again. This time I recognized it, though, and knew how dangerous it would be to give in to the numbness, no matter how restful and compelling it seemed. This time I knew the numbness was a disguise for death. I forced myself to take deeper breaths, even though each one made pain radiate throughout my body.

  Pain was good. If I hurt, it meant I wasn’t dead.

  I opened my eyes and cleared my throat, making myself speak. My blood-wine buzz was gone and all I felt was exhausted and consumed by pain. “We have to remember what we’re walking into. It’s not the old House of Night. It’s not our home,” I said. My voice carried, but I sounded like a hoarse stranger. “Besides keeping our elements close to us, I think the smartest thing we can do is to try to stick as close to the truth as possible whenever we’re questioned about anything.”

  “That’s logical,” Damien said. “If they sense we’re telling the truth, they’ll be less likely to feel the need to probe farther into our minds.”

  “Especially if those minds are protected by the elements,” Erin said.

  “We might very well baffle them with our supposed ignorance, and Neferet will underestimate us again,” Shaunee said.

  “So we’re coming back because of that text message sent from the school calling all of us back,” Damien said. “And because Zoey’s been hurt.”

  Aphrodite nodded. “Yeah, and the only reason we left was because we were scared.”

  “And that’s the damn truth,” Erin said.

  “Totally,” Shaunee added.

  “Just remember: Tell the truth when possible and keep your guard up,” I said.

  “Our High Priestess is correct. We are entering the enemy’s camp, and we can’t afford to be lulled into forgetting that by the familiarity of our surroundings,” Darius said.

  “I have a feeling we won’t be tempted to forget it,” Aphrodite said slowly.

  “What kind of feeling do you mean?” I asked.

  “I think our entire world has changed,” Aphrodite said. “No, I know it has. The closer we get to the school, the more wrong it feels.” She swiveled and looked over the seat at me. “Can you feel it?”

  I shook my head slightly. “I can’t feel anything except the cut in my chest.”

  “I can feel it,” Damien said. “It’s like all the hair on the back of my neck is standing up.”

  “Ditto,” Shaunee said.

  “My stomach feels awful,” Erin said.

  I took another deep breath and blinked hard, concentrating on staying conscious. “It’s Nyx. She’s warning you with those feelings. Remember the effect Kalona’s appearance had on the other fledglings?”

  Aphrodite nodded. “Zoey’s right. Nyx is making us feel like crap so we don’t give in to this guy. We have to fight against whatever it is about him that sucks the rest of the fledglings in.”

  “We can’t go over to the Dark Side,” Damien said grimly.

  Darius crossed the intersection of Utica and Twenty-first Street.

  “It looks really creepy that Utica Square is totally dark,” Erin said.

  “Creepy and horrible and wrong,” Shaunee said.

  “There’s no power anywhere,” Darius said. “Even St. John’s Hospital has hardly any lights, like it’s barely running on generators.”

  Darius continued down Utica and I heard Damien gasp. “It’s eerie, the way it’s the only thing in Tulsa still lit up.”

  I knew the House of Night had finally come into view. “Lift me up. I need to see it,” I told Damien.

  He hoisted me up as gently as he could, but still I had to grit my teeth so I wouldn’t scream. And then the bizarre sight of the House of Night made me temporarily forget my pain. It was ablaze with flickering oil lights, illuminating the huge castlelike structure. Ice covered everything, and the captured flames glistened against the slickened stone, making it appear faceted as if it were one humongous jewel. Darius reached into his pocket and pulled out a little remote. He aimed it at the school’s wrought-iron gate and clicked, and with a creaking sound it swung open, the movement sending shards of ice raining down on the driveway.

  “It looks like a castle out of one of those old, gruesome fairy tales where everything has been put under a spell and frozen in ice,” Aphrodite said. “Inside, a princess has been poisoned by an evil witch and she’s waiting to be rescued by her handsome prince.”

  I stared at my home that was now a familiar stranger and said, “Let’s just remember that there’s always a terrible dragon guarding the princess.”

  “Yes, something horrible, like a Balrog,” Damien said. “Like in The Lord of the Rings.”

  “I’m afraid your demon reference is more accurate than we might wish it to be,” Darius said.

  “What’s that?” I asked. Unable to point, I jerked my chin in the direction ahead and to the left of us.

  But I hadn’t needed to say anything. In seconds what had made the movement was obvious to all of us as the Hummer was surrounded. In the blink of an eye the night above us shifted and Raven Mockers dropped out of it to crouch all around us. Then from behind them one huge, scarred warrior I didn’t recognize stepped into the middle of the group, looking grim and dangerous.

  “That would be one of my brothers, a Son of Erebus, standing side by side with our enemies,” Darius said softly.

  “Which makes the Sons of Erebus our enemies, too,” I said.

  “Priestess, at least when you’re referring to that warrior, I’m sorry to have to agree with you,” Darius said.

  CHAPTER 17

  Darius was the first of us out of the vehicle. His face was set in expressionless lines so that he looked strong and confident, but entirely unreadable. He ignored the Raven Mockers, who were staring at him with their terrible eyes, and addressed the warrior in the center of the group.

  “Greetings, Aristos,” Darius said. Though he clenched his fist over his heart in a quick salute, I noticed Darius did not bow. “I have several fledglings, including a young priestess, with me. The priestess has been severely wounded and is in need of immediate medical attention.”

  Before Aristos could respond, the largest of the Raven Mockers cocked its head to the side and said, “Which priestess returns to the House of Night?”

  Even inside the Hummer I shivered hearing the creature’s voice. This one sounded more human than the one that had attacked me, but that made it even more frightening.

  Slowly and deliberately Darius shifted his attention from Aristos to the horrible creature who was neither bird nor man, but a mutated mixture of both. “Creature, I do not know you.”

  The Raven Mocker narrowed its red eyes at Darius. “Son of man, you may call me Rephaim.”

  Darius didn’t blink. “I still do not know you.”

  “You will know me,” Rephaim hissed, opening his beak so that I could see into his maw.

  Darius ignored the creature and addressed Aristos again. “I have a priestess
who has been badly wounded and several fledglings who are in need of rest. Will you allow us to pass?”

  “Is it Zoey Redbird? Do you have her with you?” Aristos asked.

  Every one of the Raven Mockers reacted to my name. Each of them turned their attention from Darius to our Hummer. Wings ruffling and abnormal limbs twitching with subdued energy, the things stared. I’d never been so glad for tinted windows in my life.

  “It is.” Darius’s response was clipped. “Will you let us pass?” he repeated.

  “Of course,” Aristos said. “All fledglings have been ordered to return to campus.” He gestured toward the school buildings. The movement briefly allowed the side of his neck to be illuminated by the nearest gaslight, and I saw a thin red line running across his skin, as if his neck had recently been injured.

  Darius nodded tersely. “I will carry the priestess to the infirmary. She cannot walk.”

  Darius had started to return to the vehicle when Rephaim said, “Is the Red One with you?”

  Darius glanced back at him. “I do not know what you mean by the Red One,” he said blandly.

  In an instant Rephaim had spread his massive black wings and leaped on the hood of the Hummer. The crackling of the metal denting under his weight was drowned out by the collective hissing of the agitated cats. Rephaim perched there, human hands curled into claws, lurking over Darius. “Do not lie to me, ssssson of man! You know I sssspeak of the red vampyre!” As his temper spiked, his voice became less human.

  “Get ready to call your elements,” I said, trying to push down the pain and speak clearly and calmly, even though I felt so weak and lightheaded that I wasn’t certain I could call spirit for Aphrodite, let alone help control and direct the rest of them. “If that thing attacks Darius, we throw everything we have at it, pull Darius in here, and drive away like hell.”

  But Darius didn’t seem perturbed at all. He looked up at the creature coolly. “You mean the red vampyre priestess Stevie Rae?”

  “Yessss!” The word was one long hiss.

  “She is not with me. I have only blue fledglings here. And the priestess among them needs immediate aid—as I have already explained.” Darius continued to gaze calmly up at the thing that looked like it had stepped out of a nightmare. “For the final time, do you allow us to pass or not?”

  “Passss, of courssssse,” the creature hissed. It didn’t get off the Hummer, but leaned back so that Darius could barely get the driver’s side door open.

  “Come this way. Now.” Darius motioned for Aphrodite to slide across the seat, and held his hand out so that she could take it. “Stay close,” I heard him murmur to her and slly. &ldque creVaw her nod her head quickly. Keeping glued to Darius’s side, she moved with him to my door. He leaned in, meeting our eyes. “Are you ready?” he asked quietly. The question was filled with so much more than those three simple words.

  “Yes,” Damien and the Twins said together.

  “Ready,” I said.

  “Again, stay close,” he whispered.

  Darius and Damien managed to move me painfully into the warrior’s arms. Glaring silently at the Raven Mockers, all the cats in the vehicle slunk out and seemed to melt into the icy shadows. I breathed a sigh of relief when none of the creatures pounced on my Nala. Please let the cats be safe, I sent a silent plea to Nyx. I felt more than saw Aphrodite, Damien, and the Twins surround Darius and me, and then, as if we were one being, we moved away from the Hummer and onto the school grounds.

  The Raven Mockers, including Rephaim, took to the sky as Aristos led us the short distance to the first building on campus, the one housing the professors’ quarters as well as the infirmary.

  As Darius carried me through the arched wooden doorway that always reminded me of something that should stand behind a moat and into the familiar building, I thought about how it had only been a little more than a couple of months ago that I’d first arrived here and had been taken unconscious into the infirmary to wake up, not having a clue about my new future. Weird that I was in almost that exact position again.

  I glanced at my friends’ faces. Everyone looked calm and confident. It was only because I knew them so well that I recognized the fear in the tight line of Aphrodite’s mouth, and that Damien’s hands, fisted at his sides, hid their shaking. The Twins walked on my right, so close that Shaunee’s shoulder brushed Erin’s, which in turn brushed against Darius—as if through touch they could gain courage.

  Darius turned down a familiar hallway, and because he was carrying me, I felt the instant tension in his body and knew before she spoke that he had seen her. I lifted my heavy head wearily from his shoulder in time to see Neferet standing in front of the door to the infirmary. She was beautiful in a long, body-hugging dress made of an iridescent black material that shimmered and showed hints of deep purple whenever she moved. Her dark auburn hair fell in thick, glossy waves down to her waist, and her moss-green eyes sparkled with emotion.

  “Ah, so the prodigal returns?” Her voice was melodic and slightly amused.

  Instantly I pulled my eyes from her and whispered frantically under my breath, “Your elements!” I only worried for the space of a heartbeat about them not hearing and not understanding, because almost immediately I felt the light brush of a fire-warmed wind and smelled a cool spring rain. Even though Neferet could not read Aphrodite’s mind, I murmured, “Spirit, I need you,” and felt the flutter within me as the element responded. Before I could change my mind and selfishly keep invigorating spirit for myself I commanded, “Go to Aphrodite,” and heard the sharp intake of her breath as the element filled her. Sure that my friends were as protected as they could be, I turned my attention to our tainted High Priestess. I opened my mouth to comment on the irony of her using a Biblical comparison, when a door a few feet down the hall from where Neferet stood opened and he stepped out of it.

  Darius stopped so abruptly it felt as if he’d suddenly hit the end of a tether.

  “Oh!” Shaunee breathed.

  “Shiiiiiit!” Erin said on a long sigh.

  “Don’t look at his eyes!” I heard Aphrodite whisper. “Stare at his chest instead.”

  “Not a hard thing to do,” Damien said softly.

  “Stay strong,” Darius said.

  Then time seemed to suspend.

  Stay strong, I told myself. Stay strong. But I didn’t feel strong. I felt exhausted and hurt and utterly defeated. Neferet intimidated me. She was just so perfect and powerful. Kalona made me realize my insignificance. The two of them together dwarfed me, and my head swam dizzily with a cacophony of thoughts. I was just a kid. Hell, I wasn’t even a full vampyre yet. How could I hope to stand against these two amazing beings? And did I really want to fight Kalona? Did we know for one hundred percent sure that he was evil? I blinked, clearing my blurring vision and stared at him. He absolutely did not look evil. Kalona was wearing pants that looked like they were made of the same creamy brown deerskin real moccasins were made of. His feet were bare, and so was his chest. It sounds stupid to say it—that he was standing there in the hallway half-naked—but then it didn’t feel stupid at all. It felt right. It’s just that he was so incredible! His skin was completely free of any blemish and was the golden tan that white girls try but always fail to get by roasting in tanning beds. His hair was thick and black. It was long but not ridiculously Fabio long. It was just kinda shaggy and had a cute wave to it. The more I looked at it, the more I could imagine running my fingers through it. Not heeding Aphrodite’s warning, I looked directly into his eyes and felt a jolt of electricity sizzle through me as his eyes widened in recognition, and that jolt seemed to zap even more of my already almost non ex is tent strength. I sagged in Darius’s arms, so weak I could hardly hold my head up.

  “She is wounded!” Kalona’s voice boomed down the hall. Even Neferet cringed. “Why is she not being tended?”

  I heard the sickening sound of huge wings fluttering, and then Rephaim stepped out of the room Kalona had just been in. I shi
vered as I realized the Raven Mocker must have flown up to the window and then crawled in from there. Isn’t there any place aboveground that the horrid things couldn’t get to?

  “Father, I ordered the warrior to take the priestess to the infirmary so that she could be properly cared for.” Rephaim’s unnatural voice sounded even more obscene after hearing the majesty of Kalona.

  “Oh, bullshit!” Completely shocked, I stared openmouthed at Aphrodite, who was giving the Raven Mocker her best bitchy sneer. She tossed back her thick blond hair as she continued, “Bird boy kept us out there in the freezing rain while he yammered about the Red One this and the Red One that. Darius got Zoey in here despite his help.” Aphrodite air-quoted over the word “help.”

  There was utter silence in the hallway, and then Kalona threw back his beautiful head and laughed. “I had forgotten how amusing human women can be.” With a graceful movement of his hand he gestured to Darius. “Bring the young priestess here so that she may be tended.”

  I could feel Darius’s reluctance in the tension of his body, but he did as Kalona ordered, with my friends at his side. We reached Neferet and the infirmary door at the same time Kalona did.

  “Your duty is finished here, Warrior,” Kalona told Darius. “Neferet and I shall attend her now.” And the fallen angel opened his arms as if he expected Darius to give me to him. With that movement the enormous raven-feathered wings that had until then been tucked neatly against his back, rustled and half opened.

  I wanted to reach out and touch those wings and was glad I was too weak to do more than stare.

  “My duty is not finished.” Darius’s voice was as tense as his body. “I have sworn to care for this young priestess, and I must stay by her side.”

  “I’m staying, too,” Aphrodite said.

  “And I stay.” Damien sounded small and shaky, but I saw that his fists were still clenched firmly by his sides.

  “Us, too,” Erin said, and Shaunee nodded grimly.

  It was Neferet’s turn to laugh. “Surely you don’t think you can stay with Zoey through my examination?” The amusement in her voice disappeared. “Stop being ridiculous! Darius, take her into that room and leave her on the bed. If you insist, you may wait here in the hall for her, though by the look of you, the wiser choice would be for you to eat and refresh yourself. After all, you have brought Zoey home, where she is safe, so you have completed your charge. The rest of you return to the dorms. The human part of the city might be paralyzed by a simple storm, but we are not humans. Life goes on for us, which means school goes on.” She paused and gave Aphrodite a look so filled with hatred that it twisted her face into something that was too hard and cold to keep even a tiny bit of its beauty. “But you are now a human, are you not, Aphrodite?”