Instantly I pulled my mouth from his arm. Heath! Had I killed him? Panicked, I tried to sit up, but the pain shooting through my body stopped me.
The human is fine, Priestess, Darius soothed. Stanch the wound on his arm so that he will not lose any more blood.
Automatically I ran my tongue over the narrow slice on Heaths arm and the bigger gash Id made when I bit him while I thought Healdont bleed anymore, and when I pulled away this time I saw that the knife wound, as well as the marks my teeth had left, had completely stopped bleeding.
You can close the circle, Darius told Aphrodite, who was watching me with undisguised curiosity.
See, I wanted to tell her, there are a lot of different kinds of Imprints. What I have with Heath is definitely not what you have with Stevie Rae. But I couldnt summon the energy to say the words. Actually, I wasnt looking forward to the gazillion questions I was sure she was going to have for me. And then before she turned to Stevie Rae to begin thanking and then sending away the elements, I saw Aphrodite send Darius a sexy smile filled with promise, and I remembered that the first Imprint Id shared with Heath had been broken when Id had sex with Loren, and I realized that it was Darius who was going to have to field her questions. By the intimate smile he gave her in return, I was guessing he was going to like that kind of questioning wayyyy more than I ever would.
Okay, gross.
As a grinning Aphrodite closed the circle, Darius turned back to Heath and me.
Erik, help me get him over to the bed, Darius said.
A stone-faced Erik lifted my head out of Heaths lap. He and Darius carried him the short distance to the bed and laid his still body on the spot so recently vacated by Jack (who was watching, wide-eyed, from the side of the room while he manically petted Duchess over and over).
Go get something fast to eat and drink. Oh, and find some more of Venuss wine, Darius told Jack. But tell the red fledglings to stay away, he added before Jack nodded and scampered off with Duchess at his heels.
Theyre not gonna attack Heath, Stevie Rae said. She came to me and held my hand. Especially now that hes Imprinted with Zoey again. His blood smells wrong.
I dont have time to test whether they will or will not right now, Darius said. He came back over to the bed and started inspecting my wound again. Good. It has completely stopped bleeding.
I think Ill take your word for that. I dont really want to look again. I was pleased as hell that I had my voice back, even if I did sound weak and more than a little shaky. Thanks, guys, for the circle, I told my friends, who grinned at me and started to rush the table.
No! Darius put up a hand, halting their jubilation. I need room to work. Aphrodite, find some of those butterfly bandages in that kit and bring them over to me.
Hey, am I done almost dying? I asked the warrior.
Darius looked up from my wound to meet my eyes, and I saw there a relief that told me exactly how close I must have been to not making it.
You are done dying. He paused, clearly at the brink of saying more.
But? I prompted.
Theres no but about it, Stevie Rae said quickly. Youre done dyin. Period.
I didnt look away from Darius, and he finally answered me. But you need more help then I can give you if youre going to recover fully.
What do you mean, more help? Aphrodite asked as she moved to Dariuss side, a handful of weird Band-Aids clenched in her fist.
Darius sighed. Zoeys wound is severe. The humans blood has saved her life by replacing the blood she lost and strengthening her enough that she was able to accept the energy of the elements, but not even Zoey can recover from so great a wound by herself. She is still just a fledgling, though even were she a fully Changed vampyre, an injury like this would be difficult for her to recover from.
But she looks better now, and shes talking to us, Damien said.
Yeah, I dont feel like Im not really here anymore, I said.
Darius nodded. That is all good, but the truth is you need many stitches so that the wound can close and heal.
What about these? Aphrodite held up the butterfly Band-Aid packages. I thought thats why you needed them.
Those bandages are only temporary. She needs real stitches.
So stitch me up. I tried to sound as brave as I could, even though the thought of Darius sewing up my flesh made me want to puke or cry, or both.
There are no sutures in the kit, Darius said.
Cant we get some? Erik asked. I noticed as he spoke, he was looking everywhere but at me. I could drive Heaths truck to the St. Johns pharmacy and Stevie Rae could do her mind control thing on a doc there. Wed bring back whatever you need, and then you could stitch her up.
Yeah, we can do that. I can even grab a doctor if you want and bring him down here, then wipe his memory clean when we return him, Stevie Rae said.
Okay, Stevie Rae, thats a nice offer, I said, more than a little disturbed that she was talking about what amounted to kidnapping and brainwashing. But I really dont think thats a good idea.
Its not that simple to solve the problem anyway, Darius said.
So explain it so it is that simple, Heath said, propping himself up on his elbows and looking totally like crap even though he smiled sweetly at me.
Zoey needs more than a doctors care. Zoey needs to be around adult vampyres so that the damage to her body doesnt become fatal.
Hang on. I thought you said I was done almost dying, I said.
You are done almost dying from this particular wound, but if you dont get within a coven of vampyres, and I mean more than one or two or three of us, the damage caused to your body will use up your reserves of strength and you will begin rejecting the Change. Darius paused, letting what he was saying sink in with all of us. Youll die from that. You may come back to us, like Stevie Rae and the rest of the red fledglings did, but you may not.
Or you may come back like that stupid Stark kid and be a crazed asshole who starts attacking us, Aphrodite said.
So you really dont have any choice, Darius said. We have to get you back to the House of Night.
Well, hell, I said.
CHAPTER 14
But she cant go back! Kalonas there, Erin said.
Not to mention the Raven Mockers, Shaunee said.
One of them did this to her, Erik said. Right, Heath?
Yeah, the thing was disgusting, Heath said. He was chugging brown pop from a can Jack had handed him while he stuffed nacho cheese Doritos in his face. I was glad to see he looked lots better, almost completely like himself, which proves Doritos and brown pop really are health foods.
Then theyll just attack her again, so taking her there wont really save Zoey. Itll just enable them to finish killing her, Erik said.
Well, maybe not, I admitted reluctantly. The Raven Mocker didnt attack me, or at least, not on purpose. It was going to attack Heath and I kinda got in the way. I gave Heath an apologetic smile. Actually, it freaked when it hurt me.
Because it said its dad had been looking for you, Heath added. I remember. He did freak right after he cut you. Zoey, babe, Im sorry I almost got you killed.
Didnt I fucking tell you! Aphrodite practically snarled at Heath. What happened was your fault! You shouldnt have been here!
Whoa, Aphrodite, hang on, I said. I started to put my hands up to make simmer-down motions to her, but Darius shot me a hold still look. Plus, it really did hurt whenever I moved too much. So I settled for words with no hand motions, which felt kinda weird. You kept blaming Heath before. What gives?
She looked at me and I swear she fidgeted. Aphrodite actually fidgeted.
I frowned at her. Whats the deal, Aphrodite?
When she didnt say anything, Stevie Rae sighed and said, Cause shes know-it-all Vision Girl, and this time she was in the dark.
Do not tap into my mind like that! Aphrodite shouted at Stevie Rae.
Then answer Zs question. She feels too crappy to pull it out of you, Stevie Rae said.
Aphrodite turned her back to Stevie Rae. Its just that I expected to get a heads-up if you were going to die, thats all.
Huh? I said, speaking for all of us who were staring at her with question-mark faces.
She rolled her eyes. Hello! Ive had two death visions of you, so its only logical to assume if you were going to be all grotesquely close to death, Id know a little something about it, thats all. But Nyx didnt clue me in with any kind of a vision, so I figured Football Joe over there messed things up cause the goddess didnt expect him to be poking around where hes not supposed to be. She frowned at Heath and shook her head in disgust. I mean, come on! Are you special needs, special services or what? Werent you almost killed here once before?
Yeah, but Zo saved me, so I figured shed make like a superhero again if things got bad, and wed be okay, Heath said. Then his cute, goofy expression changed and he looked like someone had just taken away his birthday. But I didnt think Id be the cause of getting Zoey almost killed.
And they say football players arent brilliant. Wherever did they come up with that? Aphrodite said sarcastically.
All right, thats enough, I said. Heath, you didnt almost get me killed. The stupid Raven Mocker almost got me killed. Do you think I would have gone willingly with it? Hell no!
But I he began.
I cut him off. Heath, if you hadnt been there I would have eventually stuck my head aboveground. The gross birdman said they were looking for me, which means sooner or later they would have found me and I would have had to fight them. Period, the end. And, Aphrodite, just because you get visions doesnt mean you know everything. Sometimes stuff happens even you cant foresee. Get used to it and stop being so darn mean. Plus, this isnt just about Raven Mockers. Before it attacked, it looked like Neferet, I finished in a rush.
What? Damien said. How could it have looked like Neferet?
I dont have a clue, but I promise when I looked up she was there. She smiled a terrible, creepy smile at me. I blinked, and then she was gone and there was a Raven Mocker in her place. Thats all I know. I knew there was something else I needed to remember about what had happened, but my mind was feeling fuzzy with pain and I slumped down, totally exhausted.
We have to get her back to the House of Night, Darius said.
And take her right to Neferet? That doesnt sound smart, Heath said.
Nevertheless, she has to go there.
I looked up at Darius. Isnt there some other way?
Not if you want to live, he said.
Then Zoey has to go back to school, Damien said.
Oh, great! So the Raven Mockers and Neferet have her exactly where they want her! Aphrodite yelled.
I looked at Aphrodite and saw beyond the hateful demeanor she wore like armor to the sincere worry she had for me. Basically, she was scared. I couldnt really blame her. I was scared, toofor myself, for my friends. Hell, I was scared for the whole darn world.
They want me there, but they want me alive, I said solemnly. That means before they do anything else, theyll make sure Im healed.
Are you remembering that the House of Nights healer is Neferet? Damien said.
Of course I remember, I said irritably. Im just hoping Kalona wants me alive worse than she wants me dead.
But what if she does something terrible to you after youre healed? Aphrodite said.
Then you guys will have to come get me out of there, I said.
Uh, Zoey, Damien said. You sound like you think youre going back there alone. Youre not.
Yeah, no way, Erin said.
Were not letting you out of our sight, Shaunee said.
Where you go, we go, Jack said.
Thats right. Were in this together, Stevie Rae said. Remember the only thing that was the same about both of the death visions Aphrodite had of you was the fact that you were alone. So were not lettin you be alone.
Eriks voice sliced between us. We cant all go back with her.
Look, Erik, Aphrodite sneered. We get that youre Mr. Jealous and that seeing your girlfriend sucking on another guy is probably not cool with you, but youre going to just have to learn to deal.
Erik completely ignored her. Instead, he met my eyes and I saw that he had, once again, reached into his acting bag of tricks and pulled out the character of a stranger. As I studied him, I saw absolutely no trace of the guy who wanted me so bad that his passion had gotten kinda scary. I couldnt even find any trace of the possessive Neanderthal who had wanted to kick Heaths butt and boss me around. He was able to cover all of those versions of himself and his emotions so effectively that I was beginning to wonder who the hell the real Erik was.
Stevie Rae cant go back with you. If she goes, who will be here to control the red fledglings? Aphrodite cant go back with you. Shes just a human, and as much as Id like something to eat her, I imagine you and Nyx probably want to keep her around.
Before he says shit else, you need to know that Im going back with you, no matter what, Heath said.
Erik didnt so much as blink. Yeah, and youll get your stupid human ass kicked, probably killed, even faster than Aphrodite would. And along with yourself, youll probably get Zoey killed for real this time. Zoey has to go back, because shell die if she doesnt. Darius is the only one who should go back with her. Anyone else is taking a big risk. For sure theyll be trapped at the House of Night. Maybe theyll even be killed.
As usual, the room exploded as my friends yelled their own not-so-positive opinions of Eriks emotionless proclamation.
Guysguys I tried to speak over them but didnt have the energy.
Silence! Darius commanded, and everyone finally shut up.
Thanks, I said to him, then I looked at my friends. I think Eriks right. Anyone who goes back with me is at risk, and I dont want to lose you guys.
But arent the five of you stronger when youre together? Heath asked.