I made a mental note to keep an eye on her drinking. Okay, yeah, shed been through a bunch of stress lately, and being bittentwiceby Stevie Rae and, bizarrely enough, Imprinting with her couldnt be particularly good for her nerves, but the last thing we needed was Vision Girl to turn into Drunk Vision Girl.
Darius nodded thoughtfully. Kalona is the ancient one, but that doesnt explain what type of being he is.
Grandma said that the easiest way to describe him is to think of him as a fallen angel, an immortal being that walked the earth in ancient times. Seems there were a bunch of them that showed up in the mythology of many cultures, like ancient Greece and the Old Testament.
Yeah, on vacation from heaven or whatever, they decided women were hot, and so they mated with them, Aphrodite said, slurring her words a little. Matedthats an uptight way to say that they fu
Thanks, Aphrodite. Ill take it from there, I said. I was glad she had stopped her silent pouting, but wasnt so sure that her drunken sarcasm was much better. Wordlessly Damien handed me a sandwich and nodded at Aphrodite. I passed the sandwich to Aphrodite telling her, Eat something. Then I took up the thread of the story. So Kalona started getting with Cherokee women and became bizarrely addicted to sex. The women rejected him and he started raping them and enslaving the men of the tribe. A group of Wise Women called Ghigua made a maiden out of the earth to trap him.
Huh? Stevie Rae said. You mean like a dirt doll?
Yeah, only an attractive one. Each of the women gave the doll a particular gift, then they breathed life into her and named her A-ya. Kalona wanted A-ya, and she ran from him, leading him to a cave deep in the ground. He followed her into the cave, even though he usually avoided anything that was underground, and thats where they managed to trap him.
That is why you brought us here, into these tunnels, Darius said.
I nodded.
So we are to think of Kalona as a dangerous immortal and the Raven Mockers as his servants. Who is the other creature mentioned in the prophecy and also by Damien, a Queen Tsi Sgili? Darius said.
According to Grandma, the Tsi Sgili are really awful Cherokee witches. Dont think cool Wiccans or Priestesses. Theyre not good at all, but more like demons, really, except that they are mortal and known for their psychic abilities, especially the ability to kill with their minds, I said. Neferet is the queen the prophecy was talking about.
But Neferet announced to the House of Night that Kalona is Erebus on earth, and her consort, as if she had become the literal incarnation of Nyx, Darius said slowly, as if he was reasoning through it aloud.
Shes lying. Really, shes turned from Nyx, I said. Ive known it for a while, but acting openly against her has been pretty close to impossible. I mean, look what happened tonight. Everyone saw Stevie Rae and the red fledglings and they didnt turn on her. Except for Shekinah, they barely even blinked even after she ordered Stark to shoot.
Which is why she got Stark transferred from the Chicago House of Night to Tulsa, Damien said. When just about everyone gave him confused looks, he explained. Stark is James Stark, the fledgling who won the gold medal at the Summer Games for archery. Neferet wanted him here so she could use him to shoot Stevie Rae.
Makes sense, Aphrodite said. We already know Neferet has something to do with fledglings un-dying. Obviously she wanted to use him, and her plan worked because hes definitely undead and under her control. She looked pleased at her powers of deduction and upended the bottle of wine for another long drink.
Guess Im just lucky his aim wasnt so good now that he died and then came back, Stevie Rae said.
Thats not it. My mouth spoke before I could shut myself up. He missed your heart on purpose.
What do ya mean? Stevie Rae asked.
Before Stark died, he told me about his gift from Nyx. He never misses. He cant. He always hits the mark he aims at.
Then if he missed killing Stevie Rae on purpose, that must mean hes not totally under Neferets influence, Damien said.
He did say your name, Erik said. His piercing blue eyes seemed to see deep inside me. I remember that distinctly. Before he shot Stevie Rae he definitely recognized you. He even said hed come back to you.
I was with him when he died, I said, returning Eriks questioning gaze and trying not to look as guilty as I felt for being attracted to yet another guy besides him. Right before he died I told Stark that fledglings at our House of Night were coming back from the dead. Thats what he was talking about.
Well, there was obviously a connection between the two of you, Darius said. And it probably saved Stevie Raes life.
But Stark definitely wasnt himself, I said, looking away from Erik. It had just been a few days ago that Id kissed Stark and hed died in my arms, but it seemed like forever had passed. He was obviously under Neferets influence, even if he was trying to resist her.
Yeah, its like she put a spell on him or something, Jack said.
Hang on, that reminds me, Damien said. I definitely noticed how almost everyone acted awestruck and even a little disoriented when Kalona appeared.
Venus snorted, sounding very much like Aphrodite at her most sarcastic (and least attractive). Everyone except us. She made a gesture that took in all of the red fledglings. We knew he was evil and totally full of bullshit from the second we saw him.
How? I asked abruptly. How did you guys know? All the other fledglings, well, except us, actually fell to their knees at the sight of him. Even the Sons of Erebus warriors didnt move against him. Id felt drawn to him, too, but I didnt want to admit that in front of Venus.
Venus shrugged. It was just obvious. YeaVus ws wh, he was hot and all, but come on! He exploded from the ground after Stevie Rae bled all over it.
I watched her closely, thinking that maybe the reason she recognized Kalonas evil was that she was too darn familiar with evil.
Look, he had wings. That aint right, Kramisha added, fragmenting my attention. My mama told me dont trust no white boy, even a pretty one. Im thinkin a pretty white boy with wings explodin up from the ground in a mess of blood and ugly-ass bird things is double trouble.
She has a point, said Jack, obviously forgetting he was a pretty white boy.
I have to share something, Damien said. We managed to pull our attention from Kramisha to him. If I hadnt been in the middle of a fully cast circle, surrounded by you guys with Aphrodite yelling at us to stay together and get out of there, I might have fallen to my knees, too.
I felt a prickle of unease. What about you guys? I asked the Twins.
He was hot, Shaunee said.
Majorly, Erin said. She looked at Shaunee. Her Twin nodded, so she continued, He wouldve gotten to us, too. If Aphrodite hadnt been shrieking unattractively at us to keep the circle together, wed still be back there in the middle of that mess.
Which would not be good, Shaunee said.
Thats all Im sayin, Kramisha added.
Again I save members of the nerd herd, Aphrodite slurred.
Just eat your sandwich, I told her. Then I turned to Erik. How about you? Did he make you want to? I trailed off, not sure how to put it.
Stay and worship him? Erik inserted, and I nodded. Well, I did feel his power. But, remember, I already knew something was up with Neferet. If she was into him, I figured I didnt want anything to do with him. So I just kept myself focused on other things.
Our eyes met and held. Of course Erik had known it wasnt all good with Neferet, because hed witnessed me confronting her. Plus, by then hed realized Id only cheated on him and been with the Vamp Poet Laureate, Loren Blake, because Neferet had set him up to seduce me and isolate me from my friends.
So the red fledglings arent affected by Kalona like regular fledglings are, Darius was saying. Although it seems regular fledglings can control the effect he has on them if they have to. And what Erik is describing, coupled with my reaction to him, tells me that perhaps vampyres are less susceptible to him than fledglings. He paused and looked at Jack. Did you want to stay and worship Kalona?
Jack shook his head. Nope. But I didnt really look at him that much. I mean, I was real worried about Stevie Rae, and then I was just thinking about staying with Damien. Plus, Duchess was upset about S-T-A-R-K. He spelled the name while he petted Duchess. And I had to take care of her.
Why werent you affected by him? I asked Darius.
I saw his eyes flit to Aphrodite, who was tipsily nibbling on a sandwich.
I had other things on my mind. He paused. Although I did feel his draw. And remember Im in a slightly different position than my brother warriors. None of them have been as intimate with your group. When a Son of Erebus takes on an assignment of protection, as I did when I began escorting you and Aphrodite, it becomes a strong bond. He gave me a warm smile. Often a High Priestess is protected by the same group of warriors for her entire life. It is no accident that we are named after our Goddesss faithful consort, Erebus.
I smiled back at him and hoped that Aphrodite wouldnt be a butt and break his honorable heart.
What do you think is happening up there right now? Jack asked suddenly.
Everyone looked at the curved ceiling of the little tunnel room, and I knew I wasnt the only one glad of the thickness of the earth between us and up there.
I dont know, I said, using the truthful answer instead of something meaningless like Im sure everythings going to be okay. I thought hard, choosing my words carefully. We know that an ancient immortal has broken free of the earths imprisonment. We know that he brings with him creatures that are like demons, and that the last time he walked the earth he raped women and made men his slaves. We know that our High Priestess and maybe even whats left of the House of Night have, well, for lack of a better description, gone over to the Dark Side.
Into the silent pause that followed my words Erik said, A Star Wars analogy always works.
I grinned at him, then sobered as I continued. What we dont know is how much damage Kalona and the Raven Mockers have done in the community. Erik said there was some kind of electrical storm going on along with the rain and ice, but that might not have been caused by supernatural means. This is Oklahoma, and the weather can be totally bizarre.
Ooooooo-klahoma! Home of dustnadoes and ice storms that kick ass, Aphrodite said.
I stifled a sigh and ignored Imprinted Drunk Vision Girl. But then again, on the what we do know side is the fact that were pretty safe down here. We have food and shelter and whatnot. At least I hoped we were okay down here. I patted the bed I was sitting on, which really did have some cute light green linens on it. Hey, speaking of the and whatnot. How did you guys get this stuff down here? I asked Stevie Rae. Not that Im trying to be mean, but this bed and your table and fridges and other things are a serious improvement over the dirty rags and other grossness I saw down here a month or so ago.
She gave me her cute Stevie Rae smile and said, Thats mostly thanks to Aphrodite.
Aphrodite? I asked, lifting my brows and staring at her along with everyone else.
What can I say? Ive become the poster child for do-gooders. Thank god Im attractive, Aphrodite said and then belched like a guy. Oops, scusa, she slurred.
Scusa? Jack said.
Italian, dork, Aphrodite said. Broaden your gay horizons.
So what does Aphrodite have to do with the stuff you have down here? I interrupted what was sure to become some serious bickering.
She bought this stuff. Actually, it was her idea, Stevie Rae said.
Scusa? I said, not even trying to stifle my grin.
I stayed down here for two days. Did you expect me to live in a hovel? Not hardly. Have credit cards, will decorate. I think thats on my family crest along with a very dry martini, she said. Theres a Pottery Barn in Utica Square right down the street. They deliver. So does Home Depot, which is also not far from here, although I wasnt aware of that until one of the red freaks enlightened me because I do not shop at appliance stores.
Theyre not freaks, Stevie Rae said.
Oh, bite me, Aphrodite said.
She already has, Venus said.
Aphrodite glared woozily in her direction, but before she could get out a drunken retort, the kid called Dallas said, I knew the Home Depot was there. My friends and I looked at him. He shrugged. Im good at building things.
Home Depot and Pottery Barn delivered down here? Erik said.
Well, not technically, Stevie Rae said. But they do deliver to the Tribune Lofts which are practically next door. And with a little, uh, friendly persuasion they brought the stuff here and then totally forgot once they left. So, ta-da! New stuff.
I still dont understand. How could the humans have been persuaded to come down here? Darius said.
I sighed. Something you should know about red vampyres
And red fledglings, too, only its not quite as strong with them, Stevie Rae interrupted me.
And red fledglings, I corrected. They have a mind-control thing they can do with humans.
That sounds a lot meaner than it is, Stevie Rae assured Darius quickly. I just tweaked the delivery guys memories. I didnt mind-control them. We dont go in for using our powers to be all hateful and stuff. She gave the group of red fledglings a look. Right?
The group muttered Right, but I noticed Venus didnt say anything, and Kramisha glanced around the room guiltily.
They can control the minds of humans. They cannot bear direct sunlight. Their powers of recovery are excellent. They need to commune with the earth to feel truly comfortable, Darius said. Am I leaving anything else out?
Yeah, Aphrodite said. They bite.
CHAPTER 6
Thats it. Im cutting you off, I told Aphrodite as the red fledglings erupted into laughter.
Aphroditeshe crazy even when she not drunk and Imprinted, Kramisha said. We all used to her, though.