His eyes met mine and the rest of the room faded away. Im always going to keep your heart safe, even if mine has to stop beating for that to happen, he told me softly.
I bent and kissed his forehead, murmuring, Lets try not to let that happen, kay?
Okay, he whispered.
Ill see you when the sun sets again, I told Stark before finally hurrying over to Grandma. Sister Mary Angela and I eased her to her feet, almost carrying her out of Starks room and down a short hall to another hospital-like room. Grandma felt tiny and fragile under my supporting arm and my stomach twisted anew with worry for her.
Stop fretting, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, she said as Sister Mary Angela propped pillows around her and helped make her comfortable.
Im going to get your pain medication, Sister Mary Angela told Grandma. Im also going to be sure the blinds in Starks room are closed and the drapes drawn tight, so you have a few minutes to chat, but when I come back Ill insist you take your pain pill and sleep.
Youre a hard taskmistress, Mary Angela, Grandma said.
It takes one to know one, Sylvia, said the nun. And she hurried from the room.
Grandma smiled at me and patted the bed next to her. Come sit close to me, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya.
I sat beside Grandma, tucking my legs up under me, trying to be careful not to jostle the bed too much. Her face was bruised and burned from the airbag that had saved her life. Part of her lip and her cheek had stitches darkening them. She had a bandage on her head and her right arm was swathed in a scary-looking cast.
Ironic, isnt it, that my wounds look so terrible, but they are far less painful and far-reaching than the invisible wounds inside of you, she said.
I started to tell Grandma I was really okay, but her next words sliced through what was left of my denial.
How long have you known you were the reincarnation of the maiden A-ya?
CHAPTER 4
Zoey
I felt drawn to Kalona from the first second I saw him, I said slowly. I wouldnt lie to Grandma, but that didnt mean telling her the truth would be easy. But almost all the fledglings and even the vampyres were drawn to himactually, it was like they were under some kind of spell he was able to cast.
Grandma nodded. So I already heard from Stevie Rae. But it was different with you? More than just this magical allure he has?
Yeah. With me it wasnt so much that I was under his spell. I swallowed past the dryness in my throat. I wasnt tricked into thinking he was Erebus come to earth, and I knew he planned evil with Neferet. I saw his darkness. But I also wanted to be with himnot just because I believed he might still be able to choose to be good, but because I wanted him, even though I knew it was wrong.
But you fought against that desire, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. You chose your own path, that of love and goodness and your Goddess, and thus the creature was banished. You chose love, she repeated slowly. Let that be balm to the wound he has rent in your soul.
The tight, panicky feeling in my chest began to loosen. I can follow my own path, I said with more conviction than Id felt since first realizing I was A-ya reincarnated. Then I frowned. There was no denying that she and I were connected. Call it essence or soul or spirit or whateverit tied me to an immortal being as surely as the earth had imprisoned him for centuries. Im not A-ya, I repeated more slowly, but Im not through with Kalona. What do I do, Grandma?
Grandma took my hand in hers and squeezed. As you said, you follow your path. And right now that path is leading you to a soft, warm bed and a full days sleep.
One crisis at a time?
One thing at a time, she said.
And its time you followed your own advice, Sylvia, Sister Mary Angela said as she bustled into the room with a Dixie cup of water in one hand and pills in another.
Grandma smiled wearily up at the nun and took the medicine from her. I noticed that her hands were shaking as she placed the pills on her tongue and drank the water.
Grandma, Im going to let you rest now.
I love you, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. You did well today.
I couldnt have done it without you. I love you, too, Grandma. I bent and kissed her forehead, and as she closed her eyes and settled back against her pillows with a contented smile, I followed Sister Mary Angela from the room and fired questions at her as soon as we were in the hall. Did you find rooms for everyone? Are the red fledglings doing okay? Do you have a clue if Stevie Rae got Erik and Heath and whoever else together to check out the area around the abbey? Is everything safe out there?
Sister Mary Angela held her hand up to stop my word flood. Child, take a breath and let me speak.
I suppressed a sigh but managed to stay quiet as I followed her down the hallway while she explained that she and the nuns had set up a cozy dormlike area for the red fledglings in the basement, after Stevie Rae had told her theyd be most comfortable down there. My gang was upstairs in the guest dorms, and yes, the kids had given an all clear on the Raven Mockers outside.
You know, you really are incredible. I smiled at her as we paused outside a closed door at the end of a long hall. Thank you.
I am my Ladys servant, and you are most welcome, she said simply and held the door open for me. This is the stairwell that leads down to the basement. Ive been told that most of the kids are down there already.
Zoey! There you are. You have to come check this out. You will not believe what Stevie Rae did, Damien said as he hurried up the stairs toward us.
I felt my stomach clench. What? I immediately started down to meet him. Whats wrong?
He grinned at me. Nothings wrong. Its incredible. Damien took my hand and pulled me with him.
Damiens right about that, said Sister Mary Angela, coming down the stairs after us. But I think incredible is the wrong word for it.
Is the right word more like terrible or horrible? I asked.
He squeezed my hand. Stop being such a worrier. You beat Kalona and Neferet tonight; everythings going to be okay.
I squeezed his hand back and made myself smile and look less worried, even though I knew deep in my heart, deep in my soul, that what had happened tonight had not been an ending or even a victory. It had been a terrible, horrible beginning.
Wow. I stared around in shocked disbelief.
Wow squared is more like it, Damien said.
Stevie Rae really did this?
Thats what Jack told me, Damien said. He and I stood side by side and peered into the darkness of the newly hollowed earth.
Okaycreepy. I spoke my thoughts aloud.
Damien gave me an odd look. What do you mean?
Well, I paused, not entirely sure what I did mean, even though the tunnel definitely made me feel uneasy. Um, its, uh really dark.
Damien laughed. Of course its dark. Its supposed to be dark. Its a hole in the ground.
To me it feels more natural than a hole in the ground, said Sister Mary Angela as she joined us at the mouth of the tunnel, peering with us down its black length. For some reason it comforts me. Perhaps its the way it smells.
The three of us sniffed. I smelled, well, dirt. But Damien said, It smells rich and healthy.
Like a newly plowed field, the nun agreed.
See, its not creepy, Z. Id definitely hide down here during a tornado, Damien said.
Feeling overly sensitive and kinda silly, I blew out a long breath and peered into the tunnel, trying to see it with new eyes and feel it with a more accurate instinct. Could I use your flashlight for a second, Sister?
Of course.
Sister Mary Angela handed me the big, square, heavy-duty flashlight shed carried with us from the main basement into this little side section shed called their root cellar. The ice storm that had encased Tulsa for the past several days had knocked out the abbeys poweras it had most of the citys power. They did have gas generators, so in the main part of the abbey a few electric lights were on, along with the zillions of candles the nuns liked so much, but they hadnt wasted electricity in the root cellar, and the only illumination came from the nuns flashlight. This I shined into the hole in the ground.
The tunnel wasnt very big. If I spread my arms, I could easily touch both sides of it. I looked up. It only cleared my head by about a foot. I sniffed again, trying to find the sense of comfort the nun and Damien obviously felt. My nose wrinkled. The place reeked of dark and dampness, roots and things that had been stirred up from under the surface. I suspected those things slithered and crawled, which automatically made my skin shiver and crawl.
Then I mentally shook myself. Why should a tunnel in the earth seem so gross? I had an affinity for earth. I could conjure it. I shouldnt be afraid of it.
Gritting my teeth, I took one step into the tunnel. Then another. And another.
Hey, uh, Z, dont go too far. You have the only light, and I wouldnt want Sister Mary Angela to be left back here in the dark. She might get scared.
I shook my head and, smiling, turned around, shining the flashlight toward the entrance and illuminating Damiens worried face and Sister Mary Angelas serene one.
You wouldnt want the nun to be afraid of the dark?
Damien shifted guiltily.
Sister Mary Angela rested her hand on his shoulder for a moment. It is kind of you to think of me, Damien, but I have no fear of the dark.
I was giving Damien a dont be such a sissy look when the feeling hit me. The air behind me changed. I knew I wasnt alone in that tunnel anymore. Fear fingered its way up my spine and I had a sudden urge to runto get out of there as fast as I could and to never, ever come back.
And I did almost run. Then I surprised myself by getting mad. Id just faced a fallen immortala creature I was connected to on a soul-deep leveland I hadnt run then.
I wasnt going to run now.
Zoey? What is it? Damiens voice sounded far away as I whirled around to face the darkness.
Suddenly a flickering light, like the glowing eye of an underground monster, materialized. The light wasnt big, but it was bright, temporarily causing spots in my field of vision and partially blinding me so that when I looked up the monster appeared to have three heads, with a wild, waving mane, and shoulders that looked mismatched and grotesque.
Then I did what any sensible kid would do. I sucked air and let loose with my very best girl scream, which was instantly and creepily echoed by the three mouths of the single-eyed monster. I could hear Damien shrieking behind me, and I swear Sister Mary Angela even squeaked a startled gasp. I was starting to do exactly what Id just promised myself I wouldnt dorun like hell, when one of the heads stopped screaming and stepped forward into the beam of the flashlight.
Shit, Zoey! What is wrong with you? Its just the Twins and me. You scared us crapless, said Aphrodite.
Aphrodite? My hand clutched my chest over my heart, trying to keep it from pounding out of my body.
Of course its me, she said, marching past me in disgust. Goddess! Get a grip.
The Twins were still standing in the tunnel. Erin was holding a thick pillar candle so tightly her knuckles were white. Shaunee was standing next to her, so close their shoulders were smashed together. They looked frozen and big-eyed.
Uh, hi, I said. I didnt know you guys were down here.
Shaunee thawed first. Ya think? She wiped a shaking hand delicately across her forehead and turned to Erin. Twin, did she scare me white?
Erin blinked at her BFF. I dont think thats possible. She squinted at Shaunee. But no, she didnt. Youre still a gorgeous cappuccino. Erins hand that wasnt holding the candle flew up to her thick, golden hair and patted through it frantically. Did she make my hair fall out or turn unattractively and prematurely gray?
I frowned at the Twins. Erin, your hair is not falling out or turning gray, and Shaunee, you cannot be scared white. Jeesh, you guys scared me first, I said.
Look, next time you need to chase off Neferet and Kalona, just scream like that, Erin said.
Yeah, it makes you sound like you lost every bit of your damn mind, Shaunee said as they swept past me.
I followed them out into the root cellar where Damien was fanning himself and looking gayer than usual, and Sister Mary Angela had just finished crossing herself. I set the flashlight butt end down on a table crowded with stuff in glass jars that looked eerily like floating fetuses in the murky light.
So, really, what were you guys doing down here? I said.
That Dallas kid told us this is how they got here from the depot, Shaunee said.
He said it was cool down here and that Stevie Rae had made it, Erin said.
So we thought wed come down here and see for ourselves, Shaunee said.
And why are you down here with the Twins? I asked Aphrodite.
The Dynamic Duo needed protecting. Naturally they turned to me.
How did you guys suddenly appear like that, anyway? Damien asked before Twin bickering could start.
Easy-peasy. Erin walked quickly back down the tunnel, still carrying her candle. She turned to face us after shed gotten just a few feet farther in than Id been. The tunnel makes a sharp left here. She stepped to the side and her light disappeared, then she stepped back and reappeared. Thats why we didnt see each other till the last second.
It really is amazing that Stevie Rae somehow did this, Damien said. I noticed he didnt move any closer to the tunnel, but stayed by the flashlight.
Sister Mary Angela approached the entrance. She touched the side of the newly hollowed out hole with reverence and said, Stevie Rae did this, but she did it with divine intervention.
By divine intervention, are you talkin bout more of your the-Virgin-Mary-is-just-another-form-of-Nyx stuff? Stevie Raes twang coming from the other side of the root cellar made us all jump.
Yes, child. That is exactly what I mean.
I dont wanna off end you, but thats just about the weirdest thing Ive ever heard, Stevie Rae said. She walked over to us, and I thought she looked pale. As she got closer to me I smelled something strange, but her grin made her face change to her cute, familiar self. Z, did that big ol girl scream I heard come from you?