P. Cast: Destined

I saw Stevie Rae tighten her hand clamp on Rephaim. “I’ll have you know it’s been more than one-point-two seconds since sunset, none of your business what we’ve been doin’, and Rephaim’s goin’ to school. Just like the rest of us.”

Aphrodite’s blond brows went up to her hairline. “You’re not kidding, are you?”

“No,” Stevie Rae said firmly. “And you should understand that better than anyone else.”

“Me? Understand? What in the hell are you talking about?”

“You’re not a fledgling, red or regular. You’re not a vampyre. You’re maybe not even a human.”

“’Cause she’s a hag,” I heard Shaunee whisper.

“From Hell,” Erin whispered back.

Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at the Twins, but Stevie Rae wasn’t done.

“Just like Rephaim, you’re something that’s not quite normal, but Nyx has given her blessing to you— even if none of the rest of us understands why the heck she’d do that. Anyway, you’re goin’ to school. I’m goin’ to school. So’s Rephaim. The end.”

“Stevie Rae has a point,” Stark said as he joined us in the parking lot outside the depot, the rest of the red fledgling kids trailing along behind him. “Neferet’s not gonna like it, but Nyx forgave and blessed Rephaim.”

“In front of the entire school,” Stevie Rae added quickly.

“They know that,” Rephaim murmured to her. He looked from her to the rest of us, his gaze finally settling on me. “What do you think?” he surprised me by asking. “Should I try to go to the House of Night, or would that just be causing trouble for no reason?”

Everyone gawked at me. With a quick glance at the stony-faced Son of Erebus Warrior in the bus, I said, “Uh, would you guys go ahead and get on the bus? I need to talk to my … uh…” I trailed off with a gesture that took in Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, and the rest of my closest friends.

“Your circle,” Stevie Rae said, smiling at me. “You’re goin’ to talk to your circle.”

“And their accoutrements,” Damien added, nodding at Aphrodite, Darius, and Kramisha.

I grinned. “I like that! Okay, would you guys get on the bus while I talk to my circle and their accoutrements, please?”

“I ain’t sure I like being called accoutrements, ” Kramisha said, narrowing her eyes at me.

“It means—” Stevie Rae began, but Kramisha interrupted her with a shake of her head. “I know what it mean. I’m sayin’ I ain’t sure I like it.”

“Could you journal about it later and right now shut up and follow Zoey so we can get this over with?” Aphrodite said while Kramisha sucked air and glared. “And for the record,” she pointed at everyone except Darius. “You are a Nerd Herd. I am your token Popular and Perfect.”

The Twins looked like they were taking verbal aim at Aphrodite so I said, “Guys, focus. Rephaim’s question is important.” Thankfully, that shut everyone up and I motioned for my circle, accoutrements, and Aphrodite to follow me down the sidewalk and out of hearing range as the red fledglings clambered into the bus and I frantically tried to think about Rephaim’s very important question.

My mind felt mushy. Last night had been awful. I glanced at Stark and felt my cheeks getting warm. Okay, well, not all of it had been awful, but still, hard questions filled my head. I mentally shook myself. I wasn’t just a kid anymore. I was the first Fledgling High Priestess and all these guys looked up to me and expected me to Know the Right Answers (well, to everything except geometry, Spanish translations, and parallel-parking issues).

Please, Nyx, let me say the right thing. I sent up a quick, silent prayer, then met Rephaim’s gaze and realized suddenly it wasn’t my answer we needed.

“What do you want?” I asked him.

“Well, he wants—” Stevie Rae began, but my raised hand silenced my BFF. “No,” I said. “This can’t be what you say Rephaim wants, or even what you want for him. I need Rephaim’s answer. So, what it is? What do you want?” I repeated.

Rephaim met my gaze steadily. “I want to be normal,” he said.

Aphrodite snorted. “Sadly, normal plus teenager equals going to stupid school.”

“School isn’t stupid,” Damian said, and then he turned to Rephaim. “But she’s right about the normal part. Going to school is what normal kids do.”

“Yep,” Shaunee said.

“Sucks, but yep,” Erin said. “Although it is an excellent fashion parade.”

“Right you are, Twin,” Shaunee said.

“What does that mean?” Rephaim asked Stevie Rae.

She smiled at him. “Basically that you should be goin’ to school with us.”

He smiled back at her, love and warmth filling his face. When he looked from Stevie Rae to me, that wonderful expression was still there, and I couldn’t help smiling back at him.

“If normal means going to school, then that’s what I would really like to do. If it doesn’t cause too much of a problem.”

“It’ll cause problems, make no mistake about that,” Darius said.

“You don’t think he should go?” I asked.

“I did not say that. I agree with you that it is his choice, his decision, but Rephaim, you should understand that it would be easier if you chose to stay here—out of the way—at least until we see what Neferet and Kalona’s next moves will be.”

I thought I saw Rephaim cringe at the mention of his dad, but he nodded and said, “I do understand, but I’m tired of hiding alone in the darkness.” He looked down at Stevie Rae again and then back at us. “And Stevie Rae may need me.”

“Okay, you know this whole ‘let’s let the birdboy decide’ and ‘Stevie Rae may need me’ stuff is all real happy-schmappy in theory, but in reality we’re gonna be walking onto a campus where the batshit crazy High Priestess hates us, and will use anything she can to bring us, and by that I mean you specifically, Z, down. Not to mention Dragon, the Leader of the Sons of Erebus Warriors, is definitely not acting right since his mate was killed by the guy we’re bringing back onto campus. Neferet’s going use Rephaim against us. Dragon is going to back her. Shit is going to hit the fan.”

“Well,” I said. “It won’t be the first time.”

“Uh, may I say something?” Damien’s hand was raised like he was in class and wanted to be called on.

“Yes, honey, and you don’t have to raise your hand,” I said.

“Oh, okay, thanks. What I wanted to say is we need to remember that when Nyx appeared at the House of Night, forgave and blessed Rephaim, she basically gave us permission to include Rephaim in our world. Neferet can’t go against that—at least not openly. And neither can Dragon. How much they don’t like it is beside the point.”

“But they did go against it,” Stark said. “Neferet asked Dragon if he’d accept Rephaim, and he said no, so she kicked him off campus. Stevie Rae called bullshit on that, and that’s why we all ended up leaving.”

“Yeah, and just because the High Council managed to pressure Neferet into letting us come back to class, it doesn’t mean we’re really going to be accepted. I can promise you that she and Dragon, and probably a lot of other people aren’t going to be cool with this.” Aphrodite fluttered her fingers at Rephaim.

Damien spoke before I could say anything. “Well, the truth is neither Neferet nor Dragon can supersede the Goddess’s wishes.”

“Super what?” Shaunee asked.

“Seed who?” Erin added.

“It means to replace,” Stevie Rae explained for Damien. “And that’s a real interestin’ point, Damien. No one can supersede the Goddess, not even a High Priestess.”

“Can you imagine what the tight-assed High Council would say about that?” Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Litter of kittens—they’d have several litters of flying kittens. Each.”