P.C. Cast - Awakened

“I am, Father.”

“Then, enough of this useless talk. Let us take to the sky and begin climbing toward our future, and our freedom.”

The immortal spread his massive wings and leaped from the roof of the deserted Gilcrease Manor. Rephaim hesitated, trying to think—to breathe—to understand what he was going to do. From the corner of the rooftop an image flickered and the little blond spirit that had been haunting him since he’d arrived, broken and bleeding, manifested.

“You can’t let your father hurt her. You know that, right?”

“For the last time, begone, apparition,” Rephaim said as he unfurled his wings and prepared to follow his father.

“You have to help Stevie Rae.”

Rephaim rounded on her. “Why do I have to? I’m a monster—she can be nothing to me.”

The child smiled. “Too late, she already means something to you. Plus there’s another reason you have to help her.”

“Why?” Rephaim asked wearily.

“Because you’re not all monster. You’re part boy and that means someday you’ll die. When you die, there’s only one thing you take with you into forever.”

“And what is that?”

Her grin was radiant. “Love, silly! You get to take love with you. So you see, you have to save her or you’ll regret it forever and ever.”

Rephaim stared at the girl. “Thank you,” he said softly just before he vaulted into darkness.

“I think y’all should give Zoey a break. After what she’s been through she could use a vacation,” Stevie Rae said.

“If that’s all it is,” Erik said.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Word is she isn’t planning on coming back. At all.”

“That’s just plain silly.”

“Have you talked to her?” Erik asked.

“No, have you?” she countered.

“No.”

“Actually, Erik brings up a valid point,” Lenobia said. “No one has talked with Zoey. Jack said that she’s not returning. I’ve spoken with Aphrodite. She and Darius are, indeed, arriving soon. Zoey is not making or taking calls.”

“Zoey is tired. Stark is still messed up. Isn’t that what Jack reported?” Stevie Rae said.

“Yes,” Dragon Lankford said. “But the truth is, we have barely spoken to Zoey since her return from the Otherworld.”

“Okay, seriously, why is this such a big deal? You’re acting like Z is some truant bad kid, and not a kick-ass High Priestess.”

“Well, for one thing, it concerns us because she does have so much power. With power comes responsibility. You know that,” Lenobia said. “And then there is the issue of Neferet and Kalona.”

“Here I must speak,” Professor Penthasilea said. “I am not the only one of us to have received the High Council’s most recent message. There is no Neferet and Kalona. Neferet has broken with her Consort since his spirit returned to his body and he regained consciousness. Neferet had him publically lashed, and then banished from her side, and from vampyre society for one century. Neferet spearheaded his punishment for the crime of killing the human boy. The High Council ruled that Kalona, and not Neferet, was responsible for the crime.”

“Yes, we know that, but—,” Lenobia began.

“What are y’all talkin’ about?” Stevie Rae interrupted, feeling like her head was going to explode.

“Looks like we ain’t on the email list,” Kramisha said, looking every bit as freaked out as Stevie Rae.

As the clock outside began to chime midnight, Neferet stepped from within the hidden door that was the High Priestess’s entrance to the Tulsa Council Chamber. She moved with purpose to the huge round table. Her voice was whip-like and full of confidence and command.

“I see I have returned none too soon. Would someone please explain to me why we have begun allowing fledglings access to our Council Meetings?”

“Kramisha is more than just a fledgling. She’s a Poet Laureate and a Prophetess. Add to that the fact that I’m a High Priestess and I’ve invited her—all that gives her the right to be in this Council Meeting.” Stevie Rae swallowed the sick fear that came with confronting Neferet and was incredibly relieved that her voice sounded steady when she finally freed the words from the back of her throat. “And why aren’t you in jail for Heath’s murder?”

“Jail?” Neferet’s laughter was cruel. “What impudence! I am a High Priestess, one who has earned that title and not simply been given it by default.”

“And yet you avoid the question of your culpability in the human’s murder,” Dragon said. “I, too, did not receive communication from the Vampyre High Council. I would like an explanation of your presence, and why you were not held responsible for the behavior of your Consort.”

Stevie Rae expected Neferet to explode at Dragon’s questioning, but instead her expression softened and her green eyes filled with pity. Neferet’s voice was warm and understanding when she answered the Sword Master. “I imagine the High Council is holding your communication because they are cognizant that you are still grieving deeply for your lost mate.”

Dragon’s face paled, but his blue eyes hardened. “I did not lose Anastasia. She was taken from me. Murdered by a creature who was the creation of your Consort, acting under his command.”

“I understand how your grief can taint judgment, but you need to know that Rephaim and the other Raven Mockers were not under orders to harm anyone. On the contrary, they were commanded to protect. When Zoey and her friends set the House of Night afire and stole our horses, they took that as an attack. They simply reacted.”

Stevie Rae and Lenobia shared a quick look that telegraphed don’t let them know who was in on what, and Stevie Rae kept her mouth shut, refusing to give up Lenobia’s part in Zoey’s “escape.”

“They killed my mate,” Dragon said, pulling everyone’s attention to him.

“And for that I will be eternally sorry,” Neferet said. “Anastasia was a good friend to me.”

“You chased Zoey and Darius and the rest of the gang,” Stevie Rae said. “You threatened us. You commanded Stark to shoot Zoey. How do you excuse all of that?”

Neferet’s beautiful face seemed to crumple. She leaned on the table, and sobbed softly. “I know … I know. I was weak. I let the winged immortal taint my mind. He said Zoey had to be destroyed, and because I believed he was Erebus Incarnate, I also believed him.”

“Oh, that’s just a bunch of bull,” Stevie Rae said.

Neferet’s emerald eyes skewered her. “Have you never cared for someone, only to find out later that he was truly a monster in disguise?”

Stevie Rae felt all the blood drain from her face. She answered the only way she knew how—with the truth. “In my life, monsters don’t disguise themselves.”

“You did not answer my question, young Priestess.”

Stevie Rae lifted her chin. “I’ll answer your question. No, I’ve never cared for someone and not known what he was from the beginning. And if you’re talkin’ ’bout Dallas, I knew he might have issues, but I never expected him to turn to Darkness and go all crazy.”

Neferet’s smile was sly. “Yes, I heard about Dallas. So sad … so sad.”

“Neferet, I still need to understand the ruling of the High Council. As Sword Master and Leader of the Sons of Erebus at this House of Night, I am entitled to be kept informed regarding anything that might compromise the security of our school, whether I am in mourning or not,” Dragon said, looking pale but determined.

“You are quite right, Sword Master. It is really very simple. When the immortal’s soul returned to his body, he confessed to me that he killed the human boy because he thought Heath’s hatred for me was a threat.” Neferet shook her head, looking sad and contrite. “The poor child had somehow convinced himself that I was to blame for the deaths of Professor Nolan and Loren Blake. Kalona believed that by executing Heath, he was protecting me.” She shook her head. “He had been apart from this world for too long. He truly did not understand the human could pose no threat to me. His action in executing Heath was simply a misguided Warrior protecting his High Priestess, which is why the High Council and I have been so merciful in his punishment. As some of you are already aware, Kalona was flogged one hundred strokes and then banished from vampyre society and my side for one full century.”