P.C. Cast - Burned

“Stark’s gonna get to her, Grandma.” Stevie Rae met the old woman’s gaze steadily. “And then he’s gonna protect her so that she can pull herself together.”

“Cedar,” Grandma said, nodding like she’d just answered a question, and Stevie Rae should be agreeing with her.

“Cedar?” Stevie Rae asked, hoping the news about Zoey hadn’t made Grandma lose her mind. Literally.

“Cedar needles. Tell Stark to make whoever watches over his body while he’s in the trance state to burn them the entire time.”

“You just lost me, Grandma.”

“Cedar needles are powerful medicine. They repel asgina, which are considered the most malevolent of spirits. Cedar is only used during times of dire need.”

“Well, this is some seriously dire need,” Stevie Rae said, relieved that the color was starting to come back into Grandma’s cheeks.

“Tell Stark to breathe the smoke deeply, and to think about carrying it with him to the Otherworld—to believe it will follow his spirit there. The mind can be a powerful ally of the spirit. Sometimes our minds can even alter the very fabric of our souls. If Stark believes the cedar smoke can accompany his spirit, it might just do so and add an extra layer of protection to him on his quest.”

“I’ll tell him.”

Grandma squeezed her hand even tighter. “Sometimes things that seem small or insignificant can aid us, even in our most difficult hour. Don’t discount anything, and don’t let Stark, either.”

“I won’t, Grandma. None of us will. I’ll be sure of it.”

“Sylvia, I just spoke with Kramisha outside,” Sister Mary Angela hurried into the room. She came to a halt when she saw Stevie Rae holding the old woman’s hand. “Oh, Mother Mary! It is true then.” The nun bowed her head, obviously fighting tears, but when she lifted her chin, her eyes were dry, and her face was set in strong, resolute lines. “Well, then, we shall go on from here.” Abruptly, she turned and began to leave the room.

“Sister, where are you going?” Grandma Redbird asked.

“To call the abbey to the chapel. We will pray. We all will pray.”

“To Mary?” Stevie Rae asked, unable to keep the skepticism out of her voice.

The nun nodded, and in her firm, wise voice said, “Yes, Stevie Rae, to Mary—to the Lady we consider to be mother in spirit of us all. Perhaps she isn’t the same deity as your Nyx; perhaps she is. But is that question really important right now? Tell me, High Priestess of the Red Fledglings, do you truly believe asking for help in the name of love to be a mistake, no matter what face that help is wearing?”

Stevie Rae had a flash of Rephaim’s face with his human eyes as he stood up to Darkness and took on the debt she owed it, and her mouth suddenly went dry.

“I’m sorry, Sister. I was wrong. Ask for your Mary’s help ’cause sometimes love does come from places that we don’t expect.”

Sister Mary Angela looked into Stevie Rae’s eyes for what seemed like a very long time before saying, “You may join us in prayer, child.”

Stevie Rae smiled at her. “Thanks, but I have my own kind of pray-in’ to do.”

“Hell no I ain’t gonna lie for you!” Kramisha said.

“I’m not askin’ you to lie,” Stevie Rae said.

“Yah you is. You want me to say you’re all involved in checking out the tunnel with Sister Mary Angela. Everbody already knows you totally sealed it up last time you was here.”

“Not everyone knows that,” Stevie Rae said.

“Yeah, they do. Plus, the nuns is all prayin’ for Zoey, and it don’t seem right at all to use a prayin’ nun in your lie.”

“Fine. I’ll go down to the tunnel and check it out if it makes you feel better.” Stevie Rae couldn’t believe Kramisha was making such an issue out of telling a little white lie for her that she was costing her time—time away from Rephaim when Goddess only knew how hurt he was from that disgusting white cow. She remembered the agony she’d felt when Darkness had fed from her and knew it had been doubly bad for Rephaim. This time she was gonna have to figure out more to do than just bandaging him and feeding him to make him better. How badly had he been hurt? In her mind’s eye, she could still see that creature looming over him, tongue red with his blood while—

With a jolt, Stevie Rae realized Kramisha had just been standing there, staring at her without saying anything.

Stevie Rae mentally shook herself and said the first excuse that came to her mind. “Look, I just don’t want to deal with the shitstorm that’ll happen if everyone in the House of Night knows I spent like 1.2 seconds alone. That’s all.”

“You a lie.”

“I’m your High Priestess!”

“Then you should act like one,” Kramisha told her. “Tell me the truth ’bout what you up to.”

“I’m gonna go see the guy, and I don’t want anyone to know about it!” Stevie Rae blurted.

Kramisha cocked her head to the side. “That’s more like it. He ain’t a fledgling or a vamp, is he?”

“No,” Stevie Rae said with absolute honesty. “He’s someone no one would like.”

“He ain’t abusing you, is he? ’Cause that’s some wrong shit, and I know some females who been caught up in it and can’t get their way out.”

“Kramisha, I can make earth rise up and kick someone’s ass. No guy would ever hit me. Ever.”

“So that means he a human and he married.”

“I promise he’s not married,” Stevie Rae evaded.

“Huh,” Kramisha snorted through her nose. “Is he an asshole?”

“I don’t think he is.”

“Love sucks.”

“Yep,” Stevie Rae said. “But I’m not sayin’ I’m in love with him,” she added hastily. “All I’m sayin’ is that—”

“He’s messin’ with your head, and you do not need that right now.” Kramisha pursed her lips up, thinking. “Okay, how ’bout this: I get one of the nuns to take me back to the House of Night, and when everbody stresses ’bout you bein’ out here all alone, I just tell them you needed to visit a human, so you ain’t technically alone—and I ain’t lying, either.”

Stevie Rae thought about it. “Do you have to tell them it’s a human guy?”

“I’ll just say human and say they need to mind they own business. I’ll only say guy if someone asks me specifically.”

“Deal,” Stevie Rae said.

“You know you gonna have to come clean about him sooner or later. And if he ain’t married, there’s really no issue. You’re a High Priestess. You can have a human mate and a vamp consort at the same time.”

It was Stevie Rae’s turn to snort. “And you think Dallas is gonna be okay with that?”

“He will be if he wants to be with a High Priestess. All vampyres know that.”

“Well, Dallas isn’t a vampyre yet, so it might be a little much to ask of him. And here’s the truth—I know it’ll hurt his feelings, and I don’t want to do that.”

Kramisha nodded. “I can tell you don’t, but I think you makin’ too much of this. Dallas will have to learn to deal. What you need to figure out is if this human guy is worth it.”

“I know that, Kramisha. That’s what I’m tryin’ to do. So, bye. I’ll see you at the House of Night in a little while.” Stevie Rae started to walk quickly toward the Bug.

“Hey!” Kramisha called after her. “He ain’t black, is he?”

Thinking of Rephaim’s night-colored wings Stevie Rae paused and looked over her shoulder at Kramisha. “What difference does his color make?”

“It make a lot of difference if you’re ashamed of him,” she shot back.

“Kramisha, that’s just silly. No. He’s not black. And, no, I wouldn’t be ashamed of him if he was. Jeeze. Bye. Again.”