"So we have p.b. and j., bologna, and processed American cheese slices." Jack said the "processed American cheese slices" part like he was reluctantly offering us worms and mud. "And my personal gourmet Top Chef concoction: mayonnaise, peanut butter, and lettuce on wheat bread."
"Okay, Jack. Nasty," Shaunee said.
"Have you lost your damn mind?" Erin said.
"Gay white boy is weird," Kramisha said, snagging one of the bologna and cheese sandwiches.
The Twins nodded and made "yep" noises as Kramisha joined them on a nearby egg crate.
Jack looked mortally offended. "I think they're good, and you guys should try things before you disrespect them."
"I'll try one of them," said Shannoncompton sweetly.
"Thanks." Jack grinned and handed her a sandwich wrapped in a paper towel.
There was the rustling of a lot of paper as all of us crowded into Stevie Rae's room, grabbed sandwiches, and passed bags of chips around. I was surprised to see the amount of food and chips and brown pop (yea for brown pop!). It made a weird, surreal mixture with the bottles of red wine and bags of blood that were being shared. I sat on the bed with Aphrodite and Darius and Stevie Rae, who was looking better and better. For a second, with the normal sounds of kids eating and talking, it was easy to imagine that we were just in a kind of ratty building at the House of Night and forget that we were in a tunnel under the city and that all of our lives were in the process of never being the same. For a second, we were nothing but a group of kids, some friends, some not, and we were just hanging out together. "Tell me what you know of the creature that rose from the earth and the bird beings that followed him." Darius's words made the whole just-hanging-out fa?ade crumple like a house of cards.? Jcrate.
"Sadly, we don't know as much about him as I wish we did, and what we do know comes from my grandma." I swallowed down the tightness in my throat that mentioning her caused. "Grandma's in a coma, so she can't help us right now."
"Oh, Z! I'm so sorry! What happened?" Stevie Rae cried, touching my arm.
"The official version is she was in a car accident. The truth is that the accident was caused by the Raven Mockers because she knew too much about them," I said.
"Raven Mockers--those are the beings that came out of the earth after the winged man appeared?" Darius said.
I nodded. "They're his children--what happened after he raped the women of my grandma's people more than a thousand years ago. When Kalona broke out of the ground their bodies were returned to them."
"And you know these things because they are creatures from Cherokee legend?" Darius said.
"Actually, we know these things because in the vision Aphrodite had a couple days ago she was shown what we figured out was a prophecy about Kalona returning. It was written in Grandma's handwriting, so we called her--told her about it. She recognized the references and came to the House of Night to help us." I paused, steadying my voice. "That's why the Raven Mockers attacked her."
"I really wish we had that prophecy," Damien said. "I'd like to take a look at it again now that Kalona has actually been set free."
"That's easy enough," Aphrodite said. She took a long drink from her bottle of wine, hiccupped a little, and then recited:
"Ancient one sleeping, waiting to arise
When earth's power bleeds sacred red
The mark strikes true; Queen Tsi Sgili will devise
He shall be washed from his entombing bed
Through the hand of the dead he is free
Terrible beauty, monstrous sight
Ruled again they shall be
Women shall kneel to his dark might
Kalona's song sounds sweet
As we slaughter with cold heat."
"Wow! Well done, you!" Jack said, clapping his hands.
Aphrodite inclined her head regally and said, "Thank you...Thank you...It was nothing. Really." And th<2 rben went back to her wine.
I made a mental note to keep an eye on her drinking. Okay, yeah, she'd been through a bunch of stress lately, and being bitten--twice--by Stevie Rae and, bizarrely enough, Imprinting with her couldn't 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 doesn't 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 what ever, they decided women were hot, and so they mated with them," Aphrodite said, slurring her words a little. "Mated--that's an uptight way to say that they fu--"
"Thanks, Aphrodite. I'll take it from there," I said. I was glad she had stopped her silent pouting, but wasn't 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 that's 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. Don't think cool Wiccans or Priestesses. They're 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.
"She's lying. Really, she's turned from Nyx," I said. "I've known it for a while, but acting openly against her has been pretty close to impossible. I mean, look what happened to night. Everyone saw Stevie Rae and the red fledglings and they didn't turn on her. Except for Shekinah, they barely even blinked even after she ordered Stark to sz l hoot."
"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 he's 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 I'm just lucky his aim wasn't so good now that he died and then came back," Stevie Rae said. "That's 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 can't. He always hits the mark he aims at."
"Then if he missed killing Stevie Rae on purpose, that must mean he's not totally under Neferet's 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 he'd come back to you."
"I was with him when he died," I said, returning Erik's 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. That's what he was talking about."
"Well, there was obviously a connection between the two of you," Darius said. "And it probably saved Stevie Rae's life."
"But Stark definitely wasn't himself," I said, looking away from Erik. It had just been a few days ago that I'd kissed Stark and he'd died in my arms, but it seemed like forever had passed. "He was obviously under Neferet's influence, even if he was trying to resist her."
"Yeah, it's 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 didn't move against him." I'd felt drawn to him, too, but I didn't 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 Kalona's evil was that she was too darn familiar with evil.
"Look, he had wings. That ain't right," Kramisha added, fragmenting my attention. "My mama told me don't trust no white boy, even a pretty one. I'm 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 hadn't 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 would've gotten to us, too. If Aphrodite hadn't been shrieking unattractively at us to keep the circle together, we'd still be back there in the middle of that mess." "Which would not be good," Shaunee said.
"That's all I'm 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 didn't 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 wasn't all good with Neferet, because he'd witnessed me confronting her. Plus, by then he'd realized I'd 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 aren't 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 didn't 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 weren't 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 I'm 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 Goddess's faithful consort, Erebus."
I smiled back at him and hoped that Aphrodite wouldn't 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 wasn't the only one glad of the thickness of the earth between us and "up there."
"I don't know," I said, using the truthful answer instead of something meaningless like I'm sure everything's going to be okay. I thought hard, choosing my words carefully. "We know that an ancient immortal has broken free of the earth's 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 what's 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 don't 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 we're 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 I'm 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, "That's mostly thanks to Aphrodite."
"Aphrodite?" I asked, lifting my brows and staring at her along with everyone else.
"What can I say? I've become the poster child for do-gooders. Thank god I'm attractive," Aphrodite said and then belched like a guy. "Oops, scusa," she slurred.
xw[ "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 that's on my family crest along with a very dry martini," she said. "There's 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 wasn't aware of that until one of the red freaks enlightened me because I do not shop at appliance stores."
"They're 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. "I'm 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 don't 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 it's 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 didn't mind-control them. We don't 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 didn't 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."
