"Of course they aren't eatin' people!" Stevie Rae put an appropriate amount of shock in her voice--so much so that we saw Sister Mary Angela's wimple lift from the computer and she turned a frown in our direction.
We waved and smiled and held up cat toys. She gave us a long look, but pretty soon her face softened into her warm smile, and she turned her attention back to the computer screen.
"Stevie Rae, what is really going on with those kids?" I whispered as I zapped more purple-feathered monstrosities into the inventory.
She shrugged way too nonchalantly. "They're just kinda hungry. That's all. You know kids--they're always hungry."
"Which means they're getting dinner from where?"
"Pizza delivery guys mostly," she said.
"They're eating pizza delivery guys?" I whispered frantically.
"No! We call on a cell and give the address of one of the downtown buildings close to the depot and the entrance to our tunnels. Mostly we say we're workin' overtime at the PAC or that we live in the Tribune Lofts, and then we wait for the pizza guy to deliver." She hesitated.
"And?" I prompted impatiently.
"And then we meet the delivery guy on his way into the building and take the pizzas and I make him forget he saw us and then he goes on about his business and we eat the pizza not the guy," she said all in one long rush.
"You're stealing pizzas?"
"Well, yeah, but it's better than eating the delivery guys, isn't it?"
"Uh, yeah," I said, rolling my eyes at her. "And you're also stealing blood from the downtown blood bank?"
"Again, better than eating the delivery guys," she said.
"See, these are just more reasons why we have to out you."
" 'Cause we're stealing pizzas and blood? Do we really have to tell the vamps? I mean, I think we'll have enough issues to deal with without bringing up those little minor indiscretions."
"No, not 'cause you're stealing, 'cause you guys don't have money or any way to legally," I said, giving her a hard look, "take care of yourselves."
"Makes me wish Aphrodite would come back with me. She has major money and more than one gold card," Stevie Rae muttered.
"Then you'd have to put up with her," I said.
Stevie Rae frowned. "I really wish I could mess with the inside of her head like I do the pizza guys. I'd give her a big dose of 'be nice,' and we'd all live happily ever after." "Stevie Rae, you really can't keep living in those tunnels."
"I like the tunnels," she said stubbornly.
"They're nasty and damp and dirty," I said.
"They're better now than they were last time you saw them, and they'd be lots better if they were fixed up a little more."
I stared at her.
"Okay, maybe more than a little."
"Whatever. My point is, you need the money and the power and the protection of the school behind you."
Stevie Rae met my eyes steadily, and all of a sudden she looked way older and more mature than I'd ever seen her look before. "The money and the power and the protection of the school didn't help Professor Nolan or Loren Blake or even that Stark kid."
I didn't know what to say. She was right, but I still felt deep in my gut that people --specifically vampyre people--needed to know she and the red fledglings existed. I sighed. "Okay, I know it's not a one hundred percent good plan, but I honestly believe everyone needs to know about you guys."
"Honestly, as in Nyx is giving you one of those you need to do it feelings?"
"Yep," I said.
Her sigh was much deeper and filled with more worry and stress than mine. (Jeesh, who knew that could happen?) "All right, then. I'll be there tomorrow. I'm countin' on you to make this all turn out okay, Zoey."
"I will." Silently I sent a short prayer up to Nyx: I'm counting on you like she's counting on me . . .
Stevie Rae and I had finished the seemingly unending cat-toy inventory about the time I glanced up at the clock and realized we were going to be late getting back to school if we didn't hurry like crazy. And of course, Stevie Rae had to get back to her group of fledglings before they committed more than petty pizza theft. So we said a quick bye, and I repeated that I'd see her the next day for her outing. She looked a little pale, but gave me a hug and promised to be there. Then I stuck my head in Sister Mary Angela's office.
"Excuse me, ma'am." I wasn't sure exactly what to call a nun when one was being ultra-respectful and needed to get her attention while she was definitely engrossed in what looked like instant messaging on her laptop.
The ma'am seemed to work just fine, because she looked up at me with her warm smile. "All done with the inventory, Zoey?"
"Yes, and we have to get back to school."
Sister Mary Angela glanced up at the clock, and her eyes widened in surprise. "My goodness! I had no idea it was so late. And I forget that your days are rather upside down."
I nodded. "It must seem like we keep weird hours to you."
"I'll just think of you as nocturnal--much like our lovely felines. You know they prefer the night, too. Which reminds me, how would you like it if we extend our hours on Saturday nights so that can be your volunteer day?"
"That sounds great. I'll run it by our priestess to make sure, though, and call you. Oh, and do you want me to go ahead with the flea market idea?" "Yes. I put in a call to our Board of Church Directors, and after a slight discussion, they agreed the idea was a good one."
I noticed the hardening in her voice and the way her already straight spine seemed to grow even straighter. "Not everyone is okay with fledglings, huh?" I said.
Her hard look warmed. "That is not for you to worry about, Zoey. I've often forged my own path and am used to taking a machete to weeds and other bothersome barriers."
I felt my eyes get big and didn't doubt for a minute that this tough nun's meaning might not be only figurative. And then part of what she'd said made me ask, "When you said that you had to check with your Board of Church Directors, did you mean they were from your church, or others?"
"They aren't from our abbey, which isn't exactly a church, because our only congregation is made of Benedictine sisters. The Church Board of which I was speaking is made of several of the leaders of local churches."
"Like the People of Faith?"
She frowned. "Yes. The People of Faith have a rather large representation on the Board, which reflects their congregation size."
"Bet they were the weeds you had to chop down," I muttered.
"Pardon me, Zoey. I didn't quite catch that," she said, eyes squinting impishly with the smile she was trying (unsuccessfully) to hide.
"Oh, nothing. I was just thinking out loud."
"A terrible habit, and one that can get you in much trouble if you're not careful," she said, smiling fully.
"Don't I know it," I said. "So you're sure the flea market will be okay? You know, if it's too much hassle, we can figure out some other way to--"
Sister Mary Angela's raised hand shut me right up. She simply said, "Get with your High Priestess and see what day next month would be good for your school for the flea market. We shall accommodate ourselves to your schedule."
"Okay, good," I said, feeling proud of myself for how well my community service idea was working out. "I better get Aphrodite and go now, though. We were excused from only the first part of our classes today, and we gotta get back."
"I believe your friends have been finished for a while now, but they have been rather--" She paused, eyes twinkling again. "--distracted."
"Huh?" I was feeling kinda shocked. It was cool that Sister Mary Angela wasn't freaked about fledglings and vampyres in general, but to have her be oh-so-amused by Aphrodite's gross flirtation with Darius was totally too liberal--even for me.
Obviously the nun must have been able to guess what I was thinking by the look on my face, because she laughed, turned me around by my shoulders, and gave me a gentle push out of her office and toward the cat kennel. "Go on--you'll see what I mean," she said.
Totally confused, I walked down the short hallway to the room that held cats available for adoption. There were no nuns around, but (sure enough) Aphrodite and Darius were sitting over in the "playground for cats" corner, snuggled together like lovers with their backs turned to me. They were doing something (ugh) with their hands. Actually, it looked like they were doing a lot of something with their hands (double ugh). I cleared my throat dramatically. Instead of jumping apart guiltily as they should have, Darius glanced over his shoulder at me and grinned--Aphrodite (the ho) didn't even turn to look to see who had just walked in on them. Jeesh, I could have been a nun or someone's mom.
"Uh, I really hate to interrupt this cozy little scene, but we gotta go," I said sarcastically.
With a big sigh, Aphrodite finally turned around, saying, "Fine. Let's go. But I'm taking her with us." And I saw what it was that she and Darius had been doing with their hands.
"It's a cat!" I said.
Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "No shit? Imagine that--there's a cat at Street Cats."
"It's an ugly cat," I continued.
"Don't call her that." Aphrodite was instantly defensive as she struggled to stand up while clutching the ginormic white cat in her arms. Taking her elbow, Darius made sure Aphrodite didn't fall back on her butt. "She's not ugly. She's unique, and I'm sure quite expensive."
"She's a Street Cats cat," I said. "She only costs an adoption fee, same as all the rest of them."
Aphrodite stroked the cat absently, and it closed the beady eyes that sat in its totally smushed face and started to purr, skipping beats every now and then, like a missing engine, which probably meant she was full of hairballs. Aphrodite ignored the messed-up purring and smiled lovingly down into the cat's flat face. "Maleficent is clearly a purebred Persian who ended up in these dire circumstances because she is the sole survivor of an awful tragedy." Aphrodite wrinkled up her perfect nose, and her haughty gaze took in the neat cages that were filled with all different sizes and shapes of cats. "She definitely doesn't belong in such an ordinary place."
"Did you say her name is Maleficent? Isn't that the name of the evil witch in Sleeping Beauty?"
"Yes, and Maleficent was way more interesting than that sickeningly sweet, goody-goody Princess Aurora. Plus I like her name. It's powerful."
I reached out hesitantly to pet the huge cat ball of white fur. Maleficent opened her eyes to slits and growled menacingly at me. "Maleficent's root word is malevolence," I said, pulling my hand quickly out of her paw range.
"Yes, and malevolence is a powerful word," Aphrodite said, making kissing noises at the beast.
"Is she declawed?" I asked.
"Nope," Aphrodite said happily. "She could put an eye out with those big paws of hers."
"Lovely," I said.
"I think she's as unique and beautiful as her new mistress," Darius said. I noticed that when he petted Maleficent, the cat narrowed her eyes at him but didn't growl.
"And I think your judgment is impaired. But whatever. Let's go. I'm starving. I didn't get any breakfast, and we've already missed lunch, so we're gonna have to grab something quick on the way back to school."
"I'll get Maleficent's things," Darius said, striding to the side of the room to pick up a neat little bag that had For Your New Kitty written in lovely cursive script on the side of it. "Did you already pay for her?" I asked.
"She absolutely did," said Sister Mary Angela from the doorway. I noticed she walked carefully around Aphrodite and Maleficent, staying well out of paw range. "It's just wonderful that the two of them have found each other like this."
"You mean no one else could touch the cat?" I asked.
"Not one single person," Sister Mary Angela said with a big grin. "At least not until lovely Aphrodite stepped through the doors of the kennel. Sister Bianca and Sister Fatima said it was nothing short of a miracle how Maleficent took to Aphrodite immediately."
Aphrodite's smile was one hundred percent authentic, and it made her look young and heartbreakingly gorgeous. "She was waiting for me," she said.
"Yes," the nun agreed. "She was, indeed. You two are a good match." Then she looked at me and Darius, including all of us in her next words. "I think Street Cats and the House of Night is a good match, too. I feel great things for us in the future." Then she raised her right hand over us and said, "Go forth under the watchful eye of our Blessed Mother."
We mumbled our thanks to Sister Mary Angela. I had the weird urge to give her a hug, but her outfit--the whole wimple and black robe/dress thing--didn't seem conducive to hugs. So instead I did a lot of what felt like overexuberant grinning and waving as we left the building.
"You were grinning and waving like a fool," Aphrodite said as she waited for Darius to open her door and help her and the tail-twitching, flat-faced Maleficent into the front seat of the Lexus.
"I was being polite. Plus, I like her," I said, opening my own door. I slid into the backseat and after strapping on my seat belt looked up into the glaring eyes of Maleficent, who was stretched out across Aphrodite's chest and over her shoulder so that she could hang halfway over the seat and stare at me. "Uh, Aphrodite, shouldn't you put her in a cat carrier or something?"
"Oh my god! Are you mean and hateful or what? Of course she doesn't ride in a cat carrier." Aphrodite stroked the beast, causing white fur to float all around us like a disgusting cat hair shower.
"Jeesh, never mind. I was just thinking of the cat's safety," I lied. Actually, I was thinking of my safety. Maleficent looked like she'd love to have a big bite of Zoey for dinner. Which reminded me. "Hey, I'm starved," I told Darius as he started the car. "We gotta stop somewhere quick so I can eat something."
"Fine with me. What do you want?" he said.
I glanced at the time on the car dash. Unbelievably, it was after 11 P.M. "Well, the time is definitely going to limit what's open." I heard Aphrodite whisper something about "stupid going-to-bed-early humans" to Maleficent, which I ignored. I looked around, trying to remember what decent fast food places (that is, Taco Bueno and Arby's versus McDonald's and Wendy's) were close by. And then a lovely and familiar aroma drifted through the cracked windows of the Lexus to me. My mouth had already started to water when I spotted the big yellow-and-red sign next door. "Oh, yum! Let's go to Charlie's Chicken!"
"It's awful greasy," Aphrodite said. "That's part of its deliciousness. Heath and I used to eat there all the time. It fulfills all the basic food groups: grease, mashed potatoes, and brown pop."
"You're disgusting," Aphrodite said.
"I'll pay," I said.
"Done deal," she said.