Hunted (House of Night 5)

I'd barely touched the door when Darius opened it for me. His sharp look made me wonder if he'd been watching the scene between Stark and me, and I sincerely hoped he hadn't.

"Damien and the Twins are in there" was all he said, motioning for me to follow him into the central room of the dorm.

"First I need to borrow your cell phone," I said.

He didn't hesitate or ask annoying questions about who I needed to call and why. He simply handed me his phone, and then he walked ahead of me into the common room. I punched in Stevie Rae's number and held my breath while it rang. When she answered it sounded like she was talking into a tin can, but at least I could hear her.

"Hey, it's me," I said.

"Z! Dang, I'm glad to hear your voice! Are ya okay?"

"Yeah, I'm better."

"Yea! So what's going on with--"

"I'll fill you in on all that later," I cut her off. "Right now you gotta listen to me."

"'Kay," she said.

"Do what I told you to do."

There was a pause and then she said, "What you told me in the note?"

"Yeah. You're being watched in the tunnels. Something is down there with you."

I expected her to gasp or freak, but all she said was a calm, "Okay, I understand."

I continued quickly. "There's a good chance the bird things will grab you if you come out of the tunnels anywhere they're expecting you to surface, so you're going to have to be really, really careful."

"Don't worry about it, Z. I've been doin' a little secret reconnoitering of my own since you passed me that note. I think I can get everyone there without being seen."

"Call Sister Mary Angela first and tell her you're coming. Tell her I'm coming, too, ASAP. But don't tell the red fledglings where you're going for as long as you can keep it from them. Do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Okay. Give Grandma a hug for me."

"Will do," she said. "And I won't let anyone tell her about your acc Kry Angelaqident. It'll just stress her."

"Thanks," I said. "Is Heath okay?" "Totally. I told ya don't worry about him. Both of your boyfriends are fine."

I sighed, wishing I could correct her and tell her I only had one boyfriend. "Good, I'm glad they're safe. Oh, Aphrodite's safe, too," I added, feeling a little strange about it, but thinking that since I'd checked on my Imprinted human, maybe Stevie Rae would like to check on hers, too.

Her laugh was happy and familiar. "Oh, Z, I know Aphrodite's okay. I'd be able to tell right away if something happened to her. It's weird, but it's true."

"Okay, good. I guess. Hey, I gotta go. And you do, too."

"You want me to get everyone outta here to night?"

"Now," I said firmly.

"Got it," she said. "See you soon, Z."

"Please be very, very careful."

"Don't worry about me. I got a few tricks up my sleeve."

"You'll need them. See ya," I said, and cut off the tinny connection. It was a relief to know Stevie Rae was going to move all the red fledglings to the basement beneath the Benedictine Sisters Abbey. I had to believe that the darkness I'd begun to see hovering around the tunnels wouldn't do so well in the basement of a bunch of nuns. I also had to believe Stevie Rae could get all the kids there without being captured by the Raven Mockers. If only the rest of us were that lucky, we could meet and regroup and figure out what the hell we could do about Kalona and Neferet. And I would ask Stevie Rae about the creepy dark shadow stuff. Sadly, I had a feeling she would know way more than me about it.

I entered the common room. Normally, after school it would have been crazy busy with fledglings hanging out, watching one of the several flat-screen TVs. Comfortable chairs and loveseats were clustered around the room, and kids should have filled them up as they relaxed after a long school day.

Today there weren't many fledglings, and those who were sitting around were unusually subdued. Part of that might be because the cable had been knocked out by the storm, but the House of Night had some major backup generators, and kids should have been watching DVDs--I mean, hello! Almost everyone had Netflix. But the few kids who were present were crouched together, speaking barely above a whisper.

Automatically I looked over at the area where my friends and I liked to gather and was relieved to see Damien and the Twins. They had Becca in the middle of them, and I assumed they were comforting the girl and keeping her from bursting into hysterical tears. When I got closer, I understood that I was very wrong.

"Really, I'm fine. It's no big deal," Becca was insisting in a voice that wasn't shaky and scared anymore, but had suddenly changed to sounding incredibly annoyed.

"No big deal!" Shaunee said. "Of course it was a big deal."

"The guy attacked you," Erin said. B Q Ht wasn&rs

"It wasn't exactly like that," Becca said, waving her hands dismissively. "We were just messing around. Plus, Stark really is hot."

Erin snorted. "Yeah, I usually find rapists majorly hot."

Becca's eyes narrowed and she looked cold and mean. "Stark is hot, and you're just jealous that he didn't want you." "Didn't want me?" Erin said incredulously. "Don't you mean, didn't want to molest me? Why are you making excuses for him?"

"What the hell's wrong with you, Becca?" Shaunee said. "No guy should ever get away with--"

"Hang on," Damien spoke up. "You know, Becca's right. Stark is one hot guy." The Twins stared at him in shock, and he hurried on. "If Becca says they were just messing around, who are we to judge?"

It was then that Darius and I stepped into their agitated little circle. "What's going on? Are you okay?" I asked Becca.

"Totally fine." Throwing the Twins an icy look, she got to her feet. "Actually, I'm starving, so I'm gonna go find something to eat. Sorry I caused you two a hassle out there. Later." She hurried away.

"What the hell just happened?" I asked in a low voice.

"The same thing that's happened all over this damn--"

"Upstairs!" Darius commanded, shutting Erin up.

I was semi-amazed to see my friends meekly obey Darius. We filed out of the common room, ignoring the curious stares of the few kids who were quietly sitting around. On the way up the staircase, Darius said, "Is Aphrodite in her room?"

"Yeah, she said she was tired," Shaunee said.

"She's probably hanging upside down from the ceiling in her usual batperch," Erin said. She glanced over her shoulder at Darius and added, "Speaking of Aphrodikey, she's gonna give birth to a big ol' litter of kittens when she sees that you've messed up your pretty face."

"Yeah, and if you need comfort from her shallow hatefulness, you can try a little caf? mocha over here," Shaunee said, waggling her brows at him.

"Or a vanilla smoothie over here," Erin flirted.

Darius smiled good-naturedly and just said, "I will keep that in mind."

I thought the Twins were taking their lives in their hands, and I was darn sure not going to get between them and Aphrodite if she found out they'd been flirting with her man, but I was too tired to say anything.

"You know that blue cashmere pullover you just got from Saks?" Damien asked Erin.

"Yeah, what about it?"

"I call dibs on it if Aphrodite disembowels you for hitting on her man," Damien said.

"She's just a human now," Erin said.

"Yeah, we figure together we can take her," Shaunee said, then she blew kisses at Darius. "Remember that, warrior boy."

Darius chuckled and I rolled my eyes. We were just passing my room when my door opened and Aphrodite called, "I'm in here."

We all stopped and filed into my room. "Aphrodite, what are you doing in--"

"Ohmygoddess! What the hell happened to your face?" Not paying attention to anyone else, Aphrodite ran to Darius and started to flutter her hands around the long thin wound that stretched down the side of his face. "Are you okay? Damn, it looks awful! Does it hurt?" She pulled back the sleeves on her shirt, exposing the newly healed bite marks Stevie Rae's teeth had left. "Do you need to bite me? Go ahead. I don't mind."

Darius took her hands in his, stilling her anxious movements, and said calmly, "I am well, my beauty. It is but a scratch."

"How did it happen?" Aphrodite sounded close to tears as she pulled on Darius's hands and led him over to the spare bed that used to be Stevie Rae's.

"My beauty! All is well," he repeated, pulling her down on his lap and holding her close to him.

He said a bunch of other stuff to her, too, but I'd stopped listening. I was too busy staring at the--

"Cameron! There you are, sweetheart! I've been so worried about you." Damien plopped down on the floor and started petting his blond tabby.

"Beelzebub, where the hell have you been?" Shaunee chastised the hateful gray creature who had chosen both of the Twins as his own.

"We figured you were chasing around after Maleficent, and sure enough here you are and here she is," Erin said.

"Hang on," I said, seeing Nala curled up on my bed. I looked around my room, taking inventory of the eight--eight!--cats that were hanging out there. "What's with all the cats?"

"That's why I'm over here," Aphrodite said, sniffling softly as she snuggled back into Darius's arms. "Maleficent was acting very odd. She kept coming in and out of her cat door and making weird yowling sounds." Aphrodite paused and blew a kiss to the awful white puff-ball that masqueraded as her cat. "So finally I followed her. She led me to your room. I came in and found all these cats. Then I heard you guys in the hall." She turned her beautiful blue eyes on the Twins. "I heard everything you guys said in the hall, and do not think for one instant just because I've turned human it doesn't mean I cannot happily kick your combined asses."

"But what are all these cats doing in here?" I said quickly before the Twins started a mini human-fledgling war.

"Hey there, Nefertiti!" Darius called, and a sleek calico female jumped up on the bed beside him and began to wind around his body.

"They're our cats," Damien said, still petting Cameron. "Remember when we escaped from here yesterday? They were all outside the school wall waiting for us." He -fledglin`{ thglanced up at me. "Are we leaving again?"

"I hope so," I said. "But wait." I was still taking stock of the cats. "All of our cats are here, but what about that great big one over there, and the little cream-colored one who's sticking close to him?"

"That big cat is Dragon Lankford's Maine Coon," Damien said. "His name is Shadowfax." Dragon Lankford, who almost everyone called Dragon, is our fencing professor and is a master with the blade. Damien was a talented fencer, so it wasn't surprising he recognized Dragon's cat.

"Hey, I think that little white one is Guinevere, Professor Anastasia's cat," Erin said.

"You're right, Twin," Shaunee said. "She's always hanging out during Spells and Rituals class."

"What about that one?" I pointed to a familiar-looking Siamese whose body was the silver- white of moonlight, tipped in delicate gray ears and face. Then I realized why she looked familiar and answered my own question. "That's Professor Lenobia's cat. I don't know her name, but I've seen her following the professor around the stables."

"So, let me get this straight: All of our cats, plus cats that belong to Dragon, his wife, and Professor Lenobia, are suddenly hanging out in Zoey's room," Darius said.

"Why are they here?" Erin asked.

I answered her question with my own. "Have you guys seen any other cats today? I mean, while you were in class and at lunch, coming and going from the dorm and class to class, did you see any cats?"

"No," the Twins said together.

"I didn't," Damien answered more slowly.

"Not a one," Aphrodite said.

"And you noticed earlier that we saw not one cat between the infirmary and the dormitory," Darius said.

"I thought it was bad then; I still think it's bad," I said.

"Why would all the cats except these disappear?" Damien asked.

"The cats hate the birdmen," I said. "Whenever Nala's been with me and one's been around, she's totally freaked."

"There's more to it than that. If it was just about hating them, then the cats would all be hiding, and not just special ones hanging out in here," Aphrodite said.

"Maybe that's it," Damien said. "There's something special about these particular cats."

"Okay, I hate to be a bitch--or maybe I don't--but anyway, can we forget about the damn cats for a second? I want to know who the hell did this to my man's face," Aphrodite said.

"Kalona," I said, when it was obvious Darius was too involved with grinning at the "my man" title Aphrodite had awarded him to answer.

"I was afraid of that," Damien said. "How'd it happen?&9n

"Darius attacked Rephaim," I explained, "which pissed off Kalona. He didn't let Stark kill him, but the cut was his parting gift for Darius wounding his favorite son."

"That fucking Stark!" Shaunee said.

"He's really bad news. He and the nasty-assed birdmen do what ever the hell they want," Erin said.

"And no one does anything about it," Shaunee finished.

"It's like the thing you just witnessed with Becca," Damien said.

"Speaking of," Shaunee said. "What was the deal with you agreeing with that bimbo about oh, no big deal because Stark's sooooo hot! Talk about annoying."

"You weren't going to get through to her. Becca's on their side. As far as I can tell, Stark and the birds and Kalona do anything to anyone, and there are no repercussions for their actions."

"It's worse than no repercussions," Aphrodite said. Still within Darius's arms, she'd gotten herself together. "It's like Kalona's cast a spell over everyone, and the spell somehow extends to Stark and the birds."

"That's why I agreed with Becca and just let her go. It's not a good idea to call attention to the fact that we're the only ones not in the Kalona Fan Club," Damien said.

"And Neferet, don't forget about her," Aphrodite said. "She's with him, but I don't think she's under his spell," I said. "I overheard them talking when they thought I was out, and she disagreed with him. He got big and bad and scary with her, and she seemed to back off, but what she really did was just change her tactics. She's manipulating him, and I can't tell if he knows it or not. And she's changing, too."

"Changing? What do you mean by that?" Damien asked.

"Her power is different than it used to be," Darius said.

I nodded. "It's like a switch has been thrown inside her, and it's let loose a different kind of power."

"A dark power," Aphrodite said. We all looked at her. "Her power isn't based on Neferet anymore. Sure, she's still using the gifts our Goddess gave her, but she's channeling energy from somewhere else, too. Couldn't you guys feel it in the hall outside the sickroom?"

There was a long silence, and then Damien spoke up. "I think we were too busy struggling against Kalona's attraction."

"And scared shitless," Erin said.

"Entirely," Shaunee agreed.

"Well, so now we know. Neferet is even more of a threat than she's ever been. They talked when they thought I was passed out. Neferet and Kalona are planning a new future, and it has something to do with taking over the Council," I said, wishing I could crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head.

"Oh b?"?my goddess! The High Council?" Aphrodite said.

"I don't know for sure, but that's what I'm afraid of. I'm also afraid her new power has given her special abilities." I paused. I didn't want to freak out the gang before I had my talk with Stevie Rae, but they did need to be warned, so I picked my words carefully. "I think Neferet can project her influence by moving through, or maybe manipulating, shadows."

"That's bad," Damien said.

"It means we have to be on guard," Erin said.

"Majorly on guard," Shaunee agreed.

Darius nodded. "Remember always: Neferet is our enemy, Kalona is our enemy, and most of the other fledglings are our enemies, too." His sharp gaze went from kid to kid. "What about the rest of the professors?" Darius asked them. "All of you attended classes today, didn't you? How were they acting?"

"Yeah, we went to class, weird as that was," Shaunee said.

"It was like attending Stepford High School," Erin said.

"It seems the professors are all enthralled with Kalona, too," Damien said. "Of course, I can't tell you that for sure. We weren't ever alone with the professors."

"Not alone? What do you mean?" I said.

"I mean those bird things are everywhere--coming and going from class, and even in class."

"Are you kidding?" A shiver of revulsion quavered though my body at the thought of those terrible mutations of nature moving freely among fledglings--like they belonged here!

"He's not kidding. They are everywhere. It's like Invasion of the fucking Body Snatchers," Aphrodite said. "The good guys look the same on the outside, but are screwed on the inside, and the Raven Mockers are the damn aliens."

"And the Sons of Erebus? Are they supporting this?" Darius asked.

"I haven't seen one warrior since Aristos escorted us onto campus," Damien said. "How about you guys?"

The Twins and Aphrodite shook their heads no.

"This is so not good," I said. I rubbed my forehead as a wave of exhaustion engulfed me. What were we going to do? Who were our friends? And how the hell were we going to get out of the House of Night and to what I could only hope would be safety?