by P. C. Cast
Chapter Seventeen
Rephaim's words drifted to her out of the darkness. Without seeing the monster he was, his voice had a quality that made him sound hauntingly, heartbreakingly human. That was, after all, what had saved him the day before. His humanity had reached Stevie Rae, and she hadn't been able to kill him. But today he sounded different, stronger than he had before. That relieved and worried her at the same time. Then she shook off the worry. She wasn't some helpless kid who went running for the hills at the first sign of danger. She could definitely kick some bird butt. Stevie Rae straightened her spine. She'd made the decision to help him get away, and that's dang well what she was gonna do. And who'd ya expect? John Wayne and the cavalry? Pretending to be her mom when one of her brothers was being sick and annoying, Stevie Rae marched forward. The shape that had been a dark blob hunkered in the back of the shed came into focus and she gave him her best no- nonsense look. Well, you're not dead and you're sittin' up. So you must be feelin' better.
He cocked his head slightly to the side. Who is John Wayne and cavalry? The cavalry. It just means the good guys comin' to the rescue. Don't get excited, though. There isn't an army comin'. All you got is me. Don't you consider yourself one of the good guys? He surprised her with his ability to have an actual conversation with her, and she thought if she could close her eyes or look away from him, she might almost fool herself into thinking he was just a normal guy. Of course she knew better. She could never close her eyes around him or look away, and he definitely wasn't a normal anything. Well, yeah, I'm good, but I'm not exactly an army. Stevie Rae made an obvious show of looking him over. And he did still look like crap--definitely battered and bloodied and broken-- but he wasn't lying on his side in a crumpled heap anymore.
He was sitting up, leaning, mostly on his uninjured left side, against the back of the shed. He'd arranged the towels she'd left with him over his body like pieces of a blanket. His eyes were bright and alert and never wavered from her face. So, you are feelin' better? As you said, I am not dead. Where are the others? I told ya before, the rest of the Raven Mockers left with Kalona and Neferet. No, I mean the other sons and daughters of man. Oh, my friends. They're sleepin' mostly. So we don't have much time. This isn't gonna be easy, but I think I figured out how to get you outta here in one piece. She paused, and stopped herself from picking at her fingernails. You can walk, can't you? I will do what I need to do. Now what the heck does that mean? Just give me a simple yes or no. It's kinda important. Yessss. Stevie Rae swallowed hard at the sound of his hissed word and decided she'd been wrong about the whole if-she-didn't-look-at-himhe'd-seem-normal thing.
All right, well, let's get goin' then. Where are you taking me? All I could think of was that I need to get you someplace where you can be safe and heal. You can't stay here. They'll find you for sure. Hey, you don't have your daddy's problem with bein' underground, do ya? I prefer the ssssky to the earth. He sounded bitter, practically biting off the words and adding a special hissing emphasis to sky. Stevie Rae put her hands on her hips. So does that mean you can't go underground? I prefer not to. Well, do you prefer to stay alive and hidden underground, or up here and about a minute away from bein' found and dead? Or worse, she thought but didn't say aloud. He didn't speak for quite a while and Stevie Rae began to wonder if maybe Rephaim didn't really want to live, which was a thought she hadn't considered. She guessed it might make sense, though. His own folks had left him for dead and the modern world was like a zillion times different than it had been when he'd been alive and in the flesh before--and terrorizing Cherokee villages. How badly had she messed up by not just letting him die? I prefer to live. By the look on his face, Stevie Rae thought that maybe his announcement was as much a surprise to him as it had been to her. Okay. Fine. Then I need to get you outta here. She took a step toward him, but stopped. Do I need to make you promise to be good again? I am too weak to be a danger to you, he said simply. All right, then I'll just consider your word that you gave me earlier still holding.
Just don't try anything stupid and we might get through this. Stevie Rae walked over to him and squatted down. I better take a look at your bandages. They might need to be changed or tightened before we leave. She checked him over methodically, all the while keeping up a running verbal commentary of what she was doing. Well, the moss looks like it's workin'. I don't see much blood. Your ankle's pretty swollen, but I don't think it's broken. Can't feel any breaks, anyway. She rewrapped the ankle and tightened his other bandages, leaving the shattered wing for last. Stevie Rae reached behind him and started to straighten the bandages that had come loose and Rephaim, who had been silent and perfectly still during her examination, flinched and groaned in pain. Ah, shoot! Sorry. I know the wing's bad. Wrap more of the cloth around me. Tie it more tightly against my body. I will not be able to walk if you do not completely immobilize it. Stevie Rae nodded. I'll do what I can. She ripped more lengths from one of the towels and then he leaned forward so that she had access to his back. She gritted her teeth and worked as quickly and gently as she could, hating the way he trembled and kept stifling moans of pain. When she'd finished with the wing, she ladled out some water and helped him drink it. After he stopped trembling, she stood and held out her hands to him. Okay, let's cowboy up. He gazed at her and even in his strange face she could read confusion. She smiled.
It just means stepping up and doin' what you need to do, even when it's hard as hell. He nodded, and then slowly reached up and clasped her hands. Bracing herself, she pulled, allowing him time to shift his weight and gather himself. With a painful gasp, he managed to stand, though he put little weight on his hurt ankle and he didn't seem very steady. Stevie Rae kept hold of his hands, giving him a chance to get used to being upright, and while she worried that he might pass out, she thought how weird it was that his hands felt so warm and so human. She'd always thought of birds as cold and flitty. Actually, she didn't like birds much--never had. Her mom's chickens tended to scare the bejesus outta her, what with their hysterical flapping and stupid squawking. She had a brief flashback of gathering eggs and having one fat, grumpy hen peck at her and just miss her eyes.
Stevie Rae shivered, and Rephaim dropped her hands. Are you okay? she asked to cover up the awkward silence that gathered between them. With a grunt, he nodded. She nodded, too. Hang on. Before you try much walkin', let's see what I can find to help you. Stevie Rae looked through the garden stuff, finally settling on a good, sturdy wooden-handled shovel. She came back to Rephaim, measured it against him, and in one swift motion, snapped the handle from the spade end and handed it to him. Use this like a cane. You know, to take some of the weight off your bad ankle. You can lean on me for a little while, but once we get in the tunnel you're gonna have to go on by yourself, so you'll need this. Rephaim took the wooden handle from her. Your strength is impressive. Stevie Rae shrugged. It comes in handy. Rephaim took a tentative step forward, using the handle to help carry his weight, and he was actually able to walk, though Stevie Rae could see that it caused him a lot of pain.
Still, he hobbled by himself to the door of the shed. There he paused and looked expectantly at her. First, I'm gonna wrap this around you. I'm countin' on no one seeing us, but on the outside chance that some nosy nun is gawkin' out a window, she'll just see me helpin' someone wrapped in a blanket. Or at least that's what I hope. Rephaim nodded, and Stevie Rae wrapped the blanket around him, positioning it over his head and tucking it into the side of the bandage across his chest to hold it closed. So here's my plan: You know about the tunnels we've been stayin' in under the depot downtown, right? Yes. Well, I kinda added to them. I don't understand. My affinity is for the element earth. I can control it, more or less. At least some aspects of it I can control. One of the things I recently found out I can do is to make it move--as in creating a tunnel through it.
And I did that to link up the depot to the abbey. It is this type of power that my father spoke of when he talked of you. Stevie Rae definitely didn't want to dis
cuss Rephaim's horrible daddy with him, and she didn't even want to think about why he might have been talking about her and her powers. Yeah, well, anyway--I opened up part of the tunnel I made so I could climb out of it and come here. It's not far from this shed. I'm gonna help you get there. Once you're in the tunnel I want you to follow it back to the depot. There's shelter there, and food. Actually, it's pretty dang nice. You can get well there. And why are the rest of your allies not going to find me in those tunnels? First, I'm gonna seal up the one that connects the depot to the abbey. Then I'm gonna tell my friends somethin' that's gonna make sure they stay outta the depot tunnels for a while.
And I'm hopin' that a while' translates into enough time for you to get well and get yourself away from here before they start pokin' around. What will you tell them that will keep them from going into the tunnels? Stevie Rae sighed and wiped her hand across her face. I'm gonna tell them the truth. That there're more red fledglings--that they're hiding in the depot tunnels--and that they are dangerous because they haven't made the choice for good over evil. Rephaim was silent for several heartbeats. Finally he said, Neferet was right. Neferet! What do you mean? She kept telling my father that she had allies among the red fledglings--that they could be soldiers in her cause. These red fledglings are the ones she was speaking of. They must be, Stevie Rae murmured miserably. I didn't want to believe it. I wanted to believe they'd eventually do the right thing--choose humanity over the darkness. They just needed some time to get things straight in their heads, that's all. I think I was wrong. It is these fledglings that will keep your friends from the tunnels? Kinda. Really, it's more me that'll keep them out. I'm gonna buy time--for you and for them. She met his eyes. Even if I'm wrong. Without saying anything else, she opened the door, went to his side, lifted his arm, wrapped it around her shoulders, and the two of them stepped out into the icy dusk. Stevie Rae knew Rephaim had to be in terrible pain as they walked haltingly from the shed toward the opening in the ground she'd created to the tunnel.
But the only sound he made was his panting breath. He leaned heavily on her, and Stevie Rae was again surprised by his warmth and by the familiar feel of a guy's arm around her shoulder, mixed with the feathered body she was helping to support. She kept glancing around them, almost holding her breath in fear that someone, like annoying gotta-prove-how-macho-I-am Erik, had slipped outside. The veiled sun was setting. Stevie Rae could feel it leaving the ice-shrouded sky. It was just a matter of time before the fledglings, vamps, and nuns started to stir. Come on, you're doing good. You can make it. We gotta hurry. She kept murmuring to him, encouraging Rephaim and trying to calm her own guilty fears. But no one yelled after them. No one ran up to them, and in much less time than Stevie Rae had anticipated, the opening to the tunnel gaped at their feet.
Climb down backward, with your hands and feet. It's not far. I'll hold on to you for most of the way to help steady you. Rephaim didn't waste time or energy on words. He nodded, turned, flung the blanket off of him, and then, as Stevie Rea held on to his good arm--glad that though he was big and appeared strong and solid, he actually weighed less than she did--with her help he slowly and painfully disappeared down into the earth. Stevie Rae followed him. In the tunnel, Rephaim leaned against the dirt wall, trying to catch his breath. Stevie Rae wished she could let him rest there, but the crawling sensation in the back of her neck was screaming that the others would be waking up and coming to look for her, and finding her and her Raven Mocker! You gotta keep going. Now. Get out of here. Go that way. She pointed into the darkness in front of them.
It's gonna be really dark. Sorry 'bout that, but I don't have time to get a lamp for you. Are you okay in the dark? He nodded. I have long preferred the night. Good. Follow this tunnel until you come to the place where it changes from dirt to cement walls. Then turn to your right. It's gonna be confusing 'cause the closer you get to the depot, the more tunnels there are. But stay in the main one. It'll be lit--or at least I hope it's still lit. Either way, if you keep goin', you'll find lanterns and food and rooms with beds and everything. And there are dark fledglings. He didn't phrase it as a question, but Stevie Rae answered him. Yeah, there are. While the other red fledglings and I were livin' there, they stayed away from the main tunnels and our rooms and such. I don't know what they're doin' now that we're not there and I honestly don't know what they'll do with you.
I don't think they'll want to eat you--you don't smell right. But I can't tell for sure. They're-- she paused, searching for the right words. They're different than I am-- than the rest of us. They are of the darkness. As I said, I am well acquainted with that. All right. Well, I'm just gonna believe you'll be okay. Stevie Rae paused again, not knowing what to say and finally blurting out, So, I guess I'll see ya around sometime. He stared at her and said nothing. Stevie Rae fidgeted. Rephaim. You gotta go. Now. It's not safe here. As soon as you're down the tunnel a ways, I'm gonna collapse this part so that no one can follow you from here, but you still gotta hurry. I do not understand why you would betray your people to save me, he said. I'm not betraying anyone; I'm just not killing you! she yelled, and then lowered her voice and continued.
Why does letting you go have to mean I betrayed my friends? Can't it just mean that I choose life over death? Look, I chose good over evil. How is me lettin' you live any different than that? Did you not consider that choosing to save me was making a choice for what you would call evil? Stevie Rae looked at him for a long time before she answered. Then let that be on your conscience. Your life is what you want it to be. Your daddy's gone. The rest of the Raven Mockers are gone, too. My mamma used to sing a kinda silly song to me when I was a kid and I'd messed up and gotten myself hurt. She'd sing that I needed to pick myself up, dust myself off, and start all over again. And that's what you need to do. I'm just givin' you a chance to do it. Stevie Rae stuck out her hand. So, here's hoping that next time we meet, we're not enemies. Rephaim looked from her outstretched hand to her face, and back to her hand. Then slowly, almost reluctantly, he grasped it. Not in a modern handshake, but in the traditional vampyre greeting of clasping forearms. I owe you a life, Priestess. Stevie Rae's cheeks felt hot. Just call me Stevie Rae. I don't feel much like a Priestess right now. He bowed his head. Then it is to Stevie Rae that I owe a life. Do the right thing with yours and I'll consider myself paid up, she said.
Merry meet, marry part, and merry meet again, Rephaim. She tried to pull her arm from his grasp, but he didn't let her go. Are they all like you? All of your allies? he asked. She smiled. Nah, I'm weirder than most of the others. I'm the first red vamp, and sometimes I think that makes me kinda an experiment. Still gripping her arm he said, I was the first of my father's children. Though he held her gaze steadily, she couldn't read his expression. All she saw in the dim light of the tunnel was the human shape of his eyes and their unearthly red glow--the same red glow that haunted her dreams and sometimes overwhelmed her own vision, tainting everything with scarlet and anger and darkness. She shook her head, and more to herself than to him said, Being the first can be hard. He nodded and finally released her arm. Without another word, he turned and hobbled away into the darkness. Stevie Rae counted slowly to one hundred, then she raised her arms. Earth, I need you again. Instantly her element responded, filling the tunnel with the scents of a springtime meadow.
She breathed in deeply before continuing. Collapse the ceiling. Fill up this part of the tunnel. Close the hole you made for me; plug it up; make it solid again, so that nobody can pass here. She stepped back as the dirt in front and above her started to move, and then it rained down, shifting and solidifying until there was nothing but a solid wall of earth in front of her. Stevie Rae, what the hell are ya doing? Stevie Rae whirled around, pressing her hand over her heart. Dallas! You scared the livin' daylights right outta me! Dang, I think you 'bout gave me a heart attack for real. Sorry. You're so hard to sneak up on I thought you knew I was standing here. Heart pounding even harder, Stevie Rae searched Dallas's f
ace, trying to find a sign that he had even a hint that she hadn't been alone, but he didn't look suspicious or mad or betrayed--he just looked curious and kinda sad.
His next words reinforced that he hadn't been there long enough to have caught even a glimpse of Rephaim. You sealed it off to keep the rest of them from getting to the abbey, didn't you? Stevie Rae nodded and tried not to let the wave of relief she felt show in her voice. Yeah. I didn't think it was smart to give 'em such easy access to the nuns. It would be kinda like an old-lady smorgasbord for them. Dallas's eyes glinted mischievously. Don't be gross. But she couldn't help grinning at him. Dallas really was adorable. Not only was he her unofficial boyfriend, but he was also a genius with anything to do with electricity or plumbing or basically whatever you'd find at Home Depot. Grinning back at her, he moved closer and tugged on one of her blond curls. I'm not being gross. I'm being real. And you can't tell me you haven't at least thought about how easy it would be to chomp on these nuns.
Dallas! She narrowed her eyes at him, truly shocked by what he'd said. Heck no I haven't thought about eatin' a nun! It doesn't even sound right. And like I told ya before, it's not smart to think a lot about eatin' people. It's not good for you. Hey, relax, cutie. I'm just messing with you. He glanced behind her at the wall of earth. So, how are you going to explain this to Zoey and the rest of them? I'm gonna do what I probably shoulda done a while ago. I'm gonna tell them the truth. I thought you wanted to stay quiet about the rest of the fledglings because you thought they might come around and be more like us. Yeah, well, I'm startin' to think I've messed up with some of my choices. All right, it's up to you. You're our High Priestess. Tell Zoey and them whatever you want. Actually, you can do that right now. Zoey just called a meeting in the cafeteria. I came looking for you to tell you about it. How'd you know where to find me? He smiled at her again and slipped his arm around her shoulders. I know you, cutie. It wasn't very hard to figure out where you'd be.
They started walking out of the tunnel together. Stevie Rae wrapped her arm around Dallas's waist. She let herself lean against him, glad that he felt normal and totally guy-like beside her. It was a relief to have her world shift back to what she knew was right. She'd put Rephaim out of her mind. She'd helped someone who'd been hurt, that's all. And now she was done with him. Seriously, he was just one badly injured Raven Mocker. How much trouble could he cause? You know me, huh? She butted him with her hip. He pressed right back against her. Not as well as I wish I knew you, cutie. Stevie Rae giggled, ignoring the fact that she sounded kinda manic in her effort to be normal. She also ignored the fact that she could still smell Rephaim's dark scent on her skin.