Revealed hon-11

by P. C. Cast

  “And I’m not a normal Prophetess of Nyx,” Aphrodite said. “So, I’ll be going with them.”

  “I’m the first red High Priestess,” Stevie Rae said. “That’s not normal, either, and I’m with Zoey and Aphrodite. We’re not meanin’ to make trouble, but it is what it is—we’re stickin’ together.”

  “I don’t get the problem with us living at the depot. You guys were okay with it before,” I said.

  “Yes, that was before Neferet was provoked enough to kidnap your grandmother and kill a fledgling and a human, and bring the local authorities into your House of Night,” said the same Council member.

  I could hardly believe what she was saying. “That was not our fault!”

  “No one is blaming you,” Duantia said quickly. “We are only attempting to sift through the many recent tragic events.” Suddenly she shifted her attention. “Kalona, you are the only immortal here. What is your opinion?” Duantia’s question seemed to surprise all of us. Thanatos shifted in her chair, and Aphrodite and I moved aside a little so that Kalona could stand between us and face the High Council.

  He bowed, fisting his hand over his heart, before answering. “I see no problem with Zoey and her group, and that includes my son, Rephaim, living in the depot. They are guarded by strong, loyal Warriors, and the tunnels provide safety for them. As to the murders, I have no doubt that the creature, Neferet, manifested and caused both deaths, and that humans cannot begin to make her pay for her crimes.”

  “Kalona, we have accepted you as part of our community because of the oath you swore to Thanatos, but we are all curious about your answer to one question in particular,” Duantia said.

  Kalona’s wings rustled and his body tensed, but his voice was steady. “I will answer any questions you might wish to ask, High Priestess.”

  “Though you never fully admitted being Erebus come to earth, Neferet presented you to us as such. She said you tricked her into believing it.”

  “And yet I never claimed to be Erebus, and here I stand, sworn Warrior to a member of your own Council, as Neferet gets away with murdering children and humans.”

  “Yes, it is an interesting turn of events. Our question is, who are you?”

  Everyone, even Thanatos, was gawking at Kalona. Was he going to tell them that he was Erebus’s brother? Holy crap!

  “I have been many things—a god, a lover, a destroyer, a savior. Now I am Death’s Warrior,” Kalona said. “It is fitting that I am also an immortal.”

  I thought about speaking up and telling everyone that he was Erebus’s brother, but was he really? I’d already been late, looked irresponsible to the Council, and they had to know I was annoyed as hell at them. I didn’t need to spout out a claim like that and then have Kalona say nothing. Or worse, deny it completely. So, for a change, I kept my mouth shut.

  “Kalona, I have prayed to Nyx and asked her to speak to me of you, and tell me if you present a danger to Thanatos, or to the House of Night,” Duantia said.

  “And what did the Goddess say?” Kalona asked.

  “Nyx has remained silent.”

  “I think that is an answer itself,” Thanatos said. I thought she sounded pissed. She and Duantia had a silent stare down, which ended in Duantia looking away to address her Council. “Priestesses, has anything you heard here tonight changed your previous judgment on Thanatos’s request for us to intercede with the Tulsa humans?”

  The five High Priestesses spoke creepily as one, “No.”

  Duantia faced us again. “Then it is decided. What is happening in Tulsa has already caused unrest between vampyres and humans, as well as between fledglings and vampyres within the Tulsa House of Night itself. Part of you have broken from the whole, and it is clear to us from the recent events that this break is not a healthy one for the vampyre community. We have shunned Neferet. She is no longer our concern. It is not our responsibility to bring her to justice.”

  “But Neferet’s the one causing the problems. She’s the one the humans need to blame—she’s the one you need to blame.” I practically choked trying to keep from yelling at them.

  “She is immortal. As Kalona said, she cannot be brought to justice by humans,” Duantia said.

  “You expect us to bring her to justice,” Kalona said.

  “Yes, we do,” Duantia said. “Therefore, we will not intercede with the local humans. Nor will we any longer recognize the separation of fledglings and vampyres from your House of Night.”

  “Sgiach is a vampyre High Priestess and she lives separately from you—and you’ve allowed that for centuries,” I tried to reason with them.

  “Sgiach is not causing unrest with humans. Sgiach is not coming to us asking for our aid,” Duantia said.

  “You know what, it makes perfect sense now why she stays on a booby-trapped island and ignores you,” I told them.

  “Perhaps it is time Tulsa became an island as well.” Thanatos sounded grim and powerful. “I abdicate my position on the High Council effective immediately.”

  “Thanatos, you cannot mean to lead your House of Night into breaking with the High Council!” Duantia stood. The rest of the Council were looking either super shocked or super pissed.

  “I mean to change and adapt. I mean to remain here as High Priestess of Tulsa’s House of Night. I mean to support these two unusual High Priestesses and this Prophetess in their desire for a place of their own. And, most importantly, I mean to bring Neferet to justice without allowing an invasion of my school.”

  “But that is not—”

  “That is my oath; so mote it be!”

  Then Thanatos clicked the disconnect button. Skype made its funny little hang-up sound, and the screen went blank.

  CHAPTER TEN

  Aphrodite

  “Holy fucking shit. Thanatos, you have balls. Great big ones,” Aphrodite said.

  Thanatos raised her brows. “I shall ignore the vulgarity and accept the compliment, Prophetess.”

  “Just so you know, it’s a massive compliment,” Aphrodite said, bowing her head respectfully to Thanatos.

  “You really stood up for us. Thanks, High Priestess,” Stevie Rae said.

  Kalona and Zoey exchanged looks. “So we are left to deal with Neferet and the local authorities on our own,” he said.

  “Again,” Zoey added. “It’s not like this is the first time the High Council has left us hanging like this.”

  “They mean well,” Thanatos said, sounding somewhere between sad and cynical. “They think they’re doing what is best for the vampyre community as a whole, and that is what the Council was created eons ago to do.”

  “They’re stuck in the Dark Ages!” Zoey blurted.

  Aphrodite watched her closely. Yeah, the High Council had been assholes, but they still had Thanatos—the power of their circle—two Prophetesses (even though Shaylin was a pain in the ass), a Bull Boy, and an immortal on their side.

  “I say good riddance. They’re a bunch of old women—no offense, Thanatos,” Aphrodite said. “Z, the only thing they could really do for us is to maybe get the TPD off our backs. We don’t need their permission to create our own place in the world. It’s our world, too, and we’ll make our own place.”

  “Yep, that’s what I’m thinkin’, too,” Stevie Rae agreed.

  Zoey crossed her arms over her chest. “So, we’re all stuck here together, doing nothing.”

  “Until we catch Neferet, I’m afraid we are,” Thanatos said.

  “Catch her? What good will that do?” Zoey said.

  Aphrodite saw that she wasn’t the only person watching Zoey closely. Thanatos’s brows lifted and she cocked her head to the side. “Priestess, we have all agreed Neferet is responsible for the deaths that happened last night, have we not?”

  “Neferet did it,” Z said.

  “So Neferet must be found and turned over to the authorities. Until then, the truth is that the human authorities will find no proof that will place blame on any of us, as we are innocent.”

/>   “Hang on. Does that mean you’re going to let our professors start being DNA tested?” Zoey asked.

  “No. That means we are going to find Neferet and provide her matching DNA to the human authorities.”

  “Neferet is a powerful immortal. She’s not going to let us catch her, let alone take her to the cops.”

  “Zoey, you say that, yet you and your circle managed to defeat that powerful immortal and rescue your grandmother from her.”

  “We beat her before. We’ll beat her again.” Stevie Rae sounded way more positive than Z.

  “Actually, all we have to do is find Neferet. Get her to a public place and start nailing her with hard questions. She’s going to lose her temper and do something batshit crazy, especially if a detective asks her for a DNA sample,” Aphrodite said. “Yeah, it’s going to suck for us when she explodes into spiders or eats some locals or whatever, and humans start to understand that there’s more going on here than vampyre versus human, but that won’t suck nearly as much as being under house arrest and blamed for shit no one here did.”

  “I believe it is time humans understand there are more forces at work than just those of human and vampyre.” Kalona surprised Aphrodite by agreeing with her. “Evil is always stronger when it is underestimated.”

  “You’re going to let humans see you?” Zoey asked Kalona.

  “I am going to bring Neferet to justice and protect this school. If that means I show myself to humans, then so be it.”

  “I have a question.” Stevie Rae half raised her hand.

  “Yes?” Thanatos said.

  “How’re we gonna find Neferet?”

  “That will be the easy part. We will remain here, stay on the path of our Goddess, and wait for Neferet to reveal herself,” Thanatos said.

  “That’s crap!” Z sounded like she was ready to explode. “When Neferet kidnapped Grandma I was sitting in the tunnels in the kitchen. I was just waiting and whining to Nyx to help me save Grandma. And, guess what? The Goddess appeared to me and basically told me that a child sits around and cries. A High Priestess actually does something. So, now you’re telling me that our big decision is to sit around and wait?”

  “No, what I’m telling you is that we are going to show wisdom and act with patience. We have one of our own to bury, and then we are going to resume classes, and our lives, and not allow our school to be overrun by angry locals or ourselves to drown in Neferet’s Darkness. I expect you and Stevie Rae to show your leadership skills and to help me, and the rest of the faculty, keep everyone calm and on task. And now, if you are done attempting to lecture me about a Goddess I have served faithfully for centuries, I have a funeral over which I need to preside.” Thanatos’s tone said she’d heard enough from everyone—especially Zoey—and she stood. With Kalona following in her shadow, she left the room.

  Aphrodite stepped between Zoey and the door. “At the risk of sounding more like you than I’d like to sound, I’m going to tell you that you need to adjust your attitude.”

  Z narrowed her eyes. “This situation doesn’t piss you off?”

  “Of course it does, but snapping at the one grown High Priestess who is actually on our side is just stupid.”

  “Z, you did sound kinda snappy.” Stevie Rae looked uncomfortable, but that didn’t stop her from speaking.

  Zoey drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, fingering the Lifesaver-looking Seer Stone that dangled from a long silver chain around her neck. “It’s just so damn frustrating to have Neferet doing crap again, and have us just hanging out, waiting for her next move.”

  “Okay, you said ‘damn’ and ‘crap’ in one sentence, so I’m starting to feel hopeful that perhaps the mental breakdown you’re obviously having might cause an update of your boring non-curse curse words,” Aphrodite said. “Other than that, I still say you need to check your attitude. This isn’t the same old, same old with Neferet. She’s been shunned by the High Council.”

  “Yeah, even if they’re too chicken to go after her themselves, it’s a big step that they’ve shunned her,” Stevie Rae added.

  “I’d call them something more descriptive than chicken, but the point is still made. And we have an entire school going against her. Neferet can’t hide forever—like we’ve all already said, if nothing else, she’s just too damn crazy to go unnoticed for very long.”

  “No,” Z said. “That’s part of the problem—the entire school isn’t against her. Dallas and his friends have definitely been on her side, and are definitely not with us.”

  “But, Z, Neferet killing Aphrodite’s dad changes everything.” Stevie Rae glanced at Aphrodite. “Sorry again.” Aphrodite shrugged and Stevie Rae rolled on. “What she did this time was real public. She ate the mayor. The cops are involved. Thanatos is going to make sure they get evidence that will prove what she did, and Dallas is not gonna want to get smacked with a murder charge, or even a helpin’ a murderer charge,” Stevie Rae said.

  “Dallas and his disgusting friends would not do well in jail. They’re going to sit tight and shut up. Sure, they’re going to be a pain in the ass to be around, but that’s really no different than normal school,” Aphrodite said.

  “Yeah, I guess you guys are right,” Z said. “Sorry about the Negative Nancy thing. I really just want to do something that will fix everything. You know, make everyone be nice and stop calling Darkness and whatnot.”

  “That’s not being Negative Nancy. That’s being Deluded Debbie. People suck. They do stupid things and they’re not nice. The end,” Aphrodite told her. “As proof of my point, let’s go to Erin’s funeral. She didn’t act right, and I’m pretty damn sure her funeral is going to suck.”

  Aphrodite was seriously sick of attending funerals. Not only was it bad when someone decent, like Dragon Lankford or poor little gay Jack, died, it was sad and sucked and couldn’t even be made better by wearing awesome clothes. Black. Boring. Depressing.

  And to put a cherry on the shit sundae of an event, Zoey was definitely having anger control issues. She’d snapped at the High Council. She’d snapped at Thanatos. That was not Zoey-like behavior. And she’d failed to mention to his own daughter the little detail about the cops having DNA evidence on whoever killed her dad. Aphrodite glanced over at Z. She was walking beside Stevie Rae and nodding at something the bumpkin was babbling on and on about, but she didn’t have her usual I’m smiling at my BFF look on her face. Z was frowning. She looked tired. No, actually, she didn’t look tired. She looked annoyed. Or pissed. Yeah, Z definitely looked pissed.

  Aphrodite didn’t know what the fuck to do.

  Maybe Zoey needed to hear about her latest vision, the one that starred Out of Control Angry Z and ended with her in jail and a bunch of people being eaten.

  But Aphrodite’s instinct was still telling her that this wasn’t a Zoey who could be reasoned with—or at least not right now she couldn’t be.

  Maybe after the funeral was over. Maybe Z was just super tense because funerals were awful.

  The three of them had gotten to the middle of campus—the all too familiar pyre/funeral area in the center of the giant oaks that ringed the school. Thanatos and Kalona were at the head of the pyre, standing by Dallas, who looked stone-faced, but was nodding at whatever Thanatos was saying to him. His friends made a little semi-circle of fashion disasters behind him.

  Darius’s wave caught her attention. “There are our boys,” she said, and they changed direction to meet their Warriors, the rest of their circle, and Stevie Rae’s red fledglings who were making another semi-circle on the opposite side of the pyre.

  Darius hugged her and Aphrodite let herself rest in his arms, wishing they were already alone.

  “Thanatos and Kalona look grim. Did the meeting with the High Council not go well?” he whispered into her ear.

  “Train wreck. I’ll explain later,” she whispered back, and then the professors were there, filling in the missing parts of the semi-circles to form one complete circle, making it appear as if
the school were one, united, group. Which was, of course, totally not true.

  Thanatos spoke first. Her voice was strong and clear—she was actually a pretty good speaker, but when she started a prayer that rhymed, Aphrodite’s attention wandered.

  She watched Dallas. As far as she was concerned, he’d always been too short and his eyes had seemed beady—even before he’d lost his mind and gone red. Tonight he stared at the pyre and Erin’s shrouded body, wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve every once in a while. Technically, he was crying, but mostly he looked mad. Aphrodite’s gaze went to the red fledglings behind Dallas. None of them were crying. Most were either looking at the pyre or at Thanatos. Well, a few were gawking at Kalona, but kids always gawked at Kalona.

  Aphrodite’s eyes traveled around the circle, and she noticed that Nicole hadn’t joined Dallas’s group. She was standing next to Lenobia and Travis in the middle of a clump of professors. As if she had felt her gaze, Nicole looked at Aphrodite. It wasn’t a bitchy look, but it wasn’t friendly, either. Aphrodite thought if a look could speak it would say, WTF?

  Aphrodite held her gaze a little longer, then let her eyes continue to move around the circle. Her gaze halted again when it came to Shaylin. She was standing next to dickhead Erik. The fact that Shaylin always seemed to end up next to Erik made her wonder about the girl’s judgment. Erik was undeniably hot. If he hadn’t been hot Aphrodite wouldn’t have been there, done him, but she’d also moved on. Of course she hadn’t seen Shaylin and Erik doing any face-sucking. He’d never even held her hand in public. Maybe it wasn’t Shaylin stalking Erik. Maybe Erik hung around her because she’d been the first fledgling he’d Tracked. That was a possibility.

  Shaylin was supposed to be able to read people’s auras or colors or whatever she called them, and tell what a person was really like on the inside, so it was also a possibility that Erik was becoming less of an ass, and Shaylin could see that, though that possibility seemed unlikely.