by P. C. Cast
“Mama!”
She’d barely whispered the word, but her mom’s head came up and her eyes instantly found Stevie Rae.
“Stevie Rae? Baby?”
At the sound of her mama’s voice, the knot that had been building inside Stevie Rae’s stomach suddenly dissolved, and she ran to the gate. With no other thought except getting to her mama, Stevie Rae scaled the stone wall easily, landing on the other side.
“Stevie Rae?” she repeated, this time in a questioning whisper.
Finding it impossible to speak, Stevie Rae just nodded, making the tears that had started to pool in her eyes slosh over and spill down her face.
“Oh, baby, I’m so glad I got to see you one more time.” Her mom dabbed at her face with the old-fashioned cloth handkerchief she was clutching in one hand, making an obvious effort to stop crying. “Sweetheart, are you happy wherever you are?” Not pausing for an answer, she kept talking, staring at Stevie Rae’s face as if she was trying to memorize it. “I miss you so much. I wanted to come before and leave this wreath for you, and the candle and this real cute eighth-grade picture, but I couldn’t get here because of the storm. Then when the roads was opened I couldn’t make myself, ’cause visitin’ here and leavin’ all this for you would make it final. You’d really be dead.” She mouthed the word, not able to speak it.
“Oh, Mama! I’ve missed you so much, too!” Stevie Rae hurled herself into her arms, buried her face in her mama’s poofy blue coat, and breathing in the scent of home, sobbed her heart out.
“There, there, sweetheart. It’s gonna be fine. You’ll see. Everything’ll be okay.” She soothed and patted Stevie Rae’s back and hugged her fiercely.
Finally, after what seemed like hours, Stevie Rae was able to look up at her mom. Virginia “Ginny” Johnson smiled through her tears and kissed her daughter, first on her forehead and then gently on her lips. Then she reached into the pocket of her coat and pulled out a second handkerchief, this one still neatly folded. “Good thing I brought more than one.”
“Thanks, Mama. You always come prepared.” Stevie Rae grinned and wiped her face and blew her nose. “You don’t have any of your chocolate chip cookies with you, do ya?”
Her mama’s brow furrowed. “Baby, how can you eat?”
“Well, with my mouth like I always have.”
“Baby,” she said, looking increasingly confused. “I do not care that you are communing through the spirit world.” Mama Johnson said the last part with a woo-woo tone to her voice and an attempt at mystical hand gestures. “I’m just real glad that I get to see my girl again, but I am gonna admit it’ll take a sec for me to get used to the idea of you bein’ a ghost, and all, ’specially one that cries real tears and eats. It just don’t make good sense.”
“Mama, I’m not a ghost.”
“Are you some kinda apparition? Again, baby, it don’t matter to me. I’ll still love you. I’ll come here and visit you lots and lots if this is what you want to haunt. I’m just askin’ so I can know.”
“Mama, I’m not dead. Well, not anymore.”
“Baby, have you had a paranormal experience?”
“Mama, you have no idea.”
“And you ain’t dead? At all?” Mama Johnson asked.
“No, and I really don’t know why. It did seem that I died, but then I came back, and now I have this,” Stevie Rae pointed to the red tattoo Markings of vines and leaves that framed her face. “Apparently, I’m the first ever Red Vampyre High Priestess.”
Mama Johnson had stopped crying, but at Stevie Rae’s explanation, tears filled her eyes and overflowed again. “Not dead…,” she whispered between sobs. “Not dead…”
Stevie Rae stepped into her mama’s arms again and squeezed her tight. “I’m so sorry I didn’t come and tell you. I wanted to. I really, really did. It’s just that, well, I wasn’t myself when I first was un-dead. And then all Hades broke loose at the school. I couldn’t get away, and I couldn’t just call you. I mean, how do you call your mama and say, ‘Hi, don’t hang up. It’s really me and I’m not dead anymore.’ I guess I just didn’t know what to do. I’m so sorry,” she repeated, closing her eyes and holding onto her mom with everything she had.
“No, no, it’s fine. It’s fine. All that matters is that you’re here and you’re okay.” Her mama pried Stevie Rae off her so she could look her over while she wiped her eyes. “You are okay, aren’t you, baby?”
“I’m fine, Mama.”
Mama Johnson reached out and cupped Stevie Rae’s chin, forcing her daughter to meet her gaze. She shook her head and in her firm, familiar, mom voice said, “It’s not nice to lie to your mama.”
Stevie Rae didn’t know what to say. She stared at her mom as the dam of secrets and lies and longing began to break apart inside her.
Mama Johnson took her daughter’s hands, one in each of hers, and looked into her eyes. “I’m here. I love you. Tell me, baby,” she said softly.
“It’s bad,” Stevie Rae said. “Real bad.”
Her mama’s voice was filled with love and warmth. “Baby, there ain’t nothin’ as bad as you bein’ dead.”
That was what decided Stevie Rae—her mama’s unconditional love. She took a deep breath, and when she let it out she blurted, “I’ve Imprinted with a monster, Mama. A creature who’s half human and half bird. He’s done bad things. Really bad things. He’s even killed people.”
Mama Johnson’s expression didn’t change, but her grip on Stevie Rae’s hands tightened. “Is this creature here? In Tulsa?”
Stevie Rae nodded. “He’s hidin’, though. No one at the House of Night knows about him and me.”
“Not even Zoey?”
“No, ’specially not Zoey. She’d really freak. Heck, Mama, anyone who knew would freak. I know I’m gonna get found out. It has to happen, and I don’t know what to do. It’s so awful. Everyone’ll hate me. No one will understand.”
“Not everyone will hate you, baby. I don’t hate you.”
Stevie Rae sighed and then smiled. “But you’re my mama. It’s your job to love me.”
“It’s a friend’s job to love you, too, if they’re real friends.” Mama Johnson paused and then asked slowly, “Baby, does this creature have somethin’ on you? I mean, I don’t know much about vampyre ways, but everyone knows Imprinting with a vampyre is a serious thing. Did he somehow make you do it with him? If that’s what happened we can go to the school. They’ll have to understand and they must have some way to help you get rid of him.”
“No, Mama. I Imprinted with Rephaim because he saved my life.”
“He brought you back from the dead?”
Stevie Rae shook her head. “No, I’m not sure how I un-died, but it has somethin’ to do with Neferet.”
“Then I should thank her, baby. Maybe I’ll—”
“No, Mama! You have to stay away from the school and away from Neferet. Whatever she did wasn’t because she’s good. She pretends to be, but she’s the opposite.”
“And this creature you call Rephaim?”
“He’s been on the side of Darkness for a long time. His daddy is seriously bad news and has messed with his head.”
“But he saved your life?” Mama Johnson asked.
“Twice, Mama, and he’d do it again. I know he would.”
“Baby, think hard before you answer me two questions.”
“Okay, Mama.”
“First, do you see good in him?”
“Yes,” Stevie Rae said without hesitation. “I really do.”
“Second, would he hurt you? Are you safe with him?”
“Mama, he faced a monster more terrible than I can describe to save me, and when he did that, the monster turned on him and hurt him. Real bad. He did that so I wouldn’t be hurt. I honestly think he’d die before he hurt me.”
“Then, here’s the truth from my heart to yours: I can’t begin to understand how he could be a mixture of a man and a bird, but I’m settin’ that craziness aside ’cause he save
d you and you’re bound to him. What that means, sweetheart, is when the time comes for him to choose between the bad things in his past and a different future with you, if he’s strong enough he will choose you.”
“But my friends won’t accept him, and worse than that, the vampyres will try to kill him.”
“Baby, if your Rephaim’s done the bad things you say he has, and I do believe you, then he’s got some consequences to pay. That’s for him to do, not you. What you need to remember is this: the only person’s actions you can control are you own. You do what’s right, baby. You’ve always been good at that. Protect your own. Stand up for what you believe in. That’s it—that’s all you can do. And if this Rephaim stands beside you, you may be surprised at what happens.”
Stevie Rae could feel her eyes filling up with tears again. “He said I had to go see you. He never knew his mama. She was raped by his daddy and she died when he was born. But he told me not too long ago that I had to find a way to see you.”
“Baby, a monster wouldn’t say that.”
“He’s not human, Mama.” Stevie Rae was gripping her mama’s hands so hard her fingers felt numb, but she couldn’t let go. She didn’t ever want to let go.
“Stevie Rae, you’re not human either, not no more, and that don’t make a dang bit of difference to me. This Rephaim boy saved your life. Twice. So I really don’t care if he’s part rhinoceros and has a horn growing outta his forehead. He saved my girl, and you tell him next time you see him that he’s gettin’ a big ol’ hug from me for that.”
A giggle escaped Stevie Rae’s mouth at the mental image of her mama hugging Rephaim. “I’ll tell him.”
Mama Johnson’s face hardened into her serious expression. “You know, the sooner you come clean with everybody ’bout him, the better. Right?”
“I know. I’ll try. There’s a lot goin’ on right now and it’s not a good time for me to dump this on everybody.”
“It’s always the right time for the truth,” said Mama Johnson.
“Oh, Mama, I don’t know how I got myself into this mess.”
“Sure you do, baby. I wasn’t even there and I can tell you that somethin’ ’bout this creature got through to you, and that somethin’ might end up bein’ his redemption.”
“Only if he’s strong enough,” Stevie Rae said. “And I don’t know if he is. Far as I know he’s never stood up to his daddy before.”
“Would his daddy approve of you bein’ with him?”
Stevie Rae scoffed, “No dang way.”
“But he’s saved your life twice and Imprinted with you. Baby, to me that says he’s been standing up to his daddy for a while now.”
“No, he did all that while his daddy was, well, let’s just say out of the country. He’s back now, and Rephaim is back to doin’ whatever he wants him to do.”
“Really? How do you know that?”
“He told me today when he—” Stevie Rae’s words broke off and her eyes widened.
Her mama smiled and nodded. “See?”
“Ohmygoodness, you might be right!”
“ ’Course I’m right. I’m your mama.”
“I love you, Mama,” Stevie Rae said.
“And I love you right back, baby girl.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
Rephaim
“I cannot believe you are going to do this,” Kalona said, pacing back and forth across the rooftop balcony of the Mayo.
“I am doing this because it is necessary, it is time, and it is the right thing to do!” Neferet’s voice rose in tempo while she spoke as if she were exploding from the inside out.
“The right thing to do! As if you’re a creature of Light?” Rephaim couldn’t stop the words, nor could he school his voice to sound anything but incredulous.
Neferet rounded on him. She raised her hand. Rephaim could see threads of power quivering in the air around her, absorbing into her skin, crawling beneath it. The sight made his stomach tighten as he remembered the terrible touch of those Dark threads. Automatically, he moved a step back from her.
“Are you questioning me, bird creature?” Neferet looked like she was readying herself to hurl the Darkness at him.
“Rephaim does not question you, just as I do not question you.” His father moved closer to Neferet, stepping between the Tsi Sgili and him as he continued to speak with the calm voice of authority. “We are both simply surprised.”
“It is what Zoey and her allies would least expect me to do. So, even though it sickens me, I will abase myself—temporarily. By doing so I make Zoey impotent. If she so much as whispers against me, she will reveal herself to be the petulant child she really is.”
“I would think you would rather destroy her than humiliate her,” Rephaim said.
Neferet sneered at him and spoke to him as if he were an utter fool. “I have the ability to kill her tonight, but no matter how I orchestrated it, I would be implicated. Even those dotards on the High Council would be compelled to come here—to watch me, and to interfere with my plans. No, I am not ready for that, and until I am, I want Zoey Redbird gagged and put back in her place. She is a mere fledgling; she will be treated as such from here on out. And as I am taking care of Zoey I will also be revisiting her little group of friends—especially the one who calls herself the first red High Priestess.” Neferet’s laughter was mocking. “Stevie Rae? A High Priestess? I intend to reveal what she really is.”
“And what is that?” Rephaim had to ask, though he kept his voice level, his expression as blank as he could make it.
“She is a vampyre who has known, and even embraced, Darkness.”
“Ultimately she chose Light,” Rephaim said, and realized that he’d spoken much too quickly when Neferet’s eyes narrowed.
“But the fact that Darkness has touched her changes her forever,” Kalona said.
Neferet smiled sweetly at Kalona. “You are so very right, my Consort.”
“Couldn’t knowing the touch of Darkness have a strengthening effect on the Red One?” Rephaim was unable to stop himself from asking.
“Of course it has. The Red One is a powerful vampyre, if young and inexperienced, which is exactly why she could be of excellent use to us,” Kalona said.
“I believe there is even more to Stevie Rae than she has shown to her little friends. I saw her when she was in Darkness. She reveled in it,” Neferet said. “I say we need to watch her and see what is beneath that bright, innocent exterior.” Neferet enunciated the words sarcastically.
“As you wisssssh,” Rephaim said, and was disgusted that the anger Neferet caused within him had him hissing like an animal.
Neferet stared at him. “I sense a change in you.”
Rephaim forced himself to continue to meet her eyes steadily. “In my father’s absence I was closer to death and Darkness than ever before during my long life. If you sense a change within me, perhaps that is it.”
“Perhaps,” Neferet said slowly. “And perhaps not. Why is it that I suspect you might not be entirely pleased your father and I have returned to Tulsa?”
Rephaim held himself very still so that the Tsi Sgili would not see the hate and anger that were flooding his body. “I am my father’s favored son. As always, I stand beside him. The days he was absent from me were the darkest of my life.”
“Really? How very terrible for you,” Neferet said sarcastically. Then she dismissively turned from him to face Kalona. “Your favored son’s words remind me—where are the rest of the creatures you call your children? Surely a handful of fledglings and nuns didn’t manage to kill them all.”
Kalona’s jaw clenched and unclenched and his eyes blazed amber. Recognizing that his father was struggling to control his anger, Rephaim spoke up quickly. “I have surviving brothers. I saw them flee when you and my father were banished.”
Neferet’s eyes narrowed. “I am banished no more.”
No more, Rephaim thought, meeting her gaze without so much as a blink, but a handful of fledglings and nuns
did manage it once.
Again, Kalona drew her attention from him. “The others are not like Rephaim. They need help to hide in the city without being detected. They must have found safe places to nest farther from civilization.” When he spoke, his anger only bubbled under the surface of his words and did not boil over, though Rephaim wondered at how blind Neferet had become. Did she really believe she was so powerful that she could continually bait an ancient immortal without paying the consequence of his wrath?
“Well, we’re back. They should be here. They’re aberrations of nature, but they do have their uses. During the daylight hours they can stay in there, far away from my bedchamber.” She waved toward the lush penthouse suite. “At night they can lurk out here and await my orders.”
“You mean my orders.” Kalona hadn’t raised his voice, but the power that rumbled through it drew prickles of gooseflesh up and down Rephaim’s arms. “My sons only obey me. They are bound to me through blood and magick and time. I alone control them.”
“Then I assume you can control getting them here?”
“Yes.”
“Well, summon them or have Rephaim herd them here, or whatever it is you do. I can’t be expected to take care of everything.”
“As you wish,” Kalona said, echoing Rephaim’s earlier statement.
“Now I’m going to go abase myself before a school full of lesser beings because you did not keep Zoey Redbird from returning to this realm.” Her eyes looked like green ice. “And that is why you now obey only me. Be here when I return.” Neferet left the balcony. Her long cloak should have caught in the door she slammed behind her, but at the last moment it rippled and skittered closer to the Tsi Sgili’s body, lapping around her ankles like a sticky pool of tar.
Rephaim faced his father, the ancient immortal he’d been serving faithfully for centuries. “How can you allow her to speak to you like that? To use you like that? She called my brothers aberrations of nature, but it is she who is the true monster!” Rephaim knew he shouldn’t have spoken to his father like that, but he couldn’t help himself. Seeing the proud and powerful Kalona being ordered around like a servant was unbearable.