Hunted hon-5

by P. C. Cast

  “Go!” he cried as we galloped past him, “And may Nyx bless you!”

  The gate was open, Dragon’s doing I was sure. We surged through, turned to the right, and galloped down deserted, icy Utica Street.

  At the Twenty-first Street light, which was not working, we turned the horses to the right, positioned them in the middle of the street, and gave them their heads.

  Midtown Tulsa had turned into a frozen ghost of itself. If I hadn’t been focused and hadn’t been absolutely sure our horses were in a flat gallop down Twenty-first Street, I would have thought we were utterly lost in a strange, postapocalyptic ice world. There was nothing in the least bit familiar around me. No lights. No cars moving. No people. Cold and darkness and ice reigned. The beautiful old trees of midtown were shrouded in so much ice that many of them had literally splintered down the middle. Power lines were down, snaking across the street like lazy vipers. The horses paid no attention to them. They leaped over downed limbs and lines, their flame-heated hoofs slicing through the ice to strike sparks against the surprised pavement.

  And then, above the din of striking hoofs and the hiss of flame on ice, I heard the terrible flapping of wings and the cry of first one and then another and another Raven Mocker.

  “Darius,” I yelled. “Raven Mockers!”

  He looked behind us and up, and nodded grimly. Then he did something that completely shocked me. Out of his jacket pocket he pulled a black gun. I’d never seen any of the Sons of Erebus carry modern weapons, and it looked completely out of place in his hand. He said something to Aphrodite, who was pressed against his back. She slid to the side a little, allowing him to swivel around. He lifted his arm, sighted, and squeezed off half a dozen shots. The sound was deafening in the frozen night, but not half as eerie as what followed it—the screams of wounded Raven Mockers and the thud! crash! of bodies as they fell from the sky.

  “There!” Shaunee cried, pointing in front of us and to the right. “I see flames!”

  At first I didn’t see anything, and then through a stand of ice-enslaved trees I caught sight of first one and then another and another candle-flickering welcoming light. Was that it? Was that the Benedictine Abbey? Visibility was terrible, and everything was so disorienting and dark, that I couldn’t tell if it was the abbey or just one of the houses-turned-plastic surgeon offices that lined this part of the street.

  Concentrate! If it’s a place of power, I should be able to feel it.

  I breathed deep and reached out with my instinct, and I felt it—the unmistakable draw that came from the combined power of spirit and earth.

  “That’s it!” I yelled. “That’s the abbey!”

  We yanked our horses’ heads to the right and plunged off the road, through a ditch, and then up an embankment dotted with trees. The horses had to slow to dodge around fallen limbs and dead, downed power lines, and then we popped through the trees and into a clearing. Directly in front of us was a huge old oak. Its lower branches were filled with little glass cages holding cheerily burning candles. There was a carport farther behind the tree, and beyond it I could just make out the looming hulk of the brick building that was the Benedictine Abbey, or at least I could make out its windows, because there were candles lit in each one of them.

  “Okay, you guys can lay off the elements now and let things calm down.” The Twins and Damien whispered to their elements, and the madness of the storm began to quiet to a cold, cloudy night.

  “Whoa!” I called, and our obedient, loyal mares skidded to a stop just before an awe-inspiring figure clothed in a dark robe and wimple.

  “Hello, child. I heard you were coming,” she said, smiling up at me.

  I slid from Persephone’s back and threw myself into her arms. “Sister Mary Angela! I am so glad to see you!”

  “As I am glad to see you, too,” she said. “But, child, perhaps we should put off our hellos until we’ve dealt with the dark creatures filling the trees behind you.”

  I spun around in time to see dozens of Raven Mockers landing in the trees. Except for the sounds of their wings they were absolutely silent, and their red eyes glowed like watching demons.

  “Well, hell!” I said.

  CHAPTER 33

  “Language,” Sister Mary Angela said serenely.

  Darius had already dismounted and was helping Aphrodite and the Twins down. Damien hadn’t waited for help, but dismounted almost as quickly as I had, and was standing beside me.

  “Priestess,” Darius addressed Sister Mary Angela, “you don’t, by any chance, keep firearms at the abbey, do you?”

  Her laughter sounded completely out of place yet utterly comforting. “Oh, Warrior, of course we do not.”

  “There aren’t enough of us to fight them, but we have the circle,” Darius said as he studied the bird-filled trees. “If you stay within it, you stay safe.”

  Darius was right, of course. Our circle was intact. Though weirdly off center, the silver thread that bound us together still glowed between us.

  “I will run back to the House of Night and bring help,” Darius said.

  I heard the frustration in his voice. What help was he going to bring? I hadn’t seen any of his brother warriors since we’d entered the school grounds. Dragon was great with a sword, but even he wouldn’t be a match for all of these Raven Mockers. The trees that bordered the Twenty-first Street side of the abbey were filled with the dark shapes. Already groaning under the burden of ice, the additional weight of the Raven Mockers was more stress than many of them could bear, and the cracking and breaking of limbs was as terrible as the birds’ mocking cries.

  “Hey, I hear y’all need some help out here.”

  In my entire life, I had never been so happy to hear any voice as I was at that moment to hear Stevie Rae’s Okie twang. I hugged her hard, not caring about the secrets she was keeping from me in the joy of seeing her safe. Breathing a sigh of relief, I saw the red fledglings step out of the darkness behind her.

  “They is nasty!” Kramisha said, squidging up her face at the Raven Mockers.

  “Let’s kick their asses,” Johnny B said, looking all testosterone-filled and muscle-y.

  “They’re nasty alright, but they aren’t doing anything except watching us,” said another familiar voice.

  “Erik!” I cried. Smiling, Stevie Rae let go of me, and Erik pulled me into his strong arms.

  There was a blur to my right and Jack launched himself at Damien.

  I looked up at Erik, and even in the middle of the mess we were in, I wished it could be simple and easy between the two of us. For that instant I did wish it could just be Erik and me, instead of Erik and Stark and Kalona and Heath…

  “Heath?” I asked, stepping out of his embrace.

  Erik sighed and jerked his chin back at the abbey building. “He’s in there. He’s fine.”

  I smiled a little sheepishly and didn’t know what to say.

  “Zoey, Kalona will be here soon. The reason the Raven Mockers aren’t attacking is because we’re not trying to get away anymore. They’re just keeping watch on us for him. Do not forget what you have to do,” Darius’s voice broke through the new awkwardness between Erik and me.

  I nodded and turned to Sister Mary Angela. “Kalona will follow us here. Remember I told you he’s immortal?”

  “A fallen angel,” she said, nodding.

  “And remember I told you about our High Priestess? Well, she’s gone bad for sure, and I’m sure she’ll be with him. They’re equally dangerous.”

  “I understand.”

  “So, he can’t be killed, but I do think I know how to chase him away from here and, hopefully, Neferet will go with him. But I’ll need your help.”

  “Whatever I have is yours,” Sister Mary Angela said.

  “Good. What I need is you,” I told her, then I turned to Stevie Rae, “And you.”

  Aphrodite stepped up beside me. “And me,” she said.

  “And I need Grandma. I know it’s going to be hard fo
r her, but I need her out here, or at least wherever it is that’s the center of this power I feel around us.”

  “Kramisha, child, would you get Stevie Rae’s grandmother?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” Kramisha said, and hurried away.

  “Mary’s Grotto is the seat of our power.” Sister Mary Angela pointed behind me and to the side of where we were standing—a place that was between us, the northwesternmost edge of the neatly cut lawn, and the monster-filled grove of trees.

  I turned to see what she was pointing at and gasped in surprise, wondering how I hadn’t noticed it before now. It was the biggest shrine I’d ever seen. It was made of large pieces of Oklahoma sandstone. Each stone had been chosen carefully to fit snugly against its neighbors. It was bowl-like in shape, reminding me of pictures I’d seen of famous outdoor theaters. There was a bench sitting protected inside it, as well as several natural rock ledges running around the curved inside at various places, and every available surface was covered with candles, so that the entire shrine was glazed in candlelight and ice. As I walked toward it, I looked at its gracefully arched top, which stretched several feet over my head, and sucked in my breath. There, nestled toward the top of the structure, was the most beautiful statue of Mary I’d ever seen. Her face was serene in prayer, almost smiling as she looked up. And at her feet a riot of gorgeous roses twined around her as if they had given birth to her. I studied Mary’s face and felt my heart give a little stutter beat. I recognized this Mary. How could I not? She’d appeared to me just days before in the form of my Goddess.

  “I can feel the power of this place,” Aphrodite said.

  “Wow, that statue of Mary is really, really pretty,” Jack said. He and Damien were holding hands and gazing up.

  “Check out the sidewalk—it’s perfect,” Stevie Rae said.

  I looked down. The sidewalk that led from where we’d left the horses changed when it reached the front of the shrine. Here it got lots bigger and formed a circle. I grinned at Stevie Rae. “It’s definitely perfect.”

  “What is it you need us to do, Zoey?” Sister Mary Angela asked, but before I could answer, the roar of an engine pulled everyone’s attention back to the bird-infested trees and the road beyond.

  With growing fear, I watched the big black Hummer, the very one I’d been taken back to the school in, leave the road. Gunning its engine, the vehicle lurched down the ditch, then up the other side and made its growling way through the grove of trees, causing the Raven Mockers to beat their wings and croak in a frenzy of encouragement.

  “Sister, stay close to me,” I said. “Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, I need you beside me, too.”

  “We’re here,” Aphrodite said as Erik and Darius stepped out of the way and the two of them moved into position beside me.

  “I need Grandma,” I said.

  “She’s coming. Do not fear,” Sister Mary Angela said.

  Finally, the Hummer rolled to a stop, so close to the horses that they snorted at it and backed away until they were standing under the carport. The doors to the vehicle opened, and Kalona and Neferet stepped out together. She was wearing all black—a floor-sweeping silk dress with a neckline that plunged to expose the onyx winged pendant resting between her breasts. A dark aura pulsed around her, making her thick hair lift and move around her shoulders.

  “Holy shit,” Aphrodite whispered.

  “Yeah, I know,” I said grimly.

  Kalona strode at her side. He was wearing black pants and nothing else. As he moved away from the Hummer with Neferet, his wings rustled and opened a little, showing just a hint of their magnificence.

  “Oh, blessed Mary!” Beside me Sister Mary Angela gasped.

  “Don’t look in his eyes!” I whispered to her. “He can have a hypnotic effect on people. Don’t let him get to you.”

  She hesitated, studying the winged man, and then said, “He does not draw me, but I do pity him. He has certainly fallen.”

  “How old does he look to you?” I couldn’t help asking her.

  “Ancient. Older than the earth.”

  I didn’t have time to tell her he looked about eighteen to me; it was then that the driver got out of the Hummer and joined Kalona and Neferet. The driver was Stark. His eyes found mine instantly, and ever so slightly, he bowed his head to me.

  I heard Stevie Rae’s quick intake breath of surprise and the movement of the red fledglings behind us.

  “That’s the kid that shot me, isn’t it?” she said.

  “Yes,” I said.

  “He’s Changed,” Stevie Rae said. “He’s a red vampyre.”

  “He’s also a fucking rat,” Aphrodite muttered, then hastily added, “Sorry, Sister.”

  “Do not trust him, Zoey.” Darius’s voice came from directly behind me. “You see where he has placed his allegiance.”

  “Darius,” I said sternly, without turning to look at him. “You need to trust me, and that means trust my judgment.”

  “Sometimes your judgment is wacked,” Erin said.

  “Not when I’m listening to Nyx,” I said.

  “Are you listening now?” Shaunee said.

  I stared at Stark, trying to see any hint of darkness around him. There was nothing—just Stark and the way his eyes met mine steadily. “I am absolutely listening to Nyx. Now, form the circle up around us.” Instantly the Twins and Damien moved out of the crowd behind me. Damien walked to the eastern edge of the cement circle. I felt rather than saw Shaunee move into place behind me, and Erin situated herself on our left. For a second I was concerned that I would have to step away from Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, and Sister Mary Angela and take earth’s place, but then I realized that Mary’s Grotto was firmly positioned in the north, and that the beautiful silver thread that bound our circle now included her shrine.

  “You cannot maintain that circle for eternity,” Kalona said as he walked slowly toward our little group. “I, on the other hand, can maintain my pursuit of you for eternity.”

  “My fledglings,” Neferet said, walking beside Kalona and, except for the darkness that throbbed around her, she looked beautiful and serene and very High Priestess-like. “You have allowed Zoey’s misguided quest for power to put you in a perilous situation, but it is not too late for you. You need simply to renounce her, close the circle, and you will be accepted back in the bosom of your High Priestess.”

  “If there wasn’t a nun here, I’d tell you what you could do with your nasty bosom,” Aphrodite said.

  “Zoey isn’t the one who’s turned away from Nyx,” Erin said.

  “Yeah, we all know you have. It’s just that Zoey was the first to know it,” Shaunee said.

  “See how her evil words have tainted your judgment?” Neferet sounded sad and very reasonable.

  “And what has tainted my judgment?” Sister Mary Angela spoke up from beside me. “I barely know this child. Her words could not taint me, could not make me imagine the darkness I sense radiating from you.”

  Neferet’s calm façade cracked as she scoffed at the nun. “Human woman, you are a fool! Of course you sense darkness from me. My Goddess is Night personified!”

  Sister Mary Angela’s serenity wasn’t a façade, so her demeanor didn’t change. She simply said, “No, I am acquainted with Nyx, and though she personifies Night, she does not traffic with darkness. Be honest, Priestess, and admit you have broken with your Goddess for that creature.” The nun’s hand swept toward Kalona, causing the dark folds of her habit to billow gracefully. “Nephilium, I recognize you. And in Our Lady’s name I speak words you already know: You should leave this place and return to the realm whence you fell. Repent, and perhaps you may still be allowed to know eternity in paradise.”

  “Do not speak to him, woman!” Neferet shrieked, all pretense of serenity gone. “He is a god come to earth. You should worship at his feet!”

  Kalona’s laughter was terrible, and it caused the Raven Mockers to hiss as they moved restlessly all around us. “Ladies, do not battle over me. I am a go
d! There is enough of me for all of you to share.” He spoke in response to Neferet and Sister Mary Angela, but his amber eyes stared straight at me.

  “I will never be with you,” I told him, ignoring everyone around us. “My choice will always be for my Goddess, and you are the opposite of everything she stands for.”

  “Do not presume—” Neferet began, but Kalona lifted one hand and cut off her words.

  “A-ya, you misjudge me. Look deep within yourself to the maiden who was created to love me.”

  Something behind me stirred the crowd and I felt a little blip that told me our circle had been crossed, which could only happen if the Goddess herself allowed someone through. I wanted to look back and see who had joined us, but I couldn’t take my eyes from Kalona’s hypnotic gaze.

  Then her hand slid into mine and love broke Kalona’s spell. With a glad cry I glanced down to see Grandma sitting in a wheelchair that Heath had pushed up to me. She looked like she’d been through a war. Her arm was in a cast, and her head was bandaged. Her face was still swollen and discolored with bruises, but her smile was her own, as was the sweet sound of her voice.

  “Did I hear you have need of me, my u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya?”

  I squeezed her hand. “Grandma, I’ll always need you!”

  I glanced back at Heath, who smiled at me. “Kick his butt outta here, Zo,” he said; then he moved back to join Erik and Darius.

  Grandma, meanwhile, had somehow risen to her feet. She took two slow steps forward, staring out at the grove of trees and the Raven Mockers swarmed there.

  “Oh, sons of my mothers’ mothers!” she cried and her voice carried like the sonorous beat of a tribal drum out into the night. “What have you allowed him to make you become? Do you not feel your mothers’ blood? Can you not imagine their hearts breaking for you?”