Destined hon-9

by P. C. Cast

  “No, I’d rather he stayed. I enjoy gazing on my creations.”

  Aurox didn’t know what to say. This creature commanded his attention, but Priestess commanded his body.

  “Creations?” Priestess put a special emphasis on the last part of the word as she moved languidly toward the massive bull. “Do you often make gifts like this to your followers?”

  The bull’s laughter was terrible, but Aurox noticed Priestess didn’t flinch at all—that instead she seemed to be drawn closer and closer to the creature as he spoke.

  “How interesting! You are actually questioning me. Are you jealous, my heartless one?”

  Priestess stroked the bull’s horn. “Do I need to be?”

  The bull nuzzled her. Where his muzzle touched Priestess the silk of her gown shriveled, exposing smooth, naked flesh underneath.

  “Tell me, what do you believe is the purpose of my gift to you?” The bull answered Priestess’s question with one of his own.

  Priestess blinked and shook her head, as if she was confused. Then her gaze found Aurox, still on his knees. “My lord, his purpose is protection, and I am ready to do as you bid to thank you for him.”

  “I will accept your lush offerings, but I must explain to you that Aurox is not simply a weapon of protection. Aurox has one purpose, and that is to create chaos.”

  Priestess inhaled a deep, shocked breath. She blinked rapidly, and her gaze went from the bull to him, and then returned to the bull.

  “Truly?” she asked in a soft, reverent voice. “Through this one creature I can command chaos?”

  The bull’s white eyes were like a sick, setting moon. “Truly. He is, indeed, one creature, but his power is vast. He has the ability to leave disaster in his wake. He is the Vessel that is the manifestation of your deepest dreams, and are they not for utter and complete chaos?”

  “Yes, oh yes,” Priestess breathed the words. She leaned against the bull’s neck, stroking his side.

  “Ah, and what is it you will do with chaos now that it is at your command? Will you take down the cities of humans and rule as vampyre queen?”

  Priestess’s smile was beautiful and horrible. “Not queen. Goddess.”

  “Goddess? But there is a Goddess of Vampyres. You know that all too well. You used to be in her service.”

  “You mean Nyx? The Goddess who allows her minions free choice and a will of their own? The Goddess who will not intercede because she believes so strongly in the myth of freewill?”

  Aurox thought he could hear a smile in the beast’s voice, and wondered how that was possible. “I do mean Nyx, Goddess of Vampyres and Night. Would you use chaos to challenge her?”

  “No. I would use chaos to defeat her. What if chaos threatens the very fabric of the world? Would Nyx not step in and defy her own rules to save her children? And by doing so wouldn’t the Goddess rescind her edict that grants humans freewill and betray herself? What would happen then to her divine reign if Nyx changes what is destined to be?”

  “I cannot say, as that has never before happened.” The bull snorted as if in amusement. “But it is a surprisingly interesting question—and you know how much I enjoy being surprised.”

  “I only hope that I can continue to surprise you over and over again, my lord.”

  “Only is such a small word…” the bull said.

  Aurox continued to kneel on the rooftop long after Priestess and the bull had departed, leaving him discarded and forgotten. He stayed where he had been left, staring up at the sky.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Zoey

  “A short bus? Really?” All I could do was shake my head and stare at the squatty yellow thing that said HOUSE OF NIGHT in fresh black letters across its side. “I mean, it’s nice that my call to Thanatos worked so fast and we’re being allowed to go back to school, but a short bus?”

  “Twin! They sent the retard bus for us!” Erin said, giggling.

  “Twin, that’s really mean,” Shaunee said.

  “I know, Twin. I can’t believe Neferet’s so f-ing evil she sent the retard bus for us,” Erin continued.

  “No, I don’t mean Neferet’s being mean. I mean it’s mean to say retard,” Shaunee explained, rolling her eyes at her Twin.

  “I think Shaunee’s correct, and you should consider expanding your vocabulary. You’re using mean too many times; it’s redundant,” Damien said.

  Shaunee, Erin, Stevie Rae, Rephaim, and I stared wide-eyed at Damien. I knew we were all thinking it was great to hear him obsessing about vocabulary again, but we didn’t want to say anything because we were all scared he might burst into tears and retreat back into the soggy depression that had been haunting him since Jack’s death.

  Aphrodite and Darius chose that moment to emerge from the depot’s basement and as per usual, Aphrodite bridged the gap between decorum and disaster by invoking her one tried and true rule: Care About How It Looks.

  “Oh, for shit’s sake. I’m not getting in that. The short bus is for ’tards,” Aphrodite said with a snort and a hair toss.

  “Y’all, it’s not that bad. I mean, obviously it’s a new bus. Check out the fresh black House of Night lettering,” Stevie Rae said.

  “It might as well say Social Suicide,” Aphrodite said, frowning at Stevie Rae.

  “I’m not lettin’ you rain on my parade. I like school,” Stevie Rae said. She stepped up into the bus, grinning at the Son of Erebus Warrior who had, unsmilingly, opened the door for her.

  “Priestess.” He greeted her somberly with a nod, and then, totally ignoring our own Son of Erebus Warrior, Darius, he looked at me and, with even a more clipped nod said, “Zoey, I am to notify you and Stevie Rae that there will be a school Council Meeting, which will convene in a thirty minutes. You are both to attend.”

  “Okay, well, Stark’s letting everyone else know you’re here, so we’ll be ready to leave in just a sec,” I said, smiling at him like his face didn’t look like a storm cloud.

  “Hey, y’all, it still smells new!” Stevie Rae yelled. I could see her short blond curls bobbing as she gawked around inside. Then she popped back out and skipped down the stairs to take Rephaim’s hand and grin up at him. “Wanna sit in the backseat with me? It’s real bouncy!”

  “Seriously,” Aphrodite said. “That bus is perfect for you; you’re a retard. And I hate to be the one to break it to you—oh wait, that’s a lie; I don’t really hate it—but even though the Vamp High Council has clearly put the pressure on Neferet and forced her to bus us back to the House of Night, birdboy is still not welcome there. Did you forget in the afterglow of whatever you two could have been doing in the one-point-two seconds between sunset and now that he wasn’t a bird?”

  I saw Stevie Rae tighten her hand clamp on Rephaim. “I’ll have you know it’s been more than one-point-two seconds since sunset, none of your business what we’ve been doin’, and Rephaim’s goin’ to school. Just like the rest of us.”

  Aphrodite’s blond brows went up to her hairline. “You’re not kidding, are you?”

  “No,” Stevie Rae said firmly. “And you should understand that better than anyone else.”

  “Me? Understand? What in the hell are you talking about?”

  “You’re not a fledgling, red or regular. You’re not a vampyre. You’re maybe not even a human.”

  “’Cause she’s a hag,” I heard Shaunee whisper.

  “From Hell,” Erin whispered back.

  Aphrodite narrowed her eyes at the Twins, but Stevie Rae wasn’t done.

  “Just like Rephaim, you’re something that’s not quite normal, but Nyx has given her blessing to you—even if none of the rest of us understands why the heck she’d do that. Anyway, you’re goin’ to school. I’m goin’ to school. So’s Rephaim. The end.”

  “Stevie Rae has a point,” Stark said as he joined us in the parking lot outside the depot, the rest of the red fledgling kids trailing along behind him. “Neferet’s not gonna like it, but Nyx forgave and blessed Rephaim.”
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br />   “In front of the entire school,” Stevie Rae added quickly.

  “They know that,” Rephaim murmured to her. He looked from her to the rest of us, his gaze finally settling on me. “What do you think?” he surprised me by asking. “Should I try to go to the House of Night, or would that just be causing trouble for no reason?”

  Everyone gawked at me. With a quick glance at the stony-faced Son of Erebus Warrior in the bus, I said, “Uh, would you guys go ahead and get on the bus? I need to talk to my … uh…” I trailed off with a gesture that took in Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, and the rest of my closest friends.

  “Your circle,” Stevie Rae said, smiling at me. “You’re goin’ to talk to your circle.”

  “And their accoutrements,” Damien added, nodding at Aphrodite, Darius, and Kramisha.

  I grinned. “I like that! Okay, would you guys get on the bus while I talk to my circle and their accoutrements, please?”

  “I ain’t sure I like being called accoutrements,” Kramisha said, narrowing her eyes at me.

  “It means—” Stevie Rae began, but Kramisha interrupted her with a shake of her head. “I know what it mean. I’m sayin’ I ain’t sure I like it.”

  “Could you journal about it later and right now shut up and follow Zoey so we can get this over with?” Aphrodite said while Kramisha sucked air and glared. “And for the record,” she pointed at everyone except Darius. “You are a Nerd Herd. I am your token Popular and Perfect.”

  The Twins looked like they were taking verbal aim at Aphrodite so I said, “Guys, focus. Rephaim’s question is important.” Thankfully, that shut everyone up and I motioned for my circle, accoutrements, and Aphrodite to follow me down the sidewalk and out of hearing range as the red fledglings clambered into the bus and I frantically tried to think about Rephaim’s very important question.

  My mind felt mushy. Last night had been awful. I glanced at Stark and felt my cheeks getting warm. Okay, well, not all of it had been awful, but still, hard questions filled my head. I mentally shook myself. I wasn’t just a kid anymore. I was the first Fledgling High Priestess and all these guys looked up to me and expected me to Know the Right Answers (well, to everything except geometry, Spanish translations, and parallel-parking issues).

  Please, Nyx, let me say the right thing. I sent up a quick, silent prayer, then met Rephaim’s gaze and realized suddenly it wasn’t my answer we needed.

  “What do you want?” I asked him.

  “Well, he wants—” Stevie Rae began, but my raised hand silenced my BFF. “No,” I said. “This can’t be what you say Rephaim wants, or even what you want for him. I need Rephaim’s answer. So, what it is? What do you want?” I repeated.

  Rephaim met my gaze steadily. “I want to be normal,” he said.

  Aphrodite snorted. “Sadly, normal plus teenager equals going to stupid school.”

  “School isn’t stupid,” Damian said, and then he turned to Rephaim. “But she’s right about the normal part. Going to school is what normal kids do.”

  “Yep,” Shaunee said.

  “Sucks, but yep,” Erin said. “Although it is an excellent fashion parade.”

  “Right you are, Twin,” Shaunee said.

  “What does that mean?” Rephaim asked Stevie Rae.

  She smiled at him. “Basically that you should be goin’ to school with us.”

  He smiled back at her, love and warmth filling his face. When he looked from Stevie Rae to me, that wonderful expression was still there, and I couldn’t help smiling back at him.

  “If normal means going to school, then that’s what I would really like to do. If it doesn’t cause too much of a problem.”

  “It’ll cause problems, make no mistake about that,” Darius said.

  “You don’t think he should go?” I asked.

  “I did not say that. I agree with you that it is his choice, his decision, but Rephaim, you should understand that it would be easier if you chose to stay here—out of the way—at least until we see what Neferet and Kalona’s next moves will be.”

  I thought I saw Rephaim cringe at the mention of his dad, but he nodded and said, “I do understand, but I’m tired of hiding alone in the darkness.” He looked down at Stevie Rae again and then back at us. “And Stevie Rae may need me.”

  “Okay, you know this whole ‘let’s let the birdboy decide’ and ‘Stevie Rae may need me’ stuff is all real happy-schmappy in theory, but in reality we’re gonna be walking onto a campus where the batshit crazy High Priestess hates us, and will use anything she can to bring us, and by that I mean you specifically, Z, down. Not to mention Dragon, the Leader of the Sons of Erebus Warriors, is definitely not acting right since his mate was killed by the guy we’re bringing back onto campus. Neferet’s going use Rephaim against us. Dragon is going to back her. Shit is going to hit the fan.”

  “Well,” I said. “It won’t be the first time.”

  “Uh, may I say something?” Damien’s hand was raised like he was in class and wanted to be called on.

  “Yes, honey, and you don’t have to raise your hand,” I said.

  “Oh, okay, thanks. What I wanted to say is we need to remember that when Nyx appeared at the House of Night, forgave and blessed Rephaim, she basically gave us permission to include Rephaim in our world. Neferet can’t go against that—at least not openly. And neither can Dragon. How much they don’t like it is beside the point.”

  “But they did go against it,” Stark said. “Neferet asked Dragon if he’d accept Rephaim, and he said no, so she kicked him off campus. Stevie Rae called bullshit on that, and that’s why we all ended up leaving.”

  “Yeah, and just because the High Council managed to pressure Neferet into letting us come back to class, it doesn’t mean we’re really going to be accepted. I can promise you that she and Dragon, and probably a lot of other people aren’t going to be cool with this.” Aphrodite fluttered her fingers at Rephaim.

  Damien spoke before I could say anything. “Well, the truth is neither Neferet nor Dragon can supersede the Goddess’s wishes.”

  “Super what?” Shaunee asked.

  “Seed who?” Erin added.

  “It means to replace,” Stevie Rae explained for Damien. “And that’s a real interestin’ point, Damien. No one can supersede the Goddess, not even a High Priestess.”

  “Can you imagine what the tight-assed High Council would say about that?” Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Litter of kittens—they’d have several litters of flying kittens. Each.”

  I blinked and had the sudden urge to hug Aphrodite. Well, the urge passed quickly, but still.

  “Aphrodite,” I said. “You are a genius! And so is Damien.”

  “Of course I am,” Aphrodite said smugly.

  “You’re going to tell on Neferet and Dragon to the High Council, aren’t you?” Damien said.

  “I think ‘telling on’ them is not the right way to put it. Uh, you have your laptop with you, don’t ya?” I asked.

  Damien patted the man purse slung over his shoulder. “Of course. It’s in my satchel.”

  “Man purse,” Shaunee said.

  “Just sayin’,” Erin added.

  “It’s a European satchel,” Damien said firmly.

  “If it has feathers…” Erin said.

  “And quacks…” Shaunee said.

  “Whatever it is, I’m glad it means you have your computer with you.” I jumped in before Damien could big word them. “You do have Skype downloaded on it, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” he said.

  “Good. I need to borrow it for the Council Meeting, if that’s okay with you?”

  “No problem,” Damien said, raising his brows questioningly at me.

  “What are you thinkin’?” Stevie Rae asked his question for him.

  “Well, when I talked to Thanatos about helping us get back to school, I didn’t mention that little thing about the fact that we’re kinda, sorta branching off with our own House of Night here, but that we’ll still be goi
ng to class and such at our original House of Night.”

  “We’re gonna have to think of a great new name for our place,” Shaunee said.

  “Ooooh! Right you are, Twin,” Erin said.

  “Hey, it’s the depot, so how about the Pot Lot House of Night,” Shaunee said.

  I looked at them. Shook my head and said a firm, “No to the Pot Lot.” Then I went back to my original point. “But I do need to do a whole Skype conference with the Vamp High Council to get permission for what we want to do. A school Council Meeting seems a good time to do that, especially since I’m sure Neferet will love it if I ask that she bear witness to my call.”

  “Z, that sounds like a crap plan. Neferet will love talking to the High Council and figuring out a way to twist everything you say to make you look like Insane Teenager,” Aprodite said.

  “That’s kinda my point,” I said. “I’m not gonna be Insane Teenager. I’m gonna be the Fledgling High Priestess who gives the High Council all the details about the amazing, miraculous gift Nyx has given our Red High Priestess’s Consort, Rephaim, and that he’s super excited to be starting school at the Tulsa House of Night. I’m sure they’ll even want to congratulate Neferet on being such an awesome High Priestess who can handle all the changes going on here.”

  “That’s devious. I like it,” Aphrodite said. “You put Neferet and even Dragon in a position where if they say ‘hell no we’re not accepting the birdboy,’ or even bitch and complain a little about it, they look massively bad—what with Nyx showing up and miracling.”

  “This still isn’t going to be an easy road,” Stark said.

  Rephaim met his gaze steadily. “No matter how rough it is, it’s a better road than the one that leads to darkness and hatred and death. And I think you know exactly what I mean.”

  “I do,” Stark said, returning his gaze unflinchingly.

  “So do I,” Stevie Rae said.

  “Me, too,” I added.

  “We’re in agreement then. Rephaim returns to the House of Night with us,” Darius said.

  “Okay, wait. Does this mean we have to get in the damn short bus?” Aphrodite asked.