Hidden

by P. C. Cast

CHAPTER ELEVEN

  Zoey

  "Me? Z, you're not making any sense," Stark said.

  "I know, I know. I'm sorry. It's just that it kinda felt like I was creeping on you when I did it because you were sleeping, and I only did it because it was back when you were having trouble sleeping, and it was actually mostly an accident, so I never said anything to you, and now it seems like I could have made the whole thing up," I finished in a rush.

  "Zoey, I can listen in on your emotions. That's way more creeper-like than you peeking through a stone at me while I'm asleep. Plus, you're right. My sleep had been really jacked up. I don't blame you for checking me out with the stone. Just tell me what you saw. "

  "I saw a shadow over you. I remember thinking that it looked like a ghost Warrior. You opened your hand and the Guardian Sword appeared. Then the ghost-shadow guy grabbed it and it turned into a spear. I think it was bloody. It scared me, so I called spirit and chased the thing away. You woke up then and we uh. . . " My face felt hot. "Well, we made love and I forgot about it. "

  "Z, I like to think I'm good in bed and all, but even so, how the hell could you forget about seeing a ghost guy with a spear hanging out over me?"

  "Seriously, Stark. Right after that we walked into what Stevie Rae called one hot mess of bullpoopie here at the House of Night. I was busy. " I crossed my arms and glared at him. "Wait, I didn't totally forget about it. I told Lenobia about the shadow guy. "

  "Great, so a professor knows but I didn't know. "

  "You do now. "

  "Well, what did Lenobia say about it?"

  "Basically she told me to keep my eyes open here in the real world, versus gawking through the stone, which is what I did until last night when I saw Heath," I said.

  "Look through it at me again. "

  "Now?"

  "Now. "

  "Fine. " I lifted the Seer Stone, took a deep breath, and peeked through it at him.

  "Well? How do I look?"

  "Grumpy. "

  "And?"

  "Annoying. "

  "Nothing else?"

  "Maybe kinda cute. But only maybe. " I put the stone back under my shirt. "Totally just you. I didn't think I'd see anything. The stone wasn't hot. "

  "It gets hot?"

  "Yep, sometimes. " I chewed my lip and thought about it. "That's actually why I looked through it at you the first time. It got warm. "

  "Was it warm when you looked through it at Aurox?" he asked.

  "No, but I knew I had to look through it. It was like I was compelled to," I said. "And it'd been warm before when Aurox was around. "

  "Fucking old magick. It's a pain in the ass," he said. "You'd think there'd at least be a playbook that had the rules for it listed somewhere, but no. "

  "I should call Sgiach. I mean, she gave me the stone. She deals with old magick. Maybe she'd be able to give me some guidelines. "

  He gave a little snort. "Didn't you ask her for that on Skye?"

  "Yeah," I said.

  "If I remember right, she didn't give you any real answers. "

  "You remember right. She did say that she thought the only old magick left on this earth was on Skye. "

  "She was wrong," Stark said.

  "Yeah, definitely. "

  "You know what I think?"

  Stark moved close to me again and put his arm around me. I rested my head against his shoulder and slid my arm around his waist and said, "That I'm Crazy Town?"

  He grinned and kissed my forehead. "You're not Crazy Town. You're Crazy Metropolis. Hell, Z, you're Crazy Universe. But I like me some crazy. "

  "Now you sound like Stevie Rae. " We smiled at each other, relaxing back into the foundation of our relationship-our commitment to each other-our belief in each other. "So, what were you going to say? What do you think?"

  "I think that I'm done with deciding what I'm going to do because of what other people say. Especially adult other people who hand us mysteries, or drop us off in the middle of a shitstorm without giving us any real help," he said.

  "Yeah, I get that. I've been feeling like that since Neferet lost her mind and I was the only one who knew it. "

  "Okay, so, let's figure this old magick stuff out ourselves. Z, you have an affinity for all five elements. No one can even remember the last time that happened. You're a different kind of fledgling-a different kind of High Priestess. You're a young warrior queen, and I'm your Guardian. Together there's nothing we can't take on. " His cocky smile was back. "We took on the Otherworld and won. "

  "Yeah, except for the part about you dying and all," I reminded him.

  "Just a small detail. It turned out okay. "

  I squeezed him, pressing myself against his strong side. "It turned out better than okay. " He kissed me and I drew strength from his taste and his touch and his love. Maybe Stark was right. Maybe there wasn't anything we couldn't take on together. I sighed happily and snuggled against him.

  "Let's go to the stables. " Stark jerked his chin forward at the long building not far from us.

  "I guess we should. I'll bet Erin's there. Even from here I can see it looks soggy. "

  "Actually, I haven't seen Erin in a while. " Stark shrugged. "Maybe that's because the stables are really better off than you'd think. Most of the damage was from smoke. All that really burned was a bunch of hay and bedding and one stall. "

  "Persephone's fine, right?" Twining my fingers through his, we started walking slowly toward the stables, letting our arms and hips brush against each other.

  "She's good. All of the horses are good. Well, except Bonnie. She's acting pretty nervous. Lenobia put her in a turn-out with Mujaji to settle her down. Apparently the two of them get along. Which reminds me, a bunch of fledglings said they saw Lenobia kissing Travis before the EMTs took him away," Stark said.

  My eyes got giant. "Seriously? I can't wait till Aphrodite and Stevie Rae hear that!"

  Stark chuckled. "Stevie Rae already has-via Kramisha, who is telling everybody. " He bumped my shoulder with his. "All that time you spent at the tree made you miss out on some good gossip. "

  I looked up at him, confused. "All that time? I was only there for, like, a minute. "

  Stark stopped. "What time do you think it is right now?"

  I shrugged. "I dunno. I'd have to look at my phone, but we got to Thanatos's room at seven-thirty. We were probably there half an hour or less, so it couldn't be any later than eight-thirty-ish. "

  "Zoey, it's eleven-thirty. We only have time to meet everyone at the stables and then go to Dragon's funeral pyre. "

  All of my insides went cold. "Stark, I lost more than three hours!"

  "Yeah, you did, and I don't like it. Give me your word that you won't look through that damn stone again unless I'm with you. "

  I was freaked enough not to argue with him. "You got it. I'm totally giving you my word. I'm not looking through that thing unless you're with me. "

  His shoulders relaxed and he gave me a quick kiss. "Thanks, Z. Something that can steal time from you is Not Good. " He gave the last two words special emphasis. "I know Sgiach said old magick could be good or bad, but I don't care which one it is if it takes without asking. "

  "I know. I know. " We'd starting walking again, but I kept a tight hold on his hand. "No wonder I felt like I was going to have a heart attack. I'd been stuck standing there, staring at those disgusting, smelly things for hours. " I shuddered.

  "It's okay. We're going to figure out this old magick crap. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. "

  Stark squeezed my hand and I squeezed back. I wanted to believe him. I did believe in him-his strength and his love. It was the other side that I was worried about. The unknown side that Darkness sat squarely in the middle of. It kept creeping up and picking off people I loved.

  I was thinking about how much I didn't want to lose anyone else when the stupid Seer Stone began heating up. I stopped, pulling Stark
to a halt with me. I pressed my hand over the spot it was warming on my chest.

  "What?" he asked.

  "It's getting hot. "

  "Why?"

  "Stark, I have no clue. You're supposed to be helping me figure that out, remember?"

  "Okay, right. Yeah. We can do this. " He started looking around. "So, let's figure it out. "

  "How?"

  "Well, I'm thinking," he said.

  I sighed and tried to think, too. We'd stopped under one of the big trees just outside the perimeter of the east side of the stables. I glanced up quickly, suddenly worried about lurking things with no eyes and sewn shut mouths. But there was nothing above us. Actually, it was really peaceful around us. All I could think of was that there was nothing to think of. Voices drifted to us from the stables and I could hear equipment and stuff running-like tractors and whatnot were being used to drag things away and clear up the debris. I heard the sound of another motor, this one coming from somewhere behind us and getting closer.

  "That's weird," Stark said, looking back over my shoulder. "Taxis don't come here. "

  I followed his gaze and saw the beat-up, maroon-colored car with boxy black letters spelling TAXI on the side of it. Stark was right. It was super weird to see a taxi at the House of Night. Hell, Tulsa wasn't exactly known for its awesome taxi service. I mentally shrugged-the Midtown trolley was cooler anyway.

  Then Lenobia stepped from the side entrance to the stables and practically ran to the car. She opened the back door and reached down to help guide the tall, bandaged cowboy out. The taxi sped away. Travis and Lenobia just stood there looking at each other.

  My Seer Stone felt like it was going to burn a hole in my shirt. I pulled it out and held it away from my skin. I didn't say anything, though. Stark and I were too busy staring at Travis and Lenobia. They weren't real close to us, but still it felt like an invasion of their privacy to be gawking at them-even though we kept standing there gawking at them.

  Then it hit me. I bumped Stark's arm and, keeping my voice low, said, "The stone got super hot as soon as Travis got out of the cab. "

  Stark looked from Travis and Lenobia to the stone and then to me. He put a firm hand on my shoulder and said, "Do it. Look through the stone at him. I've got you. I'm not going to let anything happen to you. If something tries to suck time from you I'm going to stop it. "

  I nodded and, like ripping off a Band-Aid in one quick pull, I lifted the Seer Stone, framing Travis and Lenobia within its circle.

  It started like what happened at the tree, at first my vision of the two of them remained exactly the same. I watched Lenobia's hands fluttering nervously over Travis's bandaged hands. They looked like big white mittens, and I could see that the gauze wraps went up his forearms. Even from where we stood, his face looked abnormally red and shiny, like he'd gotten a bad sunburn and had put a bunch of aloe gel on it. But he didn't look like he was in pain. He was smiling. A lot. At Lenobia. I was getting ready to drop the Seer Stone and tell Stark that I was, indeed, Crazy Universe, when Travis bent and kissed Lenobia.

  Everything changed then. There was a brightness that caused me to blink and when my sight cleared Travis was gone. In his place was a really hot, young, black guy. He had long hair that was pulled back in a low ponytail and shoulders so broad he looked like a linebacker. He was kissing Lenobia as if it were his last kiss in the world. And she was kissing him back-only it was a different Lenobia. She looked young, like she was only sixteen or so. She wrapped her arms around him like she'd never let go. All around them the air wavered and shimmered, like I was watching them over the top of a bubbling pot. Only instead of steam rising, I swear there were robin's egg blue spirits of happiness flitting around them. The happiness swelled within me and started bubbling, as if the pot was my head and the water my emotions. The ground fell away beneath my feet. I was floating in joy and love and blue bubbles.

  Then my head got real dizzy and my stomach totally rebelled.

  "Zoey! Stop! That's enough. Put! It! Down!"

  I realized Stark was yelling at me and pulling at the Seer Stone. I felt the earth under my feet again. The blue bubbles evaporated and the joy went away, leaving me sick and drained and super shaky. I dropped the Seer Stone in time to bend over and puke beside the tree.

  "You're okay. You're okay. I got you, Z. Everything's fine. " Stark was holding my hair back while I continued to retch and heave up my guts.

  "Stark? Zoey?" Lenobia was coming toward us, sounding breathless and worried. I could hear Travis close behind her asking what was wrong. I couldn't answer, though. I was too busy barfing.

  "Zoey! Oh, Goddess, no!" Lenobia's concern skyrocketed when she realized I was puking.

  "She's not rejecting the Change. She's okay," Stark reassured her while I took yet another tissue he offered me and wiped my mouth. Finally done puking I leaned against the tree, embarrassed and grossed out. I seriously hate to puke.

  "Then what is it? Why are you sick?"

  With Stark on one side and Lenobia on the other, they guided me to a wrought iron bench that wasn't far away from the big tree (but far enough away so that we wouldn't smell my puke-eesh).

  "Should I get someone?" Travis asked.

  "No," I said quickly. "I'm fine. I'm better now that I'm sitting. " I glanced at Stark questioningly. He nodded. "Whatever you saw, tell her. We trust her. "

  I looked from him to Lenobia. "And you trust Travis?"

  She didn't hesitate. "With my life. "

  The big cowboy smiled and stepped closer to her. Their shoulders touched.

  "Okay, what happened is my Seer Stone started heating up. When Travis got out of the car it got really hot. Stark was here, so we decided I should look through it at, well, you guys and see if that would help me start to understand what it shows me. So I looked through it at you two. "

  "Seer Stone?" Travis asked. He didn't sound freaked out at all. He just sounded curious.

  "It's an old magick amulet given to Zoey by an ancient vampyre queen," Lenobia explained. "What did you see?"

  "Well, nothing but you two until you kissed. " I smiled sheepishly. "Sorry for watching you while you were kissing. "

  Travis smiled and put a bandaged arm around Lenobia's shoulders. "If I have my way about it, little missy, you'll be seein' a whole lot me of me kissin' this pretty girl. "

  I waited for Lenobia to strike him dead with her death-ray vision. Instead she looked adoringly up at him, pressed her hand to his chest over his heart, and rested her head, carefully, against his shoulder. Then she repeated, "What did you see when we were kissing?"

  "Travis turned into a big black guy and you turned into a younger version of yourself. And all around you there were these wispy, bubbly, happy things that were blue. I'm pretty sure they were sprites of some sort. " My eyes widened. "Actually, now that I think about it, the bubbles reminded me of the ocean. Huh. Weird. Anyway, I got all caught up in it, like it lifted me from the earth and put me in a happy blue ocean bubble. Sorry. I know that sounds crazy. " I held my breath, waiting for Lenobia to laugh and Travis to scoff.

  They didn't do either. Instead, Lenobia began to cry. I mean, seriously. She did the big, shoulder-shaking, snot bawl that I tend to be prone to. Travis just held her closer to him. He looked down at her as if she was a miracle personified. "I've known you before. That's why you feel like home to me. "

  Lenobia nodded. Then, through her tears, she told me, "Travis is my only human mate, my only love, returned to me after two hundred and twenty-four years. I vowed never to love another after him, and I have not. We met and fell in love on the ocean in a ship that carried us from France to New Orleans. "

  "So the Seer Stone showed me the truth?"

  "Yes, Zoey. It absolutely did," Lenobia said before she turned her face into Travis's chest and wept while he held her, releasing two centuries of waiting and loss and pain.

  I stood and took Stark's hand again,
pulling him away so that the two of them could be alone. As we walked into the stables he said, "This does not mean Aurox is Heath come back to you. You know that, right?"

  Stevie Rae saved me by rushing up and gushing, "Ohmygoodness! Where have you been? I can't wait to tell you 'bout Lenobia and Travis. "

  "Been there. Done that," Stark said. "Where are Aphrodite and Darius?"

  "They're already in front of Nyx's Temple at the funeral pyre," Stevie Rae said. "We're meeting them there real soon. "

  "I'll go find Erin and Shaunee and Damien. We need to get going. "

  "What's up with him?" Stevie Rae asked, watching Stark stride away.

  "Heath may really be inside Aurox," I said.

  Stevie Rae echoed my thoughts exactly by saying, "Ah, hell!"