“Well, not really more of the vamps,” I explained. “Stevie Rae is the only one who has completely gone through the Change. But there are quite a few fledglings.”
“It makes more sense that it would be one of them,” Damien said.
“Yeah, Stevie Rae is not gonna get mixed up with a bad guy,” Erin said.
“Nope, not a chance,” Shaunee agreed.
Aphrodite just looked at me. She and I didn’t say anything.
“But Zoey said the other kids are, well, gross,” Jack said.
“They are,” Aphrodite said. “They’re like”—she paused, and then her eyes lit up—”they’re like blue collar workers. Eesh.”
“Aphrodite, there is nothing wrong with blue collar workers,” I said, completely exasperated.
“Huh? I hear your words, but you’re making no sense.”
I rolled my eyes. “Okay, the truth is that in actuality, the red fledglings might be disgusting only in Aphrodite’s weird world. I haven’t seen any of them since Stevie Rae Changed, and she’s told me that they’re under control and have their humanity back, so I’m going to try to withhold judgment.”
“Well, whether they’re really gross or just being class-stereotyped by Gossip Girl, I think we need to keep an eye on them,” Damien said. “We need to know what they’re doing. Who they’re talking to. What they’re thinking. If we know all of that, we’ll also know if this demon guy is trying to contact one of them and use him for his nefarious means.”
“Nef—what?” Shaunee said.
“Arious—who?” Erin said.
“It means ‘wicked in the extreme,’ “ Jack whispered to the Twins.
“Well, then it’s a good thing that Stevie Rae and her red fledglings are coming to the ritual tomorrow,” I announced.
My friends gaped at me.
I looked at Aphrodite. She sighed. “I don’t have an earth affinity anymore,” she admitted. Then she reached up and with the back of her hand wiped it across her forehead, smearing the fake sapphire crescent tattoo she’d drawn there. “I’m not a fledgling anymore. I’m human again.”
“Well, she’s not exactly a normal human,” I added. “She still has visions, as is obvious by the prophecy she just copied for us. She’s also still really important to Nyx.” I smiled at Aphrodite. “I heard the Goddess say so.”
“Okay, that’s majorly freaky!” Jack said.
“It’s totally queer,” Shaunee said.
“And she doesn’t mean that in the gay sense,” Erin input.
“So, like Stevie Rae and the red fledglings, Aphrodite is something that’s never been before,” Damien said thoughtfully.
“Looks like it,” I said.
“Things are changing,” Damien said slowly. “The world order is shifting into something new.”
A cold shiver passed through me. “Is that good or bad?”
“I don’t think we can know yet,” he said. “But I think we will know pretty soon.”
“It’s scary,” Jack said.
I looked at my friends. They all seemed frightened and unsure, and I knew this would not do. We had to be strong. We had to stick together and believe in each other.
“I don’t think it’s scary.” When I started saying it, it was a big fat lie. But the more I spoke, the more I began to believe. “Change can be weird, or even
queer.”
I grinned at Damien and Jack, and they smiled hesitatingly back at me. “But change has to happen for things to grow—for us to grow. Hey, if it wasn’t for this change, Stevie Rae would be dead. I remember that when I start feeling overwhelmed by all of this. Plus”—I looked at each of them—”we have each other. And change isn’t so bad when you’re not in it alone.”
Their looks of growing confidence made me think that I might, someday, become a halfway decent High Priestess.
“So what’s the Plan?” Damien asked.
“Well, you and Jack have to install the nanny cam in the morgue. Think you can do that without getting caught?” I said.
“I think we might be able to create a diversion,” Jack said slowly, looking from Duchess to Maleficent, who had spent the entire “meeting” growling ominously at the dog from the bathroom. “If we can count on Aphrodite’s help.”
“Fine. But if my cat eats that dog, I don’t want to hear a word about it, even if
S-t-a-r-k
wakes up and gets testy about why his Lab’s muzzle has been torn to shreds.”
“Uh, try to make it just a diversion, not a bloodbath,” I said.
“Deal,” Damien and Jack said together.
“I’m going to go find Shekinah and tell her that my grandma is coming to visit, and that I need her to stay in a guest room,” I said.
“And we’re gonna stay the hell away from Neferet,” Erin said.
“Ditto,” Shaunee said. “And that should be ditto for all of us except Z and Aphrodite.”
I was opening my mouth to agree with her when Aphrodite’s loud, “No!” shocked all of us.
“What do you mean no? We have to stay away from Neferet. If she starts listening in to our minds, she’ll know we all know about Stevie Rae and the other kids. And if she’s really the Queen of the Tsi Sgili, she’ll be warned that we know about her, the Raven Mockers, and even Kalona,” Damien said, sounding totally exasperated.
“Wait a second. Tell me why you think they shouldn’t avoid Neferet,” I asked Aphrodite.
“Simple. If the nerd herd avoids her, Neferet is going to for sure start listening in to their thoughts. She’ll listen long and hard and deep. But what if Damien and Jack and the Dorkamese Twins act like their normal, clueless selves? What if they don’t avoid her, but if they even maybe seek her out and say hi to her, ask her questions about homework, and make up complaints about the food being too healthy?”
“We really wouldn’t have to make that up,” Jack said.
“Exactly, and while they’re around Neferet, let’s say Jack is thinking about nothing but how stressful it is to try to deal with a sad dog all the time. Damien’s thinking about homework and how cute Jack’s eyes are. And the twins are thinking about sneaking out for the end-of-season winter shoe sale at Saks, which is next week, by the way.”
“No way! It starts already!” Shaunee said.
“I knew it. I knew it was going to be early this year. What with that stupid snowstorm we had, they have to increase sales, so it’s thrown off the whole traditional sale schedule,” Erin said.
“Tragic, Twin, just tragic,” Shaunee said.
“See, if the geeks and freaks act as empty-headed as Neferet really, deep down, believes they are, she won’t look farther,” Aphrodite said.
“Do you really think Neferet believes we’re empty-headed?” Damien said.
“Neferet consistently underestimates me. It makes sense that she underestimates you guys, too,” I said.
“If that’s true, we have a huge advantage,” Damien said.
“Until she realizes her mistake,” Aphrodite said.
“Well, let’s hope that takes a while,” I said. “Okay, I’m going to go find Shekinah. From here on out, I think we should all stick together as much as we can. I know Grandma said the Raven Mockers were just spirits, but I’m almost one hundred percent sure one of them attacked me yesterday—and it hurt. Plus, I have a generally creepy feeling about them. She also said they could harm old people who are close to death. Well, what if Kalona is getting stronger, and they’re getting stronger, too? What if they can harm people not so old or not so close to death?”
“You’re freaking me out,” Jack said.
“Good,” I said. “If you’re scared, you’ll be more careful.”
“I don’t want to be scared and sneaking around a morgue,” Jack said.
“Remember, he might be just sleeping,” Damien said. He put his arm around Jack. “Let’s take Duchess back to my room and figure out our whole diversionary plan.” He looked at Aphrodite. “You’re coming with us, aren’t you?”
She sighed. “You’re going to use my cat.”
It wasn’t a question, but the two boys nodded and grinned.
“Well, then I’m coming with you. We’ll leave Maleficent here until the deed is getting ready to be done.”
“Definitely,” Damien said.
I looked at the Twins. “I don’t need to tell you guys to stick together, do I?”
“Nope,” Erin said.
“Hey, what if we gather up some more stuff for smudge sticks,” Shaunee said.
“Good idea. Smudging all of our rooms couldn’t hurt,” I said.
“Okey,” Shaunee said.
“Dokey,” Erin said.
“But wait on that,” Jack said. “You guys might be able to help in our diversionary action, too.”
“You know Beelzebub isn’t nice,” Shaunee said.
Jack grinned and nodded. “Exactly why he’s so perfect.”
“Poor Duchess,” Erin said.
“Hey, what are you gonna do, Z?” Jack asked.
“Go see Shekinah and ask about Grandma staying here.” I glanced at my clock. “Actually, she should be here pretty soon.”
“Okay, we all know what we’re doing. So let’s get to it,” Damien said.
As we all headed out the door, Aphrodite hung back. “Hey, I’ll meet you back here pretty soon. Looks like you and I will be sticking together for a while.”
I smiled at her. “You got yourself into some crap this time, didn’t you?”
She rolled her eyes, pulled a mirror out of her purse, and expertly reapplied her fake tattoo, and as I followed her out the door, I walked in a trail of her muttering, “Yeah . . . yeah . . . yeah . . . stupid red-eye-causing visions, dorky friends, ancient evil . . . I can hardly wait to see what’s next . . .”
Walking down the sidewalk that ran from the girls’ dorm to the main school building, I decided that it wouldn’t be smart to see Shekinah all tense and stressed out, so I took several deep cleansing breaths to calm myself, collect my thoughts, and told myself to relax and appreciate the beautiful, unseasonably warm night. Gaslights made pretty shadows against the winter trees and hedges, and there was a soft wind blowing the scent of cinnamon and earth from the fallen leaves that carpeted the grounds. Groups of kids walked back and forth between the buildings, mostly heading to the dorms or the near end of the school that held the cafeteria. They were talking and laughing together. Several of them called hellos to me, and many of them saluted me respectfully. Despite the problems facing me, I realized I was feeling optimistic. I wasn’t alone in this. My friends were with me, and for the first time in a long time, they knew everything. I wasn’t lying or evading. I was telling the truth and really,
really
happy about it.
Nala padded out of the shadows and up to me,
“mee-uf-owing”
and giving me a reproachful look. With barely a pause, she hurled herself up and into my arms and I had to scramble to catch her.
“Hey! You could warn me, ya know!” I said, but ended up kissing the white spot over her nose and tickling her ears. We walked down the shadowy sidewalk, heading away from the kid-filled part of campus to the quieter section that held the library and eventually the professors’ rooms. The night really was pretty, with a clear Oklahoma sky filled with glittering stars. Nala curled her head against my shoulder and was purring contentedly when I felt her entire body tense up.
“Nala? What’s wrong with—?”
And I heard it. A single croaking raven that sounded like it was so close that I should be able to see it within the night-sleeping shadows of the nearest tree. His cry was taken up by first one, and then another and then another. That simple sound was indescribably terrifying. I understood why they were called mockers of ravens because, even though you could easily mistake them for regular birds, if you listened just a little more carefully, you heard in their suspiciously mundane call the echo of death and fear and madness. The breeze that had been warm and sweet-smelling was replaced by an icy nothingness, like I’d just entered a mausoleum. My blood went cold.
Nala hissed long and menacingly, staring back over my shoulder at the darkness surrounding the huge old oaks that were usually so familiar and welcoming. Not tonight. Tonight they housed monsters. I automatically started to walk faster, looking frantically around for the kids that had just moments ago seemed to be all around me. But Nala and I had turned a corner in the sidewalk, and we were totally alone with the night and all it shrouded.
The ravens cried again. The sound made the hair on my arms and the back of my neck stand up. Nala growled low in her throat and hissed again. Wings fluttered all around me, so close, I could feel the cold wind they were displacing. I smelled them then. They reeked of old meat and pus. A scent that was deadly, sickeningly sweet. I tasted the bile of fear in the back of my throat.
More croaking caws filled the night, and now I could see darkness within the darkness of stirring shadows. I caught glimpses of something flashing, sharp and hooked. How could they have beaks that shone glossy in the softness of the gaslights if they were just spirit? How could spirits smell like death and decay? And if they weren’t just spirits anymore, what did that mean?
I stopped, unsure of whether I should run on or go back. And while I stood there, frozen with panic and indecision, the blackness within the nearest tree quivered and launched itself at me. My heart was hammering painfully, and I was on the verge of panic that was making me dumb with numbing fear. All I could do was pant with terror as it got closer. Its horrible wings displacing freezing, putrid air, it came at me. I could see it—I could see the man’s eyes within the mutated bird’s face . . . and arms . . . the arms of a man with twisted, grotesque hands held up in the shape of ragged, dirty claws. The creature opened its hooked beak and shrieked at me, forked tongue extended.
“No!” I cried, scrambling back from it, keeping a tight hold on my hissing cat. “Get away!” I turned and ran.
It caught me then. I could feel its horribly cold hands hook on my shoulders. I screamed and dropped Nala, who crouched at my feet, snarling up at the creature. Its horrible wings unfurled on either side of me, holding me there. I felt it lean into my back in a mockery of an embrace. Its head craned over my shoulder so that its beak hooked around my neck, resting against the place my pulse beat frantically in my throat. It stayed there, and its beak opened just enough to let the thing’s red forked tongue slide out and taste my neck, like it was savoring me before it devoured me.