Chosen (17 page)

“Okay . . . okay . . . ,” Aphrodite murmured.

“Listen to me Aphrodite,” I said sternly. She turned wide, shock-filled eyes on me. “They're going to want to know why we
were together, and especially why I was dropping you off so you could sneak back.”

“What do we say?”

“I wasn't with you and I wasn't dropping you off. I'd been to visit my grandma. You were . . .” I paused, trying to force my numb mind to think. “You were at home. I saw you walking back to the school and I gave you a ride. When we passed the wall you felt something was wrong and we stopped to check it out. That's how we found her.”

“Okay. Okay. I can say that.”

“You'll remember?”

She took a deep, shaky breath. “I'll remember.”

I didn't bother with parking in a regular space. I screeched to a stop as close as possible to the section of the main building that held the in-residence professors' rooms. I waited only long enough to grab hold of Aphrodite again, and together we ran up the sidewalk to the old castle-like wooden front doors. Silently thanking my Goddess for the non-lock school policy, I wrenched open the door and stumbled inside just ahead of Aphrodite.

And I ran right into Neferet.

“Neferet! You have to come! Please! It's horrible!” I sobbed and threw myself into her arms. I couldn't help it. My mind knew that she had done terrible things, but up until just a month ago Neferet had been a mother to me. No, actually, she'd become
the
mother I wished I'd had, and in my panic seeing her sent a rush of incredible relief pouring through my body.

“Zoey? Aphrodite?”

Aphrodite had collapsed against the wall beside us and I could hear her sobbing brokenly. I realized I'd started to shake so hard
that if it hadn't been for Neferet's strong arms around me I would probably have not been able to stand. The High Priestess held me gently, but firmly away from her so that she could look into my face. “Talk to me, Zoey. What has happened?”

My trembling got worse. I bowed my head and gritted my teeth, trying to find my center again and draw enough strength from the elements to speak.

“I heard something and—” I recognized our equestrian professor, Lenobia's, clear strong voice getting closer as she strode purposefully down the hall to us. “By the Goddess!” From the corner of my graying vision I could see that she had rushed to Aphrodite and was trying to support her weeping body.

“Neferet? What's wrong?”

My head snapped up at the familiar voice and I saw Loren, hair all messed up as if he'd been asleep, coming out of the stairwell that led to his loft as he pulled on an old House of Night sweatshirt. My gaze locked on his and I somehow managed to find the strength to speak.

“It's Professor Nolan,” I said, and wondered at how clear and strong my voice sounded when I felt like my body was being shaken into little pieces. “She's out by the trapdoor in the eastern wall. Someone killed her.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Everything happened fast after that, but it seemed to me like it was happening to someone else who had temporarily taken up residence in my body. Neferet immediately took charge. She assessed Aphrodite and me and decided (unfortunately) that I was the only one still together enough to return with them to the body. She called for Dragon Lankford, who showed up armed. I heard Neferet checking with Dragon about which warriors had already come back from winter break. It seemed like seconds later that two tall, muscular male vamps appeared. I vaguely recognized them. There was always an assortment of adult vamps coming and going from the school. I'd learned early that vampyre society was heavily matriarchal, which just means women run things. It doesn't mean that male vamps aren't respected, though. They are. It's just that their gifts are usually more in the physical realm and women's gifts are more intellectual and intuitive. Bottom line is, male vampyres are amazing warriors and protectors. These two plus Dragon and Loren made me feel about a zillion times safer.

That doesn't mean I was thrilled about leading them to Professor Nolan's body. We got in one of the school SUVs and retraced
the path I'd taken to the school. With a shaking hand I pointed to the spot where I'd pulled to the side of the road. Dragon parked the SUV.

“I was driving by and here's where Aphrodite said she felt like something was wrong,” I launched into our Big Lie. “We couldn't see much from here.” My eyes skittered over to the dark area by the trapdoor in the wall. “I felt weird, too, so we decided to check out what was wrong.” I drew a shaky breath. “I guess I thought there might be a kid who was trying to sneak back to the dorm, but she couldn't find the trapdoor.” I swallowed to clear the thickness in my throat. “As we got closer to the wall we could tell there was something there. Something terrible. And—and I smelled the blood. When we realized what it was—that it was Professor Nolan—we came straight to you.”

“Can you go over there again, or would you rather stay here and wait for us?” Neferet's voice was kind and understanding, and I wished with everything inside me that she was still one of the good guys.

“I don't want to be alone,” I said.

“Then you'll come with me,” she said. “The warriors will protect us. You have nothing to fear now, Zoey.”

I nodded and got out of the SUV. The two warriors, Dragon and Loren, flanked Neferet and me. It seemed to take only a couple of seconds to cross the grassy area and get within smelling—and seeing—distance of the crucified body. I felt my knees go all shaky as the fresh horror of what had been done to her registered on my already shocked senses.

“Oh, gracious Goddess!” Neferet gasped. She moved forward slowly until she reached the terrible staked head. I watched as she
stroked Professor Nolan's hair back and then rested her hand on the dead woman's forehead. “Find peace, my friend. Rest in the green meadows of our Goddess. It is there we will, one day, meet again.”

Just as I felt my knees give way a strong hand was under my elbow holding me steady.

“You're okay. You'll make it through this.”

I looked up at Loren and had to blink hard to focus on him. He kept his hold on me, but pulled from his pocket one of those old-fashioned linen handkerchiefs. It was only then that I noticed that I was crying.

“Loren, take Zoey back to the dorm. There's nothing more she can do here. As soon as we're properly protected, I'm going to call the human police,” Neferet said, and turned her sharp gaze on Dragon. “Get the other warriors back here now.” Dragon flipped open his cell phone and started making calls. Then Neferet turned her attention to me. “I know this was a terrible thing for you to see, but I'm proud that you managed to stay strong through it.”

I couldn't make my voice work, so I just nodded.

“Let's get you home, Zoey,” Loren murmured.

As Loren helped me back to the SUV a cold rain started to fall softly all around us. I looked back over my shoulder and saw that it was washing the blood from Professor Nolan's body as if the Goddess herself was weeping her loss.

All the way back to the school Loren kept talking to me. I don't really remember what he was saying. I just know that he was telling me everything was going to be okay in that beautiful, rich voice of his. I could feel it wrapping around me and trying to
keep me warm. He parked and led me through the school, still keeping a strong hold on my arm. When he took a turn that brought us to the dining hall instead of the dorm I looked at him questioningly.

“You need something to drink and something to eat. Then you need sleep. I'm going to make sure you get the first two before the second.” He paused and smiled sadly. “Even though you look ready to pass out on your feet.”

“I'm not really hungry,” I said.

“I know, but eating will make you feel better.” His hand slid down from my elbow to hold mine. “Let me cook for you, Zoey.”

I let him pull me into the kitchen. His hand was warm and strong, and I could feel it starting to unthaw the frozen numbness that had settled into me.

“Can you cook?” I asked him, grabbing at any subject that wasn't death and horror.

“Yes, but not well,” he grinned, looking like a handsome little boy.

“That doesn't sound promising,” I said. I felt my face smile, but it seemed stiff and awkward, like I'd forgotten how.

“Don't worry, I'll be gentle with you.” He pulled a stool out from the corner of the room and put it next to the long butcher block counter that sat in the middle of the enormous kitchen. “Sit,” he ordered.

I did as he said, relieved I didn't have to stand up anymore. He turned to the cabinets and started pulling things from them and one of the walk-in refrigerators (not that one they kept the blood in, though).

“Here, drink this. Slowly.”

I blinked in surprise at the large goblet of red wine. “I don't really like—”

“You'll like this wine.” His dark eyes held mine. “Trust me and drink it.”

I did as he told me. The taste exploded on my tongue, sending sparks of heat throughout my body. “It has blood in it!” I gasped.

“It does.” He was making a sandwich and he didn't even look up at me. “It's how vampyres drink their wine—laced with blood.” He did glance up to meet my eyes then. “If the taste is disagreeable to you, I'll get you something else to drink.”

“No, it's fine. I'll drink it like this.” I took another sip, forcing myself not to chug it all down in one huge swallow.

“I had a feeling you wouldn't have a problem with it.”

My eyes shot back to his. “Why would you say that?” I could feel my strength as well as my wits returning to me as the wonderful blood settled into my body.

He kept making the sandwich and shrugged. “You Imprinted that human boy, didn't you? That's how you were able to find and rescue him from the serial killer.”

“Yeah.”

When I didn't say anything else he glanced up at me and smiled. “I thought so. It happens. Sometimes we accidentally Imprint.”

“Fledglings don't. We're not even supposed to be drinking human blood,” I said.

Loren's smile was warm and filled with appreciation. “You're not a normal fledgling, so the
normal
rules don't apply to you.” His gaze held mine and it seemed he was talking about much more than accidentally drinking a little human blood.

He made me feel hot and cold—scared but totally grown-up and sexy—all at once.

I kept my mouth shut and went back to sipping the blood-spiked wine. (I know it sounds completely gross, but it was delicious.)

“Here, eat this.” He passed the plate to me that held the ham and cheese sandwich he'd just made me. “Wait, you'll need some of these, too.” He rummaged around in a cabinet until he made a little “ahha!” noise and turned around to pour a big ol' pile of nacho cheese-flavored Doritos on my plate.

I smiled. This time my mouth felt more natural doing it. “Doritos! That's perfect.” I took a big bite as I realized I really was starving. “You know, they don't like fledglings to eat junk food like this.”

“As I said”—Loren smiled his slow, sexy smile at me again—“you're not like the rest of those fledgling children. And I happen to adhere to the belief that some rules were meant to be broken.” His eyes went from my eyes to the diamond earrings that nestled in my earlobes.

I felt my face getting hot, so I refocused on eating, glancing up only once in a while at him. Loren hadn't made himself a sandwich, but he had poured himself a glass of wine and was drinking it slowly while he watched me eat. I was just getting ready to tell him that he was making me nervous when he finally said something.

“Since when are you and Aphrodite friends?”

“We're not,” I said around a bite of sandwich (which actually was very good—so he's ridiculously handsome, sexy, smart,
and
he can cook!). “I was driving back to school and I saw her walking.” I lifted one shoulder like I couldn't give a good poop about
her. “I figure it's part of my job as leader of the Dark Daughters to be nice, even to her. So I gave her a ride.”

“I'm a little surprised she accepted a ride from you. Aren't you two sworn enemies?”

“Whatever! Sworn enemies? I don't think much about her at all.” I wished I could tell Loren the truth about Aphrodite. Actually, I hated lying (and I'm really not very good at it, although I seemed to be getting better with practice). But even as I thought about liking to unload to Loren, I was slammed in the gut with a feeling that plainly said
no way do you tell him.
So I smiled and chewed my sandwich and basically just tried to focus on the fact that I was feeling less
Night of the Living Dead.

Which reminded me of Professor Nolan. I put down the half-eaten sandwich and took another gulp of wine.

“Loren, who could have done something like that to Professor Nolan?”

The expression on his handsome face darkened. “I think the quote made it pretty obvious.”

“Quote?”

“Didn't you see what was written on the paper they staked to her?”

I shook my head, feeling a little queasy again. “I know there was something written on the paper, but I couldn't look long enough to read it.”

“It said, ‘Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live. Exodus 22:18.' And
REPENT
written and underlined several times.”

Something tickled at my memory and I felt a burning begin inside of me that had nothing to do with the blood in my wine. “The People of Faith.”

“That's what it looks like.” Loren shook his head. “I wondered what the priestesses were thinking when they decided to buy this place and set up a House of Night here. Seemed to be asking for trouble. There are few parts of the country more narrow-minded and rabid about what they call their
religious
beliefs.” He shook his head and looked truly angry. “Although I don't understand worshipping a god who denigrates women and whose ‘true believers' feel it's their right to look down on anyone who doesn't think exactly as they do.”