Hunted (41 page)

“Aphrodite!” I yelled.

“Well, someone had to clue the dorks in to your pathetic infatuation with him,” Aphrodite said.

“You're not helping me,” I said.

“Wait. Rewind. Zoey is in love with Stark? That is the stupidest thing I've ever heard in my entire life,” Erin said.

“Well, except for the whole graduated driver's license law thing in Oklahoma, Twin. Let's get serious.
That's
the stupidest thing we've ever heard of in our entire lives,” Shaunee said.

“True. Besides that, though. And, Aphrodite, we say: You. Have. Lost. Your. Damn. Mind,” Erin said.

“Again,” Shaunee finished.

Everyone looked at me.

“I think the graduated driver's license thing is stupid, too,” I lamely said.

“See! I told you!” Aphrodite said. “She has a serious thing for Stark.”

“Serious shit,” Erin said.

“I would never have believed it,” Shaunee said.

“Let her explain!” Damien yelled.

Everyone got really quiet.

I cleared my throat.

“Okay. Well. Remember the poem?” All of my friends narrowed their eyes at me, which I didn't think was very fair. But I continued anyway. “It said I was supposed to save his humanity? And I did. I think. I hope.”

“Priestess, we caught him abusing a fledgling. How can you condone that?” Darius said.

“I don't condone it. It makes me sick. But I remember when Stevie Rae was fighting to keep her humanity, and she was awful.” I looked at Aphrodite. “You know what I'm talking about.”

“Yeah, and I'm not one hundred percent sure you can trust her today. And I say that as the human she's Imprinted.”

I expected the Twins and Damien to blow up at her, but they stayed very quiet. Finally I turned to Darius. “Stark gave me his Warrior's Oath.”

“His Warrior's Oath! And you accepted him?” Darius said.

“I did. It was right after that he Changed.”

Darius sighed deeply. “Then Stark is bound to you until you release him from his oath.”

“I think that caused his Change,” I said. “I think with the red fledglings their Change has something to do with the choice between good and evil.”

“By pledging to you, Stark chose good,” Darius said.

I smiled. “I like to think so.”

“So that means he isn't an asscake anymore?” Erin said.

“I thought you called him an assbucket,” Shaunee said.

“Twin, it's the same thing,” Erin said.

“It means I trust him,” I said. “And I wish you guys would give him a chance.”

“Giving the wrong person a chance right now could get us killed,” Darius said.

I drew a deep breath. “I know.”

“A newly Changed vampyre needs to be secluded in Nyx's Temple. Dragon assured me Stark is safely there.” Lenobia glanced at her watch. “We have exactly ten minutes. Can we not get on with more important things and leave the question of Stark's trustworthiness until a better time?”

“Definitely,” I said. “What's left to do?” All I could hope was that Dragon really had the newly Changed Stark safely locked away in Nyx's Temple, and that we would actually chase Kalona out of here, thereby getting rid of Neferet, too, so that we would have a chance to deal with his trustworthiness at a better time.

 

We quickly got bridles on two other horses, appropriately named Hope and Destiny. Then the hard part of our plan started.

“I still say it is not safe,” Darius said, looking like a thundercloud.

“I have to do it. Stevie Rae's not here, and I'm the closest thing we have to a pure earth affinity,” I said.

“It really doesn't sound that hard,” Aphrodite said, trying to reason with the irate warrior. “All Zoey has to do is sneak out to the wall, tell the tree that's already smushing it to push harder, and then sneak back here.”

“I will take her there,” Darius said stubbornly.

“With your mega-quickness that'll be perfect,” I said. “By the way, I'm ready.”

“How will I know you've succeeded and it's my time to start the next part of the plan?” Lenobia asked me.

“I'll send spirit to you. If you feel a jolt of something good, you'll
know we're fine and it's time to tell Shaunee to get ready to let fire loose.”

“But she must remember that only the
shoes
of the horses should be afire,” Lenobia said, giving Shaunee a stern look.

“I know! It's not even hard. Just go on about your business. Destiny and I are making friends.” Shaunee turned back to the big bay mare who would carry her and Erin, and continued to chatter to the horse as Erin brushed her and talked about sugar cubes and something called a Jazzy Apple.

“Just keep her safe and get back here to me,” Aphrodite said. She kissed Darius on the mouth and then walked toward Hope to help Lenobia finish buckling the last of the mare's bridle straps.

“Well, Priestess, shall we?” Darius said.

I nodded and let him lift me into his arms. Darius took one step out into the frigid, stormy night, and then everything blurred around us as he moved kinda diagonally across the rear grounds to a part of the big wall surrounding the school that had an even bigger oak lying across it. Somehow in one of Tulsa's last winter disasters, the tree had succumbed and fallen down. Kinda. Word had it (from Aphrodite) that under normal circumstances it was an excellent place to sneak off campus undetected, and I knew from personal experience that she'd been right.

Today we were not dealing with normal circumstances.

Darius came to a halt way too fast beside the fallen tree, shoved me under it, and whispered, “Stay there until I'm sure it is safe.” And off he went.

So I crouched under the tree and thought about how wet and cold it was and how annoying guys were. Then I heard the nasty wing-flapping sound, and I decided to uncrouch—quickly.

I emerged from under the side of the tree just in time to see Darius grabbing a Raven Mocker by his wing, jerking him to the ground, and then slitting his throat.

I looked away fast.

“Zoey, come on. We have no time.”

Trying to ignore the corpse of the Raven Mocker, I hurried to the half-toppled tree. I placed my hand on it and closed my eyes. Centering myself, I searched for my internal north—the site of earth—and then invoked, “Earth, I need you. Please come to me.” In the midst of an ice storm, in the dead of winter, I was suddenly, miraculously, surrounded by the scents of a spring meadow . . . ripe wheat . . . a mimosa tree in full bloom. I bowed my head gratefully and continued. “What I need you to do is hard, and I wouldn't ask it of you unless it was an emergency.” I drew a deep breath, and focused on the ice-slicked bark beneath my palm. “Fall,” I commanded. “Forgive me, but I have to ask you to fall.” The skin of the tree shuddered under my hand, so violently that I fell backward, and with a crack that I swear I could hear a dying scream within, the old oak fell, crashing against the already weakened wall, sending blocks of stone and bricks tumbling down, and creating a break in the barrier that surrounded the school, a break it would seem logical for us to try to escape through.

I was breathing heavily and feeling more than a little shaky, but I automatically sent spirit to let Lenobia know I was successful. Then I picked myself up, staggered to the fallen tree, and put both hands on its bark. “Thank you, earth.” Then a sudden thought had me adding, “Go to Stevie Rae. Tell her we're coming. Tell her to be ready.” I felt the usual listening sense I got when I commanded an element to do something. “Go now, earth. Thank you again for helping me, and I'm really sorry I had to hurt the tree.”

“We must return to the stables.” Darius strode over to me and lifted me in his arms. “You did well, Priestess,” he said.

I put my head down on his friendly shoulder, and only knew I was crying because I could see the wet streaks on his jacket. “Let's get out of here.”

 

 

 

 

The three bridled horses were waiting for us. Erin and Shaunee were already mounted on Destiny. Shaunee was “driving.” She'd taken English Hunter/Jumper classes at her private prep school before she was Marked, and so she'd proclaimed herself “an almost mediocre rider.” Aphrodite and Damien stood near Persephone and Hope. Damien looked like he might be sick at any instant.

“I felt spirit's touch and am assuming all went well,” Lenobia said as she breezed by us and began rechecking the horses' tack.

“The wall has been broken, but I was forced to kill a Raven Mocker. I'm quite sure he'll be discovered soon,” Darius said.

“Actually, that's good. It will just give more credence to the thought that the fallen wall is how you'll try to escape,” Lenobia said. She glanced at her watch. “Time to mount up. Shaunee, are you ready?”

“I was born ready,” Shaunee said.

“All right, how about you, Erin?”

Erin nodded. “Ditto. I'm ready.”

“Damien?”

He answered Lenobia, but he spoke to me, “I'm scared.”

I hurried to his side and took his hand. “I'm scared, too. But it's a lot less scary if I remember we're together.”

“Even if we're together on a horse?”

I smiled. “Even if. Plus, Persephone is a perfect lady.” I took Damien's hand and pressed it against the graceful curve of my mare's neck.

“Oooh, she's soft and warm,” he said.

“Here, I'll give you a knee up,” Lenobia said, bending beside us and offering Damien the cradle her hands were making.

With a long-suffering sigh he put his knee in her hands and tried (unsuccessfully) to stifle a very gay squeal as she boosted him up on Persephone's broad back.

Before Lenobia helped me up she put her hands on my shoulders and looked into my eyes. “Follow your heart and your instinct, and you will not go wrong. Make him flee, Priestess.”

“I'll do my best,” I said.

“That is why I have such faith in you,” she said.

Once we were all mounted, Lenobia led us to the rollaway doors that opened into the exercise corral. Earlier Lenobia had quietly gone out and opened the outside gate to the corral. Now nothing stood between us and the world except a lot of ice, the front gates of the school, a bunch of Raven Mockers, their daddy, and a crazy-assed ex-High Priestess.

As you can well imagine, I was pretty concerned about having a raging case of nervous diarrhea. Thankfully, I didn't have enough spare time for my body to give it much thought.

Lenobia slid the doors open. She'd already extinguished the lights in this part of the stable, so that we wouldn't be silhouetted, all sitting-duck-like. We peered into the icy darkness, imagining the storm to come.

“I'll give you just a few minutes to call the elements,” Lenobia said. “The sudden increase in intensity of the storm is Anastasia's cue to begin the confusion spell on the other side of campus, and don't forget that Dragon has stationed himself at the school gate. He will cut down the Raven Mocker who is sentry there as soon as he hears hoofs approaching. Shaunee, when you're ready, set the stall on fire. When I see the flames, I'll free the rest of the horses. They already know that they are to stampede around the school grounds and create as much havoc as possible.”

Shaunee nodded. “I got it.”

“Then refocus flame on these horses' hoofs.” Lenobia paused and
reiterated, “I mean the horseshoes on their hoofs. I'll tell Persephone when to go. All the rest of you need do is to hold on and follow her lead.” She patted my sorrel mare affectionately. Then she looked up at me, “Merry meet and merry part, and merry meet again, High Priestess,” she said. Fisting her hand over her heart, she bowed to me.

“Brightest blessings to you, Lenobia,” I said. As she began to walk quickly away, I called after her, “Lenobia, please reconsider leaving here. If we don't get rid of Kalona, you and Dragon and Anastasia have to get underground—the tunnels under the depot, the abbey, or even the basement of one of the downtown buildings. That's really the only chance you have of being safe at all.”

Lenobia paused and looked over her shoulder at me. Her smile was serene and wise. “But, Priestess, you will succeed.” And she hurried away.

“Jeesh, she's stubborn,” Shaunee said.

“Let's just be sure she's right,” I said. “Okay, are you ready?” My friends nodded. I drew a deep breath and centered myself. We were pointed north, so I kneed Persephone to the right so that we were facing east. There was no time for flowery words or inspiring music; there was only time for action. Quickly I invoked each of the elements, feeling my nerves steady as they filled the air and created a glistening circle that bound us. When spirit swelled within me, I couldn't stop myself from laughing aloud.

Still sounding giddy, I said, “Damien, Erin, put your elements to work!”

I felt Damien raise his hands behind me, and watched Erin do the same. I could hear Damien whispering words to air, asking a freezing wind to swirl and blow, toss and tussle, everything around us. I knew Erin was asking something similar of water—commanding that it increase the sleet and drench the world around us.

I braced myself to help them channel and control their elements so that we would (in theory) be moving inside a little bubble of calm in an otherwise elemental maelstrom.

Both elements responded instantly. We looked out to see the night
in front of us erupt into a storm that probably knocked Doppler 8 on its butt.

“Okay,” I yelled above the wind. “It's flame's turn.”

Shaunee lifted her arms, tossed back her head, and like she was throwing a basketball, hurled the fire that glowed between her palms at the empty, straw-filled stall Lenobia had told her to destroy. The stall burst into angry flame.