Hunted

“It looks like a castle out of one of those old, gruesome fairy tales where everything has been put under a spell and frozen in ice,” Aphrodite said. “Inside, a princess has been poisoned by an evil witch and she’s waiting to be rescued by her handsome prince.”

I stared at my home that was now a familiar stranger and said, “Let’s just remember that there’s always a terrible dragon guarding the princess.”

“Yes, something horrible, like a Balrog,” Damien said. “Like in The Lord of the Rings.”

“I’m afraid your demon reference is more accurate than we might wish it to be,” Darius said.

“What’s that?” I asked. Unable to point, I jerked my chin in the direction ahead and to the left of us.

But I hadn’t needed to say anything. In seconds what had made the movement was obvious to all of us as the Hummer was surrounded. In the blink of an eye the night above us shifted and Raven Mockers dropped out of it to crouch all around us. Then from behind them one huge, scarred warrior I didn’t recognize stepped into the middle of the group, looking grim and dangerous.

“That would be one of my brothers, a Son of Erebus, standing side by side with our enemies,” Darius said softly.

“Which makes the Sons of Erebus our enemies, too,” I said.

“Priestess, at least when you’re referring to that warrior, I’m sorry to have to agree with you,” Darius said.

CHAPTER 17

Darius was the first of us out of the vehicle. His face was set in expressionless lines so that he looked strong and confident, but entirely unreadable. He ignored the Raven Mockers, who were staring at him with their terrible eyes, and addressed the warrior in the center of the group.

“Greetings, Aristos,” Darius said. Though he clenched his fist over his heart in a quick salute, I noticed Darius did not bow. “I have several fledglings, including a young priestess, with me. The priestess has been severely wounded and is in need of immediate medical attention.”

Before Aristos could respond, the largest of the Raven Mockers cocked its head to the side and said, “Which priestess returns to the House of Night?”

Even inside the Hummer I shivered hearing the creature’s voice. This one sounded more human than the one that had attacked me, but that made it even more frightening.

Slowly and deliberately Darius shifted his attention from Aristos to the horrible creature who was neither bird nor man, but a mutated mixture of both. “Creature, I do not know you.”

The Raven Mocker narrowed its red eyes at Darius. “Son of man, you may call me Rephaim.”

Darius didn’t blink. “I still do not know you.”

“You will know me,” Rephaim hissed, opening his beak so that I could see into his maw.

Darius ignored the creature and addressed Aristos again. “I have a priestess who has been badly wounded and several fledglings who are in need of rest. Will you allow us to pass?”

“Is it Zoey Redbird? Do you have her with you?” Aristos asked.

Every one of the Raven Mockers reacted to my name. Each of them turned their attention from Darius to our Hummer. Wings ruffling and abnormal limbs twitching with subdued energy, the things stared. I’d never been so glad for tinted windows in my life.

“It is.” Darius’s response was clipped. “Will you let us pass?” he repeated.

“Of course,” Aristos said. “All fledglings have been ordered to return to campus.” He gestured toward the school buildings. The movement briefly allowed the side of his neck to be illuminated by the nearest gaslight, and I saw a thin red line ru

Darius nodded tersely. “I will carry the priestess to the infirmary. She ca

Darius had started to return to the vehicle when Rephaim said, “Is the Red One with you?”

Darius glanced back at him. “I do not know what you mean by the Red One,” he said blandly.

In an instant Rephaim had spread his massive black wings and leaped on the hood of the Hummer. The crackling of the metal denting under his weight was drowned out by the collective hissing of the agitated cats. Rephaim perched there, human hands curled into claws, lurking over Darius. “Do not lie to me, ssssson of man! You know I sssspeak of the red vampyre!” As his temper spiked, his voice became less human.

“Get ready to call your elements,” I said, trying to push down the pain and speak clearly and calmly, even though I felt so weak and lightheaded that I wasn’t certain I could call spirit for Aphrodite, let alone help control and direct the rest of them. “If that thing attacks Darius, we throw everything we have at it, pull Darius in here, and drive away like hell.”

But Darius didn’t seem perturbed at all. He looked up at the creature coolly. “You mean the red vampyre priestess Stevie Rae?”

“Yessss!” The word was one long hiss.

“She is not with me. I have only blue fledglings here. And the priestess among them needs immediate aid—as I have already explained.” Darius continued to gaze calmly up at the thing that looked like it had stepped out of a nightmare. “For the final time, do you allow us to pass or not?”

“Passss, of courssssse,” the creature hissed. It didn’t get off the Hummer, but leaned back so that Darius could barely get the driver’s side door open.

“Come this way. Now.” Darius motioned for Aphrodite to slide across the seat, and held his hand out so that she could take it. “Stay close,” I heard him murmur to her and slly. &ldque creVaw her nod her head quickly. Keeping glued to Darius’s side, she moved with him to my door. He leaned in, meeting our eyes. “Are you ready?” he asked quietly. The question was filled with so much more than those three simple words.

“Yes,” Damien and the Twins said together.

“Ready,” I said.

“Again, stay close,” he whispered.

Darius and Damien managed to move me painfully into the warrior’s arms. Glaring silently at the Raven Mockers, all the cats in the vehicle slunk out and seemed to melt into the icy shadows. I breathed a sigh of relief when none of the creatures pounced on my Nala. Please let the cats be safe, I sent a silent plea to Nyx. I felt more than saw Aphrodite, Damien, and the Twins surround Darius and me, and then, as if we were one being, we moved away from the Hummer and onto the school grounds.

The Raven Mockers, including Rephaim, took to the sky as Aristos led us the short distance to the first building on campus, the one housing the professors’ quarters as well as the infirmary.

As Darius carried me through the arched wooden doorway that always reminded me of something that should stand behind a moat and into the familiar building, I thought about how it had only been a little more than a couple of months ago that I’d first arrived here and had been taken unconscious into the infirmary to wake up, not having a clue about my new future. Weird that I was in almost that exact position again.

I glanced at my friends’ faces. Everyone looked calm and confident. It was only because I knew them so well that I recognized the fear in the tight line of Aphrodite’s mouth, and that Damien’s hands, fisted at his sides, hid their shaking. The Twins walked on my right, so close that Shaunee’s shoulder brushed Erin’s, which in turn brushed against Darius—as if through touch they could gain courage.

Darius turned down a familiar hallway, and because he was carrying me, I felt the instant tension in his body and knew before she spoke that he had seen her. I lifted my heavy head wearily from his shoulder in time to see Neferet standing in front of the door to the infirmary. She was beautiful in a long, body-hugging dress made of an iridescent black material that shimmered and showed hints of deep purple whenever she moved. Her dark auburn hair fell in thick, glossy waves down to her waist, and her moss-green eyes sparkled with emotion.