Hunted

“Well, hell!” I said.

CHAPTER 33

“Language,” Sister Mary Angela said serenely.

Darius had already dismounted and was helping Aphrodite and the Twins down. Damien hadn’t waited for help, but dismounted almost as quickly as I had, and was standing beside me.

“Priestess,” Darius addressed Sister Mary Angela, “you don’t, by any chance, keep firearms at the abbey, do you?”

Her laughter sounded completely out of place yet utterly comforting. “Oh, Warrior, of course we do not.”

“There aren’t enough of us to fight them, but we have the circle,” Darius said as he studied the bird-filled trees. “If you stay within it, you stay safe.”

Darius was right, of course. Our circle was intact. Though weirdly off center, the silver thread that bound us together still glowed between us.

“I will run back to the House of Night and bring help,” Darius said.

I heard the frustration in his voice. What help was he going to bring? I hadn’t seen any of his brother warriors since we’d entered the school grounds. Dragon was great with a sword, but even he wouldn’t be a match for all of these Raven Mockers. The trees that bordered the Twenty-first Street side of the abbey were filled with the dark shapes. Already groaning under the burden of ice, the additional weight of the Raven Mockers was more stress than many of them could bear, and the cracking and breaking of limbs was as terrible as the birds’ mocking cries.

“Hey, I hear y’all need some help out here.”

In my entire life, I had never been so happy to hear any voice as I was at that moment to hear Stevie Rae’s Okie twang. I hugged her hard, not caring about the secrets she was keeping from me in the joy of seeing her safe. Breathing a sigh of relief, I saw the red fledglings step out of the darkness behind her.

“They is nasty!” Kramisha said, squidging up her face at the Raven Mockers.

“Let’s kick their asses,” Joh

“They’re nasty alright, but they aren’t doing anything except watching us,” said another familiar voice.

“Erik!” I cried. Smiling, Stevie Rae let go of me, and Erik pulled me into his strong arms.

There was a blur to my right and Jack launched himself at Damien.

I looked up at Erik, and even in the middle of the mess we were in, I wished it could be simple and easy between the two of us. For that instant I did wish it could just be Erik and me, instead of Erik and Stark and Kalona and Heath…

“Heath?” I asked, stepping out of his embrace.

Erik sighed and jerked his chin back at the abbey building. “He’s in there. He’s fine.”

I smiled a little sheepishly and didn’t know what to say.

“Zoey, Kalona will be here soon. The reason the Raven Mockers aren’t attacking is because we’re not trying to get away anymore. They’re just keeping watch on us for him. Do not forget what you have to do,” Darius’s voice broke through the new awkwardness between Erik and me.

I nodded and turned to Sister Mary Angela. “Kalona will follow us here. Remember I told you he’s immortal?”

“A fallen angel,” she said, nodding.

“And remember I told you about our High Priestess? Well, she’s gone bad for sure, and I’m sure she’ll be with him. They’re equally dangerous.”

“I understand.”

“So, he can’t be killed, but I do think I know how to chase him away from here and, hopefully, Neferet will go with him. But I’ll need your help.”

“Whatever I have is yours,” Sister Mary Angela said.

“Good. What I need is you,” I told her, then I turned to Stevie Rae, “And you.”

Aphrodite stepped up beside me. “And me,” she said.

“And I need Grandma. I know it’s going to be hard for her, but I need her out here, or at least wherever it is that’s the center of this power I feel around us.”

“Kramisha, child, would you get Stevie Rae’s grandmother?”

“Yes, ma’am,” Kramisha said, and hurried away.

“Mary’s Grotto is the seat of our power.” Sister Mary Angela pointed behind me and to the side of where we were standing—a place that was between us, the northwesternmost edge of the neatly cut lawn, and the monster-filled grove of trees.

I turned to see what she was pointing at and gasped in surprise, wondering how I hadn’t noticed it before now. It was the biggest shrine I’d ever seen. It was made of large pieces of Oklahoma sandstone. Each stone had been chosen carefully to fit snugly against its neighbors. It was bowl-like in shape, reminding me of pictures I’d seen of famous outdoor theaters. There was a bench sitting protected inside it, as well as several natural rock ledges ru

“I can feel the power of this place,” Aphrodite said.

“Wow, that statue of Mary is really, really pretty,” Jack said. He and Damien were holding hands and gazing up.

“Check out the sidewalk—it’s perfect,” Stevie Rae said.

I looked down. The sidewalk that led from where we’d left the horses changed when it reached the front of the shrine. Here it got lots bigger and formed a circle. I gri

“What is it you need us to do, Zoey?” Sister Mary Angela asked, but before I could answer, the roar of an engine pulled everyone’s attention back to the bird-infested trees and the road beyond.

With growing fear, I watched the big black Hummer, the very one I’d been taken back to the school in, leave the road. Gu

“Sister, stay close to me,” I said. “Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, I need you beside me, too.”

“We’re here,” Aphrodite said as Erik and Darius stepped out of the way and the two of them moved into position beside me.

“I need Grandma,” I said.

“She’s coming. Do not fear,” Sister Mary Angela said.

Finally, the Hummer rolled to a stop, so close to the horses that they snorted at it and backed away until they were standing under the carport. The doors to the vehicle opened, and Kalona and Neferet stepped out together. She was wearing all black—a floor-sweeping silk dress with a neckline that plunged to expose the onyx winged pendant resting between her breasts. A dark aura pulsed around her, making her thick hair lift and move around her shoulders.

“Holy shit,” Aphrodite whispered.

“Yeah, I know,” I said grimly.

Kalona strode at her side. He was wearing black pants and nothing else. As he moved away from the Hummer with Neferet, his wings rustled and opened a little, showing just a hint of their magnificence.

“Oh, blessed Mary!” Beside me Sister Mary Angela gasped.

“Don’t look in his eyes!” I whispered to her. “He can have a hypnotic effect on people. Don’t let him get to you.”

She hesitated, studying the winged man, and then said, “He does not draw me, but I do pity him. He has certainly fallen.”

“How old does he look to you?” I couldn’t help asking her.

“Ancient. Older than the earth.”

I didn’t have time to tell her he looked about eighteen to me; it was then that the driver got out of the Hummer and joined Kalona and Neferet. The driver was Stark. His eyes found mine instantly, and ever so slightly, he bowed his head to me.