Hunted

“Hey, excuse me, guys. I need to get through.”

I’d bristled automatically as Erik pushed through the crowd at the door. If someone (Venus) tried to bite him, someone (me) was go

Ignoring the tension in the room, Darius said, “What does the radio report is happening in the world above?”

Erik shook his head. “I can’t get anything in. I even went up into the basement. Nothing but static. Couldn’t get my cell phone to work, either. I did hear a bunch of thunder and could see flashings of massive lightning. It’s still raining, even though it’s getting colder, which means it’ll probably turn to ice. Plus, the wind’s kicked up like crazy. I couldn’t tell if the weather was natural, or if Kalona and those bird thi said, &~

“Aphrodite saved her by letting Stevie Rae drink her blood,” Shaunee said, and then giggled.

“Yeah, and now the two of them have Imprinted,” Erin finished in a rush, and then joined Shaunee’s laughter.

“Wow, you’re kidding. Right?” he said, sounding totally shocked.

“No, they are not kidding,” Venus said smoothly.

“Huh. Well. That’s interesting.” I watched Erik’s lips twitch as he stared at Aphrodite. She totally ignored him and kept drinking straight from the wine bottle she clutched in her hand. He stifled a big laugh with a cough, and then his eyes lit on Venus. He nodded, his normal easygoing, popular self. “Hi again, Venus.”

“Erik,” she said, with a feral smile that made me want to squash her like a bug.

“Aphrodite was right to start introductions,” Stevie Rae said, and before Aphrodite could, she hurried on, “And, no, I’m not saying that because we’re Imprinted.”

“I really wish you would all quit talking about it,” Aphrodite muttered.

Stevie Rae continued as if she hadn’t heard her. “I think being polite is a real good idea, and introductions are always polite. Y’all already know Venus,” she said, and then moved on quickly. “So I’ll start with Elliott.”

A redheaded kid stepped forward. Okay, dying and un-dying hadn’t improved this kid any. He was still pudgy and pale with a frizzy ball of carrot-colored, uncombed hair sticking up in odd places on his head. “I’m Elliott,” he said.

Everyone nodded at him. “Next is Montoya,” Stevie Rae said.

A short, Hispanic guy who looked seriously thuggish with his sagging pants and his multiple piercings nodded his head, sending his thick dark hair waving around his face. “Hi,” he said with just a touch of an accent and a surprisingly cute, warm smile. “And that’s Sha

“Sha

Her pretty face brightened. “Yeah, that was me.”

“I remember because I just love The Vagina Monologues. They’re so empowering,” Damien said. “And then right after the show you…um…” His voice trailed off and he fidgeted.

“I died?” Sha

“Yeah, exactly,” Damien said.

“Oh, gosh, that’s too bad,” Jack said.

Aphrodite sighed. “She’s not dead anymore, morons.”

“And this is Sophie.” Stevie Rae said quickly, frowning at Aphrodite, who was already sounding tipsy. A tall brunette stepped a little forward and gave us a tentative friendly smile. “Hi,” she said.

We waved and muttered hellos. I was actually feeling better about the red fledglings now that they were becoming individuals—and not individuals who were trying to chomp on us. Or at least at that moment they weren’t.

“Dallas is next.” Stevie Rae pointed to a kid standing behind Venus. At the sound of his name he kinda slouched around her and mumbled what sounded like a version of hi. He would have been totally unremarkable looking if it hadn’t been for the quick intelligence in his eyes and the kinda flirty smile he threw Stevie Rae. Hm, I thought, wonder if something’s going on there? “Dallas was born in Houston, which we all think is odd and confusing,” Stevie Rae was saying.

The kid shrugged. “It’s a gross story my dad tells about him and my mom making me in Dallas. I never wanted the details.”

“Ugh, parent sex,” Shaunee said.

“Completely disgusting,” Erin agreed.

I could see a little laugh ripple through the group of red fledglings at the Twins’ comments, making the tension that had been hanging between our two groups begin to really loosen up.

“Next is Anthony, who everyone calls Ant.”

Ant waved awkwardly at us and said hi. Well, it was obvious why everyone called him Ant. He was one of those little kids. You know, the ones that look, like, ten when they’re really fourteen and supposed to have gone through puberty already. Then, as if to provide the biggest contrast possible, Stevie Rae moved on to the next kid. “This is Joh

Joh

“Next is Gerarty. She’s the best artist I’ve ever known. She’s started to decorate parts of the tu

“And last but not least is Kramisha.”

A black girl twitched out of the group. It was a testament to how distracted I’d been with Venus and Aphrodite and Stevie Rae that I hadn’t noticed her before then. She had on a form-fitting bright yellow shirt cut low to show the top of her black lace bra and a pair of high-waisted, skintight cropped jeans that were cinched up with a wide leather belt that matched her chunky gold shoes. Her hair was cut geometrically into a short poof on her head, and half of it was dyed bright orange.

“Let’s get it straight right now that I’m not sharin’ my bed with no one,” Kramisha said, weaving her head around and looking bored and pissed off at the same time.

“Kramisha, I told you about a zillion times, don’t make an issue outta somethin’ that isn’t one,” Stevie Rae said.

“I just want to be clear about myself,” Kramisha said.

“Fine. You’re clear.” Stevie Rae paused and looked up at me expectantly. “Okay, that’s my group.”

“And these are the extent of the red fledglings?” Darius asked before I could launch into my introductions.

Stevie Rae chewed the inside of her cheek and didn’t meet Darius’s eyes. “Yeah, these are all of my red fledglings.”

Ah oh, that’s her I’m-not-telling-the-whole-truth look. I knew it, but when she met my eyes, hers so clearly begged me not to say anything that I decided to keep my mouth shut and get the whole story when we weren’t the focus of everybody’s attention.

But me putting off questioning Stevie Rae didn’t put off the feeling that had come back, alarm bells ringing inside my head, loud and clear, at her evasion. There was definitely something going on with the red fledglings, and I didn’t think that something was going to be good.

I cleared my throat. “Well, I’m Zoey Redbird.” I tried to sound polite and normal in a situation that didn’t feel either.

“I’ve told y’all about Zoey. She has an affinity for all five elements, and it’s through her powers that I was able to Change and we were all given our humanity back,” Stevie Rae said. I noticed she was looking directly at Venus.

“Well, it wasn’t just through me that happened. My friends had a lot to do with it, too.” I nodded at Aphrodite, who was still drinking directly from the bottle of wine. “You guys obviously know Aphrodite. She’s a human now, but let’s just say she’s not normal,” I said, completely avoiding the subject of her fresh Imprint with Stevie Rae.