Thankfully, Stevie Rae's return stopped all of the Stark speculation.
"'Kay. I'm supposed to tell Erik to carry Zoey. The rest of you stay close. Darius is right outside in the parking lot," Stevie Rae said.
"But we can't all fit in Heath's truck," I said, forcing my heavy eyelids to open.
"You won't have to. We found something that'll work better," Stevie Rae said. Before I could ask any questions she hurried on. "And Darius also said Z should bite Heath again for one fast suck before you head out. He said she ought to be gettin' real weak about now."
"That's okay. I'm fine. Let's just go," I said quickly. Yes, I felt like utter poop. No, I didn't want to bite Heath again. Well, I didn't mean I really didn't want to. I meant I really didn't think I should, especially with him being pissed at me just then.
"Just do it," Heath said. Suddenly he was there beside me, still holding the bottle of wine in one hand. He didn't even look at me. Instead he focused his attention on Erik. "So cut me." He held out his arm to Erik.
"My plea sure," Erik said.
"No. I'm not okay with this," I continued to protest.
In one blindingly quick movement Erik slashed Heath's forearm, and the scent of his blood hit me. I closed my eyes against the spike of desire and need that was driving into me with every breath I inhaled. I was gently jostled and then Heath's strong, warm thigh was again my pillow. He wrapped his arm around me so that his cut arm was just under my nose. I opened my eyes then and, ignoring the need that was screaming through my body, I looked up at Heath. He was staring across the room at nothing.
"Heath," I said. "I can't take anything from you you're not willing to give me."
He looked down at me and I saw several emotions cross his expressive face, the foremost of which was a terrible sadness. In a voice that sounded almost as weary as I felt, he said, "There's nothing I'm not willing to give you, Zo. When are you going to understand that? I'm just wishing you would leave me with a little pride."
His words broke my heart. "I love you, Heath. You know that."
His expression softened into a slight smile. "It's good to hear you say it." Then he looked from me to Erik. "Did you hear that, vamp? She loves me. And remember that no matter how big and bad you think you are, you'll never be able to do this for her." Heath lifted his arm so that the bloody slash Erik had made in it was pressed against my lips.
"Yeah, I see what you can do for her. I might have to put up with it, but I don't have to have it shoved in my face." Angrily knocking the blanket aside, Erik left the room.
"Don't think about him," Heath told me softly, stroking my hair. "Just drink from me and think about getting well."
I looked from the doorway to Heath's sweet gaze, and with a small moan I gave in to the need that raged within me. I drank from him, sucking in energy and life, passion and desire, along with his blood. I closed my eyes again, this time because of the intensity of the plea sure drinking from Heath gave me. I heard Heath's moan echo mine and felt him curl around me, pressing his arm more firmly against my lips and whispering sweet things to me that weren't entirely understandable.
My head was spinning by the time someone pulled Heath's arm from my grip. I felt stronger, even though my wound was burning like there was a fire camped out on my chest. But I was also feeling dizzy and weirdly giggly.
"Hey, she don't look right," Kramisha said.
"But I feel more right. Or is that righter? Which is it, Damien-Shamien?" I paused and giggled, which hurt my chest so I clamped my lips tight together to make myself stop.
"What's wrong with her?" Jack asked.
"There's definitely something abnormal going on," Damien said.
"I know what's wrong with her," Stevie Rae said. "She's drunk."
"Nuhuh! I don't even like to drink," I said, and then burped softly. "Oh, oopsie."
"Boyfriend is drunk. She just drank from boyfriend," Shaunee said. "So that means Z's trashed, too," Erin said. She and Shaunee had a wobbly Heath between them and they were guiding him back to the bed.
"Hey, I'm not drunk. Yet," Heath said. Then he collapsed onto the bed.
"I didn't know vamps could get drunk off a human's blood," Aphrodite said. "That's really interesting." She handed me my purse while she studied me like I was a specimen under a microscope.
"You'd think it was less interesting if you'd eaten a wino and had a hangover headache and then burped cheap wine for days," Stevie Rae said. "All I can say about that is nasty."
Aphrodite, the Twins, Damien, Jack, and I all stared at her. Finally I was able to say, "Stevie Rae. Please don't eat any more people. It's really dis-dis-disturbing," I slurred.
"She sure won't eat another wino. That last one tasted bad for real,&rdqu s a specimuo; So; Kramisha said.
"Kramisha! Don't freak Zoey out. No one is eating anyone anymore. I was just usin' that one time a long time ago as an example of why I know Heath's being trashed made her trashed." Stevie Rae patted my arm. "So don't worry, 'kay? We'll be fine here, and so will the street people. Don't stress about us. You just get well."
"Oh, yeah." I rolled my eyes at Stevie Rae. "I'm not going to worry 'bout a thing."
"Hey, you have my promise. No eating people while you're gone." Stevie Rae looked solemn and pretended to draw an X over her heart. "Cross my heart and hope to die."
Hope to die! Jeesh, I really hoped that none of us would have to die. Again. And just like that I was able to think through the wine fog that had woozied my brain, and I knew what I had to do. On purpose I gave Aphrodite a tipsy smile. "Hey there, Afro! Why don't you guys go on out to Darius? I gotta give Stevie Rae a phone number, then I'll be right there."
"Fine. We'll meet you out there. And do not ever call me Afro again." In a huff, Aphrodite led the Twins, Damien, Jack, and a whole passel of annoyed cats out of the room.
As they left the room, Erik came back in. Crossing his arms, he leaned silently against the wall and watched me. I used my drunkenness as an excuse to ignore him.
"Hey, could you manage to focus? Do you want me to add a number to my phone?" Stevie Rae said.
"No," I said stubbornly. "I gotta write it down."
"Okay, okay," she said quickly, obviously humoring the drunk.
She was looking around for something to write on when Kramisha marched over to her and handed her a piece of paper and a pen. "Here's something to write on."
Looking utterly confused, Stevie Rae shook her head at me. "Z, are you sure you can't just tell me the--"
"No!" I snapped.
"Okay, here, don't have a big ol' cow." Stevie Rae slipped the paper and pen into my hands. I could feel Erik, who had come over to stand closer to my table, watching me. I gave him a boozy frown. "Don't peek at what I write!"
"All right, all right!" He held his hands up in surrender and walked over to Kramisha. I could hear both of them talking about how goofy I acted when I was trashed.
It was hard as hell to concentrate through the ridiculous buzz Heath had passed on to me, but the pain the movement of my hands caused helped to sober me up. I scrawled down Sister Mary Angela's cell phone number and then quickly wrote Plan B: be ready to move everyone to the abbey but don't tell. No one knowing = Neferet not knowing where you are.
"Okay, here." Stevie Rae tried to take the paper from my hand, but I held it tight, which made her look up at me in exasperation. I met her eyes, trying to look and sound as sober as possible as I whispered, "If I tell you to move, you move!"
Her gaze went down to the note I'd just written, and I saw her eyes widen. She looked quickly up at me and then nodded almost imperceptibly. Awash in relief, I closed my eyes and gave in to the dizziness.
"All done with her secret phone number note?" Erik said.
"Yep," Stevie Rae teased back. "As soon as I put this in my phone, I'm gonna destroy the evidence."
"Or it might self-destruct," Heath slurred from over on the bed.
I opened my eyes and looked at him. "Hey!"
"What?" he said.
"Thanks again," I said.
Heath shrugged. "No big deal."
"Yeah, it is," I said. "Stay safe, okay?"
"Does it matter?" he asked.
"Yeah, it does. But next time I really wish you wouldn't drink." I burped again and then grimaced when the movement hurt my chest.
"I'll try to remember that," he said, tipping the wine bottle back to his lips.
I sighed, told Stevie Rae, "Get me out of here," and closed my eyes, clutching my purse and the two indecipherable poems to me.
"That's your cue, Erik," Stevie Rae said.
Erik was suddenly at my side. "This is going to hurt, and I'm sorry, but you really need to get back to the House of Night."
"I know. I'm just gonna close my eyes and try to pretend I'm someplace else, okay?"
"Sounds like a good idea," Erik said.
"I'll be right here with you, too, Z," Stevie Rae said.
"No. Stay with Heath," I said quickly. "If you let anyone eat him, I'm gonna be majorly pissed. And I mean it."
"I'm right here," Kramisha said, "and I heard that. I ain't eatin' your boyfriend. He don't taste good no more."
"That's not what Zo says!" Heath slurred and lifted his almost empty bottle like he was going to toast to us.
I ignored both of them and kept my eyes on Stevie Rae.
"Don't worry. Heath'll be fine. I'll take care of him." Stevie Rae hugged me and kissed my cheek. "Stay safe," she said. "Remember what I wrote," I whispered. She nodded.
"Okay, let's go," I told Erik, and squidged my eyes shut tight.
Erik lifted me as gently as he could, but the pain that sheared through my body was so awful that I couldn't even scream. I kept my eyes closed and tried to breathe in shallow little pants while Erik hurried down the tunnel with me in his arms, murmuring that everything would be fine...we'd be there soon...
When we got to the iron ladder that led up to the basement, Erik said, "I'm sorry, but this is going to hurt like hell. Just hang on, though, Z. It's almost over." Then he shifted his grip on me and lifted me to Darius, who was reaching down for me.
That was when I fainted.
Sadly, I came to when the freezing rain and an icy wind slapped against my face.
"Ssh, don't struggle. You'll only make it worse," Darius said. He was holding me in his arms. Erik was walking at his side, watching me with worried eyes as we made our way toward a huge black Hummer that was idling in the parking lot. Jack was standing beside the open door to the wide backseat. I could see Aphrodite in the passenger's seat and the Twins together with a whole buttload of cats in the far back area. Damien was sitting by the open door.
"Slide over and help me lay her down here," Darius said.
They somehow transferred me to the backseat of the Hummer, pillowing my head on Damien's lap. Unfortunately I didn't pass out again. Before Darius closed the door, Erik squeezed my ankle.
"You have to get well, okay?" Erik said.
I barely managed a weak "Okay."
When Darius closed the door and jumped into the driver's seat and we took off, I made a conscious decision to avoid the whole Erik-Heath issue until my life was calmer and I could deal with the two of them. I admit that at that moment I left the two of them behind with a guilty sense of relief.
Most of the ride back was as dark and silent as ice-swept Tulsa had become. Darius had to battle the Hummer to keep it on the sheets of ice that masqueraded as streets, and Aphrodite only commented once in a while on a fallen limb in their way or a turn they should take. Damien, tense and speechless, held me securely on his lap, and the Twins were, for a change, not chattering with each other. I closed my eyes, trying to control the dizziness and the pain. A disturbingly familiar sense of numbness had started to creep slowly over my body again. This time I recognized it, though, and knew how dangerous it would be to give in to the numbness, no matter how restful and compelling it seemed. This time I knew the numbness was a disguise for death. I forced myself to take deeper breaths, even though each one made pain radiate throughout my body.
Pain was good. If I hurt, it meant I wasn't dead.
I opened my eyes and cleared my throat, making myself speak. My blood-wine buzz was gone and all I felt was exhausted and consumed by pain. "We have to remember what we're walking into. It's not the old House of Night. It's not our home," I said. My voice carried, but I sounded like a hoarse stranger. "Besides keeping our elements close to us, I think the smartest thing we can do is to try to stick as close to the truth as possible whenever we're questioned about anything."
"That's logical," Damien said. "If they sense we're telling the truth, they'll be less likely to feel the need to probe farther into our minds."
"Especially if those minds are protected by the elements," Erin said. "We might very well baffle them with our supposed ignorance, and Neferet will undreep slo Id ignerestimate us again," Shaunee said.
"So we're coming back because of that text message sent from the school calling all of us back," Damien said. "And because Zoey's been hurt."
Aphrodite nodded. "Yeah, and the only reason we left was because we were scared."
"And that's the damn truth," Erin said.
"Totally," Shaunee added.
"Just remember: Tell the truth when possible and keep your guard up," I said.
"Our High Priestess is correct. We are entering the enemy's camp, and we can't afford to be lulled into forgetting that by the familiarity of our surroundings," Darius said.
"I have a feeling we won't be tempted to forget it," Aphrodite said slowly.
"What kind of feeling do you mean?" I asked.
"I think our entire world has changed," Aphrodite said. "No, I know it has. The closer we get to the school, the more wrong it feels." She swiveled and looked over the seat at me. "Can you feel it?"
I shook my head slightly. "I can't feel anything except the cut in my chest."
"I can feel it," Damien said. "It's like all the hair on the back of my neck is standing up."
"Ditto," Shaunee said.
"My stomach feels awful," Erin said.
I took another deep breath and blinked hard, concentrating on staying conscious. "It's Nyx. She's warning you with those feelings. Remember the effect Kalona's appearance had on the other fledglings?"
Aphrodite nodded. "Zoey's right. Nyx is making us feel like crap so we don't give in to this guy. We have to fight against what ever it is about him that sucks the rest of the fledglings in."
"We can't go over to the Dark Side," Damien said grimly.
Darius crossed the intersection of Utica and Twenty-first Street.
"It looks really creepy that Utica Square is totally dark," Erin said.
"Creepy and horrible and wrong," Shaunee said.
"There's no power anywhere," Darius said. "Even St. John's Hospital has hardly any lights, like it's barely running on generators."
Darius continued down Utica and I heard Damien gasp. "It's eerie, the way it's the only thing in Tulsa still lit up."
I knew the House of Night had finally come into view. "Lift me up. I need to see it," I told Damien.
He hoisted me up as gently as he could, but still I had to grit my teeth so I wouldn't scream. And then the bizarre sight of the House of Night made me temporarily forget my pain. It was ablaze with flickering oil lights, illuminating the huge castlelike structure. Ice covered everything, and the capturs t tB+ed flames glistened against the slickened stone, making it appear faceted as if it were one humongous jewel. Darius reached into his pocket and pulled out a little remote. He aimed it at the school's wrought-iron gate and clicked, and with a creaking sound it swung open, the movement sending shards of ice raining down on the driveway.
"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.