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CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Zoey
Waiting until dusk was hell. Keeping my mouth shut when the rest of the depot fledglings woke up slowly and shuffled sleepily around, taking their time, eating cereal and talking about school and homework and other crap that was totally not saving Grandma made my head pound and my stomach clench.
And then, of course, add to everything the fact that Aurox was crouched up in Tower #1, hiding out, waiting until we come back and pick him up right before we start the whole circle-casting-save-Grandma plan because, as Aphrodite said, "We can't let anyone see him. If Neferet gets one tiny word that Bull Boy stuck his face back at the House of Night and we didn't totally fuck him up, well, then paint a giant target on him and call Grandma toast."
So, yeah, I had one humongous headache and I was working on some serious IBS.
"Have a brown pop," Stark said, sliding a chair over next to where I was sitting at one of the kitchen tables.
"Already had one," I said.
"Have another." He leaned into me, kissed my cheek, and whispered, "You're tapping your foot like a crazy person and the other kids are looking at you like you might explode."
"I might." I nuzzled him, using that as an excuse to whisper back.
"Count Chocula, Z?" Stevie Rae asked with exaggerated perkiness.
"Not hungr-" I started, but Aphrodite cut me off.
"She'd love a bowl. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day."
"You never eat breakfast," I said, frowning at her.
Aphrodite raised her half-empty champagne flute and mock toasted me. "I choose to drink my breakfast, and I do that every day. Orange juice is brain food."
"And champagne is brain-cell killer," Shaylin said, through the mouthful of Lucky Charms.
"I like to think of it as a way the Goddess levels the playing field. Consider for a moment how ridiculously much smarter I would be than all of you if I didn't drink heavily."
"I think your logic is flawed," Damien said.
"And I think your hair is flawed. Is that early male pattern balding I see?"
Damien gasped.
I sighed.
"Don't be such a meanie pants," Stevie Rae told Aphrodite, and then she handed me a bowl of cereal.
"Speaking of pants, the waist of those bumpkin nightmare Roper jeans you have on today is so high it couldn't pass a drug test," Aphrodite quipped as she refilled her mimosa.
"I think Stevie Rae looks cute," Shaylin said.
"Of course you do. And tomorrow you'll probably be wearing two different shoes, because that's the kind of refined fashion taste you have."
I tried to eat while my friends bickered and Stark stayed close to me, resting his hand on my thigh and giving it a periodic, comforting squeeze.
My mind would not shut up. Okay, I understood why we had to wait until after sunset to go to the Mayo. Two of my five embodiments of the elements would burst into flames if they went outside in the sunlight. And that's not even counting Stark, who would also turn into a crispy critter. I even got that we had to go to school and our first hour, which was taught by Thanatos. She was going to put us into groups and assign us to different jobs, all focusing around getting the school ready for the open house on Saturday. Conveniently, the jobs that she gave to those of us who were going to rescue Grandma were going to be off campus. So, hopefully, Erin and Dallas and anyone else who might accidentally or on purpose come into contact with Neferet would have no clue what we were up to, or that we even knew Grandma was missing.
What was hard was the waiting, especially since the kids-those who weren't in on our plan-knew nothing about what was up, so they were meandering around and taking forever to get ready to load into the bus.
Aurox was crouched in a tower on the top of this building. Grandma was being held in a cage created by Darkness. It was hard to pretend like nothing was going on. I wanted to pace. I wanted to scream. Hell, I actually might have wanted to hit something. Or someone. Well, Neferet for sure. But I didn't want to burst into tears, and I thought that was a good sign.
As I was coming to the end of my cereal and my patience, Kramisha entered the kitchen like fireworks. Okay, well, maybe it was just her outfit that looked like fireworks with her butt-hugging yellow skirt, her purple sweater with her silver embroidered fifth former symbol of Nyx's golden chariot pulling a trail of stars blazing on her chest, and her bright red patent leather wedges that almost exactly matched the color of her scarlet bobbed wig.
"The bus is waitin'. An' fine as Darius is, he don't need to be kept sittin' out there wonderin' what's takin' everbody so damn long." She made a shooing motion with her hand at the fledglings. "Go on, scat!"
I could have kissed her. Then she skewered me with her dark eyes and said, "I got somethin' for you."
My stomach dropped when she reached into her giant Louis Vuitton bag and pulled out her purple notebook.
"I cannot tell you how much I hate poetry," Aphrodite said.
"Don't give me none of your attitude," Kramisha told her. "Have you had a vision today?"
"No. Today I'm having mimosas instead of visions, but thanks for asking," Aphrodite said.
"Looks like I be pickin' up your slack, Prophetess, so don't be hatin' on my poetry." Kramisha made a shooing motion at Aphrodite, too. "Go on. I said this is for Zoey."
"Good. Some people say fuck yoga. I say fuck figurative language. And no, I don't mean that figuratively." Aphrodite tossed her hair and twitched from the room.
"Do you need me to stay?" Stevie Rae asked.
I raised my brows questioningly at Kramisha.
"Nope," she said. Then she glanced at Damien and Shaylin and Stark. "You can go, too."
"Hey, I don't know if I'm cool with that," Stark said.
"You're gonna have to be. I got me a strong talk to Z alone vibe, and I'm followin' it." Still clutching what I was starting to think of as The Purple Folder of Doom, Kramisha crossed her arms, and tapped her foot at Stark.
"Go on," I said. "Kramisha's gut has been right way more often than it's been wrong."
"By 'way more often' she means every time," Kramisha said, sounding super impatient.
"Okay, but I don't like it. I'll be waiting in the bus." Stark kissed me, frowned at Kramisha, and left the room.
Kramisha shook her head. "I have three words for that boy: con-trol-ing."
"He's just trying to keep me safe, that's all," I said.
Kramisha snorted. "Yeah, that's what my auntie's second husband said before he backhanded her 'cross the room for lookin' at him wrong."
"Stark is not going to hit me, Kramisha!"
"I'm just sayin'. Anyway, this is for you. Alone. Don't know why I got this strong feelin' that you gotta hear it, think 'bout it, and keep it to yourself, but I do. You the High Priestess and all, so you can do what you want. But I gotta be honest and tell you every bit of the Juju I get."
"Okay, yeah, I get it. So, let me read it." I reached for the notebook.
"Nope," Kramisha surprised me by saying. "Don't know why, but this is an out-loud thing. All you got to do is listen." When she started reading her voice changed. It didn't get louder, but there was power in the way she spoke, the way she enunciated the words, that made it become more chant than simple rhyming poem.
"Ancient mirror
Magick mirror
Shades of gray
Hidden
Forbidden
Within, away
Part the mist
Magick kissed
Call the fey
Reveal the past
The spell is cast
I save the day!"
She came to the end, and the room seemed very silent.
"Well, that was some weird shit," she said, sounding like herself again. "Did it mean anything to you?"
"I don't know. It sounded powerful, like it was more than a poem," I said. "I like it that it's saying you're going to save the day."
"It wasn't meant for me, Z. It's yours. I don't even know for sure what it is 'cause it don't feel like none of my other poems. It feels more like a spell than a prophecy."
"A spell?" I looked around us. Nothing was different. Nothing had happened. "Are you sure?"
"No, I ain't. Take it." She tore out the page and handed it to me. "I know they's somethin' goin' on with you and your circle. I know you'd tell me if you could." She held up her hand to stop what was going to be my non-explanation explanation. "I don't need no explanation. You're my High Priestess. I trust you. I just needed to give you this an' tell you you're gonna need it. When you do, speak it like I just did. There's power in them words."
I took the poem from her, folded it carefully, and put it in the front pocket of my jeans. "Thank you, Kramisha. I hope real soon I'll be able to tell you how much this means to me."
"You will. Like I said, I believe in you, Z. Now it's your turn to believe in yourself."
"Yeah, I know. That's what scares me," I heard myself admitting.
Kramisha pulled me into a warm, tight hug. "Z, if it didn't scare you, then I'd say you had no damn sense at all. Just be strong, and remember-Nyx ain't stupid, and she's the one who picked you for all this stressful shit, and not the other way 'round."
"That actually does make me feel a little better," I told her.
"Well, I ain't Dr. Phil, but I'm smart," she said.
"And your shoes are cuter than his," I said, trying to sound at least semi-normal.
"Yeah, they remind me of Dorothy's ruby slippers, only mine is wedges 'cause I'm more fashion conscious than she was."
Her comment seemed appropriate because I felt like I was following the yellow brick road into some serious flying monkey bullpoopie, which, I suppose, made Aurox Glinda the Good Witch of the West. Me? I was pretty sure I'd be the Cowardly Lion ...
* * *
I thought I was ready to see Erin. I was super wrong. I'd expected her to be distant and cold-she'd been working the cold, distant act for the past several days. I'd even known about her thing with Dallas-Shaylin had told us she'd seen them, and their very muddy, very yucky colors, together the night before. And Shaunee had admitted she'd seen them making out (even though she refused to give us what she called 'the gory details'). Still, I hadn't expected Erin to be so obvious. But there she was, sitting smack up against Dallas in the back of the class with the other hateful red fledglings when we walked into first hour.
"Oh, hell, no," Aphrodite muttered as Erin's sarcastic, oh-my-goddess-I'm-so-sexy laughter bubbled around us sarcastically.
"Don't give her any attention," Shaunee whispered as she walked by us while we all gawked at how far Erin had fallen into the gutter. Okay, all of us gawked except Shaunee. Shaunee didn't even glance at her ex-Twin. She just walked with her head up, like she couldn't hear Erin's immature giggles or feel the nasty looks thrown her way.
"Shaunee's right." I lowered my voice so only my group could hear me. "Erin's like one of those bad kids who wants any kind of attention-positive or negative. Ignore her and the rest of them."
So, we did. I took my seat in the front row with Stevie Rae and Rephaim and Shaunee on one side of me, and Aphrodite, Shaylin, and Damien on the other.
Aurox's unoccupied seat seemed super obvious to me. What's he doing right now? What's going through his mind as he gets ready to confront Neferet and save Grandma? Is he going to chicken out? He's probably not even going to be waiting at the depot when we go back to get him. He'll probably be, like, halfway to Brazil by then ...
Shaylin's voice cut off my internal hyperventilation. "Look over there," She'd leaned forward to whisper to me across Aphrodite. She was nodding slightly to the left of our group at a single kid. Surprised, I recognized that kid as Nicole. She was completely by herself and sitting up toward the front of the class, definitely separated from Dallas and his group.
"Colors?" Aphrodite asked her quietly.
"The red's almost gone," Shaylin answered just loud enough for me to hear. "And the sandstorm brown stuff is turning gold. It's really pretty."
"Huh," I said.
"Weird," Aphrodite said.
"Totally dang weird," Stevie Rae whispered from the other side of me. "And I still don't like her."
I was trying to think of something wise to say when Thanatos entered the room. "Merry meet!" she said.
"Merry meet!" we responded.
Thanatos didn't waste any time, and I was super grateful for that because I was seriously sick of time wasting.
"I cannot ask you to turn in your homework, as I would were this an ordinary school. I am not going to pretend that you haven't lost your leader, Neferet, and that your lives haven't been torn asunder."
Damien tapped quickly on his iPad and lifted it so we could all see: TORN ASUNDER = TORN TO PIECES.
"I want to know who's responsible for the fire at the stables." Erin's question from the back of the room surprised more of the kids than just me. I heard whispers from everywhere. Shaunee's face had gone blank and pale, and even Thanatos took more than an appropriate teacher hesitation before she responded.
"It seems that it was an unfortunate accident," Thanatos said.
"Well, I don't know no accidents that are fortunate." Dallas's voice was just short of a sneer.
"Any accidents? Is that what you meant to say?" Thanatos corrected him smoothly.
"Weren't you an accident? I remember you tellin' me your momma and daddy said they were only in Dallas for the weekend, and not for baby makin'," Stevie Rae called back to him.
A bunch of the kids laughed. Thanatos spoke over them. "Sometimes the best things are born from desperate, accidental moments. Wouldn't you agree with me, Dallas?"
He mumbled something no one could understand. I heard Erin's breathy, Marilyn Monroe voice whisper to him before he spoke up again. "So, basically, no one's gonna pay for settin' the stable fire?"
"It wasn't set." Nicole wasn't talking to him. She was looking at Thanatos and sounding like they were alone in the room. "I already told Lenobia. I was there. It was windy and the lantern blew over. It happened real fast. I was walking to the tack room to put up the brushes and stuff I was using to groom one of the mares. I saw it happen. The wind blew a big gust. The lantern fell-right down in the middle of the big mound of hay bales, and they lit up like Roman candles." Nicole turned around then and spoke the rest directly to Dallas. "It was an accident. Period. The end."
"Well, it's a real nice thing you're so trustworthy, or people might think you're lying." Dallas's voice was an insult.
"Yes, it is indeed." Thanatos cut over his sarcasm. "And our Horse Mistress concurs with Nicole's eyewitness. We are all so pleased no one was killed because of the accident."
"The barn is a mess, though," I heard myself filling the awkward silence, doing my best to get us back to some semblance of normal. "So, does that mean our Equestrian Studies classes are cancelled?"
"No, not at all." Thanatos sent me what I was sure was a grateful look. "Continue with your normally schedule classes. If you have an equestrian class, you may be put to work cleaning and clearing debris, rather than riding, though." Then she touched her forehead as if she'd just remembered something. "Except for those of you who I need to help me prepare for the open house on Saturday."
Damien's hand went up.
"Yes, Damien. What is your question?" Thanatos asked.
"It's not so much a question. I was just going to volunteer to help in any way I can."
Thanatos smiled. "I am most appreciative."
"So, are you talking field trip?" Erin's voice sounded so weird coming from the back of the room.
"I suppose some of what I need can be considered a field trip, as it will require you to leave campus. Erin, are you volunteering to help?"
"If it means gettin' out of class, then you have more volunteers than Erin," Dallas said.
I couldn't even shoot Stevie Rae or Aphrodite a sideways look, but from the edge of my vision I was sure I saw Stevie Rae crossing her fingers.
"Dallas, I can use your assistance. I spent many of the sunlight hours today googling charity events in Tulsa. It seems one of the most successful fund-raisers is called An Evening of Wine and Roses. It benefits the Tulsa Garden Center. It seems the Center strings myriads of lights around the Rose Gardens and then has an after-dusk wine tasting and dinner. And that, my interesting young red vampyre, is perfect for you."
"Perfect? I don't like wine much," he said.
I heard Aphrodite snort, but I kept my eyes straight ahead and tried not to even breathe. I knew what Thanatos was setting up, and I hoped like hell it would work.
"No, you mistake me," Thanatos said. "I simply wish to use their lighting template as one for our open house. Dallas, think of how lovely our campus would be if ropes of electric bulbs were wrapped around our ancient oak trees."
"Lots of electricity would be good. I've been sayin' for a while now that this school needs an update on its electricity. It's not, like, 1960. We need real lights here. Our eyes can handle it." Dallas sounded cocky, as per usual.
"Well, I am agreeing with you, if only temporarily," Thanatos said, smiling at him. Again, I marveled at her massive acting skills. Then she turned her attention to Erin. "Erin, as it seems you would work well partnered with Dallas, may I count on you to help guide the decorations for the open house? We do, of course, need exquisite lighting, but we also need tables, covered with fine linens, scattered throughout the central grounds. Can you handle the responsibility of coordinating with local humans, as well as Dallas's electrical expertise, to get this done?"
"I was born to decorate and shop. Give me the school's gold card and I'm on it," Erin said.
"You will have a generous budget," Thanatos assured her. "Especially as the open house is only a few days away. Time is of the essence."
"If I have money I'm good at deadlines," Erin said, sounding totally up Thanatos's butt.
Right on cue Aphrodite waved her hand. "Uh, hello." She sounded bored and bitchy. Even more than usual.
"You have a question, Aphrodite?" Thanatos called on her.
"More like an intelligent statement. If you're going to put someone in charge of getting the accouterments together for a charity event, you should go to the expert: moi. I was teethed on what the middle class so barbarically calls party planning."
Thanatos's smile and tone were patronizing. "I am quite certain you were, but Erin and Dallas have already volunteered. I do have a job for you, though. I would like you to take a quick trip off campus and speak with your parents about attending the open house. From your comments to the press yesterday, I assume I can count on their support."
"Yeah, whatever. I'll talk to them." Aphrodite was doing an awesome job playing her part. She sounded pissed and absolutely annoyed that Thanatos hadn't fired Erin and put her in charge-which was exactly what we'd wanted. If Erin (and by association, Dallas) believed they were doing something important, and the rest of us were either annoyed or just puttering around, they'd be smug. They'd be obnoxious. They'd be totally distracted and not reporting anything to Neferet except that Thanatos was depending on them and giving them lots of responsibilities. Step one was definitely going according to Plan.
Damien's hand went up, straight and strong. When Thanatos called on him he practically gushed, "Could I please go with Aphrodite? I've always wanted to see the inside workings of city politics."
"Barf," Aphrodite said.
"Yes, you may," Thanatos said.
It was my hand's turn to go up. I'd prepared for this, but still it was hard to keep my voice steady. "Um, I've called Grandma about the open house and selling her lavender stuff, but she hasn't answered her phone yet."
"Did you leave your grandmother a message?" Thanatos asked.
"Yeah, I did." I let out a long breath. "And I guess it's not really a surprise that she has her phone off, seeing as we just did the reveal ritual about my mom and all." It was okay for my voice to be shaky then, and I was seriously glad because I was having a hard time keeping it together. "So, do you want me to drive out to her farm and talk to her?"
"Well, perhaps, in the next day or so," Thanatos said, waving her hand dismissively. "But I don't think that's necessary right now. Where I need you today is with me at Street Cats. I would very much like an introduction to the head of the organization, Sister Mary Angela. We are already confident of your grandmother's support, so coordinating with Street Cats is a better use of your time, Zoey."
"Okay, yeah, I can do that," I said.
"Can I go with you guys to Street Cats?" Shaylin spoke up without lifting her hand. "I'd really like a cat to choose me."
Thanatos smiled. "Of course, young fledgling." She turned her sharp gaze to Stevie Rae. "High Priestess, I need you to coordinate with your biological mother. You mentioned her baked goods during our television interview. Well, I believe we will need more than one mother's cookie baking skills to sate Tulsa's appetite come Saturday."
"I could ask my momma to get the PTA moms involved. They bake like crazy for the Henrietta Hens booster club."
"Then I will count on you to coordinate our refreshments," Thanatos said. "So, to recap-those of you I have named leaders: Dallas, Erin, Aphrodite, Zoey, and Stevie Rae-divide up the fledglings most close to you and delegate tasks. Dallas, you strike me as a Warrior in your own right, so you may stand guard over your group. Zoey, Aphrodite, and Stevie Rae, you may include your Warriors when you travel off campus as you see fit. I will trust in your judgment. Be safe and inconspicuous, which means cover your Marks and do not wear any part of our school uniform. We do not need additional human/vampyre tension or attention from the public.
"In addition, do not feel you must meet here for class between now and Monday. Those I've named leaders should come by this room to give me updates and, of course, ask for assistance should you need it. Today I will go with Aphrodite to meet the mayor, then be assured I will return to the House of Night and remain on campus, available to you as always.
"Let us not wait until the bell has released you. You, my special students, do not need to follow the rules so closely. I know you have the good of the school in your hearts. So, go forth with your tasks. I bid you merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again."
Just like that, Thanatos got rid of Dallas and Erin and their group of gawkers and spies. They believed nothing more than that Thanatos was a gullible High Priestess they could manipulate, and they were being given a bunch of responsibility for the school's open house, which, I was sure, they were going to put their heads together with Neferet to totally mess up.
We, on the other hand, were going to save Grandma and kick Neferet's unsuspecting ass. Then we'd have time to fix whatever mess Dallas and Erin and their gang had made of open house. Or at least that was our Plan.