Revealed

CHAPTER TWELVE

Stark

“Drunk?” Aurox said. He looked confused and, well, drunk. “Drunk,” the kid repeated. Then he nodded with exaggerated seriousness. “Yes. Drunk.”

Zoey opened her mouth, no doubt to ask Aurox what the hell was going on, but he ignored her, stepped into Stark’s personal space, and in a gush of beer breath spoke way louder than the whisper he’d been trying for, “Stark, you come with me. You have to pretend to be vampyre-specialist-donor vampyre and make them forget vampyre pussy.”

Zoey made a noise that sounded like she might have been choking. Stark couldn’t look at her. He was too busy trying not to bust out laughing. Aurox was totally wasted! And he’d just said vampyre pussy—out loud. Man, Zoey was gonna shit kittens! The whole thing was awesome.

“Aurox, how many of those have you had?” Stark pointed at the almost full red solo cup.

Aurox squinted at the cup. Stark watched him count on his fingers. “One, two, three, four. This is four, and I didn’t spill it, even though I jumped on and off the wall. Stark, beer is good!”

“My head is going to explode,” Zoey said.

“No! No! No!” Aurox assured her, sloshing beer all around them. “Nothing bad will happen. Stark will make the human boys forget.”

Suddenly, Stark didn’t think Aurox was so funny. “Hang on—what human boys?”

“The ones with the keg who’re looking for vampyre pussy,” Aurox said, totally matter-of-factly.

“What in the hell is going on!” Zoey shouted.

“Jeesh, Zo, take a chill pill,” Aurox said. “Me and Stark can handle it.”

For just that instant Aurox sounded so much like Heath that Stark watched Zoey’s face pale. Her hand went to the Seer Stone around her neck and she fingered it nervously.

“Zoey.” Stark spoke softly, trying to radiate calm to her. “It’s going to be okay. Whatever’s going on, Aurox is right. He and I can handle it.”

Zoey met his gaze and nodded, not saying anything. Stark turned back to Aurox. Damn, it was so fucking weird! The kid looked nothing like Heath. He usually sounded and acted nothing like Heath. And yet here was Heath’s spirit, all bathed in beer, shining through Aurox so brightly it almost blinded them.

“Give me that.” Stark took the beer from Aurox and tossed it onto the sandy floor of the field house. Aurox watched it spill as if Stark had wasted water in the desert. “Now, tell me exactly what’s going on.”

“I drank beer with them. It was good, and they were nice, but they shouldn’t be here. I didn’t want to scare them and make them tell other humans about,” he paused, and did his exaggerated whisper again, “you know, my bull. So, I told them to wait and I came to get you so that you could make them go away and forget.”

“There are human boys here somewhere?” Zoey asked.

Aurox’s face scrunched up as he frowned at her. “Not here. Outside—out there.” He pointed in the general direction of the door to the field house behind them.

“Outside the field house!” she almost yelled.

“Zo, sometimes I think you don’t listen so good,” Aurox said. Still frowning at her, he continued speaking slowly, as if trying to get her to understand a foreign language. “Two boys. Outside the wall. With the keg. And cups. They. Want. Hot. Vampyre. Chicks.”

“Okay, I think I get it.” Stark grabbed Aurox’s arm and started to drag him toward the door and away from Z before she went for his throat, although that would have been funny as hell. “You found two kids, with beer, trying to get over the wall, right?”

“See, you listen better.” Aurox patted him on the back, almost knocking Stark over. “But they’re just looking through the hole for vampyre pussy, not trying to get over the wall.”

“If you say pussy one more time I’m going to smack the crap out of you,” Zoey said, coming after them.

“You can’t come!” Aurox stumbled to a stop. “You have legs and tits!”

“Oh. My. Goddess. I’m going to kill him!”

Stark stepped between the two of them. He faced Zoey. She’d gone from pale to bright red in zero-point-nothing seconds. “Z, I think this is something that a Warrior needs to handle.”

Behind him, Aurox belched, sending a wave of beer air wafting over them.

Zoey narrowed her eyes and pointed at Aurox. “You have never been able to drink!” Then she spun around and stomped back to the basement entrance, slamming the door behind her.

“She seems mad. Should we bring her a beer?” Aurox said.

Stark covered his laugh with a cough. “Ur, no. Z doesn’t like beer.”

“Doesn’t like beer? She should. It would make her head feel bubbly and happy.”

Stark didn’t bother to cover his laugh a second time. “I wish it worked that way with her, but it doesn’t.”

“Because she has legs and tits?”

Stark knew it was wrong, but he couldn’t stop himself. “I’m not sure. Maybe you should ask her next time you see her.”

Aurox nodded, looking as serious as a drunk could look. “I will.”

“That should be fun. But until then, show me where these humans are, and while we’re going there, start back at the beginning and tell me exactly what happened before and after you were introduced to the red Solo cup.”

Zoey

Aurox was Heath. Annoying, stupid, beer-soaked Heath. Vampyre pussy—who the hell even says something like that? I knew the answer to that ridiculous question: drunk teenage boys.

“Well, they look snug as fleas on an old dog,” Stevie Rae said, cutting into my internal dialogue and pulling my attention, thankfully, away from drunk Aurox/Heath and the fact that neither he nor Stark had returned to the basement yet.

“How long until dawn?” I asked her.

“Little less than an hour,” Rephaim said.

“Hey, is Stark back yet?” Aphrodite asked as she, Darius, and Shaylin joined us.

“No. Not yet,” I said. “But Aurox was pretty messed up. He may be awhile.” Kramisha had told everyone about Aurox being drunk. I’d said that Stark was sobering him up, which I assumed he was doing after he messed with the minds of the kids who had gotten Aurox drunk. But I hadn’t mentioned that part to anyone. They’d had enough stress for one day—hell, for one year—and I hadn’t wanted to freak anyone out for no reason. And Stark was usually right—he could handle almost anything, so I was letting him handle it.

Of course I was going to want to hear every single tiny detail when he got his butt back to me. I also had a few choice words ready for Aurox/Heath, after he sobered up. Moron.

“I gotta agree with Kramisha. Aurox drinkin’ is probably not a good thing,” Stevie Rae was saying.

“Typical boy behavior,” Aphrodite muttered.

“Well, Heath was a drinker. Remember when he showed up drunk at that—” Stevie Rae began, but broke off when Aphrodite elbowed her. “Oh, uh. Right.” Then she very obviously changed the subject. “Hey, y’all did a really good job down here!” She hugged Rephaim and smiled at Darius.

“Yeah,” I chimed in, glad she’d changed the subject. “Everything looks really good—cozy and nice.” Stark, Darius, and Rephaim had done most of the hard work—then Stevie Rae’s red fledglings had quickly and quietly carried sleeping bags and pillows and such down to the basement after the funeral (and while Dallas and his friends had retreated to Goddess only knew where).

“Thank you.” Rephaim grinned.

“It did turn out well,” Darius said, nodding in appreciation.

“It’s like a big slumber party!” Stevie Rae said.

“Which is exactly why Darius and I are not staying,” Aphrodite said. “Actually,” she made a big show of yawning, “I do believe I am ready for bed. What about you, handsome?”

“Your wish is my command, my beauty,” Darius said, kissing her.

“It is probably a good idea for all of us who are still staying in the dorm to head to our rooms—obviously,” I said.

“Has anyone seen Dallas and his idiot friends?” Aphrodite asked.

“No, but they have to be on campus somewhere,” I said.

“I say we should just be happy that they haven’t been hangin’ ’round here,” Stevie Rae said. “Maybe Dallas went back to his room ’cause he’s feelin’ sad about Erin. She was his girlfriend.”

“Last time I saw him he was feeling mad, not sad,” Aphrodite said.

“What do you mean?” I asked her.

“After the funeral I caught him watching Stevie Rae and Rephaim,” Aphrodite said.

“His colors are bad,” Shaylin said. “Swirls of anger. I agree with Aphrodite. He’s mad, not sad. I hate to say this, but if he and his awful friends are hiding out in his room it’s not because they’re trying to make him feel better. I would bet he’s going to want revenge and not healing.”

“Then he needs to go after Neferet. If anyone’s to blame for Erin’s death, it’s her,” I said.

“His colors say he doesn’t think like that,” Shaylin said. “He’s mad. Period. And he’s going to want to strike out at someone who’s in front of his face.”

“We need to watch him,” Aphrodite added. “Especially you, Shaylin. If you see his colors doing some unusually crazy swirly shit, be sure you let one of our Warriors know—fast. And then find Thanatos or Z.”

I looked from one Prophetess to the other. “I like that you two are working together.”

“Me, too,” Stevie Rae said.

“We’re just doing our jobs,” Aphrodite said. “No need to get all huggy-kissy. And speaking of jobs—has anyone checked on Shaunee?”

I sighed. “She’s probably still by the pyre. Why don’t we all walk up and get her. She’s going to need a shower and some sleep.”

“Okie dokie,” Stevie Rae said. “I’m glad I’m roomin’ with her. I’ll make sure she gets somethin’ to eat before she goes to bed, too.”

“Okay, I gotta ask—how in the hell does Rephaim get back inside your room? Do ya just leave the window open, or what?” Aphrodite said.

“Are you askin’ just to be mean?”

“No, bumpkin. Not this time. I’m asking because I’m curious.”

I didn’t say anything. The truth was that I was curious, too. Shaylin and Darius stayed quiet as well. Okay, because it’s weird that Rephaim turns into a bird every day and we were dying to know the details.

“She does leave the window open, but only a little,” Rephaim answered for her.

“Huh,” Aphrodite said. “So you fly in and out?”

“Just in, usually,” Rephaim said. “I walk outside just before dawn. I fly back as the sun sets.”

“What about your clothes?” Shaylin asked the question I wanted to ask, but didn’t because I couldn’t think of a High Priestessly way to phrase it.

“He takes ’em off right before the sun rises,” Stevie Rae said. “And I bring them to our room. Then he puts ’em back on when he’s himself again.”

“I’ll bet it would suck if you timed that wrong,” Shaylin said.

Rephaim smiled. “You’re right. I’d hate to have to hang from that third-floor window, yelling, until someone heard me and helped me in.”

Stevie Rae giggled. “You’d be naked.”

“It’d be like one of my naked-at-school-in-the-middle-of-class nightmares,” I said.

“I have those, too!” Shaylin said. “They’re awful. And I can never find my shoes. Like I’d care about my shoes if I was naked at school?”

“I’m glad you’re just a tall, handsome, muscular Warrior,” Aphrodite told Darius, tiptoeing and kissing him. “The naked bird thing would stress me out.”

“He’s not naked when he’s a bird,” Stevie Rae said. “He has feathers.”

“Let’s go,” I said, before the two of them could give me a headache.

We waved good-bye to the group of kids that were snuggling down on mounds of sleeping bags, blankets, and pillows, all huddled around the biggest flat screen that would fit down the narrow basement stairs. Following us up the stairs was the crazy opening song of Django Unchained. “I can’t figure out if I like that movie or not,” I said.

“Z, Quentin Tarantino is a genius. Obviously crazy, but still—genius,” Aphrodite was saying as we closed the door to the basement.

“Unlike you. You’re just crazy,” Shaylin told her.

Stevie Rae was giggling at Shaylin when Nicole stepped from the field house into the hallway, cutting her giggles off like she’d flipped a switch. With a rustle of wings, Kalona appeared behind her.

“What’s she doin’ here?” Stevie Rae ignored Nicole and spoke to Kalona.

“She found me and told me that she was looking for you,” Kalona said.

“Spying’s more like it,” Stevie Rae said.

“Spying? Seriously? That’s stupider than calling Tarantino a genius,” Nicole said.

Aphrodite made a sound like a hissing cat.

I stepped forward, feeling Darius move to my side. “What do you want, Nicole?”

The red fledgling met my gaze steadily. “I have something to say to Stevie Rae.”

“So say it,” I said. “She’s right here.”

Nicole drew a deep breath, and then she walked up to Stevie Rae. Rephaim was watching her carefully, and Kalona was right behind her. I tensed, ready for anything crazy she might do, but I felt a touch on my arm.

“No,” Shaylin said quietly. “It’s nothing bad.”

And Shaylin was right. Nicole stopped in front of Stevie Rae, fisted her hand over her heart, and bowed respectfully. “What I want to say is that I’m sorry for the crap I caused before. I’m sorry I tried to hurt you. I don’t have any excuse for what I did. It was wrong. I’ve changed, and I want to change sides, too. I want you to be my High Priestess.”

I could tell that Stevie Rae was shocked—I think we all were shocked. Well, maybe not Shaylin, but the rest of us definitely were. Stevie Rae looked at me. I shrugged. She looked back at Nicole, asking her, “Why should I believe you?”

“Well, I thought about that before I came to talk to you, and I couldn’t come up with any for-sure answer, so I figured I’d just take a chance that you actually would believe me because I think High Priestesses just know things. If that’s true, then you’ll know you can believe me.”

“Consult your Prophetesses,” Kalona said.

“Hey, I got nothing. No vision. No woo-woo feeling either way. Nadda,” Aphrodite said. “Ask Shaylin.”

Stevie Rae looked at her other Prophetess. “What do ya see?”

“Her colors are pretty. She’s not red at all anymore. She’s pink, like a flower. She’s not hiding anything except that she’s way more nervous than she seems.” Shaylin paused and smiled at Nicole. “Sorry about that last part, but I have to tell Stevie Rae the truth.”

Nicole’s mouth was pressed in a straight line. She nodded, and then spoke quickly, “I understand. And you’re right. I am nervous.”

“Where’s Dallas?” Stevie Rae asked her.

“Last time I saw him I was on my way to my room. He said he was going to the guys’ dorm for a Resident Evil marathon in his room. I told him I couldn’t make it. I’d had enough blood and death for a while,” she said.

“So, you’re not going to hook up with him again?” Aphrodite asked her.

Nicole faced her. “I don’t want anything to do with him.”

“Because you’re still pissed he cheated on you with Erin?” Aphrodite prodded.

“Because I don’t want to be with someone who is mean. Dallas is mean,” she said.

“She’s telling the truth,” Shaylin said.

“You have a responsibility to give her a chance,” Kalona said.

At first I thought it was a strange thing for him to say, but then I really thought about it. If anyone would know about second chances, it was Kalona.

“I think he’s right,” I said. “You are the only red High Priestess she has, and if she’s swearing allegiance to you, then you have to accept her and give her a chance to prove that her oath is actually worth something.”

“Is that what you’re doin’? Swearing your allegiance to me?”

“Yes.”

“Well, then, I’ll give you a chance,” Stevie Rae said.

I watched a flush of color come over Nicole’s face, and she blinked her eyes real hard, like she might cry. Stevie Rae obviously noticed, too, because when she spoke to Nicole again, her voice had softened. “I have to be sure Shaunee’s okay, so I’m going to have Shaylin take you to the rest of the kids.”

“In the dorm?” Nicole asked.

“No, my red fledglings are curled up in the basement,” Stevie Rae said.

“A basement? Really?” Nicole smiled. “That’s awesome!”

I felt my lingering leeriness about Nicole relax. She honestly looked like she didn’t have a clue about the basement.

“Shaylin, are you okay with takin’ her down there and helpin’ her settle in?” Stevie Rae asked.

“Absolutely! I’m staying down there anyway. Come on, Nicole, let’s go catch the rest of Django Unchained. It’s blood and guts, too, but at least there’s a happily ever after.”

Before Nicole walked away, smiling, with Shaylin, she fisted her hand over her heart and bowed to Stevie Rae again. “Thank you, High Priestess.”

Stevie Rae inclined her head gracefully in response and, sounding exactly like a full-grown, awesome High Priestess, said, “Blessed be, Nicole.”