“Grand…is conscious. We’re under the abbey, but…” There was static and then suddenly I could hear her clearly. “Are you influencing the weather, Zoey?”
“Me? No! What about Grandma? Are you guys safe in the abbey basement?”
“…fine. Not to worry, we…”
And the line went dead.
“Hell! This connection sucks so much!” I paced a short path of frustration while I tried to call her back. Nothing. I had service, but the screen kept saying that it was a lost call. I tried several more times before I saw that, not only was I not getting her back, but my phone was getting ready to die. “Hell!” I repeated.
“What did she say?” Erik had come up behind me.
“Not much, ’cause I lost the connection and can’t get it back. But I did manage to hear her say that she’s okay and Grandma’s okay. I even think she’s finally conscious.”
“That’s really good news! Don’t worry; everything’s going to be fine. The nuns have your grandma safe underground, right?”
I nodded, feeling stupidly close to tears that were really more because of frustration than fear for Grandma. I completely trusted Sister Mary Angela, so if she said Grandma was okay, then I believed her. “It’s hard not knowing what’s going on. Not just with Grandma, but with everything out there.” I jerked my thumb up at the outside world.
Erik stepped up beside me and his warm hand closed over mine. He turned me so that I was facing him, and then with his thumb he gently traced the new tattoos that covered my palm. “Hey, we’ll get through this. Nyx is at work here, remember? Just look at your hands to see proof of her favor. Yeah, our group is small, but we’re strong and we know we’re on the right side.”
Just then my phone made the little chime that said I had a text message. “Oh, good. Maybe this is Sister Mary Angela.” I flipped open the phone and stared at the message, not really getting it.
All fledglings and vampyres are to return to the House of Night immediately.
“What the hell?” I said, still staring at my phone’s screen.
“Let me see,” Erik said. I flipped the phone so he could read it. He nodded slowly, as if the text confirmed something he’d already thought about. “It’s Neferet. And even though it’s sounding like one of those schoolwide text broadcasts, I’d bet she’s talking directly to us.”
“Are you sure it’s her?”
“Yeah, I recognize her number.”
“She gave you her phone number?” I tried not to sound as annoyed as that made me feel, but I doubt I was very successful.
Erik shrugged. “Yeah, she gave it to me before I left for Europe. Said if I ever needed anything I could call her.”
I snorted.
Erik smiled. “Are you jealous?”
“No!” I lied. “She’s just such a manipulative bitch that it makes me mad.”
“Well, she’s definitely into some bad shit with Kalona.”
“Yeah, that’s for sure, and we’re not going back to the House of Night. At least not right now.”
“I think you’re right about that. We need to find out more about what’s happened above before we make our next move. Plus, if your instincts are telling you we need to stay clear of the school, then that’s what we should do.”
I looked up at him. He smiled reassuringly down at me and brushed a strand of my hair back from my face. His eyes were warm and kind, not sex crazed and possessive. Jeesh, I had to get a grip on myself. Erik made me feel safe. He believed what he was saying. He believed in me.
“Thank you,” I said. “Thanks for still believing in me.”
“I’ll always believe in you, Zoey,” he said. “Always.” Erik wrapped me in his arms and kissed me.
The door to the outside was wrenched open, letting in the murky light of a stormy afternoon and a blast of frigid air. Erik whirled, pushing me behind him. I felt a heart-thundering rush of pure fear.
“Get below! Get Darius!” Erik shouted as he moved forward to face the figure silhouetted against the gray upper world.
I had started to run back to the basement ladder when Heath’s voice stopped me.
“Hey, is that you, Zo?”
CHAPTER 10
“Heath!” I hurried toward him, practically shouting my relief that it was him and not a terrifying Raven Mocker or worse, an ancient immortal with eyes like the night sky and a voice like a forbidden secret.
“Heath?” Erik didn’t sound nearly as pleased. He grabbed my arm so I couldn’t run past him. He frowned, still managing to stay protectively in front of me. “You mean your human boyfriend?”
“Ex-boyfriend,” Heath and I said at the same time.
“Hey, aren’t you that Erik guy? Zo’s fledgling ex-boyfriend?” Heath said. He ignored the three stairs that emptied into the basement and jumped lightly down, looking every inch (and I do mean at least six feet tall with kinda curly, sandy, blond-brown hair and the cutest eyes and guy dimples you have every seen) the star quarterback he was. Yes, I’ll admit it freely, my high school boyfriend was a cliché, but at least he was an adorable one.
“Boyfriend.” Erik’s voice was flint. “Not ex. Just like vampyre, not fledgling.”
“Oh. I’d say congrats on the makeup with Zo and on not drowning in your own blood, but that would pretty much be bullshit ’cause I wouldn’t mean it. Know what I mean, dude?” He talked as he walked around Erik to snag my wrist, but before he could pull me into a big hug he glanced down and saw the new tattoos covering my palms. “Whoa! Now that is majorly cool! So, your goddess is still takin’ care of you?”
“Yeah, she is,” I said.
“I’m glad,” he said and pulled me into the hug I’d been expecting. “Damn, I’ve been worried about you!” Then he held me at arm’s length and checked me out. “You all in once piece?”
“I’m fine,” I said, a little breathlessly. I mean, last time I’d seen Heath he’d been breaking up with me. Plus, I could smell him when he hugged me and he smelled amazing. Like home mixed with my childhood mixed with something that was delicious and exciting and was calling to me from everywhere his skin touched mine. I knew what was calling me—his blood. And that messed with more than my head.
“Excellent.” Heath let go of my wrist and I took a quick little half step away from him and toward Erik. I saw a flash of pain go through Heath’s eyes, but it was only there for a second before he grinned nonchalantly and shrugged like the hug hadn’t been a big deal because he and I were just friends now. “Yeah, well, I figured you were okay. I mean, I thought even though that blood thing between us broke, I’d still know if something bad happened to you.” He’d said the words “blood thing” with a sexy emphasis that had Erik stirring beside me. “But I needed to see for myself. Plus, I wanted to ask what-the-fuck about the weird call last night?”
“Call?” Erik said. His eyes were guarded when he looked at me.
“Yes, call.” I lifted my chin. Erik might be my boyfriend again, but no way was I going to put up with his being all possessive and insanely jealous. The thought flitted through my mind that maybe Erik wouldn’t ever be able to really trust me after what had happened between us, and I’d have to put up with some obsessive jealousy. I’d kinda earned it. But I said in a cool voice, “I called Heath to warn him about the Raven Mockers and tell him to get his family to safety. He and I aren’t together, but that doesn’t mean I want anything bad to happen to him.”
“Raven Mockers?” Heath asked.
“What’s going on out there?” Erik asked, his voice all business.
“Goin’ on? What do ya mean? Like the major storm that’s been goin’ on since about midnight, and has turned into a mess of ice, or the gang bullshit that happened? And what’re Raven Mockers?”
“Gang bullshit? What do you mean by that?” Erik snapped.
“No. I’m not sayin’ shit till you answer my question.”
“Raven Mockers are demonlike creatures from Cherokee legend,” I answered. “Up until about midnight last night, they were only evil spirits, but all that changed when their daddy, an immortal named Kalona, broke free from his prison inside the earth, and is now making his new address the Tulsa House of Night.”