“Stark, of course. He’s only the hottest guy at the House of Night. Well, if you don’t count Kalona,” Becca said.
“CFF—both of them,” Cassie said.
“CFF?” I asked.
“Completely freaking fine,” Becca said.
I realized afterwards that I should have kept my mouth shut. I mean, I was attempting to converse with what amounted to brainwashed pod people, but I couldn’t stay out of it, and yes, I knew that some of my pissed-off-ness came from a totally inappropriate feeling of jealousy.
“Uh, excuse me, Becca,” I said, heavy on the sarcasm. “But didn’t Darius and I recently save your butt from getting raped and bit by oooh! the hottest guy at the House of Night? Then you were snotting and whimpering.”
Shocked at my outburst, Becca opened, shut, and opened her mouth again, reminding me of a fish.
“You’re just jealous.” Cassie didn’t look or sound shocked; she looked like a hateful bitch. “Erik’s gone. Loren Blake’s dead. So now you don’t have the two hottest guys at school on your little leash.”
I felt my face flush. Had Neferet told everyone about Loren and me? I didn’t know what to say, but Becca didn’t give me a chance to speak anyway.
“Yeah, just because you’re all high and mighty with the elements doesn’t mean you can have any guy you want.” Becca was giving me the same hateful glare she’d given Damien and the Twins when they’d tried to talk sense into her last night. “The rest of us can actually have a chance once in a while, too.”
I clamped down on my urge to shriek at her and tried reason instead. “Becca, you’re not thinking clearly. Last night, when Darius and I broke it up between you and Stark, he was forcing you to let him suck your blood, and he was also on the verge of raping you.” I hated saying it. I especially hated knowing it was true.
“I don’t remember it that way,” Becca said. “I remember liking the sucking, and I would have liked the rest of what goes along with Stark sucking a girl’s blood. You busted up something good that was none of your business.”
“You remember it like that because Stark messed with your mind.”
Becca and Cassie laughed, causing lots of heads to turn in our direction.
“The next thing you’re going to say is that Kalona is messing with our minds, too, and that’s why we think he’s so damn hot,” Cassie said.
“Are you actually saying you two can’t tell that things have been different around here since Kalona broke out of the ground?”
“Yeah. So? He’s consort to Nyx’s Incarnate. His presence is bound to make things different,” Cassie said.
“And of course he came out of the ground. Earth is one of Nyx’s elements. Like you don’t know that?” Becca said, rolling her eyes at Cassie.
I’d just opened my mouth to try to explain to them that he’d escaped the earth, not been born through it, when the door to the classroom opened and Kalona strode in.
There was a cumulative sigh from every female except me. And, to be completely honest, I’d wanted to sigh and had to clamp my jaws together to stop myself. He was just so utterly gorgeous. Today he was wearing black slacks and a short-sleeved, button-up shirt that was untucked, unbuttoned, and hanging open enough that whenever he moved I could see the flawless bronze of his chest and his yummy six-pack. Someone had slit the back of the shirt, because his magnificent black wings protruded through and then tucked neatly against his broad back. His long dark hair was loose on his shoulders, making him look, despite his modern clothes, like an ancient god.
I wanted to ask Becca or Cassie how old he looked to them, because to me he again seemed only eighteen or nineteen, in the prime of his youth and strength, and not too ancient and mysterious to be out of my reach.
No! Listen to yourself! The next thing you know you’ll be sounding as empty-headed as Becca and Cassie and the rest of them. Think! He’s your enemy. Don’t forget that. Forcing myself to look beyond his physical beauty and the hypnotic allure he radiated, I realized he’d been talking while I’d been yelling at myself.
“That said, I thought I would help direct this class, since it seems you are so very hard on your instructors.”
The class’s appreciative laughter was warm and welcoming.
I raised my hand. His amber eyes widened in surprise, and then he smiled and said, “How delightful that my first question comes from the most special of all the fledglings. Yes, Zoey, what answer may I give you?”
“With you taking over Drama I was just wondering if that meant you expect Erik Night to be gone for quite some time?” Okay, I hadn’t wanted to ask him a question, but my instincts had made me raise my hand, just as my instincts were telling me what to say. I knew taunting him with the fact that Erik had escaped was dangerous, but I was doing so in a way that I hoped wouldn’t give him a reason for outright anger. I just wasn’t sure why I was being prompted to bait an already volatile immortal.
Kalona didn’t look fazed at all by my question. “I believe Erik Night may return to the House of Night sooner than some may think. But, sadly, I’ve heard he might not be in any shape to resume his duties as a professor, or as anything else for quite some time.” His smile got warmer and more intimate, and I could feel Becca and Cassie and the rest of the girls in the room shooting daggered looks of envy at me. I realized with a terrible sense of fear and disbelief that the girls hadn’t really heard anything Kalona had said. They couldn’t grasp that he had just threatened Erik and said that he was coming back, probably just short of being hauled here in a body bag. All they’d heard was the sound of his beautiful voice. All they knew was that he’d singled me out for his attention.
“Now, sweet Zoey, or as I like to think of you, A-ya, I give you the honor of choosing what piece of work we shall study first. Be wary! The entire class must abide by your choice. And know that I shall play the lead in whatever you choose.” He strode over to my side of the room. I was in the desk that sat second to the front, directly behind Becca, and I swear I could see her tremble at his nearness. “Perhaps I will give you a part to play in our little drama.”
I stared at him, my heart hammering so violently in my chest that I was sure he must hear it. His being so close was hard on me. It reminded me of my dreams, where he’d come to me and held me in his arms. I could feel the tendrils of cold that snaked from his body…wrapping around me…making me yearn for the blanket of those ebony wings…
He’s going to hurt Erik! I clung to that thought and felt the delicious chill slither from me. No matter what was going on between Erik and me, I wasn’t about to be cool with anything happening to him.
“I know the perfect play for us to do.” I was proud that my voice was calm and strong.
His smile was pure, sensual joy. “I’m intrigued! What is your choice?”
“Medea,” I said without hesitation. “Ancient Greek tragedy set in a time when gods still walked the earth. It’s about what happens when a man has too much hubris.”
“Ah, yes, hubris. When a man exhibits godlike arrogance.” His voice was still deep and seductive, but I could see the anger that had begun to burn in his eyes. “I think you will find that hubris only applies when you’re dealing with mortals, and not the gods themselves.”
“So you don’t want to do the play?” I said with exaggerated innocence.
“On the contrary! I believe the play will be amusing. Perhaps I shall let you dramatize Medea herself.” He broke eye contact with me and refocused his charisma on the class. “Study this play tonight. We will begin acting it tomorrow. Rest well, my children. I look forward to seeing each of you again.” He turned and, as abruptly as he’d entered the room, he left.
There was complete silence for what seemed like a long time. Finally, to no one and everyone I said, “Well, I guess I’ll try to find some copies of Medea.” I got up and went to the back of the room. But not even the sound of opening and closing cabinets and pawing through files of old plays and mounds of scripts could cover the whispers that rained around me.