Chapter 1:
Zoey
When I woke up all puffy eyed it was sunset and everyone was still asleep. (Hey even though we are fledglings, and vampyres, we are still teenagers. We sleep in.) I decided to get some fresh air despite the fact that I felt like I was going to pass out from lack of sleep. I just had too much on my mind.
"Where are you going?" the sleepy Stark asked me.
"Just right outside of the tunnels. I need fresh air…" Stark looked at me, I had seen this look before. It was his protective look, his you're-not-going-without-me-look. He started to get up.
"You can't come with me. Im sorry I just need this alone time right now. I miss my mom too much." I told him.
It wasn't a lie; it just wasn't the entire truth. The truth was I needed to think about more stuff than just the recent death of my mother, stuff that included Stark and not to mention Neferet.
"I'll be right back for breakfast I promise." I told him as I lifted the bed sheet that separated our room from the rest of the tunnels. I listened and I heard him go back to sleep, good he needed his rest.
When I walked outside I was mesmerized by the intricate swipes of orange and yellows leftover from the sunset. It was already dusk so the sun did not bother me. I found myself sitting against a rock that was surprisingly more comfortable than it seemed.
As I was sitting in silence I watched the colors chase the sun back under the horizon. I saw the stars start to pop out in the night sky and started to weep softly again.
"I can't believe she is gone. She really loved me." I repeated over and over. The loss of my mother hit me hard; even though she hadn't been a mother to me since the stop-loser moved in. we used to be so close. I missed her, and needed her, now more than ever.
Even though it was almost too dark for humans to see, I caught a figure moving in the distance. Wind and fire come to me. I thought silently. I felt the warm summer wind surround me and ready to pounce at my command. I had been expecting a Raven Mocker or an evil priestess to come and attack me when the figure finally stepped out of the shadows, and not much to my surprise it was a Raven Mocker.
"Rephaim! You scared the living daylights out of me! Thank you fire and thank you wind you may depart." I laughed at little.
"Oh. Um… I am sorry. I didn't intent to scare you. I simply couldn't find the road from the woods and, well, I cant fly anymore so I had to walk through the woods to find my way back to the depot." He explained awkwardly.
It was then that I noticed he was wearing nothing but a pair of jeans and his bare chest and face were covered in dirt. His black hair was full of twigs and leaves. I looked at him. Now that he wasn't a disgusting birdman he was actually kind of cute. His Cherokee features stood out along with features from his father, so basically he was hot.
"No it's O.K. I'm just really jumpy lately. Um, so how was your day?" I asked him trying to distract myself from crying even more. He sat next to me and started picking the forestry from his hair.
"Weird. I never would have wanted this to happen to me, but I do understand that this is the consequence for my past actions." He looked away from me as if embarrassed.
"Hey just think of the bright side of it. You're human part of the time and you get to be with Stevie Rae now. All you have to worry about is the present." I said with a smile. I seriously had to ask Stevie Rae how all of this even happened.
I realized what I just said applied to me as much as it did to Rephaim. I can't linger about the past about my mom, yeah I will miss her, but I can't keep myself weak, especially with Neferet looking for me.
"Is there something wrong?" he asked me.
"No" I lied.
"I can tell you are not a very good liar Zoey Redbird." He said with a boyish half smile. I sighed.
"Well you might as well know… Neferet killed my mother. I wasn't close to her before but somehow Nyx sent me a vision of her and now I know she really does care about me." I burst into tears again. "And on top of that Stark basically tried to attack me last night." I blurted before I could stop myself.
"Stark? The boy who never misses his shot? The one who my father- I mean Kalona brought back to life?"
"Yeah Stark was never like that before. Well… only when we was overpowered by darkness when he un-died…" I stopped and thought for a second and looked into Rephaim's dark brown eyes.
"Could Kalona be able to control Stark now that there is a part of Kalona within him?"
"It is possible. That is how he broke free of Neferet's oath. He is no longer 100% immortal. Part of him lives with the boy. But he still has tremendous powers, some that even I never learned about." Rephaim explained.
Ah Hell I thought. If Kalona is controlling Stark, who knows what he could do to my friends or me. My inner worry babble was interrupted by Stevie Rae's Okie twang.
"Hey I though you were back!" She said to Rephaim giving him a huge hug even though he still towered over her. "We were just making waffles and pancakes for breakfast. Come on Z, everyone is waiting for you." She said, finally realized I was right next to her. She grabbed both my and Rephaim's hand and pulled us back into the tunnels.
"Can you keep this a secret?" I whispered to Rephaim. He smiled right before Stevie Rae pulled him away to meet everyone (again). So I took that as a yes and I would investigate with him later.
Breakfast was extremely good. Stevie Rae used her Momma's Waffle and Pancake recipes, and if anyone knows Momma Johnson, that woman can cook.
I was making my plate next to Damien. He looked like he got zero sleep last night; his eyes were bloodshot and had huge bags. I mean I can't blame him he just lost the cutest boyfriend in the world, Jack. The whole group felt the same way. I know how he feels. I lost Heath. My consort. And now my mother!
Which reminded me I had to tell the herd. Crap.
I gave Damien a huge hug and poured him a huge helping of syrup. As I always say, the unhealthier the better. Crappy food always helps when you feel like crap. Damien barely smiled and mumbled thanks and walked over to the table. I finished my breakfast off with some chocolate chips then I followed him and took my seat next to Stark. He squeezed my hand underneath the table.
"You ok?" he asked.
"Yeah." I said. Feeling much better knowing my guardian was back to his normal self (for now).
As I stuffed my face with the waffle sugary goodness I looked around the table at all of my friends. Ugh we just got back together and were having a peaceful moment, and I had to ruin it. I stood out of my chair and began.
"Hey guys I have some bad news. I know it's early, but evil never sleeps." I took a deep breath to try and keep myself from crying. Stark's hand found mine again which gave me strength.
"Last night I found out my mother was killed by Neferet."
Everyone started talking at once which made my head spin. Aphrodite finally spoke up over all of the babble.
"I thought your mom was hateful to you?" That made me lose it. I started crying so Stark spoke for me.
"Let's just say she learned her mom wasn't as bad as she originally thought. We need to find out why Neferet is targeting people Zoey loves and we need to especially keep ourselves safe…" Stark continued on but I blocked him out with my sobs.
That's when I heard it, that unmistakable eerie flapping of wings. I looked up at Rephaim. He heard them too.