Chapter 2

"Stark" was all I said, as I rushed over to him to see how bad his wound was.

It looked really painful... even though he hadn't been impaled by his own arrow, the forces of wind, water, earth, fire and spirit had definitely wounded him fairly badly. There was u huge burn mark all over his chest, and blisters.

"Oh god. I'm so sorry." I said, as he lay crumpled on the floor.

"Don't worry, my lady. I'll survive." He said bravely, but i knew he was in pain.

"Come on guys. We really need to get back now." Stevie Rae said in her Okie twang.

"What? Back to the House of Night?" Shaunee said

"I don't think so, twin!" Erin said, like she was reading her twin's mind.

"I think we should go back to the tunnels. It's safe there." Damien said.

"I'm not sure guys. I still have a really bad feeling about the tunnels." I said, and i knew that Nyx was warning me by giving me this deep feeling of unrest.

I knew that it was safe from Kalona, but he could still enter my dreams and there was nothing stopping Neferet from going down there. But it had improved a lot, and it was definitely safer than the House of Night. We had no other choice.

"But let's go. Just remember, there's something that's just not right down there." I said, and saw Stevie Rae chewing nervously on her lip. She was hiding something from me. But i trusted her, so i just had to trust in her better judgement and hope that whatever it was that she was hiding, wasn't going to be dangerous.

"U-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, do you mind if i come down to the tunnels with you?" Grandma asked in a soothing voice from behind me.

"Of course not, Grandma. I'm sure we'll benefit from your knowledge of the Cherokee legends and everything you know about rituals and herbs." I said, glad that she was coming.

I always felt safe around grandma, and i knew i could always trust her. And everything about her felt homely, and i knew that it would be better in the tunnels with her around.

"How are we gonna get back?" Jack asked, and i knew that he was desperate to get back to Duchess.

"Yeah, the tunnels are far away. And im sure Kalona is going to be watching us with his creepy man – bird sons." Aphrodite said

"Blech. Those things are so creepy! You wouldn't believe that something so ugly came from such a beautiful father..." Kramisha, the poet laureate, said from behind me.

"True." Shaunee said

"So true." Erin said from beside her.

"Sister Mary Angela, would you like to come to the tunnels with us? It's probably safer than up here..." I offered.

"No darling, i think i will stay here with the rest of the nuns and take care of the cats." She said, in a motherly voice. If i didn't have my grandma, she would definitely be my second choice for a grandma.

"Well, take care then." I replied.

Even though i was a fledgling and the cold didn't get to me as much, i was freezing. I knew that was because this was a different kind of storm than ever before, a storm made by darkness and evil.

The raven mockers looked at us with their strange human eyes from their perches in the frozen trees. It unsettled me deeply, knowing that we were constantly being spied on.

"We need to get back there quickly. Something feels really bad up here." Aphrodite said, and i totally agreed with her.

"How are we gonna do it? Everything's frozen, and i don't think we can take the horses. We'll have nowhere to keep them." Stevie Rae pointed out

"Don't worry, we will take care of the horses for you." Sister Mary Angela assured us, and the nuns behind her nodded in agreement.

"Thank you. But we have no way to get there..." i trailed off.

"I guess we have no other choice but to walk." Erik said, and i knew he was right.

"Stark..." I said. By the looks of his injuries, he wouldn't be able to walk far.

"Don't worry priestess, i will carry him." Darius offered, and picked him up.

"Well, lets go then." I said, and sighed. It was a long walk, and i really wasn't in the mood for it.

"I'll make sure theres no ice or snow in the way." Shaunee said, and she let a column of flame shoot from her fingers and melt all the snow in our way instantly.

"Thanks, Shaunee." Stevie Rae said sweetly.

"No problem!" She said cheerily.

"We really need to find a way to get rid of Neferet and Kalona." Erik said, as he put his arm around my waist.

I didn't know what to do. I know he was meant to be my boyfriend, but i couldn't take his whole jealousy thing. And Stark... he watched us and he looked really sad. I'd been with him for less than an hour and i'd already hurt him really badly.

I figured i'd sort it out later. I already had enough on my mind and i was really tired.

The town creeped me out. It was so strange, seeing everything silent and covered in snow. Everything was so silent.

"I know. But i can't really deal with that right now. We have to make sure we're all safe first." I said

"I'm really tired." Stevie Rae said

"Yeah, me too." Shaunee said

"Ditto, twin." Erin said, and the twins shared a cheeky grin. It really freaked me out sometimes actually.

"How many times do i have to say this?! DIE DORKAMESE TWINS!!!" Aphrodite shouted, but the smile on her face showed that she didn't really mean it.

We walked for about half an hour through the deserted streets of Tulsa. Everything was silent, and darkness hung in the air like mist.

"Well, we're back now." Stevie Rae sad cheerily, and climed into the tunnel. I followed her in to the tunnels, and i felt deeply uneasy.

So what did you think of that? Please PLEASE review and tell me!