Chapter Eight

Erin

"Whatever."

Erin glared down at her seat. Stevie Rae and the gang were so annoying today that she felt like she was going to choke someone. Her whole body vibrated with anger, and she felt her water element near her, ready to react to the changes that were going on within her body.

"Hey, what's wrong, Erin?" Shaunee touched her shoulder gently, which caused her to scowl at her former Twin. Recently, it had been Shaunee who was the most annoying. She was trying to get too close to Erin, and it wasn't working out. And to top that off, she stank- stank like Stevie Rae.

"Nothing," Erin snapped, jerking her shoulder away from Shaunee. "Just don't touch me."

A hurt look appeared on Shaunee's face, and Erin felt a little guilty. She didn't know why the gang was so annoying to her, but ever since they'd left for San Clemente Island, it had seemed like the annoyance level had grown. She couldn't take their childish bull anymore- she just needed to be alone.

Thanatos was the teacher of this class- they were in first hour, which she so happened to have with every member of the irritating crew- and she wasn't paying any attention to any of them. Phones were out and people were rapidly texting. Music was blaring. Most of the students in the class were ignoring her, and she was ignoring them right back.

"Come on, Erin. Just tell me what's wrong." Shaunee smiled encouragingly at her, and she saw the Light of one of Nyx's chosen children reflect through her. A stab of jealousy penetrated her- she didn't see that when she looked at herself.

"Nothing's wrong, Shaunee. Just stop talking to me! What don't you get about it?!" Erin stood up, snatching her stuff and moving to another desk. Her anger was red and hot, like fire, but in a different type of way. She breathed hard and fast, to calm herself down. She noticed Shaylin staring at her as though she was crazy. Maybe she was.

Just calm down, Erin, she told herself. No reason to get so mad. Think of Nyx and you'll be fine...

Erin tried to comfort herself in the vision of Nyx she received. The Goddess's shoulders were squared, her gaze proud. Strangely, however, the vision didn't calm her down at all- it only fueled her anger and her desire to punch Shaunee in the face.

"Thanatos?" Erin's hand came up. "Can I please be excused?"

Without even looking up to see who had called her name, Thanatos nodded. Erin shot out of her seat, racing to the hall and sitting against the wall. Tears overwhelmed her, and she began to cry- like she did when she was mad. She couldn't help remembering the reveal ritual and the feeling that had overwhelmed her- the feeling of being like ice instead of water. She would swear she saw inky black threads swirling around her.

She took a deep breath, staring at the floor, and bit her lip. Maybe she was going crazy. Maybe this was just a phase. Whatever it was, she wanted it to leave her alone.

"Nyx..." She wondered why it was that she couldn't even find comfort in the name of the Goddess as it passed through her.

"Nyx?" The voice beside her was cold and hard. She jumped when she realized it was Dallas. Her heart beat fast and she looked at him, confused. "She ain't been nothin' to me since I chose Darkness. I don't need her. All I need is Neferet." The scent of his blood washed through her, strong and commanding, and Erin realized he was bleeding and she liked it.

"But... Neferet... the bitch is batshit crazy!" Erin snapped. "She's killed so many of my friends, and she hurt Zoey... I can't..."

"Neferet is trying to do whatever she can to survive. That's the natural way of life- you have to kill to survive." For some reason, Dallas's voice had grown soft, and it appealed to her- the way he was talking to her made her smile softly to herself. He sounded... sexy.

"Really?" Erin fluttered her eyelashes at him, while her consciousness was screaming: What are you doing? Why are you acting like such a slut? Especially with Dallas?

"Really." Dallas grabbed her hand, and his voice grew even softer. "I can tell that you're mad, Erin. What are you mad about?"

"Them!" Erin exploded. "I can't take the immaturity and the irritating jokes anymore." She closed her eyes. "I miss Zoey."

"Zoey isn't any help, either." He closed his eyes. "She's against Neferet."

"But I'm against Neferet," she said, confused.

"What has Neferet ever done to you personally?" he asked softly. "She's messed with your friends, but has she done anything to you?"

"No..." she whispered softly. "She didn't..."

"Neferet's amazing," he continued. "She cares only about saving the world that Nyx has poisoned, and she thinks her vision will make civilized vampyre society uncivilized." He moved closer to her, and she was drawn by how handsome he was. "I don't think you realize how beautiful you are, Erin." She blushed. "Your beauty is something Neferet needs. With beauty comes power- respect."

"Yes..." Erin stifled her anger as she remembered how Shaunee had dumped her as her Twin, and as she thought about the fact that none of the rest of the group cared whether she was with them. And Dallas was super hot and he was looking at her like she was too.

Ice...

Erin stood and in a strong, certain voice, said, "Sure, I'll join you." She smiled to herself as Dallas wrapped his arms around her. For the first time she felt strong- secure- safe. She could feel the connection with him, strong and sure. She felt her heart beating against his own. She confidently sank her teeth into the cut on his shoulder, shivering at the pleasure drinking blood brought her. Why should she be drinking blood? She was only a fourth former...

Her entire body trembled as she felt him grow closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist and grabbing her butt. That was the moment the connection between them was tethered, and Erin, child of Nyx and wielder of the element water, Imprinted with Dallas. She felt stronger instantly as her body seemed to relax. She smiled as her tears continued into his shoulder, finally feeling relieved and like she belonged to something.

What she didn't notice was the commanding Darkness that now clung to her skin.

Shaylin

The bell rang, and Shaylin rose to her feet. She couldn't take vampyre high school any more than she could take normal human high school. Here there was all the drama with Neferet going on and she felt like she'd been given a role that was way too big for her. She felt like Nyx had a plan for her. She walked out of the classroom, entering the hallway quickly. Stevie Rae was close behind her.

"Shaylin?" Stevie Rae's soft voice penetrated her ears. "Did you see Erin leave the class? What was wrong with her?"

"I don't know," Shaylin replied. "I don't know, but I'm starting to get a bad feeling about Erin. A really bad feeling."

Stevie Rae frowned. "What do you mean?"

"I mean her colors are getting Darker and Darker." Shaylin pursed her lips. "It's as if as the days go by, she's getting farther away from us."

The red vampyre High Priestess sighed sympathetically with her. "I hope Erin gets her head together. She's been different ever since she and Shaunee fell out."

"How did they fall out?" Shaylin asked. "What happened?"

Stevie Rae shook her head. "Shaunee didn't tell Erin she was having issues with her dad, and Erin got pretty pissed. They got into a big argument and agreed not to be Twins anymore, but I thought they'd still be friends. I guess not being Twins threw out the balance or something." She sighed again.

"You guys need water for your circle, don't you?"

"Well, Zoey's got a water affinity, but it would help to have someone with a water affinity on our side, yeah," Stevie Rae told her honestly.

"I can sense that someone like that will be Marked soon." Shaylin closed her eyes and nodded, opening them. "I've been able to sense stuff like that recently- stuff I shouldn't know yet, stuff about the future."

Stevie Rae hesitated at the door to her second hour- they had finally reached it. "Yeah, that's strange. Maybe you have a prophesy affinity, like Kramisha."

"I don't know." Shaylin rubbed her temples when she realized she was getting a headache. Okay, not cool. "This is all way too much."

"I have to go to first hour." Unexpectedly, Stevie Rae threw her arms around Shaylin. "See you later." She turned and walked away, and a fit of emotions were left wallowing in Shaylin's stomach- the main one irritation.

All of the things she'd been chosen for were adding up, and it was becoming too much to have such a tight plate. She felt as if her head were about to explode as she stood firmly in front of the door to her first hour, which was right across the hall from Stevie Rae's. As she stood there, Shaylin felt Nyx's presence within her soul- the Goddess was guiding her, calming her, and preparing her for a battle which was soon to come.

She turned around and walked toward her second hour, and bumped into Erik. He was hurrying past her. When he saw her run into him, he gasped. "Shaylin?"

"Erik," she gasped. "Sorry. I didn't mean..."

"No, you're fine," he promised. "It was me. I ran into you."

She laughed. "No, trust me, it was me. I'll take the blame."

He laughed too. "You don't have to."

"Erik, you saw me bump you. You don't have to be such a gentleman," she told him.

"I know." Erik fixed her hair. "I don't know what came over me. I just decided to have a gentlemanly streak." He grinned at her.

"Well, that's good," she told him. "I wouldn't want chivalry to be completely dead."

Erik moved closer to her. "It isn't, trust me." His grin grew, and she felt safe with him- she knew she could trust him. His colors were bright and burning, strong and heartfelt. She could see his feelings plain on his face.

"Shaylin, what's happening?" he whispered as she moved closer to him. With one last sigh, she stood on her tiptoes to kiss him softly. It was just a peck on the lips, but the kiss made her heart rise in fear, for she knew Erik had that jealous asshole inside of him- what if he brought it out on her?

"I don't know," she whispered when their lips parted. "I couldn't help myself..." She felt terrible. What was wrong with her? Kissing Erik Night like that... guilt flooded through her.

"I don't either." Erik sighed, and he looked so handsome that her body grew warm. "When I saw you... these emotions just flooded through me."

"Erik," she whispered. "I can't... I have to go." Before he could say any more, she turned and ran from him, running into her second hour class. Her heart beat fast and strong, but she felt like it was broken.

What in the hell had just happened?

Kalona

"No!"

Horror exploded through Kalona as he stared at his smooth, muscular back. With no wings attached to it.

"No..." he moaned, his eyes full of horror. "You can't be serious, Nyx. You've taken my wings... I'm now just a mortal!"

"Why do you think she took them?" Rephaim was beside him. "What could you have possibly done?" His son smiled earnestly at him, ready to help him through this.

"I don't know." He shook his head back and forth, back and forth. "I haven't done anything to antagonize the Goddess. Why would she remove my immortality?"

"Well, Father, technically she didn't remove your immortality. You weren't fully immortal to begin with, just as Stark is no longer a mortal. Nyx simply made you more mortal than he was. All vampyres have a bit of immortality in them; now yours is amplified." Rephaim shrugged. "Maybe you should ask her."

Ask her. The request was so simple, but Kalona felt the power of it inside his soul. He closed his eyes, tilted his head, and prayed up to Nyx: Why have you taken my wings? What did I do to deserve this type of punishment?

To his surprise, the consistency of the air around him seemed to change, coming together like two puzzle pieces. He opened his eyes and gasped as Nyx appeared before him. Her beauty was stunning and Otherworldly, and Kalona felt it against his skin. She smiled softly at him. "Kalona, my fallen Warrior. You have chosen a path that leads, even if indirectly, to me. You must repent for your past misdeeds, however; your years of Darkness have a strengthening sacrifice. As payment for your Darkness, you will become one of my faithful followers." Nyx closed her eyes. A bright white ball of Light appeared in her hands, and she flung it at him as if it were a beach ball. Kalona screamed as the Light penetrated his soul and he fell to his knees.

When Kalona raised his head, Nyx was gone, and his skin burned as if it was new. Rephaim gasped beside him as he stared at Kalona's forehead.

"Father... You've been Changed!"

Kalona rose to his feet and gasped as he stared at his expression in the mirror. His face still looked exactly the same, as handsome and proud and wise as usual, but now there was something completely different about it, something that resonated in the sapphire crescent moon in the middle of his forehead, and the sword tattoo that framed it adjacently.

Nyx had Changed him into a vampyre.

Neferet

She stood at the door of the large mansion, her fingers running along the silk of her beautiful black dress absently. She stared at the door until the human man and woman opened it, staring at her as though they'd never seen her before, though she knew for certain they had.

"Mr. and Mrs. LaFont?" she asked carefully, as though she'd never seen them before. "I'm Neferet, the High Priestess of the Tulsa House of Night, and your daughter is in big trouble."

Mrs. LaFont's gaze was shocked. "What do you mean?" She looked concerned, not for her daughter but only for her reputation. Neferet remembered a similar gaze in her father's eyes, which almost made her feel guilty for Aphrodite.

"I think I should come in." Without waiting for their agreement, Neferet passed the threshold of their home, smiling brilliantly at them.

"Yes, come in. Sit on one of the couches." Charles LaFont gestured to the beautiful leather couch that was sitting in the middle of the huge living room. There was a tight phalanx of couches arranged in a way that made her feel like she was in an old movie theater, because they all sat facing the large television, even though no one was sitting in them and it was not on. She swallowed her revulsion at the humans' greed and sat down on the couch- she had a job to do. Her spell would give her what she wanted- a war between humans and vampyres.

"Hello, Neferet," Aphrodite's mother said. "How may we help you?"

"You can help me by listening. Your daughter, Aphrodite, has allied with the Dark population of vampyres. The House of Night has stopped listening to Nyx and I believe they are on the side of Darkness. They have a plan to set fire to the council building of Tulsa, and cause war between humans and vampyres." Neferet tried to make fear appear in her gaze, and she knew it had worked when Charles' hand moved instinctively closer to her, though he did not touch her- for his sake.

"It's high time those vampyres decided to cause a war!" He smiled. "They've been killing too many of our population just for a snack. It won't be outright war, but it will be deadly."

She remembered when similar words had come out of her mouth- back in the days when the High Council controlled her, and she didn't have as much power as she did now. "Yes, of course."

"War it is. If those vampyres want it, they can have it, Aphrodite right along with them." Charles' gaze was cold and hard as he nodded at her.

"Beautiful." Her voice was ten times colder as she rose to her feet. "Now that I have that settled... I need your wife." She smiled wryly as she flung the Darkness at Aphrodite's mother. The weak woman screamed as it touched her, wrapping itself around her and choking her instantly. The woman died in seconds, and Neferet rushed to her body, pulling the strength from it that was required to do the chaos spell.

"I... No!" Charles cried, running to her and touching her pale, slender face. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he turned back to Neferet. "You killed her!"

"Yes. Many more deaths will occur in the coming days." She smiled coldly at him. "Think nothing of it."

"I..." Darkness swarmed around him like gnats, taking control of his unease and his hardships, and she flung it into his soul. "War with vampyres will begin soon. They have killed my wife." He grinned coldly at her.

Neferet grinned back. Her plan had finally been realized- she was going to get her war.

But she couldn't help feeling strangely guilty as the image of Johnny's lips pressing against hers shuddered through her.

Guys, I've finished HIDDEN, and let me tell you, it's amazing. It's gotta be one of my favorite books in the series, after Burned and Destined. The books just keep getting better as they roll toward the inevitable climax. SPOILER ALERT: No I didn't get the idea about Erin from Hidden, or the idea about Neferet. I've had REVEALED planned out for a long time.

See you next time!

XOXO,

Casey