A/N: Thank you to everybody who reviewed! I really appreciate it.

Disclaimer: I do not own the House of Night series. That right belongs to P.C. and Kristin Cast, the fabulous authors of this amazing series. Sadly, that also means Stark and Rephaim…..*whimpers*.

:D enjoy


Chapter Two

Neferet

The night sky was a beauty to behold. It stretched on into infinity, holding its' own secrets and the secrets of the world. The sky has been the one unchangeable thing in the world; watching as everything around it changed and it remained the same. Neferet looked out on it from the window in her hotel suite. Soon, she will rule as vampyre queen under these stars and command all who are below her. The darkness that has become almost like her second shadow swirled around her ankles. It swelled from all the payment she'd given it for the favors it granted her in the last few days.

Neferet felt the man enter the room before she heard him. She smiled to herself. He had returned to her, knowing what she could do to him had he failed. He's here, which means he is a worthy ally. The man stepped a few more paces into the room, and stopped.

"My queen," he said, in his Scottish accent, "Everything is in place."

"Excellent," Neferet hissed, her smile turning feral. She turned around slowly to face the man. He was extremely handsome, her eyes flicking up and down his body. He had short, cropped dark hair and the same hazel eyes as his lovely daughter. "You have done well," she stopped, with barely an inch between them. She rested her hand on his chest, her delicate fingers stroking his chest and popping a few of the buttons on his shirt.

"On our word, Kalona and Selene will do their part, and the girls will be ours," Ciaran replied, his hands sliding seductively down her body. Neferet pressed herself up against him, her red lips nipping at his ear.

"Are sure you can do this, my love?" Neferet whispered in his ear. "The witch is your daughter. I can't have you letting me down when all of this starts. You know what happens when I get upset." Her long fingernails bit into his chest, and the delicious aroma of his blood filled the air and her lungs.

Ciaran felt the darkness climb up around Neferet's legs as he held her. The darkness barely touched him, but the coldness was enough to seep through his clothes and burn his skin. "You have nothing to fear, my queen," he assured her, "I will do what I have to."

Neferet's smile was wicked. "Good," she purred, "Now take me to bed." She kissed his lips fiercely, with a cold passion. They fell onto the bed, and Neferet ripped his shirt the rest of the way open, finding the spot on his chest where her fingernails had scratched him. She licked up the blood, the taste exploding in her mouth and filling her with desire. Their clothes came off and they sank deeper in their pleasure.

It was the calm before the storm, and, my, it was going to be one hell of a storm.

Stevie Rae

Stevie Rae stared at the paper in Kramisha's outstretched hand. She didn't want to look at it. She had a bad feeling down deep in the pit of her stomach. But she knew she had to cowboy up and be the red vampyre High Priestess she was. Stevie Rae took the paper from her friend, and, with a deep breath, looked down and read it. She read through it once, silently, then she read it aloud.

Darkness has a new ally

Ones with powers

will be weakened

Blood will be spilled

On the eve of Blood Moon,

the night of sacrificial power

The ultimate sacrifice must be made

Her heart was pounding when she finished. Tucking a blond curl behind her ear, she looked up at Kramisha and Rephaim. "I really don't like the sound of this," Stevie Rae admitted. She felt Rephaim put his arm around her and rub her shoulder comfortingly. "I'm afraid it might be talking about Z and Neferet."

"Yeah, that sacrifice part does not sound good," Kramisha added.

"I think we need to show this to Zoey and the others," Stevie Rae said. "It seems a little easy to figure out, especially the first part. The second part is harder, though."

"I'll come with you," Rephaim spoke up, for the first time.

"No." Stevie Rae replied. She gave him an apologetic smile. "Can you gather up the red fledglings and tell them what's going on? They don't need to know the specifics, but I want them to be prepared for anything. Kramisha, you come with me to find Zoey."

Rephaim nodded, gave her a kiss on the cheek, and left through the blanket door.

"Girl, you know you actually sounded like a High Priestess," Kramisha commented, bumping Stevie Rae's shoulder with hers.

"Thanks," Stevie Rae grinned, self-consciously, despite the situation. They made their way out of the room and were heading down the tunnel when they were nearly run over by Stark.

"Whoa, boy, watch where you going," Kramisha scolded him, mock-dusting herself off.

"Sorry, but I'm glad I ran into you two," Stark explained. "We're meeting up in the basement; Aphrodite had a vision. Zoey wants to talk to everybody."

"That's good, 'cause we have something we need to show Z," Stevie Rae said. The three of them hurriedly turned down the tunnel leading up to the basement.

Zoey

I waited until all of my friends had arrived up in the basement area. Damien and Jack were there, sitting next to each other, on a few overturned crates. They were talking quietly they were the only ones, besides Stark, who knew that Aphrodite had a vision. The twins, Erin and Shaunee, had come in a little bit after that. I had told Aphrodite to stay and rest, but she insisted on coming with me, refusing to be left out. Darius had wanted to her to rest as well, though he didn't argue with her and had stayed close to her. Stevie Rae, Kramisha, and Stark arrived last. I grew a little more apprehensive when I saw my BFF holding a sheet of purple paper. I automatically knew it was one of Kramisha's prophetic poems.

"Okay, everyone's here," I began, "I'm sure some of you have probably wondered if something has happened or not. Well, Aphrodite had a vision, and I think that requires our immediate attention." I knew I had everybody's attention now. My friends' faces were a mix of shock, curiousness, and a little fear. "It involved Kalona and another woman in a warehouse with a bunch of us and other innocent people."

"Where is this taking place?" Stevie Rae asked. She had a look of concern on her face, and she was the only one standing, besides Stark who had come to stand next to me.

"Um, Widow's Vale, New York," I answered.

"It's kind of weird, 'cause at the same time Aphrodite had the vision, Kramisha wrote this," Stevie Rae said, walking up to me and handing over the purple paper. "I think I may have some of it figured out, but not all of it."

I took the paper from her and looked at it. I read it out loud so that everybody could hear it.

Darkness has a new ally

Ones with powers

will be weakened

Blood will be spilled

On the eve of Blood Moon,

the night of sacrificial power

The ultimate sacrifice must be made

"Sounds like some major shit is stirring," Erin commented, breaking the silence that fell after I finished reading the poem.

"That's right, twin," Shaunee agreed.

"Yeah," Stevie Rae replied, absentmindedly. "I think we know that Darkness has a new ally in Neferet and I was thinking that, Z, you're the one with the powers that will be weakened."

Stark moved closer to me. "It makes sense," I nodded, "but it's plural. So, there's someone else too." I looked at my best friend. "Maybe you, Stevie Rae. The 'blood will be spilled' part is kind of obvious."

"Is someone going to die?" Jack asked, his voice cracking on the last word. We all fell silent again. Jack glanced at Damien, who put his arm around him and squeezed reassuringly. Rephaim had come in a little bit before that, and, now, he took Stevie Rae's hand in his. Stark pulled me closer, tighter, against him, and kissed my temple. I knew he was taking this poem seriously.

"What are we going to do?" Damien asked.

"I think the only thing we can and should do," I explained. I took a deep breath, patting Stark's hand on my waist. "We need to go to Widow's Vale as soon as possible to stop whatever Neferet and Kalona are up to. I also think not all of us should go."

"If Stevie Rae goes, I go," Rephaim stated, holding on to her hand tighter. He looked down at her, then back at me with conviction.

"Okay, that's fine," I told him. "So, me and Stark, Stevie Rae, Rephaim, Erin, Shaunee, Damien. I think Aphrodite should go, and Darius, too." I counted off the people who would be going, who should be going. I looked around and made sure that was everybody.

"What about me?" Jack asked, his blue eyes watching with fear and sadness of being left behind.

"I'm sorry, but I think you should stay here," I said. Turning to Stevie Rae and Kramisha, I suggested, "Maybe everybody who is staying here should go back to the House of Night, just until we come back?"

"You're right," Stevie Rae agreed, "I don't want any of the fledglings to start coughing and dieing again." She turned to Kramisha beside her. "I'm putting you in charge in my absence. Gather them up and have them ready to leave for the House of Night."

Kramisha nodded. "Good luck, priestess," she said, as she walked to the metal ladder that led down to the tunnels. She also nodded at me on her way there.

I felt a small pressure on my arm, and, turning, I saw Jack standing before me. He looked nervous. I gave him a reassuring smile. "Is everything okay, Jack?" I asked him.

"I want to come with all of you, Zoey," he replied, pushing his hands into his pockets and looking down at his feet.

"Jack, I-" I began to say, but I didn't get very far.

"Zoey, please, I've been thinking about it," Jack interrupted, picking his head back up. "You don't really know what you're going to be looking for when you get there. Damien could bring his laptop, and I could-I dunno-maybe do some research and find where that place is. It's a new place, Z. You might need my technology skills."

I stood there, watching him. His eyes shining with hope and bravery, I almost couldn't refuse him. "I'm not going to lie, Jack," I said, "This could be dangerous."

"I know," Jack assured. He glanced behind him at Damien, and I saw his love shining all over his face like brightness of the sun. "But it's worth it."

"Okay," I announced, not only to Jack but to everyone else, too. "Everybody who is going, let's get ready." I took Stark's hand as we all moved around to get the things we need to leave. During that, I had only one thought:

Ah, hell.

Zoey

About two hours later, with the help of Aphrodite's credit card and Stevie Rae's red vamp mind powers, we acquired ten tickets on the next flight to New York. We all settled into our seats for the flight. Stark sat down beside me after fitting our bags into the overhead compartment, his hand resting on my leg. We all just packed one bag, much to the twins' and Aphrodite's dismay. There's no need for us to have a ton of bags for this trip.

The Twins, Damien, and Jack were across the aisle from Stark and me. Stevie Rae and Rephaim were behind us, and Aphrodite and Darius were in front of us. I glanced out the window, resting my head on Stark's shoulder. I allowed the soft movement of the plane to lull me asleep, knowing it might be the last chance I could get for a while.


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