I will definitely have spoilers for Revealed in here so if you haven't read it and don't want it spoiled, don't read.
Becoming a fledgling is hard, it's harder when you're the first not undead fledgling to go red, even harder when you're gifted with an ability that's so rare no one really knows how to help you with it and harder still when your high priestess loses her mind. Hopefully Shaylin has what it takes to help her friends and herself during the trying times to come.
Disclaimer: I don't own the House of Night series (obviously) and all recognizable characters from the books aren't mine.
When I began to wake up, I was snuggled up in someone's arms and knew it was Nicole holding me by the way she was humming softly. I felt incredibly comfortable, wrapped up in her soothing warmth with the feel of her heartbeat thumping against me and I didn't want to wake up. I wanted to stay cuddled up against her for the rest of forever instead of waking up and dealing with whatever shit storm was on the way. But I knew I couldn't be that selfish, the goddess gave me a gift so I could help my friends.
"What time is it?" I yawned, turning in her embrace so I could bury my face in the crook of her neck. She shuddered and I heard her suck in a sharp breath before she cleared her throat and tried to pull away. I didn't let her.
"It's almost 9. You've been out for a bit."
"Really?" I mumbled against her skin, closing my eyes again. Again I felt her tremble but this time, she just tightened her arms around me and kissed the top of my head.
"Yup." Her heart sped up a little as she ran her hand up and down my back, humming again. "You know, when you sleep, your mouth hangs open a little."
"Oh my gosh." I blushed furiously, shaking my head. I hoped beyond hope that I didn't drool on her.
"It's cute, really," she chuckled softly.
"That's so embarrassing!" Pulling away from her embrace enough to pout at her, I noticed the increasing brightness of her colors. They were beautiful and warm.
"Nope, not at all," she whispered. She lifted her hand and ran her fingertips down my face. The caress was so gentle it felt like the wings of a butterfly against my skin and sent tingles across my body.
"Oh," was all I could manage to get passed my lips. Again I flashed back to the brief kiss we shared; my first kiss in my new life.
"Yeah."
I leaned forward slowly, shifting so that I could get a better angle at her mouth. The loud clunk of my cell phone crashing to the floor pierced through the haze that surrounded us. Nicole blinked as if clearing out her vision and her face fell as something crossed her mind. I reached for her face, wanting to wipe away the sudden tension in her features but her next words stopped me cold.
"Erik was asking for you."
My body went rigid as I looked at her, unsure what I heard in her tone. Was it sadness or jealousy; her colors hinted it was a mix of both. Damn it I'm so new to this stuff. "What did you tell him?"
"That you were sleeping." Suddenly her warmth was gone and so was she, leaving me alone in my bed with a chill clinging to me.
I sat up and blinked, taking in the dark and empty room with a small huff. I didn't want to deal with any drama that didn't mean life or death, so I'd push away whatever it was that was going on with my possible love life and focus on Zoey. That was something a the goddess would approve of, right?
Heaving the sigh of the century, I stood up, shook myself off and put on my shoes. I'd have to take it one step at a time, focusing on the problem that affected more people; that was the selfless thing to do.
"Why the fuck do I have to be the one to always get your ass up?" Aphrodite's voice bounced off the walls of the empty basement. Even though her bitchy tone was seriously annoying, I was glad to have her back to normal, well, as normal as she could ever be. "Seriously, I'm way too good looking to be playing fetch the freak."
"I'm the freak?"
She shrugged, flipping her hair over her shoulder before squinting and looking around. "Where's your pillow pet?"
My face flushed as I glared at her, stomping passed her on my way up the stairs.
"Trouble in paradise?" she laughed.
"Are you coming or not?"
"Touchy, touchy," she grinned. "Maybe you should stop by Taco Bell and pick up some food for her."
"Huh? What are you… you know what? Nevermind, I don't want to know what goes on in that insane head of yours." Shaking my head, I trudged upstairs, trying my best to ignore the stream of babble coming from behind me.
As soon as the night air hit me, I took a deep breath and turned around to face her. She had stopped talking and simply looked up into the sky, her mouth curled into a frown. As soon as I opened my mouth to remind her of all the wrinkles she'd get from frowning, her body seized and she flopped onto the ground. I screamed like bloody murder and watched as her body shook and blood ran down her cheeks.
A/N: I have no idea where this is going but I have free time right now at work so I decided why not whip up the next chapter! Thanks for reading and I hope you liked it (:
