Zoey POV

'I don't understand.'

I looked Lenobia directly in the eyes to show her I was being serious. Not that this was something you'd exactly make up. I still can't believe it. Neferet! A member of the High Council. Goddamnit. Why can't we just have one relaxing week? Why, instead of a psychotic High Priestess with an appetite for destruction, can we not have an invasion of aliens with a spa for a ship or something. Damn...that'd make a terrible movie.

'How can Neferet be a High Priestess? Has Duantia taken complete leave of her senses?', Lenobia asks. Good question – since that's what I was thinking.

'No idea how she did it. But she has. How come you weren't at the Ritual?'

'Ah. I was...busy.' She trails off looking faintly embarrassed and it takes me a few seconds to understand why. She's looking at Travis in the distance with an undecipherable expression.

'Oh. You were...uhh...distracted by him?', I ask, suddenly taking an intense interest in my shoelaces.

She smiles a wry smile. 'Yes. You could put it like that. But I still cannot believe Neferet. What are we going to do? There's no way to get past a member of Nyx's Council.'

'I mean, I know it's supposed to be a 50 year job or whatever but isn't there some way we can get her fired? Try and find some mega-dirt on her that Duantia would have to listen to?'. I ask as I remember that True Blood episode where Roman stakes that kid vamp because he has a video of him munching on a human on his laptop. I wish I'd video'd Neferet feeding Elliott the Slug. I mean, ultra, ultra gross but really useful right about now.

'I have no idea.' She sighs. 'If she won't listen to the word of another Council member – and one of the longest serving members – then I don't think she'll listen to anything less than the word of Nyx.'

Nyx. It'd be fantastically awesome if you could just show up and tell Duantia not to trust Neferet. I know you don't meddle in peoples affairs and whatnot but it would still be mega helpful if you could just knock some sense into some people.

'Still. I don't know what good it's going to do her. She'll have to be even more discreet in her dealings or else risk everyone discovering her treachery. Again. Although, I suppose it will give her added protection.'

Hmm? Protection? Makes the High Council sound like the mafia. The Vampyre Mafia.

'What do you mean protection?', I ask.

'Well. Back during my time the punishment for killing or bringing harm against a member of the Council was punishable by exile or death depending on the severity of the incident.'

Whoa whoa whoa. Back up.

'Death? We aren't killing Neferet. No way. Absolutely not. I'm not discussing this anymore.'

Lenobia gave me an almost worried look. 'Zoey, if she's going to try and kill us then we are going to have to fight back, you realize.'

'I know but there's a difference between self defence and murder.' I run a hand through my – today, immaculate – hair. I know she's evil but murder just seems kind of harsh.

'But she did kill your mother.' My brain whispers treacherously to itself. What was the expression? An eye for an eye.

'Until Neferet cuts out my eye I won't be killing her.', I speak aloud.

She gives me a confused and slightly alarmed look.

'What? Zoey, are you feeling okay?', Lenobia asks.

'Yes', I reply. 'Perfectly great. But still, I'm not killing Neferet. No way. I couldn't even if I wanted to.'

'I have been waiting for an opportunity but one has yet to present itself.'

This shocks me. Had Lenobia seriously been considering killing Neferet?

She registers my wide-eyed look and continues, 'Sometimes you can petition the Council and ask for their permission to deal with a situation in a certain way. Sometimes, if the person you are enquiring about is causing a particularly large amount of disruption and has been committing acts of murder, they will allow you to deal with it in an old-fashioned style.'

This was news to me. Was that right? Letting vampyres go at each other?

'What do you mean an old-fashioned style?'

She leans her shoulder against the side of Mujaji's stall.

'Duels. For hundreds of years both humans and vampyres alike had no better way to thoroughly settle things than by challenging your foes to a duel. Most could wield a sword before learning to read.'

I laughed, 'You're thinking of walking up to Neferet and challenging her to a sword fight?'

She raised her perfect blond eyebrow at me. 'Don't be ridiculous. Not specifically a sword fight. More of a battle on equal terms with certain parameters. To make it fair.' She sighed. 'Sadly that isn't how things are done anymore. The High Council will allow such actions in very extreme circumstances. But such actions haven't been warranted for well over a hundred years.'

I felt a knot of anxiety in my stomach. I looked around, worried that something might suddenly jump out at me but saw nothing but Ant and Johnny B messing around with Travis in the distance, a pile of spears scattered on the floor behind them. Johnny B was using his bulk to defend against Travis who came at him with a long, pointy, mean-looking spear while Ant watched with an awed expression on his face.

'We can't kill Neferet.' I said, abruptly. 'We can't kill her because then we'd be giving into Darkness.' Even as I was speaking I knew I was right. Killing is always wrong and should be avoided whenever possible. Then I paused as guilt washed over me. I nearly killed those two guys in the park after I'd fed on Heath.

'You're right, Zoey. But sometimes maybe it's for the greater good. Before now I had always detested that phrase but I cannot think of one that is more apt.'

'Maybe, I guess. I don't know, I still say that I'm way too young for all of this. I don't want all of this responsibility. I just want to go back to worrying about geometry tests and boyfriends.' And vampyre teachers who seduce you and lie to you...

Lenobia smiled sadly. 'You were given this responsibility for a reason, Zoey. Frodo Baggins didn't want the One Ring and look at how well he did.'

'What? YOU'VE seen Lord of The Rings too?'

She smiled, wryly. 'And read the books. So, back to my original point, you will do what you are meant to do. If you weren't able then Nyx would not have given you this task. Have faith in our Goddess and have faith in yourself, Zoey Redbird.'

Kalona POV

I watched as Thanatos slowly paced the length of her quarters, deep in thought. She had not spoken for the past 47 minutes. She had also not answered my question.

As abruptly as she had started, Thanatos stopped pacing.

'Nothing' she said.

'Nothing?'

She turned to stare out of the window behind me.

'I cannot oppose the will of the High Council. Neferet is now a High Council member and there is nothing I can do in order to change that. A council member has their position for 50 years. No more, no less.'

Thanatos sighed and lowered her eyes to the floor, betraying her feelings of hopelessness. It surprised me. I had not known her for very long but I had always thought of the High Priestess as being strong and wilful. A characteristic I thought they all shared. Her expression looked woeful as the light from the moon shined brightly through the window upon her face and suddenly I had the overwhelming and uncomfortable urge to comfort her. But I quickly banished those thoughts. Such actions are not, and never have been, in my nature. I am Kalona, fallen warrior of Nyx, and I do not comfort chits.

'If I were to act against Neferet, I would be going against the vows I took when I became a part of Nyx's Council. I cannot directly move against her.'

I turned from her so that she wouldn't see my smirk. She had just put her finger directly on the solution but I knew it wouldn't be something she would entertain lightly, as a woman of honour.

'It would seem that you cannot...directly. Have you considered that it is right to act underhandedly in certain situations?' I asked.

I felt, more than heard her shift behind me but could not ascertain her emotions without seeing her face.

'That would be...dishonourable.'

'Perhaps it would. But, as your know, I do no longer deal in the trivial matters of honour. Honour is for the weak. If you desire victory you must act without honour or it shall be your downfall. Neferet's downfall will be her arrogance and yours shall be your sense of right and wrong. As is the way with all of Nyx's children.'

I didn't need to look at her to know that I had angered her. Death was quick to anger and her fury blazed so brilliantly I could practically feel it permeate the room.

'No. The line between right and wrong may be arbitrary but it is still there. I cannot act in a manner that would deliberately go against my ethics for to do so would be going against my Goddess. As you did, long ago...' she trailed off, her anger dissipating, leaving her sounding old and tired.

For now it was my anger that had been insighted. Must everyone continue to remind me of my...shortcomings?

'The past is the past and I do not regret my actions. But you shall regret yours if you allow your sense of misplaced duty to override your good sense. If you will not act then I shall do as I see fit as is my duty as your oath-bound warrior. To protect you and to protect this House of Night.'

Without looking at her I swept from the room, my wings unfurling behind me in irritation. It was easy to bring about my wrath as so many have over the thousands of years but it was infinitely more difficult to bring about my feelings of...protectiveness. Something that I haven't often felt, even for my own children. Something that I had only previously felt for my beloved Goddess, Nyx. It is not something I am accustomed to and I shall not allow the chit to stir up these feelings again.

Stevie Rae POV

It's a beautiful night outside with the full moon shining high in the sky, casting a glow across the campus and making it look just as magical as it actually is. But nothing could be more beautiful than the tall, strong looking Indian boy walking next to me.

I look from the sky to find Rephaim already staring at me, with that look in his eyes that I love so much. I'm so happy that I saved him and proved that everyone can change. And I'm so proud of him for changing and asking the Goddess' forgiveness.

'What are you thinking, my Stevie Rae?' he asks me, smiling and lifting to capture one of my curls between his fingers.

'I'm thinkin' about how proud I am of you. And that Nyx did a good job with your human body.' I grin suggestively at him, hoping maybe to start a little moonlight make out session. It had been a long day for both of us and nothing makes either of us happier than each other.

Rephaim POV

I catch Stevie Rae's suggestive grin and match it with a smile of my own. My beautiful, powerful High Priestess. My Stevie Rae.

I had been worrying about her lately – not that I wasn't always worrying about her. Like Zoey, she has a habit of getting herself into trouble. But now I suppose it was my job to worry about her. I could finally claim that right.

I reached down and cupped her delicate chin within my palm and lowered my face to hers, just touching my lips to hers as a scream rang out through the night air.

Stevie Rae flinched away from me and whipped her head around to find the source of the disturbance.

'What in the hell-?' she asked, absently.

I searched through the trees, straining to see as far as my limited, and now decidedly human vision would allow.

'I cannot see anything. What about you..?', I asked, knowing that her red vampyre senses were worth ten of mine.

My internal organs froze when she said, 'I can smell blood.'

I was just about to reach out and pull her into my protective range when another scream broke through my mental haze, kicking me into overdrive.

'Rephaim, go get Zoey and tell her to get her butt down here. It's Dallas. I can smell him.'

She started to stride towards the source of the commotion when I put my hand out to grab her. If she thought I was about to let her confront Dallas alone then she did not know me well at all.

She turned to give me a gentle, knowing smile.

'I'll be alright. I just need you to go and get Z and the gang, okay? Maybe Thanatos, too, while you're at it. I don't know how serious the situation is but it's always good to have a vampyre on hand.'

I almost laughed. 'You're a vampyre...'

'Oh...' she looked surprised before her face twisted into a humoured grin. 'I keep forgettin' sometimes...Anyway, go! I'll be okay. If anythin' happens I'll call Earth to help me.'

And with that she ran off into the dark without me.

Dallas

Hell yeah! If there's one thing that's more fun than beating up fledglings it's getting with fledglings.

I reach down and grab the girls hair (I can't remember her name – Ella? Elle? Elise? Shit knows...) and pull her up off her knees and push her back against the tree.

She giggles. A sound that both arouses and infuriates me.

'Will you shut up?' I ask her. 'Someone's gonna hear us.'

I have to hand it to her, Elise sure was brave. Or stupid.

She smirked and arched herself against my torso.

'So? Maybe I want someone to hear us. Maybe I want a professor to find us and tell us off...'

Stupid bitch. She obviously didn't know about my power or she wouldn't be addressing me so directly. Didn't she know how to speak to her betters?

'Shut it.' I tell her. 'You will speak to me properly or not at all.'

She makes that annoying sound again. That giggling. She probably thought I was kidding.

'You sure are funny. Oh well, I don't need to speak to make you happy.'

I laugh. 'Well. That's true.' And with that I plunge myself into her, pinning her to the tree as she screams. I don't know if she's screaming from pain or pleasure. And I don't much care. I just want her to shut up so I press my palm across her mouth and shush her.

'What the fuck are you trying to do? It sounds like I'm murdering you, shut the fuck up.' I hiss.

I don't wait for a reply before I begin to pound into her with a punishing pace.

We keep at it for several minutes, with which I keep my hand over her mouth, before I hear a rustling in the bushes next to us. I glance at Elise and know she hasn't heard anything. She's just a fledgling. A blue fledgling. My hearing is way better than hers.

I pause, listening.

If an adult vamp finds us now we're screwed. And not in the way I was hoping.

The only thing Neferet told me to do was to stay out of trouble until she said otherwise. And that means that whatever I want to do, I have to keep the vamps from finding out. If Neferet finds out that I fucked up she's going to kill me.

Suddenly, everything's alright. It's a vamp, I can smell them. But the scent that assaults me makes me relax. It's out dearest High Priestess, Stevie Rae 'White-bread' Johnson. High Priestess me ass. The day I call that whore High Priestess is the day Elliot gets laid.

I feel a manic grin spread across my face and begin to slam into Elise with incredible speed. She begins to struggle against me, so I know I'm doing it right.

My dear Stevie Rae. How I love to give you a show.

Rephaim POV

I run after Stevie Rae, ignoring her command to go and get help. I know logically that she can look after herself and that I would feel if anything went awry through the imprint, but I cannot repress the burst of worry I feel at the thought of her anywhere near danger.

I follow the path I think she took into a small crowding of foliage while I try and flick my arms out to stop branches from hitting my face.

I stumble a few steps as one of my feet catch on a root underfoot and suddenly slam into a small, dainty rock.

'Holy crap biscuits!'

Me and the talking rock both tumble to the floor in a haze of limbs and fur.

...Fur?

'Wha-?' I mumble, eloquently.

'Dang it, Rephaim. I told you to go and get Z.'

Oh dear.

I quickly force myself to my feet, pulling my Stevie Rae with me.

'Well hell, looks like this party's becoming a little...overcrowded.'

It's now that I notice Dallas engaging in...I feel myself turn red...activities with a young, blonde fledgling. A naked fledgling. A fledgling that looks just like Stevie Rae.

'What is going on here?' I demand.

'Well before you and the slut interrupted, I was just having some fun with Elise here.'

'WHAT?' the girl shrieks, causing us all to flinch. Her voice certainly is whiny.

Dallas turns to her with a confused expression on his face.

'What?' he repeats.

'My name is not Elise! It's Katherine!'

With that Katherine picked up her clothes and stalked, bear formed, through the bushes and off across campus.

'Oh for fuck sake. Like I give a shit!' Dallas yelled after her.

'Anyway...' he turned his slimy gaze back to my Stevie Rae. 'What brings you to this neck of the woods at this time of night? Hear something you like?'

Stevie Rae dragged herself up to full height and her eyes turned cold and unforgiving.

'I heard a disturbance and came to investigate. That's my job as High Priestess. To protect my fledglings. A red fledgling could have been gettin' hurt. And now that I've seen that's not the case, we'll be leavin'.

She turned and placed her hand within mine and pulled me away from the semi naked Dallas who was pulling his pants up from around his ankles.

I didn't like leaving my back exposed to that scum. I put my hand around Stevie Rae's shoulders and cast a suspicious look back at Dallas who simply raised his palm and smirked.

And he was still watching us and smirking until he was long from my sight. Always that same unsettling smirk that assured me we would be hearing from him again.

Okay, that was ridiculously hard to write. I'm still really unsure about it. I also added some Stephaim for beloved reviewer SmilesSaveLives, but I don't feel as though I did them justice. I've also written out a full chapter plan so I had to start putting things in motion with this chapter. I'm going to add some little bits of Stephaim in following chapters and some major Stephaim in chapter 11

Also; is there anything you guys would like me to add in to this story? Any other pairings you want to see? Is there any specific character you'd like a POV of?

Review and tell me!