Chapter 13
Zoey
The flight back to Tulsa was long. I mean, I'd ridden on the House of Night jet before, but this time, I was worrying about something that had been worming its way into my mind ever since I learned I was pregnant. "Stark," I said to him. "Stark, what are we going to do? I'm only 17! You're only 19! Techinally, this is illegal! Besides, how are we going to survive with 3 kids and no jobs?"
He thought for a moment. "Well," he said hesitantly. "You do happen to be the High Priestess in Training at the House of Night and, with Neferet gone, you're in charge. I suppose I could talk to someone about taking over her Vamp Soc classes or starting up an archery class. But Zoey," he said, looking into my eyes, "we'll get through this. It'll work out, just like it always does."
I sighed and snuggled into him. Stark, I thought. You know you're the best gurdian, mate, consort, and warrior that anyone ever had. You're going to be the best dad.
He smiled and mumbled into my hair. "And you'll be the best mother. I can't wait to see what our children look like."
I gulped. Goddess, it was killing me not to tell him!
Stark looked up. "Not tell me what?" he asked.
Bull poopie! Before I had to respond to his question, I heard a shout behind me.
"Zoey!" cried Damien. "It's Jack! He's waking up!"
I turned around. Sure enough, there was Jack, stirring slightly as if in his sleep. He opened his eyes. I gasped. They were nothing like Stevie Rae or Stark's eyes when they woke up. His were red, but you could tell they'd originally been brown. The red was so light, you could barely tell it was there, except for around his pupils. His mark, of course, turned red the second he opened his eyes. Jack saw all the people staring at him and hissed. He scrambled over so that he was as far away from us as he could get.
"Jack? Do you remember who I am?" I asked hesitantly.
He froze. "You're…you're Zoey, right? And," he said, starting to name us all, "you're Stark, and Aphrodite, and Stevie Rae, and Darius, and Erin, and Shaunee."
"Jack? Do you remember who I am?" Damien said as he pushed his way through the crowd.
"You're Damien," he said quietly. He stepped toward him. "You're the reason I came back. I love you…"
"Awww, Jack, I love you, too."
"And your blood smells…really good," he continued, his eyes going a few shades darker red. With that comment, Jack jumped him. Well, he actually tackled him. That's not that easy on an airplane, no matter how roomy it is. They slammed into the armrest of a seat-the kind that's made of plastic. Damien cried out in pain.
Jack stopped, his mouth an inch from Damien's throat. He looked at Damien's face, which was twisted in pain. He took a step back, as if he couldn't believe that he'd tackled his boyfriend and was this close to sucking him dry of his blood. He couldn't believe the monster he'd become. "What's wrong with me?" he asked nervously, staring at his hands. "Why am I doing this? I'm not a monster!" But then something strange happened. Jack crumpled into a ball, groaning and sweating. A second later, he rose, and I could see his filled in mark, surrounded by delicate curls and thick tendrils that radiated their way down from his forehead to his jaw line.
"Jack!" I gasped. "You've Changed!"
"What?" he said. Aphrodite dug around in her purse until she came up with a mirror. Jack looked at his reflection in the mirror. "Weird…" he said, as if he couldn't believe that he had actually gone through with it.
Darius was over by Damien, wrapping up his shoulder, which broke when it took most of the blow. "Damien!" cried Jack. "Look at me!" He ran over to show him his completed tattoos.
"Wow, Jack," said Damien in wonder. "They're beautiful."
"I thought you'd think so."
A voice came over the PA. "Passengers, please fasten your seat belts, we are about to descend into Tulsa."
We all quickly sat down and there was a loud clicking sound as our seatbelts were all buckled at the same time.
I remember landing and Stark grumbling because, once again, he was classified as 'special needs'.
The Hummer ride home was okay, but very noisy, what with the Twins and Stevie Rae arguing over what to name the kids, Aphrodite making a list of the things she was going to need her gold card for, Damien filling Jack in on the prophecy and Jack squealing with delight when he realized I was expecting.
Once we got to the House of Night, however, it was a whole new story. Everyone quieted down as we passed through the gates. Right inside the walls was Lenobia. She had Dragon and Erik with her, as well as our assorted animals. "Nala!" I squeked as I was reunited with her, as well as the Twins with Beelzebub, Damien with Cameron, Aphrodite with Maleficent, Darius with Nefertiti, and Stark and Jack with Duchess. I looked up from petting my cat to see Lenobia smiling at me. "Merry meet, Zoey," she said.
"Merry meet, Lenobia," I responded.
"It is a comfort to see that you are well again. I trust everything worked out okay?"
"Perfectly. Well, almost, actually. Damien has a broken shoulder, Jack died/undied/Changed into a red vampyre, Stark turned into my Guardian and Consort, and I got shot with an arrow, and I have another big secret of my own."
"Whatever do you mean, Zoey?" she asked.
"Well, I was praying to Nyx and she gave me a prophecy. Kramisha got the same one. Anyway, Jack died, I told everyone the prophecy, we realized what it means and who it's about, I got shot, Stark turned into my Consort, Stark and I saw Nyx again, she gave me something, and then we decided to fly home. On the way back, Jack woke up and, after tackling Damien and breaking his shoulder, freaked out, chose Light and Changed. Then we got here."
"You still haven't told us your big secret, Zoey," said Erik.
"Yes, I am a bit confused about what it could be," said Dragon.
"As am I," said Lenobia.
"We've heard the prophecy, but what exactly does that mean, Zoey?" asked Dragon.
I took a deep breath. "It means I'm pregnant."
"What?" I heard Erik yell in surprise. "Pregnant? But how? You're a vampyre!"
"I get that, Erik," I shouted. "Do you think this is easy for me? Knowing I'm going to be bringing not one or two, but three children into the horrible world we live into today? No. But I promised Nyx I would do this, and so I shall. I will follow my goddess." I laced my fingers through Stark's fingers. "But we're going to need help," I said. "Stark and I. Serious help. We're only teenagers. He's 19, I'm 17. Technically, this is still illegal, but no one's going to hire a vampyre, let alone a red one. I'm High Priestess around here. But we still need someone to teach Neferet's old Vamp Soc class. Could Stark teach that, or maybe an archery course?"
"We already have a replacement for Neferet's course flying in, but we would be happy to accomidate Stark as our archery instructer," said Lenobia. I sighed. That was one less thing that I had to worry about now.
There was a sudden pain radiating in my stomach. An unknown attacker. I screamed. Stark knelt beside me. "Zoey!" he cried. "Zoey, what is it? Is it Kalona?" But then the pain subsided.
I smiled at him, realizing how similar this scene was to the one that played out earlier, with the arrow. "I don't think so. He attacks me in my dreams. It's my side that hurts," I said, as I lifted up my shirt.
There was a celtic knot, above and slightly to the left of my belly button. It was three intertwining lines and in the center there was an arrow, a set of wings, and a crescent moon. "Whoa," I said.
"I forgot about that." I jumped when I heard Damien's voice.
"Yes." And Darius was right behind him. "We saw it being etched out in your skin when you were shot with the arrow. But it didn't seem that relevant at the time…"
"Well, it probably isn't that relevant, anyway," I said, trying to sound like I hadn't just fallen to the ground in pain. "I just want to rest for now. It's been hectic, if you didn't get that."
"Of course, Zoey," said Lenobia. "However, we had to rearrange rooming because there was an unusual influx of new fledglings while you were gone. Damien, Jack, we moved the two of you into the same room. Aphrodite, we moved you into Darius's guest room. And yes, you can keep your Vichy shower. Zoey, I know you won't like it, but we've put three people into your dorm room. You and Stark, of course, but we need to put a fledgling in there as well. We think you might know her."
"Oh?" I asked. "How? Did she go to Broken Arrow?"
"Yes, she did. Her name is Kayla. Kayla Johnson."