"Well that's one problem down," Aphrodite said as I closed the circle. "Now if we could just figure out how to keep the Elder's from getting killed that would be great."
I frowned. That was still our biggest problem and I was still no closer to solving it. I had already put protections around each of the Elder's dwelling places, but that would only help against spiritual attacks. If they were tricked into walking into some sort of trap by this Vampyre then there was nothing I could do about it.
"May I make a suggestion Priestess?" Darius asked fisting over his chest.
"Of course," I said giving him a little smile. At this point I may have even considered taking a suggestion from that Elliot kid I didn't like. I wondered about O'Ryan and if Stevie Rae would be able to reach him. I didn't think it would be possible and I shook my head feeling sad for the life that would be lost. My gut was telling me that O'Ryan had been planted here. At the very least he was here to stir things up and make us question each other. Distractions wouldn't help us and would definitely hinder our efforts to trap the demons and keep our school safe. My heart sank as I realized there could be another reason for sending O'Ryan to us. He was here as a spy or worse, someone sent in to try and spill more blood.
"Priestess," Darius began pulling my attention back to the present situation. "I know it is rare for an adult vamp to cover their Marks, but perhaps we could find Warriors who would be willing to infiltrate their church and act as guards."
"The problem would be finding Warriors who are willing," Natasha said. "Not all Vampyres are as humble as yourself, Darius."
"That s true, Priestess," Darius said addressing Natasha formally, "but perhaps under the circumstances they would be more willing. We have already lost seven students and the risk to our plan not succeeding and harming our way of life is extremely high."
I remembered my dream and shuddered. They had no idea how high. "If this Vampyre succeeds in killing the Elders the demons will not only be able to shatter our spiritual House of Night, but break through all the defenses we have put around the actual school," I said eyeing each of them. "Once they gain that kind of power we won't be able to fight them."
The room became quite and I could feel the fear my words had evoked despite the calm faces.
"Darius's plan is the only plan we have," Neferet said finally, her voice cutting through the thick silence. "I will see if there are any who will volunteer for the job." She turned heading towards the thick oak door and left the temple leaving all of us staring after her.
"Are we sure that will work?" Stark asked.
"We're not sure of anything at this point," I said meeting his eyes. "But, Nyx has led us this far and we need to trust that she'll get us through the rest of the way."
"That's fine, but we should still have all of our basis covered. For example even if we find warriors who are willing, how are we going to get all the Elders to the church?" Stark asked, his voice filled with skepticism.
"Call in a fake emergency," Aphrodite shrugged. "You people really are too simple sometime, I swear." She said rolling her eyes, "common sense, not so common," and I had to resist the urge not to shake her.
Instead Stevie Rae said, "You really need to learn how to be nice."
"And you really need to learn to dress better," Aphrodite sneered.
"There's nothing wrong with the way I dress, but there is plenty wrong with your attitude," Stevie Rae said putting a hand on her hip.
"Alright that's enough," I said massaging my temples to try and dull the aching that was beginning to spread there. "Everyone needs to get some rest because if we can find the volunteers we will be putting our plan into action tomorrow," I said as the earth trembled softly beneath us. I waited for the tremor to pass and then exhaled slowly. "They're getting stronger with each passing minute and we don't have a lot of time left. Whether or not our plan is perfect we are going to try!" I looked at each of them for a long hard minute and then moved from the group and began collecting candles.
"Zoey?" Stevie Rae's voice questioned from behind me as I placed the candles and smudging stick back into the cupboard. I turned around to see the twins leaving with Damien and Jack and Aphrodite with Darius.
"Do you want me to come with you?" I asked seeing her troubled expression. Natasha was waiting by the door and I knew that O'Ryan was something I should be helping with anyway. There was no way that his disappearing from one school and reappearing here was a coincidence. Even if he hadn't been a red fledgling it still would have been something to question.
"It couldn't hurt," she said giving me a little smile, but I could feel the weight of her decision pressing on her. I walked to the temples mini fridge grabbing a bag of blood for both Stevie Rae and I and then headed towards the door.
The grounds were quiet and I could feel the sun moving closer to the horizon as I walked with Stevie Rae. The sun would be up within the hour and my skin prickled at the thought. The sky was already lightening to the east turning from a deep midnight blue to a lighter color that reminded me of the sea. I smiled slightly thinking about how it slightly resembled a tie –died shirt, the lighter colors mixing with the dark. Still I wished that I had remembered to bring my new cloak and sunglasses incase this took longer than I anticipated.
I sighed looking forward to where Natasha walked slightly ahead of us leading the way to the infirmary. Her deep purple dress fluttered behind her as she moved, sparkling in the moonlight and as if she were wearing a cloak of stars.
"This shouldn't have happened," Stevie Rae said speaking into the early morning silence as we walked through the infirmary doors. Dragon, Neferet and Erik were already in the room standing around one of the beds.
My first reaction of him was surprising because he wasn't at all what I expected. I realized my gut response to the situation had me picturing something close to what Stevie Rae had been before we had saved her. He met my gaze as I walked in and pierced me through with his turquoise green eyes. His hair was a sandy blond that had a messed up beach look that accented his nicely chiseled features. I shook myself as we moved closer reminding myself that I needed to be as impartial as possible. Someone had created him and someone had sent him here to us.
"O'Ryan, this is Zoey and Stevie Rae," Erik said glancing at us quickly while watching O'Ryan's every move. I could see the distrust radiating from him and realized he wasn't the only one. Every person in the room had an air of apprehension, everyone except O'Ryan. I threw my spirit out towards him testing his intentions as well as his spirit. From his emotions I could sense his belief of superiority and deception. "Stevie Rae is the High Priestess of the red fledglings," Erik continued, "and the head of your dormitories."
"It's nice to meet you Stevie Rae," O'Ryan said giving her a full smile that would have made any girl go weak in the knees. "I look forward to getting to know you," he added nodding at her as if he were the adult and she were his student.
I took a step forward letting a knowing smile cover my features when O'Ryan turned his attention to me. "I do believe that it is we who are looking forward to knowing you," I said moving to stand in front of him. I saw Neferet's body stiffen as I closed the distance between myself and O'Ryan. I tested her emotions, but once again only found sadness and concern. She was worried and if I was correct she had come to the same conclusion I had. "We've heard a lot about you," I said letting my smile widen, but my eyes held a threat. "You're supposed to be a marvelous actor with amazing talent. But what we don't know is how you ended up here, outside our walls with a Red Mark instead of a blue. Care to elaborate?" I asked keeping eye contact with him and letting my spirit float around me testing his feelings. Annoyance. He was clearly annoyed, but his face never showed it. Instead, he became instantly contrite, his eyes showing a hint of sadness.
"I don't remember," he said still keeping eye contact. "I already told the others I woke up in the woods. Everything else is blurry."
"And the demons outside didn't touch you?" I asked raising an eyebrow.
"Demons?" He questioned feigning innocence. "What demons?"
I ignored his question. I sniffed him and then pulled back only to receive astonished looks from both Neferet and Natasha. "Who exactly are your loyalties to, because they are not to this school or to Nyx. Had they been you would have saluted Stevie Rae when you were introduced, as she is your priestess. Further more you reek of someone else's blood," I said rather proud of myself for being able to distinguish between the two scents. "Who has been feeding you?" I asked boring my eyes into his.
He swallowed, but didn't falter. "I can't remember," he said softly allowing his voice to quiver, but once again I could tell it was all an act.
"I find that hard to believe," I said quickly. "Red Vamps and fledglings need blood even more than we do. There's no way you could have gone for any length of time without drinking from somebody. Who has been feeding you?" I asked again a little more harshly taking another step forward so that I was in his space. "Because my money is on whoever created you."
I saw the fear in his eyes, but once again felt deceit coming from him. "I can't tell you. She'll kill me! She'll leave me in the sun, she will," O'Ryan said and his voice trembled. She? I tested his spirit again and only found more deception and disdain.
"Who?" Erik asked gently touching his shoulder in an effort to calm him.
"I can't tell you," he said again. I heard heels hitting the hard stone floor as Neferet retreated into the next room slamming the door behind her. My eyes narrowed as I looked at O'Ryan. He was clearly lying and I didn't trust him as far as I could throw him.
Natasha sighed, "Erik, why don't you show O'Ryan to his room and let him get cleaned up and get some rest."
Erik nodded and I watched as the two of the made their way across the room and down the stairs into the red fledgling dorms.
"You know he's lying, right?" I asked as soon as they had left the room.
"I didn't," Stevie Rae said softly. "Not until you started questioning him, and even then he was hard to read."
"Well at least we know those awards for his acting ability were all well deserved," Natasha said softly. "Now the question is what do we do with him?"
"I don't know," Stevie Rae said shaking her head. "I haven't been around him long enough to know if there is really no hope for him. If there is any part of his humanity left then he deserves a chance to get it right and start over."
"And what if you can't tell the difference?" I said questioning her. "What if he just continues to fool you?"
"More to the point," Natasha said, "do we have time to determine that. If there is no hope for him and we let him live we jeopardize this school and our students. Not to mention many other lives if he is somehow connected to the effort to release the demons from the spiritual realm." I stepped away listening to them talk as I went. It felt like were between a rock and a hard place and either decision could have severe ramifications.
I moved across the room opening the door to the next room slightly and slipping in. Neferet was standing with her hands perched on the window sill gazing out at the early morning sky which had now turned a light purple, the clouds outlined with soft pinks. She looked over her shoulder at me and then turned back to the tinted window.
"Neferet," I said moving towards her until I was standing directly behind her. I exhaled slowly shutting my eyes for a moment before speaking again. "Neferet, how did you bring those kids back to life?" I asked tensing as Neferet's posture hardened. She continued staring out onto the school yard, her eyes scanning the familiar grounds.
"Neferet," I began again.
"That is not for you to know, Zoey," she said softly, but her voice was harsh and cold.
I swallowed, my breath quickening, but I wouldn't let it be that easy. "What's not for me to know? Why my best friend died in my arms? Why she lost her humanity when you brought her back? Why I had to fight to keep her and Stark and the others from completely losing themselves? Or how about why there is another student in there right now who has met the same fate?" I finished slowly turning to leave.
I had only taken one step when a hand closed tightly around my upper arm spinning me back around.
"I did not do this," Neferet practically hissed and the fire in her eyes made me cringe back reflexively. I tried to pull away, but Neferet held tightly leaving me with little space to move. "I didn't do this, Zoey," she said again and this time I could not only see the hurt in her eyes, but I could feel it too, "not this time," she added and then released my arm.
"I know," I said rubbing the spot where her hand had been gently. "But somebody did, which means someone else has the same information that you do," I said softly. "We need to know how they got it Neferet, and I thought that maybe if I understood how you had done it…" I let my voice trail off as I met her eyes.
She was silent a moment, but then nodded. "It's old magic, something I would never have known if not for Kalona," Neferet said. "It was his idea for me to become the new Queen Tsi Sgili. He taught me how to draw pain and fear from people and how to use it as my power. I noticed that the more pain I drank in the more powerful I became. My affinities strengthened and soon I had powers that I had never had before," Neferet said smiling wryly at me and I remembered her as a shadow, her red eyes watching me in the darkness. I shivered as she continued, "blood has great power and is the basic ingredient to life, Zoey. When taken from someone who is suffering and afraid it can do great things. Their fear and pain would flow into their blood as it left their body creating a powerful elixir. It was their blood that mixed with the potion all Priestesses use to ease pain that brought those children back," She said still meeting my eyes. I could see the remorse in her eyes, but also the acceptance of what she had done.
"Did you kill them?" I asked feeling appalled, but knowing that this was no longer the person Neferet was. And had it not been for Kalona playing off the hurt, pain and hatred Neferet had already been plagued with it might never have been who she was.
"No," Neferet said softly. "You forget I have the power to influence minds. The ones I tortured never remembered a thing. They gave me power and blood; that was all I needed from them."
"So the magic was in the blood," I stated watching her carefully.
"Yes," she nodded and then turned back to the window. It was the same as the demons really. They too fed off blood and the emotions in it, expelling fear so thick that it literally chilled the air. The power the blood had came from the occupant's emotions and emotions created through spirit. Kalona had led Neferet to blood magic, something he knew from being connected to the spiritual realm. The question now was how did this Vampyre know about it? Who had told him? He had to be tied to the spiritual realm somehow as well. That was really the only explanation for how he could have learned about blood magic which could bring fledglings back from the dead and apparently could release evil demons and spirits and I had a feeling that that was only the tip of the iceberg. What more could blood magic do? I shook myself deciding that that particular question was better left unanswered.
"Go get some rest, Zoey," Neferet said giving me a motherly look. "You'll need your strength tomorrow."
I nodded and headed towards the door. I found Natasha and Stevie Rae as I had left them still discussing O'Ryan and I noticed Stark had joined them.
"He's under somebody's control Stevie Rae," Stark said as I entered the room. "I think I would know what that looks like," he said clearly annoyed.
"I think we all would, Stark," Stevie Rae said putting a hand on her hip, "but we were able to choose against it. What makes you think O'Ryan won't do the same," She asked clearly upset.
"Because he's already too far gone," I said walking towards them. "That kid is full of nothing but darkness and lies. His spirit is tainted and he is covered with feelings of superiority and arrogance. His only loyalties are to the one who has been feeding him, and whoever that is has no respect for Nyx or her chosen," I said looking both her and Stark in the eye. I turned to Natasha, "Did he salute you when you met him?" I asked.
"No," she answered simply.
"That seems somewhat odd for a fifth former student doesn't it?"
Stevie Rae frowned, but I knew that she knew I was right. O'Ryan had been put here for reasons that were anything but good. "I don't think we'll be able to save him," I said softly feeling a flicker of despair move through me and wishing beyond anything else that there was another way.
"So we kill him?" Stevie Rae asked and I knew she was feeling guilty. Guilty that she had an opportunity to change, to get her humanity back, and that this boy didn't.
I looked to Natasha who shook her head. "No, we believe that he is beyond our help, but he still needs to make an appearance before the High Council. They will decide how it should be handled. Until then we will watch him," she said resolutely. "Though extra precautions probably wouldn't hurt," she said gazing at me.
I nodded and then called spirit to me asking it to watch over O'Ryan and alert me to his intentions. I then called wind asking that it use its strength to hold O'Ryan if he should try to bring harm to another. Natasha smiled and I did feel better knowing that O'Ryan would not be easily able to mess with anyone here.
"The sun's coming up," Stevie Rae said moving to the stairs as Natasha made her way to the other room to speak with Neferet. "I'll see ya'll in the morning," she said softly, but her voice was still troubled. I wished we had more time to allow Stevie Rae to make her assessment. Maybe there was a way to reach O'Ryan that we just couldn't see. I had reached Stark when all others would have thought that impossible and Stevie Rae had been able to reach many of the red fledglings. Even the fledglings who had been under Neferet's influence for a month or more, such as Elliot and Venus, had been saved.
"Something's gone wrong in him," Stark said sensing my sadness as I watched Stevie Rae's retreating form. "He's not like the rest of us, Zoey, and I know you can feel that," he said taking a step closer to me. His hands found my waist and he pulled me closer, "I can't explain it, but I don't think the old O'Ryan is even in there at all anymore. With the rest of us, we always still had at least a small flicker of our old self. I could only feel it when I was with you, and Stevie Rae had Earth to help her keep in touch with herself. I'm not sure how the rest of the fledglings managed except for the fact that Neferet couldn't be there to influence them every waking moment, but this kid…" He let his voice trail off. "He's gone, it's just a feeling I have, but he's gone."
I nodded leaning my forehead against his for a second and feeling a peace and contentment settle through me. Stevie Rae would see it soon enough, and truth be told, the fact that Stevie Rae wanted to find the good in everyone was one of the qualities I admired most about her. Stark kissed my lips gently and then pulled back tracing the now deep purple lines of my Mark with the tip of his finger.
"Your Marks really are beautiful," he said giving me a cocky little smile and I laughed a little as I met his eyes. "Maybe I helped?" He asked, his eyes twinkling with mischief, "who knows, maybe my bite has the ability start the change into an adult vampyre," he said smiling.
I laughed again and pulled away, "As long as you don't go testing that theory out on anyone," I said walking away, but laughed when Starks arms reached around my waist once more pulling me back. His lips found my neck kissing my pulse point gently and making it jump.
"Never," he whispered so softly in my ear that it sent shivers down my spine. He kissed my cheek and then released me. "Goodnight, Zoey Redbird," he said and then fisted over his heart and headed towards the stairs leaving me trembling with excitement and my heart hammering in my chest.
"Goodnight," I whispered back before leaving the infirmary and heading back to my own apartment.
