A/N

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-Guest

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And inquiete

You guys are all awesome! Hope you (and everyone who reads this) enjoys Chapter 3!

Disclaimer: I do NOT own HON or any of the awesome, fantastic, amazing, funny, creative, incredible characters!

~Smiley

Chapter Three: The next day (and by that I mean night)

Rephaim

Once again, Rephaim awoke to the sound of Stevie Rae's cell phone. It was just before sunset, so Stevie Rae didn't stir. Rephaim continued to lie next to her, waiting for the noise to stop and for his priestess to awaken.

Eventually, the music did stop, but less than a minute later, it started up again. Rephaim sighed; Stevie Rae still didn't stir. The noise stopped and started up again about four or five times more.

Someone really wants to talk to her, Rephaim thought. Then the phone beeped five times. Rephaim tried to ignore the stupid devise. Next time, I'll ask her to make it so the thing doesn't make any noise.

But, of course, there really shouldn't be a next time…

Instead of dwelling on the annoyance that thing caused for him or how he had absolutely no common sense when it came to their relationship, he focused on his Red One. She snored softly in his arms, something he had always thought was cute, and her blonde curls were messy from sleeping. The red tattoos that framed her face looked so natural there, and she looked completely at peace. But, he also noted, she looked so, so young. And, like it had the first time, his heart clenched at the thought of how vulnerable her youth made her.

She needs a warrior. The traitorous thought passed through his mind.

Oh, not this again, he scolded himself, pushing the thought away, even though he silently admitted it was true. However, he would never, ever admit it aloud.

He allowed his fingers to trail through her hair and his hand to cup her sweet face. Warrior or not, she is mine, and I will not let anyone or anything hurt her, he silently vowed.

But that's just the thing about silent vows. If you break them, no one will know but you. And then you're the only person you're letting down.

Rephaim knew the sun had finally set when her beautiful blue eyes fluttered open, and she blinked several times. "Rephaim?" she asked, sitting up and using one hand to rub her eyes. The other hand was still holding Rephaim's.

"I'm here," he answered softly.

She smiled, still rubbing her eyes. Then, her eyes travelled down to where their fingers were still intertwined, and she pulled her hand free.

Rephaim tried not to feel the absence of her hand in his like some huge, gaping hole where his heart should be. He knew that her reaction was normal, even expected. It was just that no one had told his heart that it was expected.

But then she did something completely unexpected. She wrapped both her arms around him and rubbed her face against his chest before finally squeezing him tight and staying still with her eyes closed. Obviously, Rephaim was shocked, so it took a minute for him to return the embrace, but when he did, he hugged her back with everything he had inside him.

Finally, he sighed and picked her up, yet again, and went towards the stairs. After all, he had to take her home sometime. Instead of protesting, Stevie Rae buried her face in the feathers at his shoulder.

"Where," she yawned, but it was a little incomprehensible, so she tried again. "Where are we goin'?"

"It's passed sunrise," Rephaim said as if that would explain everything. "I have to bring you back home."

"Nu-uh," Stevie Rae protested weakly as she tried to get Rephaim to put her down, even though he was already on the stairs. She didn't want to leave him! Not yet…

"Stevie Rae!" Rephaim exclaimed as Stevie Rae managed to struggle enough to send both of them crashing down on the steps with Rephaim on top of her.

"It-it's not passed sunrise," Stevie Rae said sleepily, even though she knew that the sun had already hidden in the west.

"Yes, it is," Rephaim argued, but didn't try to move his hands from either side of her head, which just so happens to be where he caught himself.

"No," Stevie Rae lied.

"Then how are you awake?" Rephaim asked matter-of-factly.

"I'm not. I'm just… talking in my sleep," Stevie Rae explained.

Rephaim rolled his eyes, something he had never really done before. "Your eyes are open."

"My brothers taught me the trick. It comes in handy sometimes," Stevie Rae replied.

Rephaim grunted, and Stevie Rae assumed it was guy language for thinking she was ridiculous. "And you were struggling to get me to put you down five seconds ago."

"So it's against the law or somethin' for me to toss and turn in my sleep?" she questioned.

Rephaim sighed. "You never toss or turn in your sleep," he stated, "so you are not asleep. On top of that, you are also answering me."

"Well, excuse me for having realistic dreams," she said sarcastically.

Rephaim laughed, and Stevie Rae joined in while cherishing every second of it. She wanted to stay right there, laughing with him, for all time, but little did she know how everything would go downhill from there.

"So why don't you tell me the truth now," Rephaim said through his laughter.

"Okay, so, maybe I'm not able to sleep with my eyes open. My brothers can though. They tried to teach me, but I couldn't get the hang of it," she babbled. "And I haven't talked or tossed or turned in my sleep ever since I died and un-died." She shrugged. "I haven't dreamed either."

Rephaim shifted his weight so he wasn't crushing her, even though he was surprisingly light considering how big he was. "Do you miss them?"

"Miss what? Dreams? Kinda, but not having dreams also means not having nightmares, so I guess it's for the better," she said, a strange look in her eyes giving Rephaim the impression that if she could, she would have a lot of nightmares. He had the decency to change the subject.

"I meant your brothers, Stevie Rae," Rephaim clarified.

"My brothers? Well, of course I miss 'em. They were downright annoying right up to the day I was marked, but boys will be boys." She giggled, remembering her obnoxious brothers, but she knew that they always had and always will have her back. Rephaim wondered if he should take offence to that, but then he remembered that he wasn't a boy or a man, he was simply male. It was all too easy to forget that when he was around her. "I haven't spoken to them in a while, but I'm pretty sure my mama told 'em I'm alive…or at least not dead," she continued.

Rephaim smiled through his eyes at her. "So you have spoken to your mother!" he said.

Stevie Rae laughed, but almost as suddenly as it started, the laughter died on her lips as the memory filled her eyes. "Yeah…she came to the school the other night."

"What? What is it?" Rephaim said, reading the emotions scribbled on her face. "Tell me."

Stevie Rae shook her head and closed her eyes in a failing attempt to not spill her tears. Her eyelashes were drenched, but at least there wasn't anything streaming down her face…yet. As if by instinct, Rephaim shifted his weight to one arm and used the other to gently wipe her tears away. She kept on shaking her head, so Rephaim rolled onto his back, pulling Stevie Rae up on top of him. Automatically, she buried her face in his chest, and he rubbed her back with one hand and stroked her curls with the other.

When she was on the verge of sobbing, Rephaim sat up a little and made her look him in the eyes. "Stevie Rae," he said. "You can tell me anything. I'm here for you, forever and always."

His words spoke to her soul, and his words gave her the strength to meet his worried gaze. She wasn't even surprised to see his eyes were a chestnut brown, like they were a shade darker than amber. She could've smiled if she didn't have to talk about the reason why her mama had been at the school.

"Why are you upset?" Rephaim asked gently. "Weren't you happy to see your mother?"

She nodded. "No, I loved seein' her. It's just that she was…" Stevie Rae choked on a sob as her words trailed off, and Rephaim hugged her tightly to him for a moment before pulling back and lifting her chin.

"How about we try just answering questions?" Rephaim suggested, and Stevie Rae nodded.

"How did you find your mother was at the school?" Rephaim asked.

"I-I heard somebody cryin'," Stevie Rae stuttered.

"Who was crying?" Rephaim prompted, cupping her face in his hand.

"Mama," she answered shakily.

"Why?"

"'Cause she was there to have a funeral for me," she said, and burst into tears all over again. It was then Rephaim understood. She was crying because she missed her mother and because she felt guilty for not telling her earlier. Stevie Rae was upset that she put her mother, and the rest of her family, through the emotional trauma of thinking she was dead. He rubbed her back and held her close, letting her cry in his arms.

It must be strange, having someone you love think you were dead and then trying to convince them otherwise, Rephaim thought.

"She thought I was a ghost at first," Stevie Rae continued even though her face was still buried in the feathers at his shoulder, subconsciously deciding to spill her guts to Rephaim. "And she went on about how she would come visit me lots if the House of Night was the place I wanted to haunt…"

Rephaim listened quietly while she told him all about her mother's visit. The words broke free from her lips like water would break free from a dam, and she spilled everything from convincing her mama she wasn't dead anymore to her talking about Rephaim. Stevie Rae had enough self-control to stop herself from telling him the exact words used, so she ended up brushing over that part of the conversation. However, she did tell him that he would be getting a "big ol' hug" from Mama when she sees him.

The more Stevie Rae spoke, the better she started to feel, and she ended up blurting a lot about her family and her old friends from a town called Henrietta. She babbled about her brothers (and their crazy antics), watching movies after having a family dinner, her dad teaching her to shoot a gun, spending mother-daughter time, being "daddy's little girl", getting marked and moving, and even the parent visitation nights.

Rephaim highly doubted she was processing what she was saying to him, but he was fine to sit and listen as long as it was making her feel better. Actually, the "talking thing" was kind of therapeutic to both of them; Stevie Rae was felt like the sky was being lifted from her shoulders, and Rephaim got to hear what a real family was like, something he secretly wished he had.

Eventually, the water flowing from her dam of words slowed and stopped, and she relaxed in Rephaim's arms. Her tears had dried, but Rephaim was still a little damp, not that either of them minded. Rephaim was still rubbing her back in small circles, and Stevie Rae had her arms around him.

They stayed silent for a very long time, and just when Rephaim was starting to suspect that Stevie Rae had talked herself to sleep, she surprised him by saying, "I'm real sorry, Rephaim."

Rephaim pulled back so he could meet her eyes. "By all the gods, Stevie Rae, why on earth are you sorry?"

"'Cause I keep cryin' and gettin' ya all wet and—" Stevie Rae was cut off abruptly when Rephaim all but crushed her in a hug, an embrace she eagerly returned.

"Do not ever apologize for emotions, a-qua-da-nv-do," Rephaim said, shocking both of them when he said the last word in Cherokee.

"What's aquadanvdoe?" Stevie Rae asked.

"A-qua-da-nv-do," Rephaim corrected.

"Yeah that," she agreed.

Rephaim blinked. He knew perfectly well what that meant, but he sure as hell wasn't going to tell her. "I-I'm not going to tell you," he said.

"What? Oh, c'mon, Rephaim! What does it mean?" she complained.

Rephaim shook his head. "No," he said, but she made huge puppy-dog eyes and pouted, which only caused Rephaim to laugh. It was almost too easy—too natural—to scoop her up in his arms and continue up the stairs.

"Please?" she begged from his arms.

"Maybe I'll tell you someday, a-qua-da-nv-do," he said as he made it updstairs.

She crossed her arms. "But for now I'm just gonna hafta hope someday comes sooner rather than later?" Stevie Rae said.

"Yes." Stevie Rae rolled her eyes, and Rephaim laughed, which caused her to stumble in her I'm-mad-at-you façade.

"You know I can walk by myself," she said, changing the subject.

"I know," Rephaim agreed, "but that doesn't mean I'm going to let you down."

Stevie Rae rolled her eyes again, but she didn't really complain. In fact, neither of them said anything for a little bit; they simply stole a moment of being together and feeling complete.

Surprisingly, it was Rephaim who broke the silence once they stepped outside. "Are you okay to fly?" he asked. As much as he would rather walk (because that would mean more time together), he knew just as well as her that her friends and his father would be looking for them soon, and they needed to part ways.

"I don't wanna go back yet," Stevie Rae said.

"You know I don't either, but they'll be looking for us soon," Rephaim said, and Stevie Rae sighed.

"Yeah, I know," she whispered, and she wrapped her arms around him tightly. "Let's go."

Rephaim's strong wings carried them up and up so no one below could see them. Stevie Rae had her face buried in Rephaim's neck, but even she felt the serenity of the night air passing around them. However, that night air couldn't carry the sounds of Stevie Rae's forgotten cell phone to them, nor could it warn them about what was coming next…

A/N

Okay, I got agwadantogi (the word I originally used) from a Cherokee lesson video on YouTube, so I'm not really sure if I wrote it right. Then I found a-qua-da-nv-do on a much more legit looking website, so I put that in instead. Sorry for any confusion! And for those of you who don't know what it means, I must ask that you don't look it up on Google or something. It's gonna come up a lot in the story, and it foreshadows and symbolizes something very important. So, please, don't look it up. I promise I'll tell you what it means eventually. You might even find out what it means before Stevie Rae does.

Also, there was some more foreshadowing in there, just so you know. I have the majority of this story all planned out…it's just a matter of putting my thoughts into words.

Pretty please review!

~Smiley