“That was super sappy,” Shaunee said under her breath.
“What Shaunee said.” Stark kissed me quickly. “I’ll go help with the red fledglings. I have my phone with me, but if the cells go out again, be sure you keep radioing in back here. I want constant updates. Okay?”
“Okay.” I kissed him back. “Thank you. By the way, just in case you even wonder—you are my definition of awesomesauce.”
He grinned his cocky James Stark smile, tapped the end of my nose with his finger, and whispered, “I love you, too, my Queen.”
Zoey
I was beyond frustrated. We’d been searching downtown on a grid, and hadn’t found Kevin or any recent sign of him or any other red vampyres.
Oh, we’d found where they’d broken into the old Sinclair Building on Boston. They’d eaten some poor homeless people who’d had the bad luck to think they’d found safety from the blizzard, but the red vampyres hadn’t returned. And now it was 5:00 and almost sunset, and I could only think of one thing to do.
“Let’s return to the House of Night. I’ll get Stark and Stevie Rae and Rephaim, and we’ll come back out and keep searching.”
“Z, not sure that’s such a good idea. It’s starting to snow again,” Shaunee said.
“It’d be bad if you got stuck out here in another blizzard. Especially bad as there are red vampyres, probably panicked and dangerous, that are going to emerge from wherever they’re hiding in just a few minutes,” Darius added.
“I have to keep looking. He’s my brother.” What I didn’t want to admit aloud is what had been circling around and around inside my head all day—that I couldn’t let Other Kevin down. I’d already let one Kevin down. I’d basically abandoned him, leaving him to deal with my step-loser and high school peer pressure by himself.
“We get it, Z. We just want you to be safe,” Shaunee said.
“I know. Sorry if I seem short.” I rubbed the bridge of my nose. I had an awful headache and my eyes were stinging from staring out at sun-drenched snow all day. I needed food and rest, but when I thought about Kevin out there huddled somewhere dark and the pain and fear and confusion he must be going through—well, I had to keep looking. “I appreciate you guys.”
“We’ll find him.” Darius spoke with a lot more confidence than I felt.
I stared out at the milky grayness that signaled the beginning of sunset as the SUV crawled its way home. It had started to snow again. Thankfully this time the wind was being still and fat flakes lazily feathered their way to the ground.
Sometime in the middle of the day, the electricity had gone out across most of midtown, and as we approached the House of Night, it was lit up by flickering gaslight flames, making the campus look as if it had been frozen in the past.
Stark met us as we walked through the door. He hugged me tightly and I gave myself a moment, resting my cheek against his chest while he wrapped me in his arms, surrounding me in love and warmth.
“Thanks,” I whispered to him. “I needed that.”
“Me, too. You okay?”
“If I said yes would you believe me?”
“Not for a second.”
“Well then, let’s get something to eat and talk about our plan for the night.”
“That sounds like a great idea. I’m starving,” Shaunee said. “And where’s—”
Erik Night rounded the corner. The instant he saw Shaunee his face lit with his megawatt movie-star smile. He covered the few yards that separated them in two strides and lifted her into his arms, twirling her around.
I waited, trying not to cringe, for her to zap him with a spark or, at the very least, order him to put her down. Instead, she giggled.
Giggled.
“There’s my hotness!” He nuzzled her neck and gave her a mischievous little bite. “Do you know what I’ve been doing all day while you were out gallivanting with Z?”
“Running lines while you gazed lovingly at yourself in the mirror? Again?” she said impishly.
“No, smartass. I’ve been babysitting red fledglings.”
“Did they not settle down and sleep?” I tried not to stare at the two of them. I mean, they make a gorgeous couple, but I just wasn’t used to Shaunee being all girly about a guy. Or Erik being so infatuated that he didn’t care whether he looked cool or not.
Erik put Shaunee down. “About half of them did. The other half are touch and go. It was a good idea to pair them with our fledglings, though. That did help. One kid won’t stop crying. At all. Shaylin said his aura is very dark and messed up. I don’t think anyone knows what to do about it.”
“I do.” Aphrodite emerged from the hallway that led to the Field House. “We give him time. We let him talk. And we get him a dog.” She went to Darius and started to wrap her arms around him before realizing he was covered in fat snowflakes. With a grimace, she brushed the snow from his shoulders, grumbling, “Ugh. Snow. It always reminds me of that awful scene from The Breakfast Club when Ally Sheedy’s Goth character makes that picture with dandruff snow. It scarred me for life.” Then she pulled him to her for a long, lingering kiss.
“Wait, did you say a dog?” I asked.
“Yes. I think we need to invest in PTSD service dogs for the new fledglings. The cats don’t want anything to do with them. It’s weird, actually. But they came from another world, so I suppose cats being repulsed by them isn’t really that weird. Anyway, Duchess was downstairs with Damien and Other Jack. She didn’t mind the fledglings at all when they showed up hysterical and dirty. You know—that’s just another difference between dogs and cats, who I think are much better judges of character. Dogs accept practically anyone. Cats are more discerning.”
“Do not disrespect my dog, Aphrodite,” Stark said.
“Oh, don’t get your panties in a wad, Bow Boy. I’m just mentioning a difference in the two—I’m not disrespecting. Duchess helped today. A lot. So, let’s get more dogs.”
“Seems like an easy fix to me. And I like dogs. Let’s contact the Tulsa Humane Society and rescue a bunch of cool dogs for the fledglings. Totally a win-win,” I said. “Do you guys all want to get something to eat and then I’ll check on the new kids before I go back out there and keep looking for Other Kevin?” I glanced around. “Is Damien still downstairs with Other Jack? And where’s Stevie Rae?”
“Damien and Other Jack were heading to our dining hall. I told him you wouldn’t care if Other Jack joined him because he’s technically dead and not a student here,” Aphrodite said.
“Morbid, but correct.”
“And Stevie Rae was helping us with the fledglings, but when it got close to dusk she took off to catch Bird Boy, or whatever it is she does to get him to fly back to her.”
I rolled my eyes.
“She said she’d meet us in the dining hall with Rephaim. I assume after he exchanges feathers for jeans and a T-shirt.”
“All righty then,” I smiled at everyone, hoping if my face was happy, my mind would follow. “Who wants psaghetti?”