you hear, especially when it’s coming from a vampyre who calls herself Queen and hasn’t left an island in centuries.”
“And you still haven’t answered my question. Where did he come from?!”
“What magick could be older than that which comes from the Goddess herself? Aurox is my gift from Nyx!” Neferet looked knowingly at the crowd and laughed off my questioning as if I was nothing more than an irritating child and they were all in on the adult joke with her.
“What was he changing into?” I couldn’t stop myself, even though I knew I was coming off as totally snotty and bitchy, like I was one of those girls who always has one more thing to say—and that one more thing was always negative.
Neferet’s smile was magnanimous. “Aurox was changing into the Guardian of the House of Night. You didn’t think you were the only one who was worthy of a Guardian, did you?” She spread her arms wide. “We all are! Come, greet him, and then let us get back to class and to that on which the House of Night was founded, the business of learning.”
I wanted to scream that he was no Guardian! I wanted to scream that I was sick of Neferet twisting my words. I couldn’t stop staring at Aurox as the fledglings (mostly girls) began approaching him, careful to step around the disgusting blood and Raven Mocker remains.
Actually, I didn’t know why, but I just wanted to scream.
“You won’t win this one,” Aphrodite said. “She’s got the crowd and the pretty boy on her side.”
“That’s not what he is.” Still clutching my burning seer stone I turned away from the ridiculous scene and started walking back to school. I could feel Stark looking at me, but I kept my eyes straight ahead.
“Z, what is your problem? So he’s not just a pretty guy. That’s so awful?” Aphrodite said.
I stopped and turned to face them. They were all there, trailing along after me like baby ducks: Stark, Aphrodite, Darius, the Twins, Damien, Stevie Rae, and even Rephaim. It was to Rephaim I addressed my question, “You saw it, too, didn’t you?”
He nodded soberly. “If you mean his change, yes.”
“Saw what?” Stark asked, sounding exasperated.
“He was turning into a bull,” Stevie Rae said. “I saw it, too.”
“That pretty white boy was turnin’ hisself into a bull? That ain’t right,” Kramisha said, peeking back at the crowd we’d left behind.
“White boy—white bull,” Stevie Rae said. Then, sounding a lot like me she added, “Ah, hell.
CHAPTER SIX
Erik
He’d been walking slowly back to the drama room, wishing hard that instead of entering a class he was going to be making a grand entrance to a movie set in L.A., New Zealand, Canada … Hell! Anywhere but Tulsa, Oklahoma! He’d also been wondering how he’d gone from the hottest fledgling on campus and the next Brad Pitt according to the top vampyre casting agent in L.A., to a Drama Professor and a vampyre Tracker.
“Zoey,” Erik mumbled to himself. “My shit started to go downhill the day I met her.”
Then he felt crappy about saying that, even if there was no one around to hear him. He really was okay with Z. They were kinda even friends. What he wasn’t okay with was all the crazy stuff that went on around her. She’s a damn freak magnet, he thought to himself. No wondered they’d broken up. Erik was no freak.
He rubbed the palm of his right hand.
Several fledglings rushed past him and he reached out and snagged one kid by the scruff of his plaid school jacket. “Hey, what’s the rush and why aren’t you in class?” Erik scowled fiercely at the kid, more because he was pissed that he sounded like one of those teachers, the get-back-to-class-young-man kind, than that he actually cared where the fledgling was going.
Annoying Erik even more, the kid cringed and looked like he was going to piss his pants.
“Somethin’s going on. Some fight or somethin’.”
“Go on.” Erik let go of him with a little push and the kid
“And you still haven’t answered my question. Where did he come from?!”
“What magick could be older than that which comes from the Goddess herself? Aurox is my gift from Nyx!” Neferet looked knowingly at the crowd and laughed off my questioning as if I was nothing more than an irritating child and they were all in on the adult joke with her.
“What was he changing into?” I couldn’t stop myself, even though I knew I was coming off as totally snotty and bitchy, like I was one of those girls who always has one more thing to say—and that one more thing was always negative.
Neferet’s smile was magnanimous. “Aurox was changing into the Guardian of the House of Night. You didn’t think you were the only one who was worthy of a Guardian, did you?” She spread her arms wide. “We all are! Come, greet him, and then let us get back to class and to that on which the House of Night was founded, the business of learning.”
I wanted to scream that he was no Guardian! I wanted to scream that I was sick of Neferet twisting my words. I couldn’t stop staring at Aurox as the fledglings (mostly girls) began approaching him, careful to step around the disgusting blood and Raven Mocker remains.
Actually, I didn’t know why, but I just wanted to scream.
“You won’t win this one,” Aphrodite said. “She’s got the crowd and the pretty boy on her side.”
“That’s not what he is.” Still clutching my burning seer stone I turned away from the ridiculous scene and started walking back to school. I could feel Stark looking at me, but I kept my eyes straight ahead.
“Z, what is your problem? So he’s not just a pretty guy. That’s so awful?” Aphrodite said.
I stopped and turned to face them. They were all there, trailing along after me like baby ducks: Stark, Aphrodite, Darius, the Twins, Damien, Stevie Rae, and even Rephaim. It was to Rephaim I addressed my question, “You saw it, too, didn’t you?”
He nodded soberly. “If you mean his change, yes.”
“Saw what?” Stark asked, sounding exasperated.
“He was turning into a bull,” Stevie Rae said. “I saw it, too.”
“That pretty white boy was turnin’ hisself into a bull? That ain’t right,” Kramisha said, peeking back at the crowd we’d left behind.
“White boy—white bull,” Stevie Rae said. Then, sounding a lot like me she added, “Ah, hell.
CHAPTER SIX
Erik
He’d been walking slowly back to the drama room, wishing hard that instead of entering a class he was going to be making a grand entrance to a movie set in L.A., New Zealand, Canada … Hell! Anywhere but Tulsa, Oklahoma! He’d also been wondering how he’d gone from the hottest fledgling on campus and the next Brad Pitt according to the top vampyre casting agent in L.A., to a Drama Professor and a vampyre Tracker.
“Zoey,” Erik mumbled to himself. “My shit started to go downhill the day I met her.”
Then he felt crappy about saying that, even if there was no one around to hear him. He really was okay with Z. They were kinda even friends. What he wasn’t okay with was all the crazy stuff that went on around her. She’s a damn freak magnet, he thought to himself. No wondered they’d broken up. Erik was no freak.
He rubbed the palm of his right hand.
Several fledglings rushed past him and he reached out and snagged one kid by the scruff of his plaid school jacket. “Hey, what’s the rush and why aren’t you in class?” Erik scowled fiercely at the kid, more because he was pissed that he sounded like one of those teachers, the get-back-to-class-young-man kind, than that he actually cared where the fledgling was going.
Annoying Erik even more, the kid cringed and looked like he was going to piss his pants.
“Somethin’s going on. Some fight or somethin’.”
“Go on.” Erik let go of him with a little push and the kid
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