“That will be my prayer to Nyx,” Thanatos said.
“Mine, too. And mine. Yeah, me, too,” echoed the others.
“Are we going to watch Erin’s body for the next few days?” Zoey’s question seemed to jar the room.
“That won’t be necessary,” Thanatos said.
“Well, I know this isn’t exactly a pleasant subject, but someone needs to say it.” Zoey spoke as if she didn’t notice, or care, that everyone was staring at her in horror.
Aphrodite hid a surprised smile. Wow, Z was really starting to sound like a proper bitchy High Priestess.
“Right here are two vampyres,” Z continued as she motioned toward Stark and Stevie Rae, “who as fledglings rejected the Change and ‘died,’” she air quoted. “Just like Erin ‘died’ tonight,” Zoey air quoted again. “And both of them un-died and came back as red fledglings within a couple of days. So, I think we need to—”
“Z, no,” Stevie Rae said, looking uncomfortable. “Erin’s not coming back.”
“Stevie Rae, I said this isn’t pleasant, but we have to deal with it,” Zoey bulldozed on. “Who is going to watch—”
“No one need watch the dead fledgling,” Thanatos cut Zoey off. “She is truly dead.”
“Thanatos saw her spirit enter the Otherworld,” Shaunee said quietly. “Nyx welcomed her.”
“I can promise you that Nyx didn’t welcome any of us when we died and then un-died,” Stevie Rae added.
“Nope, she didn’t,” Stark agreed.
“Erin is really dead,” Damien said.
“Okay, I just … well, I didn’t mean to sound cold or anything like that,” Zoey explained haltingly. “It’s just that I thought we needed to be sure.”
“We are sure,” Thanatos said.
“I’m with Z about telling it how it is, and I think we need to be sure about something else, too,” Aphrodite said. She met Thanatos’s wise gaze. “The circle expelled what looked like Neferet’s partially reformed body, and when she was kicked out of campus, she passed through Erin, and went out in the exact direction Dad was found. I think we need to find out for sure if Neferet killed both of them—Erin and Dad.”
Thanatos’s shoulders slumped. “I’m afraid there is no way to be completely certain, but Aphrodite’s supposition about who could be responsible for both deaths does makes sense. I felt the presence of death only moments before Zoey called to tell me about the spiders. That death could have been Erin’s rejection of the Change beginning, or it could have been Neferet attempting to manifest from the dead.” She looked questioningly around the group. “Did any of you notice whether Erin was showing signs of sickness before tonight? Did anyone hear her cough or say she had been unusually tired lately?”
“Why don’t you try asking somebody who really knew her and gave a shit about her?” Dallas said from the hallway outside the room where he stood, looking pissed off.
“Dallas, I am glad you have joined us. Come, sit, talk with us. When you are ready to see Erin’s body, and to bid her farewell, I will take you within, and tell you of the joyous welcome our Goddess gave your dear friend’s spirit as she entered the Otherworld this night,” Thanatos said.
“I don’t got anything to say to any of you. She was fine before that goddamned circle was cast! I didn’t want her to do it. I tried to stop her. I would’ve stopped her if Miss I’m the Boss of Everyone hadn’t told her Warrior to get me outta the way. I didn’t even know Erin had died until a few minutes ago when I finally busted outta that fucking closet.” Dallas’s eyes were hostile red slits. “I don’t know who you’re trying to blame for this massive fuck-up, but I can tell you that I know the truth, and so will everyone else here at the House of Night—Erin is dead because of some shit Zoey Redbird and her friends caused to happen in that circle tonight. She was fine until then, and if I would’ve been able to stop her, she’d still be fine!”
The lights in the waiting room began to flicker as Dallas’s anger became palpable.
“It’s past time for you to shut up, Dallas,” Stark said, rising to stand between the angry red vampyre and Zoey.
Darius joined him, shoulder to shoulder. “Erin rejected the Change. That didn’t have anything to do with Zoey’s circle.”
“She didn’t want you to stop her,” Shaunee had started to cry again. “She wanted to be part of our circle again.”
“She didn’t want shit to do with any of you!” Dallas yelled.
“You will not raise your voice in anger so soon after a young fledgling’s untimely death.” The strength within Thanatos’s voice had the lights steadying and Dallas taking a step back. “If you wish to bid your friend farewell with peace and love and respect, then you are welcome to do so. If you wish to spew anger and sow dissent, then you must leave, Dallas, and take your negative energy with you. It has no place at the bedside of one who has recently joined our Goddess.”
“I’ll tell Erin good-bye in my own way, and it won’t be with the people who caused her death!” Dallas growled the words, and with a sneer he backed several more steps away before turning and running from the infirmary.
“He’s gonna be a serious problem,” Stark said.
“He’s been a serious problem since he found out about Rephaim and me,” Stevie Rae said, chewing her lip. “That screwed him up.”
“That is not your fault,” Rephaim said, taking Stevie Rae’s hand.
“Yeah, well, I wish I didn’t feel like it was,” Stevie Rae murmured, leaning into her boyfriend. “It’s just that he used to be so sweet, and now he’s not just a douche, he’s a dangerous douche.” She looked at Thanatos. “I hate to say it, but I have a feeling Erin’s death is going to be the excuse he needs to do something stupid like come after us.”
“Yeah, and with all of us being stuck together here on campus, Dallas and the asstards who follow him are going to be stirring up as much shit as they can,” Aphrodite said.
Stark’s intake of breath had the group turning to him. “Shit pot stirring—that’s the same thing that Neferet’s into. And we know that right before Neferet snatched Grandma Redbird, Dallas was in communication with her.”
“Which means if Neferet has managed to pull herself together enough to reform her body, chances are she’s going to contact Dallas again as a way to get the inside scoop on what’s going on at the House of Night,” Zoey finished for Stark.
“With Dallas blaming Erin’s death on us, he’ll be as happy as a vulture on a meat wagon to do anything he can to mess us up,” Stevie Rae said.
Aphrodite grimaced at Stevie Rae’s bumpkin analogy, but she had to agree with her logic. “The worst thing that could be done to mess us up would be to figure out a way to prove one of the House of Night vampyres killed my dad.”
“I believe your supposition is correct. Neferet killed your father. I also believe her manifestation may have caused Erin’s body so much trauma that it rejected the Change—so, quite literally, Neferet could be guilty of the taking of two precious lives tonight,” Thanatos said.
“She’ll be wanting to shove that guilt onto someone else,” Aphrodite said.
“Yep, she’ll be wanting to plant evidence to make it look like someone from here did it,” Z agreed with her. “Dallas would help her do that. There’s no doubt about it.”
“That must be prevented,” Thanatos said.
“How? This is a school, not a military fortress. It’s just not that tough to sneak in and out of here. We all know that—we’ve all done it. And we have to remember that Neferet knows her way around this school even better than we do,” Aphrodite said.
“Then my task is really rather simple. I must devise a way to prevent Neferet from entering our campus,” Thanatos said.
“Actually, you need to prevent more than just Neferet. I can see Dallas, or any of his disgusting friends, sneaking in and out and doing whatever batshit crazy thing Neferet has cooked up for them to do. She wouldn’t actually have to do anything; she likes to delegate. It makes her feel powerful,” Aphrodite said.
“Good point,” Z agreed.
“I will meditate on this, and until I have an answer I will be quite certain the school grounds are being patrolled diligently. Kalona and Aurox will not allow anyone to enter our campus during daylight hours.” Thanatos said. “In the meantime, it is almost dawn. You all need rest.”
Aphrodite stood up, and was surprised to feel the room rock slowly around her. Grateful the Xanax was beginning to work, she leaned against Darius’s strong arm. “Well, I’d say that I don’t want to sound like a bitch, but that would be a lie. I don’t care what I sound like. You and the rest of the School Council need to know that Darius is going to be staying with me in my old dorm room.” Aphrodite spoke to Thanatos in a firm, no nonsense voice that reminded her a little uncomfortably of her mother. “I know that’s against the rules, but so is kidnapping someone’s grandma, killing a human for no reason, and causing a fledgling to reject the Change and die—and that’s only three of the long list of rules that have been broken by the bad guys recently. So, I’m breaking a rule for the good guys. I don’t want to sleep without my Warrior, and I can promise you that Z feels the same way.” Aphrodite shot a humorous look at Stevie Rae. “The bumpkin would be insisting that she sleeps with her Bird Boy, but he’s going to be a bird and, apparently, she’s still refusing to put him in a cage at night—right, Stevie Rae?”