CHAPTER 20

Naturally, I got caught sneaking back on campus. I'd already floated back over the wall. (Yes, I literally floated, which was too cool for words. ) I was making my way back to the dorm with what I considered excellent speed and stealth when I practically ran into them—a group of vamps and upperclassmen ringed by at least a dozen of the warrior mountains (I did see the Twins and Damien in the group, so Aphrodite had been right, Neferet was including my Prefect Council). I froze, stepped back into the shadow of a big oak, and held my breath, hoping that my newfound cool power of invisibility (or maybe mist-ability was a better way of describing it) would let me remain unseen. Unfortunately, as I watched, Neferet paused, which caused the entire dang group to pause. She cocked her head and I swear she sniffed the breeze like a bloodhound. Then her eyes went to my tree—my hidey place—and seemed to bore into me. And just like that I lost concentration. My skin shivered and I knew I was completely visible again.

" Oh, Zoey! There you are. I was just asking your friends" —she paused long enough to give the Twins, Damien, and (eek! ) Erik one of her amazing one-hundred-twenty-five-watt smiles— " where you could have gotten off to. " She dimmed the smile and exchanged it for a perfect look of motherly concern. " Now is not the time to wander about by yourself. "

" Sorry. I, uh, I needed …" I trailed off, majorly aware that all eyes were on me.

" She needed to be alone before the rituals, " Shaunee said, stepping up to put an arm through mine.

" Yeah, she always needs to be alone before rituals. It's a Zoey thing, " Erin said, moving to my other side and taking my other arm.

" Yep, we call it Z. A. T. —Zoey Alone Time, " Damien said, joining the three of us.

" It's kinda annoying, but what can you do? " Erik said, moving around behind me to rest his warm hands on my shoulders. " That's our Z. "

I had to struggle not to burst into tears. My friends were the best. Of course, Neferet probably knew they were lying, but they'd done it in a way that made it look like I was probably only up to little teenage mischief (i. e., sneaking out to break up with a boyfriend) versus big, scary mischief (i. e., hiding my undead dead best friend).

" Well, I want you to be sure you limit your alone time in the near future, " Neferet told me in a mildly chastising tone.

" I will. Sorry, " I mumbled.

" And now, on to the ritual. " Regally, Neferet strode out from the group, causing the warriors to scramble to keep up with her and leaving me and my little cluster of friends in the figurative dust.

Of course, we followed her. What else could we do?

" So, did you get the dirty done? " Shaunee whispered.

" Huh? " I blinked in shock at her. How did she know I'd been ho-ishly grinding against Heath. Did it show? God, I was going to die if it showed!

Erin rolled her eyes. " Heath. Breakup. You with him, " she whispered.

" Oh, that. Well, I, uh—"

" I was worried about you today. " Erik had moved up and neatly nudged Shaunee from her place beside me. I expected the Twins to hiss and spit at him, but instead they waggled their brows at us and fell back to walk with Damien. I heard Shaunee murmur, " So damn fiiiiine. " Jeesh, they could face Neferet, but Erik's hotness totally did them in.

" Sorry, " I said hastily, feeling guilty about how nice it felt when he took my hand. " I didn't mean to worry you. I just had, well, stuff. "

Erik grinned and laced his fingers through mine. " I hope you got rid of him—I mean, that particular stuff this time. "

I sent daggerlike looks over my shoulder at the Twins, who tried to look innocent. " Traitors! " I muttered.

" Don't be pissed at them. I used my unfair advantage and bribed them with their weakness. "

" Shoes? "

" Something they like better, at least for a moment in time. T. J. and Cole. "

" That was very sly of you, " I said.

" And not very tough to manage. T. J. and Cole think the Twins are dead sexy, " Erik said, using an excellent Scottish accent and proving, again, what an old movie dork he was (hello—Austin Powers).

" T. J. and Cole called the Twins dead sexy in that awful accent? "

He squeezed my hand playfully. " My accent isn't awful. "

" You're right. It's not. " I smiled up into his clear blue eyes and wondered how I could have gotten myself into a position where I was double cheating on him.

" How are you today, Zoey? "

I knew through our joined hands Erik could feel the shock that went through my body at the sound of Loren's voice.

" I'm fine. Thanks, " I said.

" You slept well last night? I wondered how you'd managed after I left you at the dorm. " Loren gave Erik what was obviously a patronizing, I'm-way-older-than-you smile and explained, " Zoey had quite a shock yesterday. "

" Yeah, I know. " Erik's clipped the words out. I could feel the tension between them and wondered a little frantically if anyone else had noticed. When I heard Shaunee's whispered, " Damn, girl! " and Erin's " Um-hum! " I had to force myself not to groan. Clearly everyone else (translation: the Twins) noticed.

By then we'd caught up to the group of adults that were now standing around what I realized was the trapdoor in the east wall. Ignoring the potentially explosive boyfriend situation I'd put myself right smack in the middle of, I said, " Hey! Why are we stopped here? "

" Neferet is offering prayers for Professor Nolan's spirit, as well as invoking a protective spell around the school grounds, " Loren said. His voice sounded way too friendly and his gaze felt way too warm as our eyes met and locked. God, he was utterly gorgeous. I remembered how his lips had felt against mine and …

And then I realized what he'd just said.

" But isn't her blood and stuff still…" I trailed off helplessly, making a vague gesture out at the grassy area on the other side of the wall, the horrible grassy area that had been drenched with Professor Nolan's blood just yesterday.

" No, don't worry. Neferet has had it cleansed, " Loren said gently.

For a second I thought he was going to touch me right there in front of everyone. I even felt Erik tense, like he expected it, too, then Neferet's solemn but powerful voice broke through our little drama, calling everyone's attention to her.

" We are going to move through the trapdoor to the site of the atrocity. Make a crescent around the statue of our beloved Goddess, which I placed in the exact spot Professor Nolan's ravaged body was discovered. I ask that you concentrate your hearts and minds on sending positive energy to our fallen sister as her spirit flies free to the wondrous realm of Nyx. Fledglings, " her gaze swooped over us, " I want you each to take your position by the candle which represents your element. " Neferet's eyes were kind, her voice gentle. " I know it is unusual to use fledglings in an adult ritual, but never before has a House of Night been gifted with so many extraordinary young people at one time, and today I believe it is only right that I tap into your affinities to add power to what we ask of Nyx. " I could practically feel Damien and the Twins vibrating with excitement. " Can you do this for me, for us, fledglings? "

Damien and the Twins nodded like crazed bobble-heads. Neferet's green eyes moved to me. I nodded once. The High Priestess smiled, and I wondered if anyone else could see past her beautiful exterior to the cold, calculating person within.

Looking pleased with herself, Neferet turned and ducked through the open trapdoor followed closely by the rest of us. I'd readied myself for something terrible, or at the very least for something bloody, but Loren had been right. The area that had been so gruesome just yesterday had been completely cleansed of any nastiness, and I wondered briefly how the Tulsa cops had gathered their evidence, and then shook myself. Surely Neferet had waited for them to do their job before she'd cleaned everything. Hadn't she?

In the spot where Professor Nolan's body had been there was now a beautiful statue of Nyx that looked like it had been carved from a single slab of onyx. Her hands were upraised, and within them she held a thick green candle symbolizing earth. Without speaking, the vamps formed a semicircle around the statue. Damien and the Twins moved to stand behind the oversized candles that represented each of their elements. I didn't really want to, but I took my place by the purple candle that symbolized spirit. I could see the warriors had spread out and were surrounding us. With their backs to our group they stared out into the night, bristling with alertness.

Without any of her usual theatrics (which were always cool to watch), Neferet walked to Damien, who was nervously holding the yellow wind candle, and raised the ceremonial lighter.

" It fills us and breathes life into us. I call wind to our circle. " Neferet's voice was strong and clear, obviously augmented by the power of a High Priestess. She touched the lighter to the candle's wick and instantly wind whipped around Damien and her. Neferet's back was to me, so I couldn't see her face, but Damien's smile was wide and joyous. I tried not to scowl. The sacred circle was not the right place for me to be pissed off, but I couldn't help feeling annoyed. Why was I the only one who could see Neferet's fakeness?

She moved to Shaunee. " It warms and succors us. I call fire to our circle. " As I'd experienced several times before, Shaunee's red candle burst into flame before the lighter touched it. Shaunee's smile was almost as bright as her element.

Neferet followed the circle around to Erin. " It soothes and washes us. I call water to our circle. " As the candle lit I heard waves crashing on a distant beach and smelled salt and sea in the night breeze.

I watched carefully as Neferet moved to stand before the statue of Nyx and the green candle. The High Priestess bowed her head. " The fledgling who personified this element perished, and it is fitting that the position of earth remain empty tonight, and that it rests upon the spot our beloved Patricia Nolan's body has so recently rested upon. It sustains us. From it we are born, and to it we all shall return. I call earth to our circle. " Neferet lit the green candle, and though it burned brightly I didn't smell even a hint of green meadows or wildflowers.

Then Neferet was standing in front of me. I don't know what kind of expression she'd showed Damien and the Twins, but to me her face was strong and stern, and amazingly beautiful. She reminded me of one of the ancient vampyre Amazon warriors, and I almost forgot that she was actually dangerous.

" It is our essence. I call spirit to our circle. " Neferet lit my purple candle and I felt my soul lift with the tickle-tummy feeling a roller coaster gives me. The High Priestess didn't pause to share any kind of special look with me, instead she began to work the crowd. Walking around inside the circle, making eye contact with the vampyres who surrounded us, she got right to the point. " It hasn't happened for more than one hundred years—not so openly—not so brutally. Humans have murdered one of us. In this case they have awakened not a sleeping giant, but have provoked a leopard who they believed was tamed. " Neferet's voice rose, powerful with anger. " She is not tamed! " The little hairs on my arms lifted. Neferet was amazing. How could someone who was so blessed by Nyx have gone as wrong as I knew she'd gone? " They believe our fangs have been filed flat and our claws removed, like a fat household tabby. Again, they are wrong. " She raised her arms over her head. " From this sacred circle, cast on the site of a murder, we call on our Goddess, Nyx, the beautiful Personification of Night. We ask that she welcome Patricia Nolan to her bosom, though it is decades too early for her to have departed. We also ask Nyx to rouse her righteous anger, and with the sweetness of her divine fury, to grant us this spell of protection so that we will not be caught in the humans' murderous web. " As she spoke the spell Neferet walked back to Nyx's statue.

" Protect us with the night;

above all it is in darkness we delight. "

When she turned to face the crowd I saw that she was now holding a small, ivory-handled knife with a wickedly-sharp-looking curved blade.

" Around this coven we ask

Nyx's curtain to be cast. "

With one hand she lifted the knife. With the other she wove intricate shapes in the air that around her became glittery and semi-substantial as she continued incanting the spell.

" All who enter or leave I shall detect,

vampyre, fledgling, human, all will be checked.

If harm is meant

to my will it shall be bent. "

Then, in a fast, ferocious gesture, Neferet slashed through her wrist, so deep that her blood instantly began to spurt, red and rich, hot and delicious. The scent washed around me, automatically making my mouth water. With grim determination, the High Priestess walked the circumference of the circle so that her blood fell around us in a scarlet arch, sprinkling grass that had so recently been soaked with Professor Nolan's blood. Finally she reached Nyx's statue again. Neferet lifted her face to the night sky and completed the spell.

" My blood binds thee,

so mote it be. "

I swear the night air rippled all around us, and for a moment I could actually see something settle on the walls of the school, like a black, gauzy curtain. She's set a spell that will not just tell her when danger enters the school, but when anyone enters or leaves it. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from groaning. No way was the curtain of a goddess going to be fooled by my little Bram Stoker-ing. How in the hell was I going to sneak Stevie Rae her blood?

Completely preoccupied with my own drama, I hardly noticed when Neferet closed the circle. Woodenly, I let the tide of people carry me back through the trapdoor. I only snapped out of it when Loren's deep voice sounded surprisingly close to my ear.

" I'll meet you in the rec hall in a little while. " I looked up at him. My face must have been a complete question mark because he added, " Your Full Moon Ritual. I'm your bard tonight for the opening of the circle, remember? "

Before I could say anything Shaunee's voice purred, " We always look forward to hearing you recite poetry, Professor Blake. "

" Yeah, wouldn't miss it. Not even for a shoe sale at Saks, " Erin added, eyes twinkling.

" Then I'll see you there, " Loren said, his eyes never leaving my face. He smiled, gave me a little bow, and hurried away.

" Dee-lish-us" Erin said.

" Ditto, Twin, " Shaunee said.

" I think he's slimy. "

We all looked up to see Erik glaring at Loren's back.

" Oh, no way! " Shaunee said.

" Luscious Loren Blake is just being friendly, " Erin said, rolling her eyes at Erik like he was insane.

" Hello! Don't go all psycho-jealous boyfriend on Z, " Shaunee said.

" Uh, I gotta go change, " I blurted, not wanting to even comment on Erik's way-too-obvious jealousy. " Could you guys go on to the rec hall and make sure everything's ready? I'll run to the dorm and be back in just a sec. "

" No problem, " the Twins said together.

" We'll take care of the last-minute stuff, " Damien said.

Erik didn't say anything. I smiled a quick and, I hoped, non-guilty smile at him, and took off down the sidewalk to the dorm. I could feel eyes on me and knew with a terrible sinking feeling that I was going to have to do something about Erik and Loren (and Heath). But what the hell was I going to do?

I was crazy about Heath. And his blood.

Erik was an amazing guy who I really, really liked.

Loren was completely delicious.

Jeesh, I sucked.