Goddess gifts. My main affinity is for cats; I have a connection with them that is unusual, even for a vampyre. Nyx has also given me unusual powers of healing.' She smiled. 'Which is why I know you're healing well—my gift told me.'
'Wow, that's amazing,' was all I could think to say. My head was already reeling from the events of the past day.
'Come on. Let's get you to your room. I'm sure you're hungry and tired. Dinner will start in'—Neferet cocked her head to the side as if someone was weirdly whispering the time to her—'an hour.' She gave me a knowing smile. 'Vampyres always know what time it is.'
'That's cool, too.'
'That, my dear fledgling, is just the tip of the 'cool' iceberg.'
I hoped her analogy didn't have anything to do with Titanic-sized disasters. As we continued walking down the hall I thought about time and stuff, and remembered the question I had started to ask when Skylar had interrupted my easily derailed train of thought.
'So, wait. You said that classes start at eight? At night?' Okay, I'm usually not this slow, but some of this was like she was speaking a foreign language to me. I was having a hard time getting it.
'Once you take a moment to think about it you'll understand that having classes at night is only logical. Of course you must know that vampyres, adult or fledgling, don't explode, or any other such fictional nonsense, if subjected to direct sunlight, but it is uncomfortable for us. Wasn't the sunlight already difficult for you to bear today?'
I nodded. 'My Maui Jims didn't even help much.' Then I added quickly, feeling moronic again, 'Uh, Maui Jims are sunglasses.'
'Yes, Zoey,' Neferet said patiently. 'I know sunglasses. Very well, actually.'
'Oh, God, I'm sorry I—' I broke off, wondering whether it was okay for me to say 'God.' Would it offend Neferet, a High Priestess who wore her Goddess Mark so proudly? Hell, would it offend Nyx? Oh, God. What about saying 'hell'? It was my favorite cuss word ever. (Okay, it was really the only cuss word I used regularly.) Could I still say it? The People of Faith preached that vampyres worshiped a false goddess and that they were mostly selfish, dark creatures who cared about nothing except money and luxury and drinking blood and they were all certainly going straight to hell, so wouldn't that mean that I should watch how and where I used…
'Zoey.'
I looked up to find Neferet studying me with a concerned expression and realized that she had probably been trying to get my attention while I had been babbling inside my head.
'I'm sorry,' I repeated.
Neferet stopped. She put her hands on my shoulders and turned me so that I had to face her.
'Zoey, quit apologizing. And remember, everyone here has been where you are. This was new to all of us once. We know what it feels like—the fear of the Change—the shock at your life being turned into something foreign.'
'And not being able to control any of it,' I added quietly.
'That, too. It won't always be this bad. When you're a mature vampyre your life will seem your own again. You'll make your own choices; go your own way; follow the path down which your heart and soul and talents lead you.'
'If I become a mature vampyre.'
'You will, Zoey.'
'How can you be so sure?'
Neferet's eyes found the darkened Mark on my forehead. 'Nyx has chosen you. For what, we do not know. But her Mark has been clearly placed upon you. She would not have touched you only to see you fail.'
I remembered the Goddess's words, Zoey Redbird, Daughter of Night, I name you my eyes and ears in the world today, a world where good and evil are struggling to find balance, and looked quickly away from Neferet's sharp gaze, wishing desperately that I knew why my gut was still telling me to keep my mouth shut about my meeting with the Goddess.
'It's—it's just a lot to happen all in one day.'
'It certainly is, especially on an empty stomach.'
We had started walking again when the sound of a ringing cell phone made me jump. Neferet sighed and smiled apologetically at me, then she fished a small phone out of her pocket.
'Neferet,' she said. She listened for a little while and I saw her forehead wrinkle, and her eyes narrow. 'No, you were right to call me. I'll come back and check on her.' And she flipped the phone shut. 'I'm sorry, Zoey. One of the fledglings broke her leg earlier today. It seems she's having trouble resting, and I should go back and be sure all is well with her. Why don't you follow this hallway around to the left until you come to the main door? You can't miss it—it's large and made of very old wood. Right outside is a stone bench. You can wait there for me. I won't be long.'
'Okay, no problem.' But before I'd finished speaking Neferet had already disappeared back down the winding hallway. I sighed. I didn't like the idea of being by myself in a place that was full of vampyres and vampyre kids. And now that Neferet was gone the little flickering lights didn't seem so welcoming. They seemed weird, throwing ghostly shadows against the old stone hall.
Determined not to freak myself out, I started slowly down the hall in the direction we had been heading. Pretty soon I almost wished I'd run into some other people (even if they were vampyres). It was too quiet. And creepy. A couple of times the hall branched off to the right, but like Neferet had told me, I kept to the left. Actually, I also kept my eyes to the left because those other halls had hardly any lights in them.
Unfortunately at the next right-hand turn off the hall I didn't avert my eyes. Okay, so the reason made sense. I heard something.
To be more specific, I heard a laugh. It was a soft, girly laugh that for some reason made the hair on the back of my neck stand up. It also made me stop walking. I peeked down the hall and thought I saw movement in the shadows.
Zoey… My name was whispered from the shadows.
I blinked in surprise. Had I really heard my name or was I imagining things? The voice was almost familiar. Could it be Nyx again? Was the Goddess calling my name? Almost as afraid as I was intrigued, I held my breath and took a few steps into the side hallway.
As I walked around the gentle bend I saw something ahead of me that made me stop and automatically move closer to the wall. In a little alcove not far from me were two people. At first I couldn't make my mind process what I was seeing; then in a rush I understood.
I should have gotten out of there then. I should have backed silently away and tried not to think about what I'd seen. But I didn't do any of those things. It was like my feet were suddenly so heavy I couldn't pick them up. All I could do was watch.
The man—and then with a little jolt of additional shock I realized that he wasn't a man, he was a teenager —not more than a year or so older than me. He was standing with his back pressed against the stone of the alcove. His head was tilted back and he was breathing hard. His face was in the shadows, but even though he was only partially visible I could see that he was handsome. Then another breathy little laugh drew my eyes downward.
She was on her knees in front of him. All I could see of her was her blond hair. There was so much of it that it looked like she was wearing it as some kind of ancient veil. Then her hands moved up, running along the guy's thighs.
Go! my mind screamed at me. Get out of there! I started to take a step back, and then his voice made me freeze.
'Stop!'
My eyes got huge because for a second I thought he was talking to me.
'You don't really want me to.'
I felt almost dizzy with relief when she spoke. He was talking to her, not me. They didn't even know I was there.
'Yes, I do.' It sounded as if he was grinding his words from between his teeth. 'Get off your knees.'
'You like it—you know you like it. Just like you know you still want me.'
Her voice was all husky and trying to be sexy, but I could also hear the whine in it. She sounded almost
