Marked

'It's okay. There's nothing to be nervous or scared about.' Stevie Rae met my eyes and added, 'At least nothing in there.'

'The Full Moon Ritual is great. You'll like it. Oh, when the vamp traces the pentagram on your forehead and says 'blessed be' all you have to do is say 'blessed be' back to her,' Shaunee explained. 'Then follow us over to our place in the circle.' She smiled reassuringly at me and hurried ahead into the dimly lit interior room.

'Wait.' I grabbed Stevie Rae's sleeve. 'I don't want to sound stupid, but isn't a pentagram a sign of evil or something like that?'

'That's what I thought, too, until I got here. But all that evil stuff is bull that the People of Faith want you to believe so that…Heck,' she said with a shrug, 'I'm not even sure why they're so set on people—well, humans that is—believing that it's an evil sign. The truth is that for like a zillion years the pentagram has stood for wisdom, protection, perfection. Good stuff like that. It's just a five-pointed star. Four of the points stand for the elements. The fifth, the one that points up, stands for the spirit. That's all it is. No boogieman there.'

'Control.' I muttered, glad we had a reason to quit talking about Elizabeth and death.

'Huh?'

'The People of Faith want to control everything, and part of that control is that everyone has to always believe exactly the same. That's why they want people to think the pentagram is bad.' I shook my head in disgust. 'Never mind. Come on. I'm readier than I thought I was. Let's go in.'

We walked deeper into the foyer and I heard running water. We passed a beautiful fountain, and then the entryway curved gently to the left. Within a thick, arched stone doorway stood a vampyre I didn't recognize. She was dressed entirely in black—a long skirt and a silky, bell-sleeved blouse. The only decoration she had on was the silver embroidered goddess figure over her breast. Her hair was long and the color of wheat. Sapphire-colored spirals radiated from her crescent moon tattoo to down around her flawless face.

'That's Anastasia. She teaches the Spells and Rituals class. She's also Dragon's wife,' Stevie Rae whispered quickly before she stepped up to the vampyre and respectfully placed her fist over her heart.

Anastasia smiled and dipped her finger in a rock bowl she was holding. Then she traced a five-pointed star on Stevie Rae's forehead.

'Blessed be, Stevie Rae,' she said.

'Blessed be,' Stevie Rae responded. She gave me an encouraging look before she disappeared into the smoky room beyond.

I took a deep breath and made a conscious decision to put all thoughts of Elizabeth and death and what-ifs out of my mind—at least during this ritual. I moved purposefully into the space in front of Anastasia. Mimicking Stevie Rae, I placed my closed fist over my heart.

The vampyre dipped her finger in what I could now see was oil. 'Merry meet, Zoey Redbird, welcome to the House of Night and your new life,' she said as she traced the pentagram on my forehead over my Mark. 'And blessed be.'

'Blessed be,' I murmured, surprised at the electric shiver that passed through my body when the damp star had taken form on my forehead.

'Go on in and join your friends,' she said kindly. 'There's no need to be nervous, I believe the Goddess is already looking after you.'

'Th—thank you,' I said, and hurried into the room. There were candles everywhere. Huge white ones suspended from the ceiling in iron chandeliers. Big candle trees held more of them and were lined along the walls. In the temple, sconces didn't burn oil tamely in lanterns, like in the rest of the school. Here the sconces were real. I knew that this place used to be a People of Faith church dedicated to St. Augustine, but it looked like no church I'd ever seen before. Besides being lit only by candlelight, there were no pews. (And, by the way, I really dislike pews—could they be any more uncomfortable?) Actually, the only furniture in the big room was an antique wooden table situated in the center that was kinda like the one in the dining hall—only this one wasn't just loaded with food and wine and such. This one also held a marble statue of the Goddess, arms upraised and looking a lot like the embroidered design the vamps wore. There was a huge candelabrum on the table, its fat white candles burning brightly, as well as several thick sticks of smoking incense.

Then my eyes were caught by the open flame burning from out of a recess in the stone floor. It flickered wildly, its yellow fire almost waist high. It was beautiful, in a controlled danger kind of a way, and it seemed to draw me forward. Thankfully, Stevie Rae's waving hands snagged my attention before I could follow my impulse to approach the flame, and then I noticed, wondering how I could have failed to see this from the beginning, that there was a huge circle of people—students as well as adult vamps—stretching around the edges of the room. Feeling nervous and awestruck at the same time, I made my feet move so I could take my place in the circle beside Stevie Rae.

'Finally,' Damien said under his breath.

'Sorry we're late.' I said.

'Leave her alone. She's nervous enough as it is,' Stevie Rae told him.

'Sssh! It's starting,' Shaunee hissed.

Four forms seemed to materialize from within the darkened corners of the room to become women who made their way to four spots just within the living circle, like the directions on a compass. Two more entered from the doorway through which I'd just come. One was a tall man—well, scratch that—male vampyre (all of the adults were vamps), and, ohmygod, he was hot. Now, here was an excellent example of the stereotype of the gorgeous vamp guy, up close and personal. He was over six feet tall and looked like he belonged on the big screen.

'And there is the only reason I'm taking that damn Poetry elective,' Shaunee whispered.

'I'm with you there, Twin,' Erin breathed dreamily.

'Who is he?' I asked Stevie Rae.

'Loren Blake, Vamp Poet Laureate. He's the first male Poet Laureate in two hundred years. Literally,' she whispered. 'And he's only like twenty-something, and that's in real years, not just in looks.'

Before I could say anything else, he started to speak and my mouth was too busy flopping open at the sound of his voice for me to do anything but listen.

She walks in beauty, like the night

Of cloudless climes and starry skies…

As he spoke he moved slowly toward the circle. As if his voice was music, the woman who had entered the room with him began to sway, and then to dance gracefully around the outside of the living circle.

And all that's best of dark and bright

Meet in her aspect and her eyes…

The dancing woman had everyone's attention. With a jolt I realized that it was Neferet. She was wearing a long silk dress that had tiny crystal beads sewn all over it, so that the candlelight caught each of her movements and made her shimmer like the star-filled night sky. Her movements seemed to call alive the words of the old poem (at least my mind was still working well enough that I recognized it as Lord Byron's 'She Walks in Beauty').

Thus mellowed to that tender light

Which heaven to gaudy day denies.

Somehow both Neferet and Loren managed to end up in the center of the circle as he finished reciting the stanza. Then Neferet took a goblet from the table and lifted it, as if offering a drink to the circle.

'Welcome Nyx's children to the Goddess's celebration of the full moon!'

The adult vamps chorused, 'Merry meet.'

Neferet smiled and put the goblet back on the table and picked up a long white taper that was already lit and sitting in a single candlestick holder. Then she walked across the circle to face a vamp I didn't know who was standing at what must be the head of the circle. The vamp saluted her, hand over breast, before turning around so that her back was to Neferet.

'Psst!' Stevie Rae whispered. 'We all face each of the four directions as Neferet evokes the elements and casts Nyx's circle. East and air come first.'

Then everyone, including me even though I was kinda slow, turned to face east. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Neferet raise her arms over her head as her voice rang against the stone walls of the temple.

'From the east I summon air and ask that you carry to this circle the gift of knowledge that our ritual will be filled with learning.'

The instant Neferet began speaking the invocation I felt the air change. It moved around me, ruffling my hair