Untamed

friends can manifest one of the elements. How could she possibly be so gifted and be hiding evil?' Shekinah said.

'I don't know!' Neferet's voice broke, and I could tell she was crying. 'I'm her mentor. Can you imagine how much it grieves me to even think these things, let alone say them aloud?'

'What evidence do you have for your belief?' Shekinah asked, and I was glad to hear that she didn't sound particularly convinced Neferet was on to something.

'A teenage boy who used to be her lover was almost killed by spirits she conjured just days after she was Marked.'

I blinked in utter shock. Heath and I had been lovers? Not hardly! Neferet knew that. And I hadn't conjured those mean spirits—Aphrodite had. Yes, they'd almost eaten Heath—well, and also Erik—but with the help of Stevie Rae, Damien, and the Twins, I'd stopped them.

'Then not more than a month later, two more teenage boys, again humans who were, let's just say intimate with her, were abducted and brutally killed—drained of all blood. A third boy, another human close to her, was taken, too. The community was in a frenzy, and that is when Zoey rescued the boy.'

Oh. My. Goddess! Neferet was twisting everything and lying her butt off! It was the nasty undead dead kids who had killed the two Union football players, who I definitely had not been intimate with! Yes, I'd saved Heath (again—sigh), but I'd saved him from her disgusting, bloodsucking (not that there's anything wrong with it) minions!

'What else?' Shekinah said. I was glad to hear that her voice had remained calm and she still didn't sound like she was convinced Neferet was right about me.

'This last part is the most difficult for me to admit, but Zoey was special to Patricia Nolan. She spent quite a bit of time with her before she was murdered.'

My head was buzzing. Sure, I'd liked Professor Nolan, and I think she liked me, but I definitely hadn't been special to her, and hadn't spent any extra time with her, either.

Then I knew what she was going to accuse me of next, even though I could hardly believe it.

'And I have reason to believe Zoey had become Loren Blake's lover just before he, too, was murdered. Actually, I'm sure the two of them had Imprinted.' Neferet broke off, sobbing brokenly.

'Why did you not report any of this to the Council?' Shekinah asked sternly.

'What was I supposed to say? I think this most gifted of all fledglings has allied herself with evil? How could I bring such a charge against a young girl with no more proof than coincidence, supposition, and a feeling?'

Well, that was exactly what she was doing right now!

'But Neferet, if a fledgling gets involved with a professor, it is the High Priestess's duty to put a stop to it, and to report it to the Council.'

'I know!' I could hear that Neferet was still crying. 'I was wrong. I should have said something. Perhaps if I had, I could have prevented his death.'

There was a long pause, and then Shekinah said, 'You and Loren were lovers, were you not?'

'Yes!' Neferet sobbed.

'You realize your relationship with Loren could be clouding your judgment of Zoey?'

'I do.' I heard her 'valiantly' (barf!) try to pull herself together. 'Which is another reason I was hesitant to tell anyone about my suspicions.'

'Have you looked into her mind?' Shekinah asked.

I shivered while I waited for Neferet's answer.

'I've tried. I cannot read her mind.'

'How about her friends? The other fledglings who have special affinities?'

Crap! Crap! Crap!

'I have looked within them periodically. I have not found anything disturbing. Yet.'

I heard Shekinah's sigh. 'It is good that I am staying on here for the rest of this semester. I, too, will watch and listen around Zoey and the other fledglings. There is always a chance, and a very good one at that, that Zoey only seems in the middle of these events because she is, indeed, a very powerfully gifted young woman. She might not be causing the events, but might have been put here by Nyx to help thwart evil that is not of her making.'

'I sincerely hope so,' Neferet said.

She was such a liar!

'But we shall watch her. Closely,' Shekinah said.

'Be careful of the favors she asks,' Neferet said.

Huh? Favors? I hadn't asked Neferet for any favors! And then, with a jolt, I realized what it was Neferet was doing. She was messing it up for me to ask that Grandma visit me and stay here on campus. Bitch!

And the jolt of understanding turned to a sick dread. How had Neferet known Grandma was coming?

Suddenly, a huge commotion from outside drowned Shekinah's response. I was listening from the hall, so it was easy for me to drift over to one of the large curtained windows. Because it was night, the drapes were open and I looked down on the front grounds of the school. What I saw made me press my hand against my mouth to keep from cracking up.

Duchess was barking her head off as she raced after a snarling, hissing, yowling white ball of Maleficent. Aphrodite was chasing after the dog, screaming for her to 'Come! Stay! Be good, damnit!' Damien was close behind her, flailing his arms and yelling, 'Duchess! Come!' All of a sudden the Twins' cat, the huge and very stuck-up Beelzebub, joined in the chase, only he was tearing around after Duchess.

'Ohmygod! Beelzebub! Honey!' Shaunee ran into my view, yelling at the top of her very healthy lungs.

'Beelzebub! Duchess! Stop!' Erin wailed, right behind her twin.

Darius suddenly burst into the hallway, and I stepped back behind the curtains, not sure if my shrouding could be detected by him. Apparently he didn't notice me, or anything else, because he ran into the Council Room. I peeked through the drapes and could hear him telling Neferet that she was needed on the school grounds—that there was an 'altercation.' Then Neferet was hurrying out of the room and down the hall, following Darius into the dog-barking, cat-yowling, kid-screaming craziness.

I noticed that through all of it I hadn't seen hide nor hair of Jack.

Talk about an excellent diversion!

CHAPTER 26

Again I listened to my instincts, and instead of sending away my concealing spirit right outside the Council Room, I moved quickly down the hall, retracing my path until I was at the bottom of the stairs. Then I lifted the concealment, thanking spirit, and started back up the stairs completely visible and telling myself, Be calm . . . be normal . . . Neferet is a liar and Shekinah is very, very wise . . .

Outside the Council Chamber, I paused to knock twice on the door.

'You may come in, Zoey!' Shekinah called.

I tried not to wonder if she'd known I'd been outside before. Putting a smile on my face, I entered the room. I fisted my hand over my heart and bowed respectfully. 'Merry meet, Shekinah.'

'Merry meet, Zoey Redbird,' she said. I didn't notice any weirdness in her voice. 'So, how was your visit with the ladies at Street Cats?'

I grinned. 'Did you know that Street Cats is run by Benedictine nuns?'

She smiled back at me. 'I did not, though I did expect the charity to be run by women. Women have long had a strong connection with cats. Were the good sisters open to your volunteer work?'

'Definitely. They were really nice. Oh, and Aphrodite adopted a cat while we were there, although Maleficent adopting Aphrodite is probably a more accurate way to describe what happened.'

'Maleficent? What an unusual name.'

'Yeah, but it fits her. All that noise that's happening out there.' I jerked my head back in the direction of the hallway and the front of the school. We both listened and could still hear dog barking, cat yowling, and kid shouting.