Hunted

that might be because the cable had been knocked out by the storm, but the House of Night had some major backup generators, and kids should have been watching DVDs—I mean, hello! Almost everyone had Netflix. But the few kids who were present were crouched together, speaking barely above a whisper.

Automatically I looked over at the area where my friends and I liked to gather and was relieved to see Damien and the Twins. They had Becca in the middle of them, and I assumed they were comforting the girl and keeping her from bursting into hysterical tears. When I got closer, I understood that I was very wrong.

“Really, I’m fine. It’s no big deal,” Becca was insisting in a voice that wasn’t shaky and scared anymore, but had suddenly changed to sounding incredibly annoyed.

“No big deal!” Shaunee said. “Of course it was a big deal.”

“The guy attacked you,” Erin said.

“It wasn’t exactly like that,” Becca said, waving her hands dismissively. “We were just messing around. Plus, Stark really is hot.”

Erin snorted. “Yeah, I usually find rapists majorly hot.”

Becca’s eyes narrowed and she looked cold and mean. “Stark is hot, and you’re just jealous that he didn’t want you.”

“Didn’t want me?” Erin said incredulously. “Don’t you mean, didn’t want to molest me? Why are you making excuses for him?”

“What the hell’s wrong with you, Becca?” Shaunee said. “No guy should ever get away with—”

“Hang on,” Damien spoke up. “You know, Becca’s right. Stark is one hot guy.” The Twins stared at him in shock, and he hurried on. “If Becca says they were just messing around, who are we to judge?”

It was then that Darius and I stepped into their agitated little circle. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” I asked Becca.

“Totally fine.” Throwing the Twins an icy look, she got to her feet. “Actually, I’m starving, so I’m gonna go find something to eat. Sorry I caused you two a hassle out there. Later.” She hurried away.

“What the hell just happened?” I asked in a low voice.

“The same thing that’s happened all over this damn—”

“Upstairs!” Darius commanded, shutting Erin up.

I was semi-amazed to see my friends meekly obey Darius. We filed out of the common room, ignoring the curious stares of the few kids who were quietly sitting around. On the way up the staircase, Darius said, “Is Aphrodite in her room?”

“Yeah, she said she was tired,” Shaunee said.

“She’s probably hanging upside down from the ceiling in her usual batperch,” Erin said. She glanced over her shoulder at Darius and added, “Speaking of Aphrodikey, she’s gonna give birth to a big ol’ litter of kittens when she sees that you’ve messed up your pretty face.”

“Yeah, and if you need comfort from her shallow hatefulness, you can try a little café mocha over here,” Shaunee said, waggling her brows at him.

“Or a vanilla smoothie over here,” Erin flirted.

Darius smiled good-naturedly and just said, “I will keep that in mind.”

I thought the Twins were taking their lives in their hands, and I was darn sure not going to get between them and Aphrodite if she found out they’d been flirting with her man, but I was too tired to say anything.

“You know that blue cashmere pullover you just got from Saks?” Damien asked Erin.

“Yeah, what about it?”

“I call dibs on it if Aphrodite disembowels you for hitting on her man,” Damien said.

“She’s just a human now,” Erin said.

“Yeah, we figure together we can take her,” Shaunee said, then she blew kisses at Darius. “Remember that, warrior boy.”

Darius chuckled and I rolled my eyes. We were just passing my room when my door opened and Aphrodite called, “I’m in here.”

We all stopped and filed into my room. “Aphrodite, what are you doing in—”

“Ohmygoddess! What the hell happened to your face?” Not paying attention to anyone else, Aphrodite ran to Darius and started to flutter her hands around the long thin wound that stretched down the side of his face. “Are you okay? Damn, it looks awful! Does it hurt?” She pulled back the sleeves on her shirt, exposing the newly healed bite marks Stevie Rae’s teeth had left. “Do you need to bite me? Go ahead. I don’t mind.”

Darius took her hands in his, stilling her anxious movements, and said calmly, “I am well, my beauty. It is but a scratch.”

“How did it happen?” Aphrodite sounded close to tears as she pulled on Darius’s hands and led him over to the spare bed that used to be Stevie Rae’s.

“My beauty! All is well,” he repeated, pulling her down on his lap and holding her close to him.

He said a bunch of other stuff to her, too, but I’d stopped listening. I was too busy staring at the—

“Cameron! There you are, sweetheart! I’ve been so worried about you.” Damien plopped down on the floor and started petting his blond tabby.

“Beelzebub, where the hell have you been?” Shaunee chastised the hateful gray creature who had chosen both of the Twins as his own.

“We figured you were chasing around after Maleficent, and sure enough here you are and here she is,” Erin said.

“Hang on,” I said, seeing Nala curled up on my bed. I looked around my room, taking inventory of the eight —eight!—cats that were hanging out there. “What’s with all the cats?”

“That’s why I’m over here,” Aphrodite said, sniffling softly as she snuggled back into Darius’s arms. “Maleficent was acting very odd. She kept coming in and out of her cat door and making weird yowling sounds.” Aphrodite paused and blew a kiss to the awful white puff-ball that masqueraded as her cat. “So finally I followed her. She led me to your room. I came in and found all these cats. Then I heard you guys in the hall.” She turned her beautiful blue eyes on the Twins. “I heard everything you guys said in the hall, and do not think for one instant just because I’ve turned human it doesn’t mean I cannot happily kick your combined asses.”

“But what are all these cats doing in here?” I said quickly before the Twins started a mini human-fledgling war.

“Hey there, Nefertiti!” Darius called, and a sleek calico female jumped up on the bed beside him and began to wind around his body.

“They’re our cats,” Damien said, still petting Cameron. “Remember when we escaped from here yesterday? They were all outside the school wall waiting for us.” He glanced up at me. “Are we leaving again?”

“I hope so,” I said. “But wait.” I was still taking stock of the cats. “All of our cats are here, but what about that great big one over there, and the little cream-colored one who’s sticking close to him?”

“That big cat is Dragon Lankford’s Maine Coon,” Damien said. “His name is Shadowfax.” Dragon Lankford, who almost everyone called Dragon, is our fencing professor and is a master with the blade. Damien was a talented fencer, so it wasn’t surprising he recognized Dragon’s cat.

“Hey, I think that little white one is Guinevere, Professor Anastasia’s cat,” Erin said.

“You’re right, Twin,” Shaunee said. “She’s always hanging out during Spells and Rituals class.”

“What about that one?” I pointed to a familiar-looking Siamese whose body was the silver-white of moonlight, tipped in delicate gray ears and face. Then I realized why she looked familiar and answered my own question. “That’s Professor Lenobia’s cat. I don’t know her name, but I’ve seen her following the professor around the stables.”

“So, let me get this straight: All of our cats, plus cats that belong to Dragon, his wife, and Professor Lenobia, are suddenly hanging out in Zoey’s room,” Darius said.

“Why are they here?” Erin asked.

I answered her question with my own. “Have you guys seen any other cats today? I mean, while you were in class and at lunch, coming and going from the dorm and class to class, did you see any cats?”

“No,” the Twins said together.

“I didn’t,” Damien answered more slowly.

“Not a one,” Aphrodite said.