Hunted

“And you noticed earlier that we saw not one cat between the infirmary and the dormitory,” Darius said.

“I thought it was bad then; I still think it’s bad,” I said.

“Why would all the cats except these disappear?” Damien asked.

“The cats hate the birdmen,” I said. “Whenever Nala’s been with me and one’s been around, she’s totally freaked.”

“There’s more to it than that. If it was just about hating them, then the cats would all be hiding, and not just special ones hanging out in here,” Aphrodite said.

“Maybe that’s it,” Damien said. “There’s something special about these particular cats.”

“Okay, I hate to be a bitch—or maybe I don’t—but anyway, can we forget about the damn cats for a second? I want to know who the hell did this to my man’s face,” Aphrodite said.

“Kalona,” I said, when it was obvious Darius was too involved with grinning at the “my man” title Aphrodite had awarded him to answer.

“I was afraid of that,” Damien said. “How’d it happen?”

“Darius attacked Rephaim,” I explained, “which pissed off Kalona. He didn’t let Stark kill him, but the cut was his parting gift for Darius wounding his favorite son.”

“That fucking Stark!” Shaunee said.

“He’s really bad news. He and the nasty-assed birdmen do whatever the hell they want,” Erin said.

“And no one does anything about it,” Shaunee finished.

“It’s like the thing you just witnessed with Becca,” Damien said.

“Speaking of,” Shaunee said. “What was the deal with you agreeing with that bimbo about oh, no big deal because Stark’s sooooo hot! Talk about annoying.”

“You weren’t going to get through to her. Becca’s on their side. As far as I can tell, Stark and the birds and Kalona do anything to anyone, and there are no repercussions for their actions.”

“It’s worse than no repercussions,” Aphrodite said. Still within Darius’s arms, she’d gotten herself together. “It’s like Kalona’s cast a spell over everyone, and the spell somehow extends to Stark and the birds.”

“That’s why I agreed with Becca and just let her go. It’s not a good idea to call attention to the fact that we’re the only ones not in the Kalona Fan Club,” Damien said.

“And Neferet, don’t forget about her,” Aphrodite said.

“She’s with him, but I don’t think she’s under his spell,” I said. “I overheard them talking when they thought I was out, and she disagreed with him. He got big and bad and scary with her, and she seemed to back off, but what she really did was just change her tactics. She’s manipulating him, and I can’t tell if he knows it or not. And she’s changing, too.”

“Changing? What do you mean by that?” Damien asked.

“Her power is different than it used to be,” Darius said.

I nodded. “It’s like a switch has been thrown inside her, and it’s let loose a different kind of power.”

“A dark power,” Aphrodite said. We all looked at her. “Her power isn’t based on Neferet anymore. Sure, she’s still using the gifts our Goddess gave her, but she’s channeling energy from somewhere else, too. Couldn’t you guys feel it in the hall outside the sickroom?”

There was a long silence, and then Damien spoke up. “I think we were too busy struggling against Kalona’s attraction.”

“And scared shitless,” Erin said.

“Entirely,” Shaunee agreed.

“Well, so now we know. Neferet is even more of a threat than she’s ever been. They talked when they thought I was passed out. Neferet and Kalona are planning a new future, and it has something to do with taking over the Council,” I said, wishing I could crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head.

“Oh my goddess! The High Council?” Aphrodite said.

“I don’t know for sure, but that’s what I’m afraid of. I’m also afraid her new power has given her special abilities.” I paused. I didn’t want to freak out the gang before I had my talk with Stevie Rae, but they did need to be warned, so I picked my words carefully. “I think Neferet can project her influence by moving through, or maybe manipulating, shadows.”

“That’s bad,” Damien said.

“It means we have to be on guard,” Erin said.

“Majorly on guard,” Shaunee agreed.

Darius nodded. “Remember always: Neferet is our enemy, Kalona is our enemy, and most of the other fledglings are our enemies, too.” His sharp gaze went from kid to kid. “What about the rest of the professors?” Darius asked them. “All of you attended classes today, didn’t you? How were they acting?”

“Yeah, we went to class, weird as that was,” Shaunee said.

“It was like attending Stepford High School,” Erin said.

“It seems the professors are all enthralled with Kalona, too,” Damien said. “Of course, I can’t tell you that for sure. We weren’t ever alone with the professors.”

“Not alone? What do you mean?” I said.

“I mean those bird things are everywhere—coming and going from class, and even in class.”

“Are you kidding?” A shiver of revulsion quavered though my body at the thought of those terrible mutations of nature moving freely among fledglings—like they belonged here!

“He’s not kidding. They are everywhere. It’s like Invasion of the fucking Body Snatchers,” Aphrodite said. “The good guys look the same on the outside, but are screwed on the inside, and the Raven Mockers are the damn aliens.”

“And the Sons of Erebus? Are they supporting this?” Darius asked.

“I haven’t seen one warrior since Aristos escorted us onto campus,” Damien said. “How about you guys?”

The Twins and Aphrodite shook their heads no.

“This is so not good,” I said. I rubbed my forehead as a wave of exhaustion engulfed me. What were we going to do? Who were our friends? And how the hell were we going to get out of the House of Night and to what I could only hope would be safety?

CHAPTER 22

“Zoey? Are you okay?”

I looked up to meet Damien’s soft brown eyes. Before I could answer him, Darius spoke up.

“She is not. Zoey must get sleep; she must rest to restore her strength.”

“How’s your nasty, ugly, gaping wound?” Erin asked.

“It doesn’t look like you’re bleeding through that charming hospital garb, so we assumed you were fixed right up,” Shaunee said.

“I’m better, but I’m having an issue with getting my strength back. It’s like I’m a cell phone with a messed-up charger.”

“You must rest,” Darius repeated. “Your wound was almost fatal. Recovery takes time.”

“We don’t have time!” I yelled in frustration. “We need to get the hell out of here and away from Kalona until we can figure out how we can beat him.”

“Getting out of here isn’t going to be as easy as it was last time,” Damien said.

Aphrodite snorted. “As if that was easy!”

“It will be compared to what we’re up against now,” Damien continued. “Raven Mockers are everywhere. Last night they were attacking people randomly. It was mass confusion then, and that helped us slip away. Today they’re well organized and stationed all over.”

“I saw them around the perimeter. They’ve more than doubled the guards we had before,” Darius said.

“But there aren’t any of them outside the dorm, like you used to be,” I said to him.

“It’s because they don’t care whether we’re safe. They just care that we don’t leave the school,” Damien