Midtown Tulsa had turned into a frozen ghost of itself. If I hadn’t been focused and hadn’t been absolutely sure our horses were in a flat gallop down Twenty-first Street, I would have thought we were utterly lost in a strange, postapocalyptic ice world. There was nothing in the least bit familiar around me. No lights. No cars moving. No people. Cold and darkness and ice reigned. The beautiful old trees of midtown were shrouded in so much ice that many of them had literally splintered down the middle. Power lines were down, snaking across the street like lazy vipers. The horses paid no attention to them. They leaped over downed limbs and lines, their flame-heated hoofs slicing through the ice to strike sparks against the surprised pavement.
And then, above the din of striking hoofs and the hiss of flame on ice, I heard the terrible flapping of wings and the cry of first one and then another and another Raven Mocker.
“Darius,” I yelled. “Raven Mockers!”
He looked behind us and up, and nodded grimly. Then he did something that completely shocked me. Out of his jacket pocket he pulled a black gun. I’d never seen any of the Sons of Erebus carry modern weapons, and it looked completely out of place in his hand. He said something to Aphrodite, who was pressed against his back. She slid to the side a little, allowing him to swivel around. He lifted his arm, sighted, and squeezed off half a dozen shots. The sound was deafening in the frozen night, but not half as eerie as what followed it—the screams of wounded Raven Mockers and the
“There!” Shaunee cried, pointing in front of us and to the right. “I see flames!”
At first I didn’t see anything, and then through a stand of ice-enslaved trees I caught sight of first one and then another and another candle-flickering welcoming light. Was that it? Was that the Benedictine Abbey? Visibility was terrible, and everything was so disorienting and dark, that I couldn’t tell if it was the abbey or just one of the houses-turned-plastic surgeon offices that lined this part of the street.
I breathed deep and reached out with my instinct, and I felt it—the unmistakable draw that came from the combined power of spirit and earth.
“That’s it!” I yelled. “That’s the abbey!”
We yanked our horses’ heads to the right and plunged off the road, through a ditch, and then up an embankment dotted with trees. The horses had to slow to dodge around fallen limbs and dead, downed power lines, and then we popped through the trees and into a clearing. Directly in front of us was a huge old oak. Its lower branches were filled with little glass cages holding cheerily burning candles. There was a carport farther behind the tree, and beyond it I could just make out the looming hulk of the brick building that was the Benedictine Abbey, or at least I could make out its windows, because there were candles lit in each one of them.
“Okay, you guys can lay off the elements now and let things calm down.” The Twins and Damien whispered to their elements, and the madness of the storm began to quiet to a cold, cloudy night.
“Whoa!” I called, and our obedient, loyal mares skidded to a stop just before an awe-inspiring figure clothed in a dark robe and wimple.
“Hello, child. I heard you were coming,” she said, smiling up at me.
I slid from Persephone’s back and threw myself into her arms. “Sister Mary Angela! I am so glad to see you!”
“As I am glad to see you, too,” she said. “But, child, perhaps we should put off our hellos until we’ve dealt with the dark creatures filling the trees behind you.”
I spun around in time to see dozens of Raven Mockers landing in the trees. Except for the sounds of their wings they were absolutely silent, and their red eyes glowed like watching demons.
“Well, hell!” I said.
CHAPTER 33
“Language,” Sister Mary Angela said serenely.
Darius had already dismounted and was helping Aphrodite and the Twins down. Damien hadn’t waited for help, but dismounted almost as quickly as I had, and was standing beside me.
“Priestess,” Darius addressed Sister Mary Angela, “you don’t, by any chance, keep firearms at the abbey, do you?”
Her laughter sounded completely out of place yet utterly comforting. “Oh, Warrior, of course we do not.”
“There aren’t enough of us to fight them, but we have the circle,” Darius said as he studied the bird-filled trees. “If you stay within it, you stay safe.”
Darius was right, of course. Our circle was intact. Though weirdly off center, the silver thread that bound us together still glowed between us.
“I will run back to the House of Night and bring help,” Darius said.
I heard the frustration in his voice. What help was he going to bring? I hadn’t seen any of his brother warriors since we’d entered the school grounds. Dragon was great with a sword, but even he wouldn’t be a match for all of these Raven Mockers. The trees that bordered the Twenty-first Street side of the abbey were filled with the dark shapes. Already groaning under the burden of ice, the additional weight of the Raven Mockers was more stress than many of them could bear, and the cracking and breaking of limbs was as terrible as the birds’ mocking cries.
“Hey, I hear y’all need some help out here.”
In my entire life, I had never been so happy to hear any voice as I was at that moment to hear Stevie Rae’s Okie twang. I hugged her hard, not caring about the secrets she was keeping from me in the joy of seeing her safe. Breathing a sigh of relief, I saw the red fledglings step out of the darkness behind her.
“They is nasty!” Kramisha said, squidging up her face at the Raven Mockers.
“Let’s kick their asses,” Johnny B said, looking all testosterone-filled and muscle-y.
“They’re nasty alright, but they aren’t doing anything except watching us,” said another familiar voice.
“Erik!” I cried. Smiling, Stevie Rae let go of me, and Erik pulled me into his strong arms.
There was a blur to my right and Jack launched himself at Damien.
I looked up at Erik, and even in the middle of the mess we were in, I wished it could be simple and easy between the two of us. For that instant I did wish it could just be Erik and me, instead of Erik and Stark and Kalona and Heath…
“Heath?” I asked, stepping out of his embrace.
Erik sighed and jerked his chin back at the abbey building. “He’s in there. He’s fine.”
I smiled a little sheepishly and didn’t know what to say.
“Zoey, Kalona will be here soon. The reason the Raven Mockers aren’t attacking is because we’re not trying to get away anymore. They’re just keeping watch on us for him. Do not forget what you have to do,” Darius’s voice broke through the new awkwardness between Erik and me.
I nodded and turned to Sister Mary Angela. “Kalona will follow us here. Remember I told you he’s immortal?”
“A fallen angel,” she said, nodding.
“And remember I told you about our High Priestess? Well, she’s gone bad for sure, and I’m sure she’ll be with him. They’re equally dangerous.”
“I understand.”
“So, he can’t be killed, but I do think I know how to chase him away from here and, hopefully, Neferet will go with him. But I’ll need your help.”
“Whatever I have is yours,” Sister Mary Angela said.
“Good. What I need is you,” I told her, then I turned to Stevie Rae, “And you.”
Aphrodite stepped up beside me. “And me,” she said.
“And I need Grandma. I know it’s going to be hard for her, but I need her out here, or at least wherever it is that’s the center of this power I feel around us.”
“Kramisha, child, would you get Stevie Rae’s grandmother?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Kramisha said, and hurried away.
“Mary’s Grotto is the seat of our power.” Sister Mary Angela pointed behind me and to the side of where we were standing—a place that was between us, the northwesternmost edge of the neatly cut lawn, and the monster-
