Awakened

“Fire! Come to me!” The hands she held up over her head glowed as, with me, Shaunee walked to the head of the giant pile of timber on which Jack’s body lay.

“Jack Swift, you were a sweet, special boy. I’ll always love you like a brother and a friend. Until next time I see you, merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again.” When I touched the end of my torch to the pyre, Shaunee flung her element into it, instantly setting it to light with an otherworldly glow that shimmered yellow and purple.

I’d turned to Shaunee and was opening my mouth to thank her and her element when Neferet’s voice pierced the night.

“Zoey Redbird! Fledgling High Priestess! I ask that you stand witness!”

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Zoey

I didn’t have to look hard to find her. Neferet was standing on the steps of Nyx’s Temple, off to my left. As everyone turned to whisper and stare at her, I felt Stark move to my side, so that it would only take one quick motion for him to come between Neferet and me. I was also aware of Stevie Rae. Suddenly she was there on my other side, and from the corners of my vision I could see the Twins and even Damien. My circle of friends surrounded me, letting me know wordlessly that they had my back.

When Neferet began to walk toward me I automatically began centering myself. I thought, She must have gone totally, utterly insane to ask me to perform the funeral and then attack me in front of the entire school. But sane or insane, it really didn’t matter. She was evil and dangerous and coming against me, and I Was Not Going To Run.

So her next words shocked me almost as much as what she began to do.

“Hear me, Zoey Redbird, Fledgling High Priestess, and bear witness. I have wronged Nyx and you and this House of Night.”

Her voice was strong and clear and beautiful, and it seemed to make music in the air around her. In the tempo she was creating, Neferet began to take her clothes off.

It should have been embarrassing or uncomfortable or erotic, but it wasn’t any of those things. It was simply beautiful.

“I have lied to you and to my Goddess.” Her shirt came off, fluttering behind her like a petal falling from a rose. “I have deceived you and my Goddess about my intentions.” She unwrapped the black silk skirt she was wearing and stepped out of it as if it were a pool of dark water. Completely naked, she walked directly up to me. The purple and yellow flames of Jack’s pyre flickered against her flesh, making her look like she, too, burned, only without being consumed. When she reached me she dropped to her knees, threw back her head, and opened her arms, saying, “Worst of all, I allowed a man to seduce me away from the love of my Goddess and her Path. Now here, bared to you, our House of Night, and to Nyx, I ask to be forgiven for my wrongdoings, for I find that I cannot live this terrible lie another moment.” As she finished speaking she lowered her head and her arms and then formally, respectfully, deeply, Neferet bowed to me.

In the complete silence that followed her pronouncement my mind whirred in a cacophony of conflicting thoughts: She’s pretending—I wish she wasn’t—it’s because of her that Heath and Jack are dead— She’s a master manipulator. Trying to figure out what I should say—what I should do—I looked around, helplessly, for some clue. The Twins and Damien were staring openmouthed at Neferet, totally shocked. I glanced at Aphrodite. She was staring at Neferet, too, but the look on her face was open disgust. Stevie Rae and Stark were both looking at me. Ever so slightly, without saying a word, Stark shook his head once, no. I looked from him to Stevie Rae, who mouthed two words to me: she lies.

Hardly breathing, I glanced around the circle made by the House of Night. Some were looking at me questioningly, expectantly, but most of them were gawking at Neferet in awe, openly sobbing with what was obviously a mixture of happiness and relief.

At that moment, one thought crystallized and sliced daggerlike through all of the others in my mind: If I don’t accept her apology the school will turn against me. I’ll look like a vindictive brat, and that is exactly what Neferet wants.

I had no choice. All I could do was react and hope my friends trusted me enough to know that I could tell the difference between truth and manipulation.

“Stark, give me your shirt,” I said quickly.

He didn’t hesitate. He unbuttoned it and handed it to me.

Being sure my voice still carried the power of spirit with it I said to her, “Neferet, for myself I forgive you. I never wanted to be your enemy.” She looked up at me; her green eyes were absolutely guileless.

“Zoey, I—,” she began.

I spoke over her, cutting off the sweet sound of her voice. “But I can only speak for myself. You’ll have to seek the Goddess for her forgiveness. Nyx knows your heart and your soul, so it’s there that you’ll find her answer.”

“Then I already have it, and it fills my heart and soul with joy. Thank you, Zoey Redbird, and thank you, House of Night!”

There were murmurs all around the circle of “Thank the Goddess!” and “Blessed be!” I made myself smile as I bent and wrapped Stark’s shirt around her shoulders. “Please, get up. You shouldn’t be on your knees in front of me.”

Neferet stood gracefully, and put on Stark’s shirt, buttoning it carefully. Then she turned to Damien. “Merry meet, Damien. May I have your permission to send my personal prayer for Jack’s spirit up to the Goddess?”

Damien didn’t speak. He just nodded, and I couldn’t tell through the sadness and grief on his face whether he believed Neferet’s show or not. She continued to act her part perfectly.

“Thank you.” Neferet stepped closer to Jack’s fiery pyre, put her head back, and lifted her arms. Unlike me, she didn’t amplify her voice. Instead she spoke so softly that none of us could hear her. Her face was tilted just right so that I had a perfect view of it. Her expression was serene and sincere, and I wondered how it was possible that something I was sure was so rotten inside could have such a gorgeous outside.

I think it was because I was staring at her so hard, trying to find the chink in her armor, that I saw all of what happened next.

Neferet’s expression changed. Her face was still tilted up, but it was obvious, at least to me, that she’d seen something above us.

Then I heard it. It was a kinda familiar sound. I didn’t recognize it right away, even though it made the hairs on my arms rise. I didn’t look up, though. I kept watching Neferet. Whatever she was looking at was annoying and worrying her. She didn’t change her posture or stop speaking her “prayer,” but her eyes did dart around as if she was checking to see if anyone else had noticed what she’d seen. I snapped my eyelids shut and hoped that I looked like I was praying, meditating, concentrating—anything but watching her. I gave it a couple of seconds, then slowly opened my eyes.

Neferet definitely wasn’t looking at me. She was staring at Stevie Rae, but my BFF wasn’t aware of it. Stevie Rae was too busy gawking straight up, too. Only her expression wasn’t annoyed or worried—it was radiant, as if she was looking at something that filled her with utter happiness, utter love.

Confused, I looked back at Neferet. She was still watching Stevie Rae, and her expression had shifted again. I saw her eyes widen, as if in realization, and then her face was suffused with pleasure, like what she’d just figured out had made her super happy.

I couldn’t seem to take my eyes off Neferet, but I was reaching for Stark’s hand automatically, as if I knew my world was getting ready to explode when Dragon Lankford’s voice was a clarion call that changed everything.

“Raven Mocker above! Professors, get the fledglings under cover! Warriors, to me!”

Time started to move in fast-forward then. Stark pushed me behind him while he stared upward. I heard him curse, and I knew it had to be because he didn’t have his bow with him.