Destined

I snorted and lied. “No!”

“You don’t have to be jealous. Ever. Because you’re not just covered with awesomesauce. You’re what awesomesauce is made of.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yep.”

“Promise?”

“Yep.”

I leaned against him. “Okay, I believe you, dork.” I rested my head on his shoulder and he put his arm around me. “Can we go home now?”

“Absolutely. Your short yellow limo is loaded and waiting for you.” He stood up and pulled me to my feet. Hand in hand we walked toward the parking lot. I snuck a sideways glance at him. He looked pleased with himself (and totally hot). Obviously his dorky word game had been part of his plot to pull me out of the pit of depression I’d felt myself falling into.

Stark would have felt it, too, and not because he was “listening” inappropriately to my thoughts—because he was my Guardian and my Warrior and much, much more.

I squeezed his hand. “Thanks.”

He glanced at me, smiled, then lifted my hand to his lips. “No problem. Just wait ’til you hear the word I’m thinking up to describe your boobs. This time it’ll be totally made up. I don’t need the help of any unattractive third formers for this.”

“No. Just no.”

“But you might need more cheering up.”

“Nope. I’m a-okay. Boob talk is so not necessary.”

“Well, remember that I’m here if you need me,” he said, grinning again. “Ready, willing, and able.”

“That’s a comfort. Thanks.”

“All part of my Guardian job description,” he said.

I lifted both of my brows this time. “Did you actually get a job description?”

“Kinda. Seoras said, ‘Take care o’ yur queen or I’ll be finishin’ the wee scratchin’ I started on yu,’” he said, sounding freakishly like the ancient Scottish Guardian.

“Wee?” I shuddered, remembering the bloody knife wounds that had been slashed all across his chest. How could I ever forget? Even if they weren’t still fresh pink scars, despite the healing power of my elements and my blood. “Wee is definitely not how I’d describe them.”

“Ach, well, lassie. It wasna much more than pussy scratches.”

I felt my eyes go wide, and then I punched him on his arm. “Pussy!”

He rubbed his arm, and in his regular voice said, “Z, it means cat in Scotland. Really.”

“You.” I scowled at him. “Are a guy.”

For some goofy reason that made him laugh, and he put his arms around me, enfolding me in a giant hug. “Yeah, I’m a guy. Your guy. And I want you to remember that beyond all this stuff,” he paused, pulled back far enough so he could gesture at the House of Night and the short bus that waited a little way from where we were now standing, “and my Warrior stuff, and even my Guardian stuff, I love you, Zoey Redbird. And I’ll always be there for you when you need me.”

I stepped back into his arms and breathed a long sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

“There she is!” I heard Kramisha’s voice shouting and I sighed, pretty sure I was the “she” she was talking about. I looked up and, sure enough, Kramisha was standing in front of the loaded short bus with Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, Damien, the Twins, Erik, and a red fledgling I didn’t recognize. Keeping Stark’s hand in mine I walked the rest of the way to the bus.

“I’m sorry ’bout your momma. That’s bad,” Kramisha said in greeting.

“Um, th-thanks,” I stuttered, and had just started thinking that I was going to have to come up with a non- awkward way to respond to people who were telling me they were sorry my mom was dead when Kramisha continued with, “Z, I know it ain’t good timin’, but we got us a problem.”

I stifled another sigh. “We, as in me, or we as in you?”

“We think this problem might spill over onto all of us,” Stevie Rae said.

“Great,” I said.

“Zoey, this is Shaylin.” Erik introduced me to the unfamiliar girl, who was studying me like she wished she had me under a microscope. Jeesh, it was a pain to meet new kids.

“Hi, Shaylin,” I said, trying to sound normal while I ignored her stare.

“Purple,” she said.

“I thought Erik said your name was Shaylin,” I said, even though I wanted to shriek Yes! It’s me! The one with the weird tattoos!

“My name is Shaylin.” She gave me a really warm, really nice smile. “You’re purple.”

“She’s not Purple, she’s Zoey,” Stark said, sounding as confused as I felt.

“You’re also flecks of silver.” Shaylin finished staring at me and then turned her gaze to him. “You’re red and gold and a little black. Huh. That’s weird.”

“Okay, I’m not—”

“Oh, for shit’s sake,” Aphrodite interrupted, pointing at Shaylin. “This new kid’s name is Shaylin, and she’s not calling you colors, she’s seeing your colors.”

“My colors? I don’t have a clue what that means,” I said, frowning at Aphrodite and then giving Shaylin a big question mark look.

“I don’t really know what it means, either,” Shaylin said. “It just happened to me, right after I was Marked.”

“I think Shaylin has been gifted with something called True Sight,” Damien said. “It’s rare. I think there’s something about it in the Advanced Fledgling Handbook, but I only peeked at one of those.” He looked embarrassed and apologetic. “I didn’t really study it.”

“Damien, you’re only a forth former. It wasn’t part of your classwork,” Stevie Rae said.

“Hello, talk about homework obsessed,” Erin muttered.

“Seriously,” Shaunee added.

“Look.” I raised my voice so everyone would gawk at me instead of launching into the bickering I was pretty sure was getting ready to start. “I don’t know what True Sight is, but if it’s a gift, and I’m assuming you mean from Nyx, then why is that a problem?” I said.

“She’s a red fledgling,” Aphrodite said.

“So? There’s a whole short bus full of them,” I said, gesturing behind them.

“Yeah, and each of us had to die and then un-die before we got us these.” Kramisha pointed at the red outline of a crescent moon on her forehead.

I stared at her, then at the new kid, and then my mind caught up with my eyes. I looked at Erik. “You just Marked her in red?”

“No. Yes.” Erik shook his head and looked worried as hell. “I didn’t mean to. I Marked her. Okay, yes, it didn’t go exactly according to plan, but that was because she was blind, and that surprised me.” We all stared at him and he ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. His shoulders slumped. Then he added, “I messed up, and that’s why she’s a red fledgling and can see our colors.”

“You didn’t mess up, Erik.” It looked like Shaylin started to reach out to pat Erik’s arm, but halfway through the motion changed her mind. Her gaze moved to me and she continued, “Before he Marked me I was blind. I’ve been blind since I was a kid. The second he Marked me I could see again, and that’s not a mess up. That’s amazing.”

“Ah! I knew I felt a new fledgling!” At the sound of Neferet’s voice we all jumped like she’d Tasered us. She was hurrying toward us, her long green velvet gown sweeping the ground and making it appear as if she was gliding instead of walking (which was super creepy). “Merry meet, I am Neferet, your High Priestess.” She turned her attention briefly to Erik, and I could see displeasure flash in her eyes. “Professor Night, you should not have brought the child here.” Neferet reached Shaylin and made a graceful, apologetic gesture to her. “Young fledgling, the Tracker should have instructed you to come to the female dormitory where you will join the rest of the—” She broke