join us after, um, you know, the sun rises and such?”
“Z, you don’t have to tippie-toe around it. Yes, Rephaim’s gonna change into a bird when the sun comes up, and I’d like to be with him ’til then.” She glanced up at Rephaim who was smiling down at her like it was his birthday and she was some super amazing present he’d just opened.
“Seriously?” I heard Shaylin ask Erik.
“Yeah. It’s a long story,” Erik said.
“No wonder his color’s so weird,” she said.
I was curious about Rephaim’s color, but I knew now was not the time to ask her a bunch of questions, so instead I just said, “Kramisha, would you please figure out where Shaylin will be staying?”
“I ain’t sharin’ my room,” Kramisha said. Then she gave Shaylin an apologetic look. “Sorry. I don’t mean no offense.”
“That’s fine. I’ve had to have people around me ever since I went blind. I’d rather have my own room, too.”
Kramisha smiled. “That’s right. I like me an independent woman, and I’ll help you find a room of your own.”
“Deal,” Shaylin said.
“Er.” Erik cleared his throat to get our attention. I thought he looked nervous and unusually unsure of himself. “How about I follow the bus in my car, and Shaylin comes with me? I can fill her in on some of the stuff like Rephaim and the whole red fledgling thing in general on the way.”
“Trackers are just supposed to track and Mark,” Aphrodite said.
“Yeah, and fledglings are supposed to be Marked with a blue crescent, and then Change or die,” he countered.
“I think it’s okay that Erik follows us,” Stevie Rae said, which surprised me because I knew she wasn’t exactly an Erik fan. “What do you think, Z?”
I shrugged. “Okay with me.”
Erik gave a little nod and then he and Shaylin headed for his car in the parking lot.
“Are we ready to go?” Darius asked.
“I guess, or at least we will be as soon as our ever-so-friendly driver gets here,” I said.
Darius smiled. “That would be me. “I told Christophe I’d handle the drive back and forth to the depot from here on.”
I couldn’t resist a look at Aphrodite. Her face was frozen and her eyes looked huge.
“Hey, Aphrodiky is going out with a bus driver!” Shaunee said.
It looked like Erin had some smart-ass comment she was going to add, but Aphrodite closed the space between her and the Twins. “Darius isn’t a bus driver. He’s a Son of Erebus Warrior. He
The Twins sucked air and I quickly said, “All righty then, let’s all go back to the depot. Looks like we have some studying to do.” I grabbed Aphrodite’s wrist and practically dragged her to the bus. She jerked away from me, but was still following when I started to climb the stairs. Then an orange ball of fur hurled herself into my arms. “Nala!” I yelped, almost dropping her in surprise. “Oh, baby girl! I’ve missed you so much.” I petted her and kissed her and laughed when she sneezed on me and then started to grumble in her old lady voice,
While I was cuddling Nala there was a terrible screeching sound from the bowels of the bus, and suddenly Aphrodite was pushing past me yelling, “Maleficent! Mommy’s here!” It seemed to rain white fur. The kids on the bus jerked legs and arms out of the way as the ugliest, most smoosh-faced, huge, hateful cat in the universe padded down the aisle hissing and yowling. Aphrodite stooped, picked her up, and began telling her how beautiful and wonderful and smart she was.
“That cat ain’t right,” Kramisha said, peeking over my shoulder. “But Aphrodite ain’t right, either, so I guess it works out just fine.” Her gaze went from Maleficent to Nala, who was still grumbling at me. “Actually, a whole bunch of these cats ain’t normal.”
“Whole bunch?” I looked up over Nala’s furry orange head and, as I suspected, the yellow mini-limo was full of red fledglings
“They was here when we got here,” Kramisha said. “Like I said—they ain’t normal.”
“Huh, well. I suppose this means the depot really is our new home,” I said, feeling for the first time that it could be true.
“Z, home is where you are,” Stark said, reaching over me and scratching Nala on her head.
I smiled at him and felt warm inside—almost warm enough to make me forget about moonstone-colored eyes and the fact that people around me kept dying …
CHAPTER TEN
“What did you just say to me?” Kalona bellowed at the Raven Mocker, who cringed away from him.
“Rephaim issss a human boy,” Nisroc repeated. His less-evolved brother, the one who had escaped the changeling creature’s wrath, moved restlessly, backing up behind him.
Kalona paced around the clearing between the hunting blinds. It wasn’t yet dawn, but the other Raven Mockers, the ones who had returned from searching out their brothers from the Oklahoma countryside, were already huddled inside the tree houses, hiding, escaping, cringing away from the possibility of prying eyes. He’d stood out there, watching each of them return, looking for something that he was loath to admit to himself. He’d been looking for humanity—for a son to talk with, to share with, to plan with. But all he’d been met by were sniveling, cringing beasts.
Kalona rounded on Nisroc. “Rephaim cannot have a human form. It is impossible! He is a Raven Mocker, as are you, as are your brothers.”
“The Goddessss,” Nisroc hissed. “Ssshe changed him.”
An odd, bittersweet feeling came over Kalona. Nyx had changed his son from beast to human—gifted him with the form of a boy.
She’d forgiven Rephaim? How could that be?
Almost at a loss for words, the immortal blurted, “You spoke to Rephaim?”
Nisroc bobbed his enormous raven’s head up and down. “Yessss.”
“He actually said he is in Nyx’s service?”
“Yessss.” Nisroc bowed to him, but his eyes were bright and sly. “For you he refused to sssspy.”
Kalona gave him a sharp look and then glanced at the battered Raven Mocker who stood innocuously behind him, suddenly realizing there was only one brother when there should have been two.
“Where is—” Kalona had to pause to remember which of his sons was missing. “Maion? Why did he not return with you?”
“Dead.” Nisroc pronounced the world flatly, with no emotion.
“Rephaim killed him?” Kalona’s voice was as cold as his heart.
“No. The creature. Killed him it did.”
“What creature? Speak clearly!”
“The Tsi Sgili’s creature.”
“A vampyre?”
“No. First human, then bull.”
Kalona’s body jerked in surprise. “Are you quite sure? The creature took on the form of a bull?”
“Yesss.”
