transmitting to the anxious mare. Bonnie quieted almost as quickly as had Mujaji, which pleased Lenobia immensely and allowed her to spread her attention easily to the rest of the herd. “Persephone, Anjo, Diva, Little Biscuit, Okie Dodger”—she picked through the herd, sending special warmth and reassurance to individual horses—“follow Mujaji’s lead. Be calm. Be strong. You are safe.”
The nearby throat cleared again, breaking her concentration. Irritated, Lenobia opened her eyes to see a human standing in front of her. He was dressed in a fireman’s uniform, and he was watching her with raised-brow, open curiosity. “Are you talking to those horses?”
“Actually, I am doing much more than that. Take a look.” She made a gesture at the herd behind him. He turned, and his face registered surprise. “They’ve calmed down a bunch. That’s bizarre.”
“Bizarre has such negative connotations. I like the word magickal instead.” Dismissively, Lenobia nodded to the fireman and then began striding toward the group of fledglings that were clustered around Erik Night and Professor P.
“Ma’am, I’m Captain Alderman, Steve Alderman,” he said, almost jogging to keep up with Lenobia. “We’re working to get this fire under control, and I need to know who’s in charge here.”
“Captain Alderman, I would like to know that myself,” Lenobia said grimly. Then, she added, “Come with me. I’ll get this sorted out.” The Horse Mistress joined Erik, Professor P, and their bunch of fledglings, which included a Son of Erebus Warrior, Kramisha, Shaylin, and several fifth and sixth former blue fledglings. “Penthesilea, I know Thanatos is with Zoey and her circle, completing the ritual at Sylvia Redbird’s farm, but where is Neferet?” Lenobia’s voice was a whip.
“I-I simply do not know!” The literature professor sounded shaken, staring over her shoulder at the burning stables. “I went to her quarters myself when I saw the fire, but there was no sign of her.”
“How ’bout her phone? Didn’t nobody try to call her?” Kramisha said.
“Not answering,” Erik said.
“Wonderful,” Lenobia muttered.
“Can I assume that due to the absence of the others you just mentioned, you are in charge here?” Captain Alderman asked her.
“Yes, it appears, by default, I am,” she said.
“Well, then, you need a school roster, ASAP. You and the teachers should check immediately to be sure all of your students are present and accounted for.” He jerked his thumb toward a bench not far from where they stood. “That girl—the one with the red moon on her forehead, is the only kid we found anywhere near the barn. She’s not hurt, just shook up a little. The oxygen is clearing her lungs unusually fast. Still, it might be a good idea for her to get checked out at St. John’s.”
Lenobia glanced over to where Nicole was sitting, breathing deeply from an oxygen mask while a paramedic checked and rechecked her vitals. Margareta and Pemphredo hovered close by, glaring at the EMT like he was a particularly disgusting insect.
“Our infirmary is better equipped to take care of injured fledglings than a human hospital,” Lenobia said.
“Whatever you say, ma’am. You’re in charge here, and I know you vamps have your own unique physiology.” He paused and added, “No offense meant by that. My best friend in high school was Marked and Changed. I liked him then. I still like him.”
Lenobia managed a smile. “No offense taken, Captain Alderman. You were only speaking truth. Vampyres do have different physiological needs than humans. Nicole will be fine here with us.
“Good. Guess we’d better send some of our boys into that field house and look for any other kids that might be close by,” said the captain. “Looks like we can keep the fire from spreading, but best search the adjoining parts of the school.”
“I think the field house is a waste of your men’s time,” Lenobia said, following what her instinct was telling her. “Have them focus on putting out the stable fire. The fire didn’t start by itself. That needs to be investigated, as well as being sure none of our people were trapped in the blaze. I’ll have our Warriors search the adjoining parts of the school, beginning with the field house.”
“Yes, ma’am. It does look like we got here in time. The field house will have smoke and water damage, but it’s going to look a lot worse than it really is. I think the structure has remained sound. It’s a nice building made from good, thick stone. It’ll take some rebuilding, but its bones were made to last.” The fireman tipped his hat to her and went off, shouting orders at the nearest men.
“We can’t find Dragon, either,” Erik said.
“Dragon’s missing?” The stables had been built with a shared wall of the large, covered field house. Until then she’d been too preoccupied to think about it, but the absence of the Leader of the Sons of Erebus during a time of school crisis was highly unusual. “Neferet and Dragon—I do not like that neither are here. It bodes ill for the school.”
“Professor Lenobia, um, I saw her.”
Everyone’s eyes turned to the petite girl with cascades of thick, dark hair that made the delicate features of her face seem almost doll-like. Lenobia put a name to her face quickly, Shaylin—the newest fledgling at the Tulsa House of Night, and the only fledgling whose original Mark was red. Lenobia had thought there was something rather odd about her from the first moment she’d met her just days before. “You saw Neferet?” She narrowed her eyes at the fledgling. “When? Where?”
“Only an hour or so ago,” Shaylin said. “I was sitting outside the dorm, looking at the trees.” She shrugged nervously and added, “I used to be blind, and now that I’m not anymore I like to look at stuff. A lot.”
“Shaylin, what about Neferet?” Erik Night prodded her.
“Oh, yeah, I saw her walking down the sidewalk to the field house. She, um, she looked very, well,
“Dark? What do you mean by—”
“Shaylin has a unique way of seeing people,” Erik interrupted. Lenobia watched him put a calming hand on Shaylin’s shoulder. “If she thought Neferet looked dark, then it’s probably a good thing you kept the human firemen from poking around the field house.”
Lenobia wanted to question Shaylin further, but Erik met Lenobia’s gaze and shook his head, almost imperceptibly. Lenobia felt a chill of foreboding shiver down her spine. That premonition decided her. “Axis, go with Penthesilea to the administrative office. If Diana isn’t awake, wake her. Get the school roster and distribute it among the Sons of Erebus Warriors. Have them account for each student and then have the students report to their mentors before they return to their dormitory rooms.” As the professor and the Warrior hurried away, Lenobia met Kramisha’s frank gaze. “Can you get these fledglings”—Lenobia paused and her gesture took in the random, lost- looking students that were milling around the area—“to report to their mentors?”
“I’m a poet. I can figure out some serious iambic pentameter. That means I can boss around a few scared, sleepy kids.”
Lenobia smiled at the girl. She’d liked her even before she’d died, and then come back as a red fledgling who had such prophetic poetic skills that she’d been named the new Vampyre Poet Laureate. “Thank you, Kramisha. I knew I could count on you. Be sure you hurry. I don’t need to tell
Kramisha snorted. “You tellin’ me? I’ll be crispier than that barn if I’m not inside and under cover soon.”
As Kramisha hurried off, calling to the scattered fledglings, Lenobia faced Erik and Shaylin. “The three of us need to search the field house.”
“Yeah, I agree,” Erik said. “Let’s go.”
Shaylin held back, though, and Lenobia noticed she shook his hand off her shoulder. Not in an irritated or mean way, but in a distracted way. She watched the young red fledgling gaze skyward and sigh. Lenobia caught a sense of importance—a sense of waiting or wanting.
“What is it?” Lenobia asked the girl, even though the last thing she should have been doing was giving attention to a distracted, strange, red fledgling.
Still gazing upwards, Shaylin said, “Where’s the rain when you need it?”
“Huh?” Erik shook his head at her. “What are you talking about?”
