Thank you! she said joyfully. I cant tell you how much it means to me that I can always count on you. Heat radiated up from under her feet, and the ice that encased the grass within the circle cracked and shattered as the blades sprang free, temporarily released from their winter prison. Okay. She kept her mind filled with her element and spoke to earth as if it was personified in front of her. I gotta ask you somethin important. But first Im gonna light this, cause I think youll like it a lot. Stevie Rae held the dried sweetgrass in the flame and then set the candle at her feet when the braid took light. She blew softly on it, so that the grass began to smoke. Stevie Rae turned and, grinning at Dallas, walked around the inside of the circumference of her circle, wafting the grass until the entire area was hazy with gray smoke and heady with the scent of summertime on the prairie.
When she returned to the top of the circle, Stevie Rae faced north again, the direction most closely allied with her element, and began to speak. My friend, Zoey Redbird, said that sweetgrass draws positive energy, and I definitely need some energy tonight, specially since its for Zoey that Im asking your help. I know you remember hershe has an affinity for you, just like she does for all the elements. Shes special, and not just cause shes my BFF. Zs special cause, Stevie Rae paused, and then the words came to her, shes special cause Zoey has a little bit of everything inside her. I guess its kinda like she represents all of us. So we need her back. Plus, shes hurtin where she is, and I think she needs help to find her way out. So her Warrior, a guy named Stark, is gonna go after her. He definitely needs your help. Im asking that you show me the way for Stark to help Zoey. Please.
Stevie Rae wafted the still-smoking braid around her one more time, and then she waited.
The smoke was sweet and thick. The night was unusually warm because of the presence of her element.
But nothing else was going on.
Sure, she could feel earth there, surrounding her, willing to do her bidding.
But nothing was happening.
At all.
Not sure what else to do, Stevie Rae wafted the sweetgrass braid around her some more and tried again.
Well, maybe I wasnt specific enough. She thought for a second, trying to remember everything Aphrodite had told her, and added, With the power of earth, and through the energy of this sacred grass, I call the white bull from the old days to my circle because I need to know how Stark can get to Zoey so that he can protect her while she finds a way back together and back to this world.
The sweetgrass that had been gently smoking until then turned red-hot. With a cry, Stevie Rae dropped it. Thick, black smoke billowed from the sizzling braid, like it was a snake belching darkness. Pressing her burned hand against her body, Stevie Rae stumbled back.
Stevie Rae? Whats happening?
She could hear Dallas, but when she looked behind her she couldnt see him anymore. The smoke was just too thick. Stevie Rae turned around, trying to peer through the darkness at him, but she couldnt see one dang thing. She looked where her burning earth candle should be, and it, too, had been covered by the smoke. Disoriented, she yelled, I dont know whats goin on. The sweetgrass got weird all of a sudden and
The earth beneath her feet, that tangible part of her element that Stevie Rae felt so connected toso comfortable withbegan to shake.
Stevie Rae, you need to come outta there now. I dont like all this smoke.
Can you feel that? she called to Dallas. Is the ground shakin out there, too?
No, but I cant see you, and I got a bad feeling bout this.
Before Stevie Rae saw it, she felt its presence. The feeling it gave her was terrifyingly familiar and in the heartbeat of an instant, Stevie Rae understood why. It reminded her of the moment shed realized she was dying. The moment shed begun to cough, grabbed Zoeys hand, and said, Im scared, Z. The echo of that terror paralyzed Stevie Rae, so that when the tip of the first horn took form and glinted at her, white and sharp and dangerous, all she could do was stare and shake her head back and forth, back and forth.
Stevie Rae! Can you hear me?
Dallass voice seemed to be miles away.
The second horn materialized, and, along with it, the bulls head began to form, white and massive, with eyes so black they glistened like a bottomless lake at midnight.
Help me! Stevie Rae tried to say, but fear trapped the words in her throat.
Thats it. Im comin in there and getting you, even if you dont want me to break the circle and
Stevie Rae felt the ripple when Dallas reached the boundary of her circle. So did the bull. The creature turned its great head and snorted a gust of fetid air into the inky smoke. The night shivered in response.
Shit! Stevie Rae, I cant get inside the circle. Close it and get out of there!
I-I c-c-cant, she stammered, her voice a broken whisper.
Fully formed, the bull was a nightmare come alive. Its breath gagged Stevie Rae. Its eyes trapped her. His white coat was luminous in the all-encompassing darkness, but it wasnt beautiful. Its brilliance was slimy, its glistening surface cold and dead. One of the beasts enormous cloven hoofs lifted and then fell, tearing the earth with such malice that Stevie Rae felt an echo of the pain of the wound within her soul. She ripped her gaze from the bulls eyes to stare down at his hooves. She gasped in horror. The grass around the beast was broken and blackened. Where he had pawed the earthStevie Raes earththe ground was torn and bleeding.
No! The dam of terror broke enough for her words to finally escape. Stop! Youre hurting us!
The bulls black eyes bored into hers. The voice that filled her head was deep and powerful and unimaginably malicious. You had the power to evoke me, vampyre, and that has amused me enough that I choose to answer your question. The Warrior must look to his blood to discover the bridge to enter the Isle of Women, and then he must defeat himself to enter the arena. Only by acknowledging one before the other will he join his Priestess. After he joins her, it is her choice and not his whether she returns.
Stevie Rae swallowed her fear and blurted, That doesnt make sense.
Your inability to comprehend has no bearing on me. You summoned. I answered. Now I shall claim my blood price. It has, indeed, been eons since I tasted the sweetness of vampyre bloodespecially one filled with so much innocent Light.
Before Stevie Rae could begin to form any kind of response, the beast started to circle her. Tendrils of darkness slithered from the smoke surrounding him and began to snake their way toward her. When they touched her, they were like frozen razor blades slicing, tearing, ripping her flesh.
Without conscious thought, she screamed one word: Rephaim!
Chapter 13
Rephaim
Rephaim knew the instant Darkness materialized. Hed been sitting on the rooftop balcony, eating an apple, staring up at the clear night sky and trying to ignore the annoying presence of the human ghost that had developed an unfortunate fascination with him.
Come on, tell me! Is it really fun to fly? the young spirit asked for what Rephaim thought was probably the hundredth time. It looks like itd be fun. I never got to, but Ill bet flying with your own wings is way more fun than flying in an airplane any day.
Rephaim had sighed. The child talked more than Stevie Rae, which was pretty impressive. Irritating, but impressive. He was trying to decide if he should continue to ignore her and hope shed finally go away, or come up with an alternative plan, as ignoring the girl didnt appear to be working. Hed thought perhaps he should ask Stevie Rae what to do about the ghost, which had turned his mind to the Red One. Though, truth be told, his thoughts were never far from her.
Is it dangerous to fly? I mean with your wings? I guess it must be because you got hurt, and Ill bet that was from flying around . . .
The child had been babbling when the texture of the world changed. In that first, shocking moment, he felt the familiarity and believed, for the space of a heartbeat, that his father had returned.
Silence! he roared at the ghost. He stood and whirled around, glowing red eyes glaring into the dark land surrounding him, hoping beyond words that he could glimpse the raven blackness of his fathers wings.
The ghost child made a shocked squeak, cringed away from him, and disappeared.
Rephaim gave her absolutely no thought. He was too busy being barraged with knowledge and emotions.
First came knowledge. He knew almost immediately that it wasnt his father hed sensed. Yes, Kalona was powerful, and he had long allied himself with Darkness, but the disturbance this immortal was making in the world was different; it was far more powerful. Rephaim could sense it in the excited response of the dark hidden things of the earth, sprites that this modern world of man-made light and electronic magick had forgotten. But Rephaim had not forgotten them, and from the deepest of the nights shadows, he saw ripples and quivers, and was baffled by their reaction.
What could be powerful enough to arouse the hidden sprites?
Then Stevie Raes fear hit him. It was the rawness of her complete terror coupled with the excitement of the sprites, and that instant of initial familiarity, that provided Rephaim with his answer.
By all the gods, Darkness itself has entered this realm! Rephaim was moving before hed made a conscious decision to do so. He burst out of the front doors of the dilapidated mansion, knocking them aside with his uninjured arm as if they were made of cardboard, only to come to a halt on the wide front porch.
He had no idea of where he should go.
Another wave of terror engulfed him. Experiencing it with her, Rephaim knew Stevie Rae was paralyzed by her fear. A horrible thought filled his mind: Had Stevie Rae conjured Darkness? How could she? Why would she?
The answer to the most important of the three questions came as quickly as he thought it. Stevie Rae would do almost anything if she believed it would bring Zoey back.
Rephaims heart thundered, and his blood pumped hard and fast through his body. Where was she? The House of Night?
No, surely not. Were she to set about conjuring Darkness, it wouldnt be at a school devoted to Light.
Why didnt you come to me? he shouted his frustration into the night. I know Darkness; you do not!
But even as he spoke, he admitted to himself that he was wrong. Stevie Rae had been touched by Darkness when she had died. He hadnt known her then, but hed known Stark and had witnessed for himself the Darkness that surrounded the death and resurrection of a fledgling.
She chose Light, though. He spoke softly this time. And Light always underestimates the viciousness of Darkness.
The fact that I live is an example of that.
Stevie Rae needed him tonight, badly. That was also a fact.
Stevie Rae, where are you? Rephaim muttered.
Only the restless stirrings of the sprites answered him.
Could he coax a sprite into leading him to Darkness? Nohe discarded the idea quickly. Sprites would go to Darkness if it called them. Other than that, they much preferred to feed off vestiges of power from afar. And he couldnt afford to wait around hoping Darkness would call them. He needed to figure out
REPHAIM!
Stevie Raes scream echoed eerily around him. Her voice was filled with pain and despair. The sound of it sliced through his heart. He knew his eyes blazed red. He wanted to rip and tear and destroy. The haze of scarlet rage that began to overwhelm him was a seductive escape. If he gave into anger completely, he would, indeed, become more beast than man, and this unusual, uncomfortable fear he had begun to feel for her would be drowned out by instinct and mindless violence, which he could appease by attacking the helpless humans in any of the dark houses surrounding the lifeless museum. For a while he would be sated. For a while he would not feel.
And why not give in to the rage that had so often consumed his life? It would be easierit was familiarit was safe.
If I give in to rage, it will be the end of this connection I have with her. The thought sent ripples of shock through his body. The ripples turned to bright specks of light that seared the red haze that shrouded his sight.
No! he cried, letting the humanity of his voice beat back the beast within him. If I abandon her to Darkness, she dies. Rephaim drew long, slow breaths. He had to calm down. He had to think. The red haze continued to dissipate, and his mind began to reason again. I have to use our connection and our blood!
Rephaim forced himself to be still and breathe in the night. He knew what he must do. He drank in one more deep breath, and then began: I call upon the power of the spirit of ancient immortals, which is mine by birthright to command. Rephaim steeled himself for the drain that the invocation would cause on his unhealed body, but as he drew power from the shadows of the night, he was surprised to feel a surge of energy. The night around him seemed swollen, throbbing with raw and ancient power. It gave him a sick sense of foreboding, but he used it all the same, channeling the power through him, preparing to charge it with the immortality carried in his blood, the blood that Stevie Rae now shared. But as it filled him, his body was consumed in an energy so fierce, so raw, that it knocked Rephaim to his knees.
His first hint that something miraculous was happening was when he realized that hed automatically thrown both of his hands forward to catch himselfand both arms responded, even the one that had been broken and bound to his chest with a sling.
Rephaim stayed there on his knees, trembling and holding both arms out before him. His breath was coming fast as he flexed his hands.
More! he hissed the word. Come to me!
Dark energy surged into him again, a live current of cold violence he struggled to contain. Rephaim knew this indwelling was different than any hed felt before when calling on the powers his fathers blood allowed him to access, but he was no callow youth. He had long trafficked with shadows and the base things that filled the night. Reaching deep within him, the Raven Mocker inhaled the energy, like the air of a midwinters night, and then he threw his arms wide at the same instant he unfurled his wings.
Both wings responded to him.
Yes! His joyous shout caused the shadows to writhe and quiver in ecstasy.
He was whole again! The wing was completely healed!
Rephaim leaped to his feet. Dark pinions completely extended, he looked like a magnificent sculpture of a godling, suddenly come to life. His body vibrating with power, the Raven Mocker continued the invocation. The air blazed scarlet as if a phosphorous mist of blood surrounded him. Swollen with borrowed Darkness, Rephaims voice rang in the night. Through the immortal might of my father, Kalona, who seeded my blood and spirit with his legacy, I command this power that I wield in his name to lead me to the Red Oneshe who has tasted my blood, and with whom I have Imprinted and exchanged life debts. Take me to Stevie Rae! I command it so!
The mist hovered for a moment, then shifted, and like a ribbon of scarlet silk, a thin, glistening path unfurled into the air before him. Swift and sure, Rephaim took to the sky and streaked after the beckoning Darkness.
He found her not far from the museum in a park shrouded by smoke and death. As he dropped silently from the sky, Rephaim wondered how the humans in the houses framing the area could be so oblivious to what had been loosed just outside the deceptive safety of their front doors.
The pool of black smoke was most concentrated in the heart of the park. Rephaim could just make out the top branches of a sturdy old oak under which chaos reigned. He slowed as he drew near it, though his wings were still spread around him, tasting the air and allowing him to move soundlessly and swiftly, even on the ground.
The fledgling didnt notice him. But Rephaim realized that the boy probably wouldnt have noticed the arrival of an army. All of his attention was focused on attempting to stab a long, lethal-looking knife through what appeared to be a circle of darkness that had coalesced into a solid wallor at least that was how it manifested to the fledgling.
Rephaim was not a fledgling; he understood Darkness much better.
He skirted around the boy and, unseen, faced the circle at its northernmost point. He wasnt sure if instinct or Stevie Raes influence drew him there, and acknowledgedthough brieflythat the two might be becoming one.
He paused, and with a single, reluctant motion, closed his wings, folding them neatly against his back. Then he held up his hand and spoke softly to the scarlet mist that was still his to command. Cloak me. Allow me to cross the barrier. Rephaim curled his fist around the pulsing energy that gathered there, and then, with a flick of his fingers, scattered the mist over his body.
He expected the pain of it. Though there were aspects of immortal power that obeyed him, the obedience never came without a price. Very often that price was paid in pain. This time the pain burned through his newly healed body like lava, but he welcomed it because it meant his bidding had been done.
There was no way to make ready for what he might find within the circle. Rephaim simply gathered himself and, covered by the inherited strength of his fathers blood, he stepped forward. The wall of darkness opened to him.
Inside the circle Rephaim was engulfed in the scent of Stevie Raes blood and the overwhelming odor of death and decay.
Please stop! I cant stand any more! Kill me if thats what you want, just dont touch me again!
He couldnt see her, but Stevie Rae sounded utterly defeated. Acting quickly, Rephaim scooped some of the clinging scarlet mist from his body. Go to herstrengthen her, he whispered the command.
He heard Stevie Rae gasp and was almost sure she cried his name. Then the darkness parted to reveal a sight Rephaim would never forget, even should he live to be as ancient as his father.
Stevie Rae stood in the middle of the circle. Tendrils of sticky black threads wrapped around her legs. Wherever they touched her, they sliced her skin. Her jeans were ripped and hung on her body only in shreds. Blood seeped from her torn flesh. As he watched, another tendril snaked out of the soupy darkness surrounding them and lashed, whiplike, around her waist, instantly drawing a weeping line of blood. She moaned in pain, and her head lolled. Rephaim saw that her eyes had gone blank.
It was then that the beast made itself known. The instant he saw it, Rephaim knew beyond all doubt that he was staring at Darkness given form. It snorted, a terrible, deafening sound. Spewing blood and mucus and smoke, the bull tore the earth with his hooves. The creature stalked to Stevie Rae from out of the densest of the black smoke. Like moonlight in a crypt, the white bulls coat looked like death as he towered over the girl. The creature was so massive that he had to dip his huge head to allow his tongue to lick at her bleeding waist.
Stevie Raes scream was echoed by Rephaims cry: No!
The great bull paused. His head turned to the Raven Mocker; his bottomless gaze held Rephaims.
This night gets more and more interesting. The voice rumbled through his mind. Rephaim forced down his fear as the bull took two steps toward him, shaking the ground as he scented the air.
I smell Darkness on you.
Yes, Rephaim spoke over the sound of the terrified beating of his heart. I have long lived with Darkness.
Odd, then, that I do not know you. The bull scented the air around him again. Though I have known your father.
It is through the power of my fathers blood that I parted the dark curtain and stand before you. He kept his eyes on the bull, but he was utterly aware that Stevie Rae was just feet away from him, bleeding and helpless.
Is it? I think you lie, birdman.
Though the voice in his mind didnt change, Rephaim could feel the bulls anger.
Staying calm, Rephaim scooped a finger down his chest, drawing a line of red mist from his body. He held his hand up, like an offering to the bull. This allowed me to part the dark curtain of the circle, and this power is mine to command by right of my fathers immortal blood.
That immortal blood flows through your veins is truth. But the power that swells your body and commanded my barrier to part is borrowed from me.
Fear skittered down Rephaims spine. Very carefully, he bowed his head in respect and acknowledgment. Then I thank you, though I did not call upon your power. I invoked only my fathers, as it is only his that is rightfully mine to command.
I hear the truth in your words, son of Kalona, but why command the power of immortals to draw you here and to allow you within my circle? What business do you or your father have with Darkness tonight?
Rephaims body went very still, but his mind raced. Until that moment in his life, he had always drawn strength from the legacy of immortality within his blood and the cunning of the raven that had been joined with it to create him. But this night, facing Darkness, swollen with a strength that was not his own, he suddenly knew that even though it was through this creatures power that he had been granted access to Stevie Rae, he would not save her by using Darkness, whether it came from the bull or from his father; nor could the instincts of a raven battle the beast he faced. Forces allied with it could not defeat this bullthis embodiment of Darkness.
So Rephaim drew on the only thing left to himthe remnants of humanity passed to him through his dead mothers body. He answered the bull like a human, with an honesty so raw that he thought it might cleave his heart.
Im here because shes here, and she belongs to me. Rephaims eyes never left the bull, but he jerked his head in Stevie Raes direction.
I scent her on you. The bull took another step toward Rephaim, causing the ground under them to shake. She may belong to you, but she had the impudence to invoke me. This vampyre requested my aid, which I granted her. As you know, she must pay the price. Leave now, birdman, and I will allow you to live.
Go on, Rephaim. Stevie Raes voice was weak, but when Rephaim finally looked at her, he saw that her gaze was unwavering and lucid. It isnt like the rooftop. You cant save me from this. Just go.
Rephaim should go. He knew he should. Only a few days before he couldnt even have imagined a world where he would be facing down Darkness to attempt to save a vampyreto attempt to save anyone except himself or his father. Yet as he stared into Stevie Raes soft blue eyes, what he saw was a whole new worlda world in which this strange little red vampyre meant heart and soul and truth.
Please. Dont let him hurt you, too, she told him.
It was those wordsthose selfless, heartfelt, truthful words that made Rephaims decision for him.
I said she belongs to me. You scent her on me; you know its true. So I can pay her debt for her, Rephaim said.
No! Stevie Rae cried.
Think carefully before you make such an offer, son of Kalona. I will not kill her. It is a blood debt, not a life debt, she owes me. I will return your vampyre to you, eventually, when I am done tasting of her.
The bulls words sickened Rephaim. Like a bloated leech, Darkness was going to feed from Stevie Rae. He was going to lick her slashed skin and taste the copper saltiness of her lifebloodof their lifeblood, joined forever because of their Imprint.
Take my blood instead. Ill pay her debt, Rephaim said.
You are your fathers son. Like him, you have chosen to champion a being who can never give you what it is you seek most. So be it. I accept payment of the vampyres debt from you. Release her! the bull commanded.
The razorlike threads of darkness withdrew from Stevie Raes body and, as if they had been the only things keeping her on her feet, she crumbled to the blood-soaked grass.
Before he could move to help her, a dark tendril, cobralike, lifted from the smoke and shadows surrounding the bull. With a swiftness that was otherworldly, it lashed out, wrapping around Rephaims ankle.
The Raven Mocker didnt scream, though he wanted to. Instead, focusing through the blinding pain, he shouted at Stevie Rae, Get back to the House of Night!
He saw Stevie Rae try to stand, but she slipped on her own blood and lay on the ground, crying softly. Their eyes met, and Rephaim lurched toward her, spreading his wings, determined to break from the clinging thread and at least carry her clear of the circle.
Another tendril snaked out and whipped around the thick bicep of Rephaims newly healed arm, slicing more than an inch into the muscle. Yet another came from the shadows behind him, and Rephaim couldnt help screaming in agony as the thing curled around his wings where they met his back, ripping and tearing and pinning him against the ground.
Rephaim! Stevie Rae sobbed.
He couldnt see the bull, but he felt the earth tremble as the creature approached him. He turned his head, and, through a blur of pain, he saw Stevie Rae trying to crawl toward him. He wanted to tell her to stopto say something to her that would make her run away. Then, as the searing pain of the bulls tongue touched the wound at his ankle, Rephaim realized Stevie Rae wasnt really trying to crawl to him. She was on her hands and knees, crablike, pressing down against the earth. Her arms were trembling, and her body was still bleeding, but her face was getting its color back. Shes pulling power from the earth, Rephaim realized with an incredible sense of relief. That would make her strong enough to get out of the circle and find her way to safety.
Id forgotten the sweetness of immortal blood. The bulls decayed breath washed over Rephaim. The vampyres blood held only a hint of this. I believe I will drink and drink from you, son of Kalona. You did, indeed, borrow power from Darkness tonight, so you have a greater debt to pay than just hers.
Rephaim refused to look at the creature. Held captive by the cutting threads, his body was lifted and turned so that his cheek pressed against the earth. He kept his gaze focused on Stevie Rae as the bull stood over him and began to drink from the wound at the base of his bleeding wings.
Agony like hed never before felt assaulted his body. He didnt want to scream. He didnt want to writhe in pain. But he couldnt help it. Stevie Raes eyes were all that kept him tethered to consciousness as Darkness fed from him, violating him over and over again.
When Stevie Rae stood, lifting her arms, Rephaim thought he was hallucinating because she looked so strong and powerful and so very, very angry. She clutched something in her handa long braid that was smoking.
I did it before. Ill do it again.
Stevie Raes voice came to him as if from a long way off, but it sounded strong, too. Rephaim wondered why the bull didnt hear her and stop her, but the creatures moans of pleasure and the piercing pain that radiated from his back gave Rephaim the answer. The bull didnt consider Stevie Rae a threat, and he was fixated on consuming the intoxicating blood of immortality. Let him keep taking from me; let her escape, Rephaim prayed silently to whichever of the gods might deign to hear him.
My circles unbroken, Stevie Rae was speaking quickly and clearly. Rephaim and this disgusting bull came at my command. So I command again, through the power of the earth, I call the other bull. The one who fights this one, and Ill pay whatever I have to, just get this thing off my Raven Mocker!
Rephaim felt the creature above him pause in his feeding as a bolt of light speared through the smoky blackness in front of Stevie Rae. He saw Stevie Raes eyes go wide and, miraculously, she smiled and then laughed.
Yes! she spoke joyously. Ill pay your price. And, dang! Youre so black and beautiful!
Still standing over him, the white bull growled. Tendrils began snaking from the darkness around Rephaim and slithering toward Stevie Rae. Rephaim opened his mouth to shout a warning, but Stevie Rae stepped directly into the shaft of light. There was a sound like a thunderclap, and then another blinding flash. From the middle of the bright explosion stepped an enormous bull, as black as the first was white. But this creatures darkness wasnt like that of the inky shadows that cringed away from it. This bulls coat was the black of a midnight sky filled with the radiance of diamond starsdeep and mysterious and beautiful to behold.