Zoey, whats going on? Heath said. And before I could tell him not to, he followed my gaze, looking up at the icy limbs that rested against the roof of the depot. What the fuck? But as I saw the realization of what the creature must be cross his face, the bird thing turned its glowing red eyes from Heath to me.
Zzzzzoey? It breathed my name, its voice sounding wrong and flat and utterly inhuman. We havvvve been loooooking for you.
My body felt frozen. My mind was screaming inside my head theyve been looking for me! But nothing came out of my mouthno warning to Heath. Not even the shrill girl scream that filled my throat.
My father will be very pleassssssed when I presssssent you to him, the Mocker hissed, spreading his wings as if he was preparing to fly down and snatch me up.
Ill have to say hell no to that little messed-up plan of yours, Heath yelled.
CHAPTER 12
I tore my horrified gaze from the Raven Mocker to see Heath standing just a couple of feet in front of me. He had his gun out and was holding it before him, pointing it directly at the creature in the tree.
Puny human! the thing screeched. You think to ssssstop an Old One?
Everything went into fast-forward then. The creature exploded from the tree at the same time my body thawed and I sprinted forward. I saw Heath squeeze the trigger and heard the deafening blast of the gun, but the Raven Mocker was moving with inhuman speed. It dodged, and the place Heath had been aiming at was empty the instant before the bullet sliced through the air, embedding itself in the ice-coated tree. As the thing flew toward Heath, I saw its jagged talons curling into claws and I remembered how, even in spirit form, a creature like this had almost sliced through my neck. Now the Raven Mockers had their bodies returned to them and I knew unless I did something fast, this one was going to kill Heath.
With a scream I gave voice to my fear and rage as I launched myself at Heath, knocking him aside a moment before the Raven Mocker reached him so that the creature struck me instead. I didnt feel any pain then, just an odd pressure against my skin, starting at the top of my left shoulder and slicing across the upper part of my chest, above my breasts, all the way to my right shoulder. The force of the blow spun me around in a half circle so that I was still facing the Raven Mocker as it flew past us and then dropped to the ground on its terrible human legs.
Its blood-colored eyes widened as it looked at me. No! it cried in a voice that could belong to no sane being. He wantssss you alive!
Zoey! Oh, God, Zoey! Get behind me! Heath was yelling at me as he tried to scramble to his feet, but he slipped on the icy pavement that had somehow turned a wet red. He fell hard.
I glanced at him and thought how weird it was that even though he was right next to me it sounded like he was yelling from way down a long tunnel.
I didnt understand why, but...Blood? Is that whats all over the pavement? Thats odd. With a mental shrug I disregarded the pooling blood and shouted, Wind, come to me!
At least I thought I shouted. What really came out of my mouth was barely a whisper. Thankfully, wind is a good listener because the air instantly began to swirl around me.
Keep that thing on the ground, I said. Wind instantly obeyed, and a lovely mini-tornado engulfed the grotesque birdman, causing its wings to be useless. With a terrible screeching sound the thing tucked its useless wings against its back and began to trudge toward me, ducking its mutated head against the battering of wind.
Zoey! Shit, Zoey! Heath was suddenly beside me. His strong arm was around me, which felt really good because I was thinking that I might want to fall over.
I smiled at him, wondering why he was crying. Just a sec. Gotta finish off that thing. Wearily, I turned my attention back to the birdman. Fire, I need you. Heat was there, warming the swirling air around me. Then I used the finger of the bloody hand I was still holding upright and I pointed it at the thing that was getting closer and closer to Heath and me. Burn it up, I commanded.
The warmth that had been surrounding me changed tempo, going from gentle heat to a column of consuming flame. It followed the direction of my pointing finger and of my will, and it plowed into the Raven Mocker, engulfing it in an angry yellow flame. The air was filled with the awful scent of roasting meat and burnt feathers. I thought I might puke.
Oh, ugh. Fire, thank you. Wind, before you leave, could you please blow that nasty smell away? It was so strange that I thought I was saying all this stuff really loud, but my voice was actually coming out as a weak little whisper. The elements obeyed me anyway, which was good, because a wave of sickening dizziness washed over me and I was suddenly slumping against Heath, unable to hold myself upright anymore.
I tried to understand what was wrong with me, but my thoughts were all muddied, and for some reason knowing exactly what was going on didnt seem very important.
Way off in the distance I heard running feet, and then I was looking up at Heaths tear-streaked face as he yelled, Help! Were over here! Zoey needs help!
Next thing I knew, Eriks face had joined Heaths. All I could think was oh, great, theyre going to start growling at each other again. But they didnt. Actually, Eriks reaction when he looked down at me started to make me feel kinda concerned, in a detached, only vaguely interested way.
Shit! he said, and his face turned really pale. Without saying another word Erik ripped off his shirt (which was the cool black long-sleeved Polo hed been wearing at our last ritual), making buttons pop all over. I blinked in surprise, thinking that he looked really good in just his little wifebeater T-shirt. I mean, seriously, he has a hot body. He dropped down on the other side of me.
Sorry, this is probably going to hurt. Erik balled up his shirt and pressed it against my chest.
Pain did slice through me then, and I gasped.
Oh, Goddess! Sorry, Z, sorry! Erik kept saying over and over.
I looked down to see what was making me hurt like that and was utterly shocked to see that my whole body was drenched in blood.
Wh-what I tried to frame a question, but the pain mixed with the increasingly strong feeling of numbness made it difficult for me to speak.
We have to get her to Darius. Hell know what to do, Erik said.
Ill carry her. Just lead me to this Darius guy, Heath said.
Erik nodded. Lets go!
Heath looked down at me. I have to move you, Z. Just hang in there, okay?
I tried to nod, but the movement ended in another gasp when Heath picked me up and, clutching me to his chest like I was an overgrown infant, he ran, slipping and sliding, after Erik.
The trip back down into the tunnels was a nightmare Ill never forget. Heath rushed after Erik through the basement. When they got to the metal ladder that led down to the tunnel system, they paused only for a second.
Ill hand her down to you, Heath said.
Erik nodded and disappeared down the hole. Heath walked to the edge of it. Sorry, babe, he said. I know this must be awful for you. Then he kissed me lightly on my forehead before he squatted and somehow passed me to Erik, who was standing below us.
I say somehow because I was busy screaming in pain and I wasnt really paying close attention to the logistics of what was actually going on.
Next thing I knew Heath had dropped lightly to the tunnel floor and Erik handed me back to him.
Im going to run ahead and find Darius. You keep following the main tunnel. Dont take any of the turnoffs. Stay where its best lit and Ill come back to you with Darius.
Who is Darius? Heath said, but he was speaking to empty air. Erik had already sprinted away.
Hes lots faster than I thought he was, I tried to say, but a weak jumble of words was all that whispered from my mouth. And I noticed the lantern that I was sure had gone out right before Id climbed up into the basement was lit again. Thats weird was what I meant to say. Instead, I barely heard myself mumble something that sounded like Thhhhats weeeer over the pounding of my heart in my ears.
Shhh, Heath soothed as he started out as quickly as he could without jiggling me so badly that he made me scream again. You stay with me, Zo. Dont close your eyes. Keep watching me. Keep with me. Heath kept talking and talking, which was really annoying because my chest hurt really bad and all I wanted to do was close my eyes and go to sleep.
Gotta rest, I murmured.
And hers, No! Theres no resting! Hey, lets pretend like were in that Titanic movie you used to watch over and over again. You know, the one with Leonardo DiStupio.
DiCaprio, I whispered, irritated at the fact that after all these years Heath was still jealous that when I was a kid Id had a crush on Leonardo. Or as I liked to think of him, my boyfriend Leo.
Whatever, he said. Remember how you said if youd been Rose you would really never have let him go? Okay, well, lets do a little reenactment. Im the gay-looking DiCaprio and youre Rose. You have to keep your eyes open and on my face, or youll have let me go and Ill turn into a huge gay Popsicle.
Dork, I managed.
Heath grinned. Just never let me go, Rose. Okay?
Okay, it was a stupid reenactment, but Ill admit that he hooked me. It had driven me crazy since the first time Id seen the movie (and bawled my eyes outand I do mean one of those shoulder-heaving, ugly snot cries). Stupid Rose says shell never let him go, but then she does. And why couldnt she have scooted over and let Leo/Jack get on that floating board thing with her? There was plenty of room. So while my foggy mind circled round and round that heart-wrenching scene from one of my favorite movies, Heath held me tight in his arms and ran.
Hed just followed a gentle curve in the tunnel when Erik found us. Darius was at his shoulder. Heath came to a stop and it was then that I realized how hard he was breathing. Huh. I wondered abstractly if I should be embarrassed that I was heavy.
Darius took one look at me and started barking commands at Erik.
Im taking her to Stevie Raes room. Ill get there well ahead of you, but Ill need this human to join me there, so show him where to go. Then you get the Twins and Damien. Wake up Aphrodite. We may need her, too. Darius turned to Heath. I will take Zoey.
Heath hesitated. I could tell he didnt want to let me go. Dariuss stony look softened. Do not fear. I am a Son of Erebus and I give you my oath that I will always protect her.
Reluctantly Heath transferred me to Dariuss strong arms. The warrior looked grimly down at me. Im going to move fast. Remember to trust me.
I nodded weakly, and even though I knew what was coming next, I was still amazed as Darius took off, moving with a speed that blurred the walls of the tunnel and made my head spin. Once before Id experienced Dariuss amazing ability to practically teleport from one place to another, and it wasnt any less breathtaking the second time.
It seemed only seconds had passed when Darius came to an abrupt halt in front of the blanketed entrance to Stevie Raes room. He shoved inside. Stevie Rae was sitting up, rubbing her eyes and peering blurrily at us. Then her mouth opened in utter shock and she bounded off the bed.
Zoey! What happened?
Raven Mocker, Darius said. Clear those things off that table.
Stevie Rae knocked the stuff off the table that sat by the end of her bed. I wanted to protest that she really shouldnt make such a mess. I mean, I was sure shed broken a glass or two and sent a whole bunch of DVDs flying across the room, but not only was my voice not working right, but I was really busy trying not to pass out from the terrible pain that was slicing through the top part of my body as Darius placed me on the table.
What can we do? What can we do? Stevie Rae repeated the question. I thought she looked like a little lost girl and I noticed that she was crying, too.
Take her hand. Talk to her. Keep her conscious, Darius said. And then he turned away and started throwing stuff out of the first aid kit.
Zoey, can you hear me? I could feel that Stevie Rae had hold of my hand, but just barely.
It took what felt like a superhuman effort, but I whispered, Yeah.
Stevie Rae clutched my hand harder. Youre gonna be okay. Kay? Nothin can happen to you, cause I dont know what Id do Her voice caught on a sob, and then she said, You cant die cause youve always believed the best of me, so Ive tried to be what you believe I am. Without you, well, Im afraid the good in me will die, too, and Ill give in to the darkness. Plus, there are so many things I still need to tell you. Important things.
I wanted to tell her not to be silly, that she wasnt making sense and I wasnt going anywhere, but through the pain and the numbness I was starting to get a strange feeling. The only way I could describe it was as a sense of not-rightness. Whatever had happened, whatever was going on with me, that was the source of the not-rightness. And this new feeling, more than the bloodmore than the fear in my friends faceswas telling me that something was so wrong with me that I might, indeed, be going somewhere.
It was then that the pain began to recede, and I decided that if this was what it felt like to die, then it was better than living and hurting like hell.
Heath burst into the room, came straight to me, and took my other hand. He barely looked at Stevie Rae. Instead, he smoothed the hair out of my face.
How are ya, babe? Still holding on?
I tried to smile at him, but he seemed so far away that I couldnt make the change in expression reach him.
The Twins ran into the room with Kramisha close behind them.
Oh no! Erin stopped several feet from where I was and pressed her hand against her mouth.
Zoey? I thought Shaunee looked confused. Then she blinked several times, her gaze traveled down my body, and she burst into tears.
That dont look good, Kramisha said. Not good at all. She paused and then her eyes went from me to Heath, whose attention was so focused on me I swear he didnt look like hed notice if a giant white elephant in a tutu danced into the room. Aint that the human kid who was down here before?
I dont know why, but except for my own body, which didnt seem to belong to me anymore, I had become majorly aware of everything that was going on around me. The Twins were holding hands and bawling so hard snot was running from their noses. Darius was still digging through the first aid kit. Stevie Rae was patting my hand and trying (unsuccessfully) not to cry. Heath was whispering silly butchered lines from Titanic to me. In other words, everyone was focused on meexcept Kramisha. She was staring hungrily at Heath. Little warning bells started ringing in my mind and I tried to struggle to regain awareness of my body. I needed to warn Heath to be on his guard. I needed to tell him he should leave this place before something bad happened to him.
Heath, I managed to whisper.
Im here, babe. Im not going anywhere.
I did a mental eye roll. Heath and his heroics were cute and all, but I was afraid they were going to get him eaten by Stevie Raes red fledglings.
Hey, aint you the human kid who was down here before? The one Zoey came after? Kramisha had moved closer to Heath. Her eyes had taken on a red tint that was a gigantic warning sign. Was I the only one who could see danger in the intense way she was staring at him?
Darius! I finally gasped.
Thankfully, the warrior looked up from rummaging through the first aid kit. I flicked my eyes from his to where Kramisha was practically drooling on Heath and saw understanding cross Dariuss face.
Kramisha. Leave the room. Now, Darius snapped.
She hesitated, then dragged her red gaze from Heath to look directly at me. Go! I mouthed the word. Her eyes didnt change, but Kramisha nodded once and walked quickly from the room.
It was then that Aphrodite slapped the doorway blanket aside and made her grand entrance. Looking seriously like poopie, she scowled at the room.
Damn it, this Imprint is a pain in the ass! Stevie Rae, could you not get a handle on yourself and keep your emotional bullshit under control and show just a smidge of respect for those of us who can still have hangovers that would kill the average She finally managed to focus her blurry vision enough to actually see me. Her face, already pale and hollow-eyed, blanched so that it looked a sickly shade of fish-belly white. Oh, Goddess! Zoey! She started shaking her head back and forth, back and forth as she rushed over to me. No, Zoey. No. I didnt see this. She was talking earnestly to me. I never saw this. You beat the first death vision I had. The next one wasnt supposed to be you being cut again. The next was supposed to be you drowning. No! This isnt right!
I tried to say something, but shed already rounded on Heath.
You! What the fuck are you doing here?
II came to see if she was okay, Heath stammered, obviously freaked by her intensity.
Aphrodite shook her head again. No. You arent supposed to be here. This isnt right. She paused and her eyes narrowed at Heath. You caused this, didnt you?
I watched Heaths eyes fill with tears. Yeah, I think I did, he said.
CHAPTER 13
Damien, Jack, and Erik ran into the room, followed closely by Duchess. Jack took one look at me, screamed like a girl, and fainted. Damien caught him in time to keep him from falling and bashing his head on the floor. He laid him down on Stevie Raes bed while the poor confused Lab whined and stared with big, worried brown eyes from Jack to Damien and me, and then back to Jack again. Damien joined everyone else, including Erik, who was crowding around me. Darius waded into the group, parting kids like he was a vampyre Moses and they were the fledgling Red Sea.
They need to cast a circle and focus the healing powers of the elements on Zoey, Darius told Aphrodite.
She nodded, touched my forehead gently, and then started snapping commands at my friends.
Nerd herd! Take your places. Lets get this circle cast.
Shaunee and Erin stared blankly at her. Damien, his voice thick with tears, said, II dont know which direction is east.
Stevie Rae squeezed my hand again before letting it go. I do. I always know where north is, so I can show you where east is, too, she told Damien.
Make the circle around the table, Darius said. And give me the sheet from that bed.
Damien grabbed the top sheet from Stevie Raes bed, murmuring to an awake and crying Jack that it was going to be okay. He handed the sheet to Darius.
Stay with me, Priestess, he told me. He glanced at Heath and Erik. Keep talking to her, both of you.
Erik took the hand Stevie Rae had let loose. Im here, Z. He threaded his fingers with mine. You have to make it through this. We need you. He paused and his beautiful blue eyes met mine. I need you, and Im sorry about all that stuff before.
Then Heath raised my other hand to his lips, kissing it softly. Hey, Zo, did I tell you I havent had one drink for more than two months?
It was seriously weird to have both of my guys there. I was glad they werent banging their chests at each other, but I understood that might not be a particularly good thing because it meant that I was hurt even worse than Id realized.
Thats good, huh? Ive totally stopped drinking, Heath said.
I tried to smile at him. It was good. The reason Id broken up with Heath right before I was Marked was his drinking. It had totally gotten out of control, and
Darius pulled Eriks wadded-up shirt from my chest and quickly ripped the top of my dress in half so that I felt the cool air of the tunnel against my blood-drenched skin.
Sweet Goddess, no! Erik blurted.
Ah, shit! Heath was shaking his head back and forth. This is bad. Really bad. No one can live with
No human can live with this kind of wound, but shes not a human and Im not going to let her die. Darius interrupted Heath as he (thankfully) covered my naked boobs with the sheet.
I made the mistake of glancing down. Maybe it was a good thing that I didnt have the energy to scream. There was a long laceration that went all the way from the top of my left shoulder, across my chest a couple of inches above my breasts, and didnt end until it sliced through the skin on my right shoulder. The cut was deep and jagged. The edges of my skin flapped sickeningly apart, showing way more muscle and fat and layers of skin than I was ever meant to see. Blood seeped from all along the terrible wound, but not as much blood as I would expect. Was that because I was running out of it? Hell! It was probably because I was running out! My breath started to come in hysterical little pants.
Zoey, look at me, Erik said. When I kept staring down at the wound Darius was pressing thick pads of gauze against, Erik took my chin gently in his hand and turned my face up, forcing me to look at him. Youre going to be fine. You have to be fine.
Yeah, Zo. Just dont look at it, Heath said. You know, like you told me whenever I messed myself up playing football. You used to say, Just dont look at it and it wont hurt so bad.
Erik let loose of my chin and I managed to nod. Had I been able to talk I would have told both of them Hell no, Im not looking at it again! Id already scared the crap out of myself. No need to revisit it.
Get that circle cast, Darius said.
Were ready, Damien said.
I looked around (definitely avoiding glancing down at myself again) to see that Damien, Stevie Rae, and the Twins had taken their positions in a circle around us.
Then get it cast! Darius snapped.
There was a pause into which Erin finally spoke. But Zoey always casts the circles. We never have.
Ill do it. Aphrodite stepped within the circle and marched over to Damien. Damien gave her a look that even I could see was filled with doubt. You dont have to be a fledgling or a vampyre to cast a circle. All you have to be is attached to Nyx. And Im attached to Nyx, she said firmly. But I need you guys to be behind me on this. Are you?
Damien paused long enough to look at me. With an effort that seemed to sap the last of my strength, I nodded at him. He smiled at me and nodded back.
Im behind you, Damien told Aphrodite.
Aphrodite looked from him to the Twins. Were with you, too. Erin spoke for both of them.
Finally she turned to Stevie Rae, who wiped her eyes, sent me a big, confident smile, and then she said to Aphrodite, Youve saved my life twice. Im trusting that you can do the same for Zoey.
I saw Aphrodites face flush, her chin lift, and her shoulders straighten and knew that for the first time in a very long time she felt like an accepted part of a group.
Okay, lets do this, Aphrodite said. Its the first element, the one we all embrace from our first breaths to our last. I call wind to the circle! Sure enough, I saw a sudden breeze begin to lift Aphrodites and Damiens hair, and with a look of obvious relief, she moved clockwise around the circle to Shaunee.
And then I stopped paying attentionor rather my attention started to narrow, getting all gray and tunnel-vision-like around the edges.
Zoey, are you still with us? Darius asked as he pressed more gauze against my chest.
I couldnt answer him. My head felt really light, but the rest of my body was unbelievably heavy, like some moron had parked a Mack truck on top of me.
Z? Erik was saying. Z, look at me!
Zoey? Babe? Heath looked like he was going to cry again.
Okay, I really wanted to say something to make them feel better, but it just wasnt possible. I couldnt make my body work anymore. It was like Id become a distant spectator in the game that was going on around me. I could watch, but I couldnt play.
All the elements but spirit have been evoked, Aphrodite said. She was standing beside Darius. Thats the element Zoey always personifies, and I feel weird calling it in her place.
Call it, Darius said. He glanced up from me and looked around the circle at my friends. Concentrate the power of your element on Zoey. Think about filling her with strength and warmth and life.
Vaguely I heard Aphrodite evoking spirit, although I didnt feel the quickening its presence usually gave me. I briefly felt a distant warmth and thought for a second that I also smelled rain and cut grass, but that was gone quickly while the gray framing my vision became thicker and thicker.
Are you the human Zoey was Imprinted with? I heard Darius talking to Heath. I listened, but couldnt manage to care too much about what they were saying.
Yes, Heath said.
Good. Your blood would be even better than Aphrodites for her.
Thats the first good news Ive heard in ages, Aphrodite mumbled, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.
Are you willing to allow Zoey to drink from you?
Of course! Heath said. Just tell me what I need to do.
Sit up here. Hold her head in your lap. Then give me your arm, Darius told Heath.
Heath got up on the end of the table, and with Erik and Dariuss help my head was soon resting against his warm thigh, like he was a living pillow. Heath held his arm out and Darius grasped it firmly. My mind was too fuzzy to make sense of what they were doing until Darius reached behind him and took the all-purpose knife/scissors/bottle opener from the first aid kit, flipped the knife partway open, and pressed the blade against the soft skin on the inside of Heaths muscular forearm.
The scent of his blood settled over me like a delicious fog.
Press her mouth against it, Darius said. Make her drink.
Come on, babe. Take some of this. Itll help you get better. Okay, my rational mind knew that Erik was standing right there beside me watching along with all of my best friends. Under normal circumstances I would never have done what I did next, no matter how delicious and amazing and enticing Heaths blood smelled.
But I wasnt currently experiencing anything that even mildly resembled normal circumstances. So when Heath pressed his bleeding arm against my lips, I opened my mouth, sank my teeth deep into him, and started sucking.
Heath moaned and wrapped his other arm around me, pressing his face into my hair as I drank from him. The world immediately narrowed so that there was only Heath and me as his blood exploded into my body. With that first drink, awareness slammed back into my chest, and with it pain so intense that I would have wrenched my mouth from his skin had he not tightened his grip on me and whispered into my ear, No! You cant stop. If I can stand it, so can you, Zo.
See, I knew I wasnt just causing him to feel the exquisite pleasure feeding from a human usually caused both vamp and victim. Wed instantly Imprinted again. Even in the bad shape I was in I could tell that. Heaths whole awareness filled me along with his blood, and we were bound together through the magical fabric that was the need and attraction between human and vampyre, stitched together in a single garment of the ancient bond that was an Imprint. But I wasnt just drinking from him. I was feeding in a frenzy that was a natural instinct for survival, and through our connection Heath was feeling my pain and fear and need, everything that Id been numb to when my body was in near-fatal shock. His blood had changed that, though. It had revitalized me, and in doing so it had wrenched me out of the deadly shock state and thrown me directly into searing pain and the realization that I was perilously close to dying.
I whimpered, still feeding from him, but was miserable because I knew what I was making him feel.
Of course, he knew what I was feeling, too, and how sorry I was that I was hurting him.
Its okay, babe. Its okay. Its not that bad, really, he whispered in my ear through teeth gritted against the intense mixture of pain and desire.
I dont know how much time had passed when I realized that, even though the cut across my chest hurt like hell, my body was warm, and I could feel caressing me a soft breeze that carried the scent of spring rain and a hay-filled meadow. My spirit, too, felt invigorated, and I knew that Heaths blood had energized me enough that now I was able to accept the healing aid of the elements that comforted my soul as they soothed my body.
At about the same time I realized Heath had stopped talking to me. I opened my eyes and glanced up. He was kinda slumped over me but was being held upright by Dariuss firm grip on his shoulders. His eyes were closed and his face was pale.