Stevie Rae! Pay attention. Did you say Zoey was looking for me?
Stevie Rae did roll her eyes then. Youre supposed to be inside. Heath and Dallas and the rest of the kids are. Zoey knows that. She wanted to know where the heck you were and why youre not where youre supposed to be.
If she was that worried she could have come out here herself.
I didnt say she was worried! Stevie Rae snapped, exasperated with Eriks self-absorption. And Z has way too much on her plate to be out here babysittin you.
I dont need a damn babysitter.
Really? Then why did I have to come get you?
I dont know, why did you? I was on my way inside. I just wanted to do one more sweep of the perimeter. I thought itd be smart to go over what Heath was supposed to check. You know humans cant see shit at night.
Johnny B isnt a human and he was with Heath. Stevie Rae sighed. Just go on inside. Get something to eat and some dry clothes. One of the nuns will tell you where youre sleepin. Ill take one more check around the grounds before the sun comes up, Stevie Rae said.
If the sun comes up, Erik said, squinting up at the sky.
Stevie Rae followed his gaze, and with a sense of gawd-how-clueless-could-I-be, realized it was raining again, only the temperature was still on that line between freeze and non-freeze, so the sky was, once again, spitting ice.
This crappy weather is not what we need, Stevie Rae muttered.
Well, at least itll help cover the blood from those Raven Mockers, Erik said.
Stevie Raes gaze went quickly to Eriks face. Shit! She hadnt even thought about the blood! Had they tracked blood into the shed? Talk about leaving a glaring path that screamed Here I am! She realized Erik was expecting her to say something. Yeah, um, youre right. Maybe Ill try to kick around some ice and broken branches and stuff to cover up the blood from those three birds, she said with forced nonchalance.
Probably a good idea in case some humans actually go outside during the day. Want some help?
No, she answered too quickly, and then made herself shrug. What with my super red vamp skills and all itll just take me a second. Not a big deal.
Well, okay then. Erik started to walk away, but hesitated. Hey, you might want to give some extra attention to the blood marks at the edge of the tree line by the condos next door and the road. It was pretty nasty down there.
Okay, yeah, I know the place. She sure did.
Oh, and, where did you say Zoey was?
Uh, Erik, I dont believe I said.
Erik frowned, waited, and when Stevie Rae just continued to look at him, finally asked, Well? Where is she?
Last time I saw her she was talkin to Heath and Sister Mary Angela in the hall outside the basement. But my guess is by now shes checked on Stark and is in bed. She looked tired as hell.
Stark Erik muttered something unintelligible after the kids name, and turned back toward the abbey.
Erik! Stevie Rae called while she silently cussed herself out cause it was stupid for her to have mentioned Heath or Stark. She waited until he looked over his shoulder at her and then said, As Zs BFF, let me give ya a little piece of advice: shes been through too much today to want to deal with boyfriend issues. If shes with Heath its because shes making sure hes okaynot because shes all lovey-dovey with him. Same goes for Stark.
And? Erik said, his face expressionless.
And that means you should get something to eat, change your clothes, and take your butt to bed without trackin her down and buggin her.
She and I are together, Stevie Rae. Were going out. So how could her boyfriend caring enough about her to want to be with her be considered buggin her?
Stevie Rae suppressed a smile. Zoey was going to eat him for breakfast, spit him out, and go on about her day. She shrugged. Whatever. Im just givin ya a little advice, thats all.
Yeah, well, later. Erik turned and stomped off to the abbey.
For a smart guy, he sure makes some stupid choices, Stevie Rae said softly as she watched his broad back disappear. Course me sayin that about him is what my mama would say was a hog callin a skunk stinky.
Sighing, Stevie Raes gaze moved reluctantly down to the row of big trash bins half camouflaged by their placement next to the nuns carport. She averted her eyes, not wanting to think about the terrible crumpled bodies that had been dumped there. With the trash. She said the words slowly, as if they each held their own weight. Stevie Rae admitted to herself that Zoey and Sister Mary Angela might have been partially right in their mini counseling session with her, but that didnt make what theyd said any less annoying.
Okay, sure, shed overreacted, but the guys putting the bodies of the Raven Mockers in the trash had really jolted her, and not just because of him. Her eyes slid over to the shed that sat silently beside the green house.
What they had done with the bodies of the Raven Mockers had bothered her because she didnt believe in life being devaluedany kind of life. It was a dangerous thing to think you were godlike and could decide who was worthy of life and who wasnt. Stevie Rae knew that better than the nun or Zoey ever could. Not only had her life, well, actually, her death been messed with by a High Priestess who had begun believing she was actually a goddess, but Stevie Rae had once thought she had the right to snuff out lives according to her own needs or whims. Just remembering how it had been when shed been caught up in that anger and violence made her feel sick. Shed left those dark times behind hershed made a choice for good and light and the Goddess, and that was the path she was staying on. So when anyone decided a life meant nothing, any life, it upset her.
Or at least that was what Stevie Rae told herself as she started walking across the abbey grounds, heading totally away from the garden shed.
Keep it together, girl keep it together she kept repeating over and over as she detoured quickly down the ditch and into the tree line, heading directly for the bloodstains she remembered all too well. She found a thick, broken branch that still had a bunch of twigs attached to it, and lifted it easily, glad for the extra strength that came with her new status as fully Changed red vampyre. Using the branch like a broom, she brushed over the blood, pausing every so often to toss another broken branch, or once, a whole side of a collapsed holly bush, onto the telltale crimson pools.
Following her earlier path, she turned to her left, away from the street and back onto the nuns lawn, staying inside the fence. She hadnt gone far when, just like before, Stevie Rae found a big splotch of blood.
Only this time there wasnt a body lying on top of it.
Distracting herself by humming Kenny Chesneys (Baby) You Save Me, she hurriedly brushed over the bloodstains and then followed the trail of drops she knew shed find, kicking ice and branches over the evidence, as the blood path led her directly to the little garden shed.
She stared hard at the door, sighed, and then turned away, walking around the shed to the green house. The door was unlocked and the handle turned easily. She entered the building and paused, breathing deeply and allowing the scents of earth and growing things, mixed with the new spice of the three horses that were temporarily housed there, to soothe her senses, as the warmth of the place thawed the icy dampness that seemed to have penetrated into her soul. But she didnt allow herself to rest there long. She couldnt. She had business to take care of and not much time before dawn. Even if the sun was going to be shrouded by clouds and ice, it was still never a comfortable thing for a red vampyre to be caught outside, exposed and vulnerable, during the day.
It didnt take Stevie Rae long to find what she needed. The nuns obviously liked the old-school way of doing things. Instead of a system of modern hoses, electric switches, and metallic thingies, the sisters had buckets and dippers, watering pails with long, perforated nozzles made for gently showering baby plants, and lots of tools that were obviously as well used as they were well cared for. Stevie Rae filled a bucket with fresh water from one of the many faucets, grabbed a dipper, a few towels from a clean pile she found on a shelf used to store garden gloves and spare pots, and then, on her way out, she paused near a tray of moss that reminded her of a thick, green carpet. She stood there chewing her lip indecisively as instinct warred with her conscious mind, until she finally gave in and pulled up a long row of the moss. Then, mumbling to herself about not knowing how she knew what she knew, Stevie Rae left the green house and returned to the shed.
At the door she stopped and focused her attentionkeyed all of her keen, predator-like ability to sense, smell, see anyone, anything lurking around. Nothing. No one was outside. The sleet and the late hour were keeping everyone tucked safe and warm inside.
Everyone with any dang sense, she mumbled to herself.
She took one more look around, shifted her load so she had a free hand, and then touched the door latch. Okayokay. Just get it over with. Maybe hes dead and you wont have to deal with this great bigassed new mistake you made.
Stevie Rae clicked the latch down and pushed open the door. Automatically, she wrinkled her nose. It was jolting after the earthy simplicity of the green house, this little building that smelled like gas and oil and musty crap, all mixed with the wrong scent of his blood.
Shed left him at the other end of the shed, behind the riding mower and the shelves that held lawn care stuff like garden shears, fertilizer, and spare sprinkler parts. She peered back there and could vaguely make out a dark shape, but it wasnt moving. She listened hard and didnt hear anything except the ice spitting against the roof.
Dreading the inevitable moment when she was going to have to face him, Stevie Rae forced herself to step into the shed and close the door firmly behind her. She made her way around the mower and shelves to the creature that lay at the far end of the shed. It didnt look like hed moved since shed half dragged, half carried him there a couple of hours ago and literally tossed him into that back corner. He lay crumpled in on himself, curled into an awkward fetal position on his left side. The bullet that had torn through the upper right side of his chest, had ripped through his wing as it exited his body, utterly decimating it. The huge black wing lay bloody, shattered, and useless along his side. Stevie Rae also thought one of his ankles might be broken, as it was horribly swollen and, even in the darkness of the shed, she could see it looked bruised. Actually, his whole body looked pretty badly battered, which was no big surprise. He had been shot out of the sky and the big old oaks at the edge of the abbeys property had broken his fall enough for him not to have been killed immediately, but she really had no way of knowing how badly he was wounded. For all she knew his insides were as broken as his outsides looked. For all she knew, he was dead. He sure looked dead. She watched his chest and couldnt be 100 percent certain, but she didnt think she saw it rising or falling with his breath. He was probably dead. She kept staring at him, unwilling to move closer, and unable to turn and walk away.
Was she batshit crazy? Why hadnt she stopped to think before shed dragged him in here? She stared at him. He wasnt human. He wasnt even animal. It wasnt playing God to let him die; he should never have been born.
Stevie Rae shuddered. She continued to stand there as if she was frozen by the horror of what shed done. What would her friends say if they found out shed hidden a Raven Mocker? Would Zoey turn away from her? And what repercussions would this creatures presence cause with the red fledglings, all of the red fledglings? As if they didnt have enough dark, evil things to deal with?
The nun had been right. He shouldnt evoke pity in her. She was going to take the towels and stuff back to the green house, go inside the abbey, find Darius and tell him that there was a Raven Mocker in the shed. Then shed let the warrior do his job. If he wasnt dead already, Darius would take care of business. It would actually be putting the bird guy out of his misery. She let out a long breath she hadnt realized shed been holding in relief at her decision, and his red eyes opened and met hers.
Finish it the Raven Mockers voice was weak and filled with pain, but it was clearly, absolutely, undeniably human.
And that was it. Stevie Rae realized the reason she hadnt called Dallas and the rest of them when shed discovered him. When hed spoken before and told her to kill him, hed sounded like a real guyone who had been hurt and abandoned and scared. She hadnt been able to kill him then, and she wasnt able to turn away from him now. His voice made all the difference, because even though he looked like a being that shouldnt be possible, he sounded like a regular guy who was so desperate and in such pain that he expected the very worst to happen to him.
No, that was wrong. He didnt just expect the very worst to happen to him, he wanted it to. What he had gone through was so horrible he couldnt see any way out of it except through his own death. To Stevie Rae, even though what hed been through was largely of his own making, that made him very, very human. Shed been there. She understood such complete hopelessness.
CHAPTER 8
Stevie Rae
Stevie Rae controlled her automatic impulse to step back because guy voice or no guy voice, and the question of his humanity put temporarily aside, the honest truth was he was one big, bird guy whose blood smelled seriously wrong. And Stevie Rae was very much alone with him.
Look, I know youre hurt and all, so youre not thinkin right, but if I was gonna kill you I definitely wouldnt have dragged you in here. She made her voice sound normal and instead of backing away from him like she wanted to, she stood her ground and she met those cold red eyes that looked so bizarrely human.
Why wont you kill me? The words were little more than an agonized whisper, but the night was so silent that Stevie Rae had no trouble hearing him.
She could have pretended she didnt hear what hed said, or at least didnt understand him, but she was sick of evasions and lies, so she continued to hold his gaze and told him the truth, Well, actually, that has a lot more to do with me than you, and that makes it a kinda long, confusing story. I guess mostly Im not real sure why I wont kill you, cept for the fact that I tend to do things my own way, and I can definitely say Im not a big fan of killing.
He stared at her until she wanted to squirm under that strange red gaze. Finally he said, You should.
Stevie Raes eyebrows went up. I should know, I should kill ya, or I should do things my own way? Youre gonna have to be more specific. Oh, and you should also consider being less bossy. Youre not exactly in a position to tell me what I should do.
Obviously at the very end of his strength, his eyes had begun to close, but her words had him reopening them. She could see some kind of emotion changing his expression, but his face was so foreign, so unlike anything or anyone she was used to, that she couldnt read him. His black beak opened as if he was going to say something. At that moment a shudder rippled through his body. Instead of speaking, he closed his eyes tightly and moaned. The sound was filled with an agony that was completely human.
Automatically she took a step toward him. His eyes reopened and, even though they were glazed with pain, she could see his scarlet gaze was focused on her. Stevie Rae stopped and spoke slowly and distinctly. Okay, heres the deal. I brought water and stuff to bandage you up with, but Im not really cool with coming over there by you unless you give me your word you wont try anything Im not gonna like.
This time Stevie Rae was sure the emotion she saw within the red of those human eyes was surprise.
I cannot move. His words were halting, and it was an obvious effort for him to speak at all.
Does that mean I have your word you wont bite me or do anything else thats not very nice?
Yesssss.
His voice had gone all guttural and the word ended in a hiss, which Stevie Rae didnt find at all reassuring. Still, she straightened her spine and nodded like he hadnt just sounded like a snake. Well. Good. Okay, lets see what I can do to make ya feel better.
Then, before she could talk some sense into her own dang head, she walked right up to the Raven Mocker. She plopped the towels and the moss on the ground beside him, and set the water bucket down more carefully. He really was big. Shed forgotten that. Well, maybe it was more like shed blocked it from her memory, because forgetting his size was pretty hard. It hadnt been exactly easy to drag/carry him into this shed before Erik or Dallas or Heath or anyonehad seen her, even though hed been weirdly light for how heavy he looked.
Water. The word was almost a croak.
Oh, yeah, sure! Stevie Rae jumped and then fumbled with the handle of the dipper. It fell on the floor, and as embarrassed as she was frazzled, she dropped it againhad to pick it up, wipe it on a towel, and then finally dip it into the water. She moved closer to him. He stirred weakly, obviously trying to raise an arm, but the attempt caused him to moan again and his arm seemed to only be able to hang at his side, as useless as his broken wing. Not pausing to think about what she was doing, Stevie Rae bent, lifted his shoulders gently, tilted his head back, and held the dipper to his beak. He drank thirstily.
When hed had his fill, she helped him lie back, but not until shed put one of the towels under his head.
Okay, I dont have anything to clean you up with except water, but Ill do my best. Oh, and I brought some strips of moss. If I pack your wounds with them, theyll help. She didnt bother to explain that she really didnt know how she knew the moss was good for his woundsit was just one of the snatches of information shed get from time to timeout of nowhere. One second she wouldnt have a clue about something. The next shed be sure of how to, well, plug up a wound, for instance. She wanted to believe it was Nyx whispering to her, like the Goddess whispered to Zoey, but the truth was, Stevie Rae didnt know for sure. Just keep choosing good over evil she muttered to herself as she started to tear one of the towels into strips.
The Raven Mockers eyes opened and he looked questioningly at her.
Oh, dont mind me. I talk to myself. Even when Im not alone. Its kinda like my own version of therapy. She paused and met his gaze. This is gonna hurt. I mean, Ill try to be careful and all, but youre pretty messed up.
Go ahead, he said in that pain-filled whispery voice that sounded too human to be coming from such an inhuman-looking creature.
Alright, well, here goes. Stevie Rae worked as quickly and as gently as possible. The hole in his chest was terrible. She flushed it with water and picked off as much of the twigs and crap from around it as possible. His feathers made what she was doing super weird. There was chest and skin under them, but it was just so dang odd! He had feathers, and under them she found downy little black puffs that felt soft as cotton candy from the state fair.
She glanced at his face. Hed laid his head back down on the towel pillow. His eyes were squeezed shut, and he was breathing in short little pants.
Sorry, I know this hurts, she said. His only response was a grunt which, ironically, made him seem more guy-like. Seriouslythe grunt was well known to be a major guy communication method. Okay, I think its ready for the moss. She spoke more to soothe her own nerves than his. Tearing off a section of the moss, she carefully packed it into the wound. It doesnt seem as bad now that its not bleeding so much. She kept chattering, even though he barely responded to her. Here, gotta move you a little. Stevie Rae rolled him further on his stomach so she could get to the rest of the wound. He pressed his face into the towel and stifled another moan. Stevie Rae spoke quickly, hating that agonized sound. The hole where it came out of your back is bigger, but its not as dirty, so I wont have as much cleaning to do back here. It took a larger chunk of moss to cover the exit wound, but she got it done quickly.
Then she shifted her attention to his wings. The wing on his left side was tucked tightly against his back. It didnt look like it had been injured at all. But his right wing was another story. It was totally messed upshattered and bloody and hanging lifelessly down his side.
Well, I guess its time to admit Im totally out of my comfort zone back here. I mean, the bullet wound was nasty, but at least I knew what to do about itkind of. Your wing is something else. I have no clue what to do to help it.
Bind it to me. Use the cloth strips. His voice was gravelly. He didnt look at her and his eyes were still tightly closed.
Are you sure? Maybe I should just leave it alone.
Less painif its bound, he said haltingly.
Well, shit. Okay. Stevie Rae got to work tearing another towel into long strips, and then knotting them together. All right. Im gonna arrange your wing on your back kinda in the same position your other wings in. Is that right?
He nodded once.
She held her breath and picked up his wing. He jerked and gasped. She dropped it and jumped back.
Shit! Im sorry! Crap!
His eyes slitted and he looked up at her. Between panting gasps he said, Just. Do. It.
She gritted her teeth, leaned forward and, blocking out his muffled moans of pain, rearranged the shattered wing into a position that vaguely resembled the unwounded wing. Then, with barely a pause for breath, she said, Youre gonna have to hold yourself up a little so I can get this tied around you.
Stevie Rae felt his body tense and then he heaved himself up, leaning mostly on his left arm, so that he was in a tilted-over, half-sitting-up positionand his torso was far enough off the floor of the shed for her to quickly wrap the towel strips around him and secure the wing.
Okay, got it.
He collapsed. His entire body was trembling.
Im wrappin your ankle now. I think its broken, too.
He nodded once.
She tore more towel strips and then securely wrapped up his surprisingly human-looking ankle, just like she remembered her volleyball coach wrapping up one of her teammates weak ankles back when she was in high school at Henrietta High, home of the Fighting Hens.
Fighting Hens? Okay, her hometowns mascot had always been silly, but at that moment it struck Stevie Rae as super-funny, and she had to bite her lip to keep a hysterical giggle from bubbling out of it. Thankfully she got herself under control in just a couple breaths, and managed to ask him, Are you hurt bad anywhere else?
He shook his head in a short, jerky motion.
Okay, then Im gonna stop messin with you, cause I think I got the worst of it tended. When he nodded once in agreement, she sat on the floor beside him, wiping her shaking hands on one of the leftover towels. Then she just sat there, looking at him and wondering what the heck she was going to do next. Ill tell you one thing, she said aloud, I hope I never have to tie up another broken wing in my whole dang life.
His eyes opened, but he didnt speak.
Well, it was totally horrible. That wing hurts worse than a regular broken arm or leg, doesnt it?
She was talking because she was nervous, and Stevie Rae didnt expect him to answer, so she was surprised when he said, It does.
Yeah, thats what I thought, she continued, as if they were two normal people having an ordinary conversation. His voice was still weak, but it seemed easier for him to speak and she guessed immobilizing his wing had really helped his pain level.
I need more water, he said.
Oh, sure. She grabbed the dipper, glad her hands had stopped shaking. This time he was able to hold himself up and tip back his own head. She only had to pour the water into his mouth, or beak, or whatever the correct word for it was.
Since she was already up, Stevie Rae decided she might as well gather up the bloody pieces of towel, thinking that she should get them away from the shed. The red fledglings sense of smell wasnt as good as hers, but it also wasnt as undeveloped as regular fledglings. She didnt want to chance any of them having a reason to sniff around there. A quick search of the shed and she discovered extra-big lawn and garden trash bags, into which she stuffed the rags. There were three towels she hadnt used, and without really giving it much thought, she unfolded them and spread them out, covering as much of the Raven Mocker as was possible.
Are you the Red One?
His voice made her jump. His eyes had been closed and hed been so quiet while she was cleaning up that she had assumed he was asleep, or maybe passed out. Now those human eyes were open again and trained on her.
I dont know how to answer that. I am a red vampyre, if thats what you mean. The first red vampyre. She thought briefly about Stark and his completed red tattoos, which made him the second red vampyre, and wondered where he was going to fit in their world, but no way was she going to mention him to the Raven Mocker.
You are the Red One.
Well, okay, I guess I am.
My father said the Red One was powerful.
I am powerful, Stevie Rae said with no hesitation. Then she held his gaze and continued, Your father? You mean Kalona?
Yes.
Hes gone, ya know.
I know. He looked away from her then. I should be with him.
No offense, but from what I know of your daddy, I think its best that youre here and hes not. He isnt exactly a nice guy. Not to mention Neferet has gone completely batshit crazy, and the two of them are like peas in a nasty pod.
You talk a lot, he said and then grimaced painfully.
Yeah, its a habit. A nervous habit, but she didnt add that. Look, you need to rest. Im gonna go. Plus, the sun started to come up five minutes ago, and that means I need to be inside. The only reason I can walk around at all out there is because the skys so full of clouds. She tied the trash bag closed and scooted the water bucket and dipper within his reachif he was able to do any reaching. So, bye. Ill, um, see ya later. She started to hurry away, but his voice stopped her.
What will you do with me?
I havent figured that part out yet. She sighed and fidgeted, picking nervously at her fingernails. Look, I think youre safe here for at least one day. The storm isnt letting up and the nuns arent going to be messin around out here. All of the fledglings will probably stay inside until sunset. By that time I should know what to do with you.
I still do not understand why you dont tell the others about me.
Yeah. Well, that makes two of us. Try to rest. Ill be back.
Her hand was on the door latch when he spoke again. My name is Rephaim.
Stevie Rae smiled over her shoulder at him. Hi. Im Stevie Rae. Nice to meet ya, Rephaim.
Rephaim watched the Red One leave the building. He counted one hundred breaths after the door clicked closed, and then he began shifting his body until hed forced himself into a sitting position. Now that he was fully conscious he wanted to take inventory of his injuries.
His ankle was not broken. It pained him, but he could move it. His ribs were bruised but, again, he didnt think any of them were broken. The bullet wound in his chest was serious, but the Red One had cleaned it and packed it with moss. If it didnt fester and putrefy, he would heal. He could move his right arm, though it was difficult, and it felt unnaturally stiff as well as weak.
Finally, he shifted his attention to his wing. Rephaim closed his eyes and probed with his mind, following sinew and ligaments, muscle and bone, through his back and down the length of his shattered pinion. He gasped, almost unable to breathe, as he truly comprehended the full extent of the damage the bullet, and then the terrible, ripping fall had done.
He would never fly again.
The reality of the thought was so horrible that his mind skittered away from it. He would think of the Red One instead and try to remember everything Father had told him about her powers. Maybe he would find some clue in his memory that would explain her unusual behavior. Why had she not killed him? Perhaps she still wouldor at least perhaps she would betray his presence to her friends.