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CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Zoey
"Is everything okay, Z?" Stark spoke low next to my ear as my circle group and I gathered near the entrance to the school lobby. Thanatos had asked us to wait for her to finish speaking with the professors and Warriors, and then she'd join us for the press conference.
"I'm sad about Dragon," I whispered back to him.
"I didn't mean that." He kept his voice soft, so that I was the only one who could hear him. "I meant is everything okay with the stone? I saw you touch it during the funeral."
"I thought I felt it heat up for a little while, but then it went away. It was probably just because we were standing so close to the pyre. Speaking of"-I raised my voice and said to Shaunee-"good job with the fire part of Dragon's funeral. I know it's not easy to keep lighting funeral pyres, but you help. You make it get over with faster."
"Thanks. Yeah, we're all sick of funerals. At least before this one we got to watch Dragon enter the Otherworld, but seeing the cats up there on the pyre with him made it especially sad." She wiped her eyes and I wondered how she (or anyone) could bawl and still look pretty. "Actually, that reminds me," Shaunee continued, turning so she faced Erin, who was hanging at the tail end of our group, gawking at the kids still by the pyre like she was looking for someone. "Erin, is it cool with you if I move Beelzebub's litter box and stuff to my room? He's been sleeping there most days."
Erin glanced at Shaunee, shrugged, and said, "Yeah, whatever. That litter box smells like shit anyway."
"Erin, cats don't like to use a dirty litter box. You have to clean it every day," Damien informed her with a frown.
Erin gave a sarcastic little snort. "Not anymore I don't have to." Then she returned to checking out the other kids.
I noticed she wasn't crying. I thought about it and realized she hadn't cried once during the entire funeral. At first this whole Twin breakup had seemed to freak Shaunee out the most, but as time passed I was starting to notice that Erin was not acting like herself. Although, I suppose that's normal, since acting like herself used to mean acting just like Shaunee, who was now acting a lot more mature and nicer. I made a mental note to find time to talk to Erin, to make sure she was okay.
"Dang, I wish Thanatos hadn't told Rephaim to wait with the rest of the kids on the bus. He was super upset at the funeral. I hate leaving him alone like that," Stevie Rae said, coming up beside me.
"He's not alone. He's with all the other red fledglings. I watched them walk over to the bus. Kramisha was talking to him about poetry being a way to vent emotions."
"Kramisha will baffle birdboy with her poetry crap. Blah ... blah ... rhyming iambic blah," Aphrodite said. "Plus, even you have to understand that letting the human public know about his little 'bird issue'"-she air quoted-"isn't a good idea."
"Hey there, uh, sorry to interrupt, but I'm looking for the school lobby."
As a group, we turned and gawked at the human who was walking toward us down the sidewalk that led from the main parking lot. Behind him trailed a guy holding a camera and a big bag of stuff crammed into a black bag slung over his shoulder and a long gray mic-thing dangling over his head.
Predictably, Damien was the first of us to pull himself together. I mean, Damien really should be crowned Miss Congeniality for the Tulsa House of Night.
"You are absolutely at the correct spot. Well done, you, for finding us!" Damien's smile was so warm that I watched the tense set of the human's shoulders relax. Then he actually held out his hand and said, "Excellent. I'm Adam Paluka, from Tulsa's Fox News 23. I'm here to interview your High Priestess and, I'm guessing, some of you as well."
"Nice to meet you, Mr. Paluka. I'm Damien," Damien said, taking his hand. Then he giggled a little and added, "Oooh, strong grip!"
The reporter grinned. "I aim to please. And call me Adam. Mr. Paluka is my dad."
Damien giggled again. Adam chuckled. They made major eye contact. Stevie Rae nudged me and we shared a Look. Adam was cute, seriously cute in a young, up-and-coming metro-sexual guy way. Dark hair, dark eyes, good teeth, really good shoes, and a man satchel, which Stevie Rae and I spotted together. Our eyes telegraphed to each other potential boyfriend for Damien!
"Hi there, Adam, I'm Stevie Rae." She stuck out her hand. As he took it she said, "You don't have a girlfriend, do ya?"
His straight-toothed smile faltered, but only a little. "No. I don't, um. No. I absolutely do not have a girlfriend." Then his eyes took in Stevie Rae's red tattoo Mark. "So, you're one of the new kind of vampyres your ex-High Priestess has been talking about."
Stevie Rae gave him a big smile. "Yep, I'm the first Red Vampyre High Priestess. Cool, isn't it?"
"Your tattoo is certainly pretty," Adam said, looking more curious than uncomfortable.
"Thank you!" Stevie Rae gushed. "This here's James Stark. He's the first Red Vampyre Warrior. His tattoo is awesome, too."
Stark put his hand out. "Nice to meet ya. And you don't have to tell me my tattoo is pretty."
Adam's face lost some of its color, but he shook Stark's hand. His smile seemed genuine-nervous, but genuine.
"Hi," I chimed in, shaking his hand. "I'm Zoey."
Adam's gaze quickly shifted from the full tattoo on my face, to the V-neck of my T-shirt and the glimpse of tattooing across my collarbone, down to my palm, which was also covered in the same filigree tattoo. "I didn't know vampyres were getting additional tattooing done. Is your artist here in Tulsa?"
I grinned. "Yeah, sometimes. But mostly she's in the Otherworld." I could see he was trying to process what I'd just said, so I took the opportunity to blurt, "Hey, you said you don't have a girlfriend, but how about a boyfriend?"
"Um, no, I don't have a boyfriend, either. At least not currently." Adam glanced at Damien, who met his gaze.
Success! was what I was thinking when Aphrodite snorted and said, "Oh, for shit's sake, this isn't The Bachelorette. I'm Aphrodite LaFont. Yes, the mayor is my father. Whoop-dee-fucking-do." She wrapped her arm through Darius's. "And this is my Warrior, Darius."
Adam's cute brow went up as he took in Aphrodite's school sweater, with the sixth former insignia of the three Fates sewn over her left breast pocket. "Are human beings allowed to attend the House of Night?"
"Aphrodite is a Prophetess of Nyx, a fact proven by the bond she has with Darius, who is a Son of Erebus Warrior and Oath Sworn as her protector." Thanatos was speaking from the shadows as she walked gracefully toward us. I thought her timing was excellent, as was her entrance. She looked tall and powerful, ageless and classically beautiful. Her voice was pleasant and informative, as if she lectured human reporters every day. "I know the inner workings of our society are not common knowledge, but I believe most humans are aware that a Warrior cannot bond to a human with an oath of protection."
"Actually, even though this interview is last minute, I did have time to do some general research, and that is one fact I did uncover."
"That Aphrodite is a Prophetess of Nyx, and is attending school here, as are several red fledglings and vampyres, will be one of the topics of our interview. Although it appears that interview has already begun." Thanatos emerged fully from the shadows, nodding toward the cameraman who was holding up the camera and definitely had been filming us, even though none of us had been paying any attention to him. "I am Thanatos, the new High Priestess of the Tulsa House of Night. Merry meet, Adam Paluka. You are welcome at our school."
"M-merry meet." Adam only bobbled a little. "I didn't mean to offend by filming early."
Thanatos smiled. "You did not offend us. We invited you here. I am pleased that the interview has begun without formalities. Shall we remain out here, under the beautiful Tulsa night sky, and continue?"
"Sure," Adam said after a nod from the cameraman. "The gaslights are actually good lighting. If you give us a sec, we can use a boom mic and get as many of your group on tape as you'd like."
"That sounds lovely. Zoey, Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, Stark, and Damien, please stay for the interview. Darius, would you, Shaunee and Erin, be sure the gathered fledglings have returned to their dormitories? Tonight has been a difficult one for our school." Darius bowed to Aphrodite and Thanatos, then he and Shaunee walked off together. Erin headed in the opposite direction.
"You said tonight has been difficult for your school. What do you mean by that?"
"With your pulse on the news, I am sure you are aware we recently had a fire on campus," Thanatos said.
"We did get that report at Fox. Something about your stables?" he prompted.
"Indeed, an unfortunate, though not entirely surprising accident." Thanatos gestured at the large copper lamps that hung in decorative beauty around us. "Gaslight and candlelight are kinder on our eyes than electric bulbs. As you already observed, it has a lovely ambiance, but it is living flame and sometimes volatile. A lantern was left lit and unattended in the barn. It was a windy evening. A gust blew the lantern over on a hay bale, setting the stables afire."
"I hope no one was hurt." I thought Adam looked authentically concerned.
"Our Horse Mistress and a fledgling had some minor smoke inhalation damage, and the human in our employ as a stable manager suffered burns, mostly on his hands. He will recover fully. I must tell you for the record that our Travis Foster is something of a hero. He made sure all of the horses escaped."
"Travis Foster is a human?"
"Completely, and a valued employee and friend."
"Fascinating," Adam said. His gaze shifted around. I could see when his eyes lit on the distant pyre, which had smoldered down to an orange glow. "Please correct me if I'm wrong, but I don't think that burning pile is part of the stables. During my research I read that vampyres burn their dead on pyres. Have I chosen a bad time for this interview?" He asked the question in a considerate tone of voice, but I could see the curiosity that was bright in his eyes.
"You are not wrong. That is the remnants of a funeral pyre. We have, indeed, suffered a grave loss at the House of Night that had nothing to do with the stable fire. Our Sword Master, Dragon Lankford, was recently killed in a tragic accident on a lavender farm that adjoins the national preserve known as the Tall Grass Prairie." I closed my mouth, wondering how the heck Thanatos was going to turn Dragon's murder into a "tragic accident" that could be explained to the human public. "A large male bison escaped the confines of the preserve. Several of us were completing a lovely cleansing ritual at the lavender farm, and the beast must have been confused by the sage smoke and our circle. The creature attacked us. Our Sword Master protected our fledglings, losing his life doing so."
"That's terrible! I'm so sorry." Adam looked upset. Actually, we all looked upset, which was hiding our shock at Thanatos's big, giant lie.
"Thank you, Adam. Though it was a horrible accident and a terrible loss to our House, our Sword Master died as he lived, an honorable Warrior who protected our young ones. Because of him no one else was harmed, and the ritual was even completed. We shall all remember Dragon Lankford's bravery for centuries to come." She dabbed at her eyes with a lace handkerchief she'd pulled from within her sleeve. It was a really moving moment. Adam stood there, looking empathetic, as the cameraman swiveled the lens from Dragon's pyre to focus on Thanatos's grief and her very human struggle to pull herself together.
It was really well staged. She made me wonder how many acting classes the High Priestess of Death had taken when she was a fledgling.
Thanatos finished wiping her eyes and drew a deep breath. "And to answer your other question, no, this is not a bad time for our interview. We invited you, remember? We are happy to welcome you to the House of Night, even during our sadness. So, let us officially begin. Is here by the bench a good place?" Thanatos gestured at one of the long stone benches that lined the entranceway to the school lobby. During a regular school day, kids would be clustered around them, doing homework, flirting, and gossiping. Tonight they were completely empty.
"Perfect," Adam said.
While he and the cameraman set up, Thanatos took her position in the center of the bench. Quietly she said, "Zoey, Stark, beside me here." She pointed to her right. "Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, and Damien, over here." They settled on the bench to her left.
When Adam returned and officially began filming, I felt a flutter of nerves. Even my old friends at South Intermediate High School would see this!
"Thanatos, I was wondering if you could elaborate on the comment Neferet, the ex-High Priestess of this Tulsa House of Night, made about you last night. She said Death was the new High Priestess here." Adam paused and smiled. "You don't look like Death to me."
"Have you seen her often, young Adam?" Thanatos said in a soft, joking voice.
"No, actually, I've never died," he joked back.
"Well, Neferet's comment can be easily explained. I am not Death herself. It is simply that I have been gifted with an affinity for aiding the dead to pass from this realm to the next. I am no more Death than you are Humanity. We both are just representations of the two. It might help you understand if you would think of me as a very accurate medium."
"Neferet also mentioned a new type of vampyre-a red vampyre, and suggested that they might be dangerous." I watched the camera shift from Stark to Stevie Rae. "Could you elaborate on that, as well?"
"Certainly, but first I feel I need to make one point very clear. Neferet is no longer in the employ of the Tulsa House of Night. In truth, the way our society works, once a High Priestess loses her job, she has lost that position for life. She will never serve as High Priestess at any other House of Night. As you can imagine that can be a difficult and often embarrassing transition for the terminated employee, as well as for her employer. Vampyres do not have slander and liable laws. We use the oath and honor system. Obviously this time that system did not work."
"So what you're saying is that Neferet is..." His word trailed off, and he nodded, encouraging Thanatos to finish the sentence for him.
"Yes, it is a sad but true fact, Neferet is a disgruntled ex-employee with no whistle to blow," Thanatos said smoothly.
Adam glanced at Stark, who was standing beside me not far from Thanatos. "That ex-employee made some disturbing comments about one House of Night member in particular-James Stark."
"That's me," Stark said right away. I could tell he was uncomfortable, but I don't think anyone else, including the TV audience, would see anything except a very cute guy with red facial tattooing that looked like opposing arrows.
"So, Jim. Is it okay that I call you that?" Adam asked.
"Well, it is, but it'd be cool with me if you called me Stark. Everyone else does."
"Okay, Stark, Neferet said you killed your mentor at the Chicago House of Night, and she implied that you're a threat to the community here. Would you care to respond to that?"
"Well, that's a bunch of bullpoopie!" I heard my mouth saying.
Stark grinned his cocky half smile and took my hand, threading his fingers through mine for all of the video audience to see. "Z, don't almost cuss on film. Your grandma might hear and that wouldn't be cool."
"Sorry," I muttered. "How about I just let you talk."
Stark's grin got bigger. "Well, that'll be a first."
Annoyingly enough, my friends all laughed. I scowled. Stark kept speaking, even though I considered smothering him with a pillow next time we slept.
His voice was hesitant at first, but the longer he talked, the stronger and surer he became. "My mentor, William Chidsey, was awesome. He was nice. And smart. I mean, really smart. And talented. He helped me. Actually, he was more like a father than a mentor to me." Stark paused and wiped his hand across his face. When he started talking again it was as if it were just him and the reporter, alone, like he'd forgotten that the camera was there at all. "Adam, I found out pretty early, when I was what humans would call a sophomore in high school, that I'd been given this gift." Stark enunciated the word, not sarcastically, but not like it was an awesome thing, either. His voice said his gift was a responsibility, and not a cool responsibility at that. "I can't miss my mark. I'm an archer," he explained when Adam gave him a questioning look. "You know, bow and arrows. Well, whatever I aim at-I hit. Unfortunately, it's not as literal as that. Think about it-there's lots of wiggle room between what you're looking at, and what you're really thinking about, and what you're aiming at. Here's a simple example: imagine taking a bow and arrow and aiming at a stop sign. So, you draw the bow, point the arrow, and sight the middle of a big red sign. But what if, inside your head you're thinking, 'Okay, I want to hit that thing that stops cars.' Next thing you know your arrow has found its way smack through the radiator of the next car that drives by."
"Well, I see how that might cause some big problems," Adam said.
"Yeah, big as in epic proportions. It took me a while to figure it out and to be able to control it. Between then and now, I made a really terrible mistake." Stark paused again and I squeezed his hand, trying to telegraph my support through it. "And because of that my mentor died. I won't let it happen again. I've given my oath on it."
"And that is why James Stark is here at the Tulsa House of Night." Thanatos took up the thread of conversation, and the camera followed her. "We believe in second chances in Tulsa." Her gaze shifted to Aphrodite. I had to make my mouth not flop open as she continued smoothly, "Would you not say that this is an excellent place for second chances, Aphrodite LaFont?"
I shouldn't have worried. With the camera rolling Aphrodite was totally in her element. She walked forward, toward the camera (of course), then sat at Thanatos's side. "I couldn't agree with you more, High Priestess. I was a fledgling for almost four years, but Nyx, our benevolent Goddess, chose to take my Mark from me and to replace it with a prophetic gift. My parents agree with my decision to remain at the House of Night. Actually, we've talked about the possibility of me serving an internship with the High Council in Venice when I graduate from here. My mom and dad are super supportive." She grinned into the camera. "You can tell that if you pull our credit card bills for the last few months. Wow! I have such awesomely cool parents!"
Okay, seriously. That was such a load of stinking, festering bullpoopie that I couldn't even speak. Thankfully, Stevie Rae was not so mute.
"Speaking of amazing parents, my mom, Ginny Johnson, is gonna make the best chocolate chip cookies in the known universe, and bring them to the open house and bake sale we're havin' here real soon, right, Thanatos?"
Thanatos didn't miss a beat. "You are absolutely correct, Stevie Rae. This coming weekend, should the tempestuous Oklahoma weather allow, we are planning a campus open house. We are hoping that Street Cats will be here with cats for adoption. Actually, I'd like to announce right now that all proceeds from our bake sale"-she smiled in Stevie Rae's direction-"will go to benefit our local charity, Street Cats. In addition, the grandmother of our fledging High Priestess, Zoey Redbird, is going to have her lavender products for sale on our grounds."
"Don't forget the job fair."
Everyone, including the cameraman, turned at the sound of our Horse Mistress's voice. Lenobia was standing there, leading her beautiful black mare, Mujaji, who looked like an absolute dream.
"Professor Lenobia, how good of you to join our press conference," Thanatos said.
"Wow! What a gorgeous horse he is!" Adam gushed as the cameraman did a close-up on Mujaji.
Damien touched Adam's arm and grinned. "Honey, that's a she, not a he."
"Oh, my mistake." Adam took it all in stride, smiling with a cute flush to his cheeks. "The guy-girl thing never made much difference to me."
"Because we're all the same." I heard the words coming from my mouth, and silently thanked Nyx for them. "Guy, girl, human, vampyre, what difference does it make? We're sharing Tulsa, and we love it. So, let's just all get along!"
Thanatos laughed, and the sound was like music. "Oh, Zoey, I could not have said it better myself. And Lenobia, you were correct to remind me. Adam, I would like to announce this evening that during the open house and Street Cat benefit, the Tulsa House of Night will, as the first House of Night in our written history, be taking job applications for human professors. We will be interviewing for professorial positions in our drama department, as well as in our literature department." Thanatos stood and opened her arms, looking benevolent and wise. "The House of Night welcomes Tulsa. Until Saturday we wish you all merry meet, merry part, and merry meet again."