The mayor retreated quickly to the elevator, leaving Neferet alone except for the hungry tendrils of Darkness.

She allowed them to drink from her only for a few more beats of her heart, and then she brushed them away and licked the fresh wounds on her palms so that the cuts would close.

The threads pulsed around her, hovering in the air like a nest of floating snakes, eager to do her bidding. “Now you owe me one favor,” she told them before picking up the penthouse phone and punching in Dallas’s number.

When he answered he sounded angry, “Someone better fucking be dead to call me this early!”

“Shut up, boy! Listen and then obey.” Neferet smiled at the silence that followed her command. She could almost smell his fear through the phone. Then she spoke quickly, gaining more certainty and more control over her temper as she instructed the red vampyre. “The school will soon know that I have broken with the House of Night and joined the Tulsa City Council. You know, of course, I only plan to use these humans to ignite conflict. Until I return openly to you, you will be my hands and eyes and ears at the House of Night. Act as if you want to get along with the rest of the school now that I am gone. Gain the confidence of the professors. Make friends with the blue fledglings, and then do what teenagers do best: stab each other in the back, spread rumors, create cliques.”

“That nerd herd of Zoey’s ain’t gonna trust me.”

“I told you to shut up, listen, and obey! Of course you cannot gain Zoey’s confidence—she is too close to Stevie Rae for that. But you can disrupt that tight knit circle of hers; it is not as strong as you think. Look to the Twins, particularly Erin. Water is more easily manipulated and more changeable than fire.” She paused, waiting for him to acknowledge her command. When he did not, she snapped, “Now you may speak!”

“I understand, High Priestess. I’ll obey you,” he assured her.

“Excellent. Has Aurox returned to the House of Night?”

“I haven’t seen him. At least he wasn’t rounded up with the rest of us and taken to the dorm after the fire. Did—did you set the fire?” Dallas asked hesitantly.

“Yes, though it was more fortuitous accident than purposeful manipulation. Did it cause much destruction?”

“Well, it burned up part of the stables and caused a big mess,” he said.

“Were any horses or fledglings killed?” she asked eagerly.

“No. That human cowboy was hurt, but that’s about it.”

“How disappointing. Now, go about what I have commanded. When I return and control the House of Night and rule as Tsi Sgili Goddess of all Vampyres, you will be richly rewarded.” Neferet punched the end call button.

She was sipping her wine and contemplating a slow, painful death for Charles LaFont when a noise from the bedroom tugged at her attention. She’d forgotten the young bellboy who had brazenly flirted with her when she’d arrived earlier that night. He’d been very willing to feed her then. He would be less willing now that he realized how close to draining him critically she had come. She stood and carried her half empty wineglass with her as she headed to her bedroom. She would be able to taste his fear in what was left of his blood.

Neferet smiled.

Zoey

Stevie Rae and I were supposed to meet Thanatos in her classroom. I’d called her while we were in the short bus on our way to campus. We hadn’t spoken much. All she’d said was that she knew about Neferet’s press conference and to come to her room right away.

The House of Night smelled like smoke.

The whole school reeked. As we pulled into the parking lot I realized that it didn’t just stink like smoke. Sadly I’d had enough experience to recognize the sharp scent of fear.

The normal school day hadn’t started, that much was super obvious. There were fledglings milling all around in gossipy little groups. They definitely weren’t heading to first hour. That should have been cool. I mean, what kid doesn’t love a snow day or a random water leak or whatever? But somehow it didn’t feel cool. It felt confusing and not safe.

“Okay, so, I realize it’s totally not normal for me to say this, but I think Thanatos should have made everyone go to classes today.” Aphrodite creepily echoed my thoughts again as we unloaded from the bus. “What’s going on instead is bullshit and a recipe for holy-fuck-we-can’t-make-it-without-Neferet panic.” Aphrodite made a sweeping gesture that took in the clusters of whispering fledglings as well as the vampyres and fledglings who were working at one of two grim jobs—clearing the rubble from the stables or adding to the enormous network of wooden beams and planks that would become Dragon Lankford’s funeral pyre.

“I am in agreement with you, my beauty,” Darius said grimly.

Silently, I sent up a quick but fervent prayer: Nyx, help me to say and do the right thing—and help my circle, my friends, to be strong and sure. Then I faced my group and followed my gut. “Okay, as much as I hate to admit it out loud, well, or even not out loud, Aphrodite’s right.”

Aphrodite tossed back her long blond hair. “Of course I am.”

“This school needs a big dose of normal and, sadly, I think we’re the best part of normal they’re gonna get right now.”

“That mean they’s fucked,” Kramisha said. She had on her yellow bobbed wig and stacked heels that had to have been five inches of black patent leather. Her skirt was short and super sparkly. Somehow she pulled off the crazy look, making me consider (for about 2.5 seconds) wearing heels more often.

“I’m being serious, Kramisha,” I said.

“So am I,” she said.

“Look, y’all. We can be normal. A new normal. One that’s more interestin’,” Stevie Rae said with a big grin up at Rephaim.

Aphrodite snorted. I ignored her, smiled at Stevie Rae, and kept talking. “We’re going to split up. Part of you guys go to the stables. Part of you go to Dragon’s pyre. Remember, be normal,” I said sternly. “Act like you would regularly act. We need to get a grip and help guide things back to something that seems manageable. Look, right now it feels like we’ve been attacked from everywhere. The stables were on fire. Cats were killed. Dragon’s dead. And now Neferet isn’t just an evil nutjob. She’s an evil nutjob who has involved the human community in stuff that’s way beyond their understanding or their ability to deal. We gotta be strong and visible. We gotta keep the House of Night together. Like I told Thanatos last night—we’re a lot more than bickering children and it’s about time we stand up, stand together, and get the respect we deserve.”

“Wise counsel, Priestess,” Darius said, making me want to hug him. “I will go to Dragon’s pyre and spread calm there.” He smiled warmly at Aphrodite. “Come with me. Your influence will be good for the Warriors who are bereft over the Sword Master’s death.”

“Usually, I’d say, wherever you go, I go, handsome,” Aphrodite said. “But I need a little Z time, so I’m gonna go with her to talk to Thanatos. How ’bout I meet you at the pyre afterward?”

Her words surprised me, and I thought about the fact that, except for Shaylin earlier that day, I hadn’t really talked to anyone since the reveal ritual. The bus ride back with Dragon’s body had been silent and difficult. Then there had been the fire, the dead cats, and—thankfully—sleep, though not enough of it. All of that meant no one had backed me into a corner about Aurox. Was Aphrodite getting ready to? I glanced at her. She’d tiptoed and was giving Darius a kiss. She looked like she always did—crazy about her Warrior and kinda bitchy about everything else.

“I’m gonna go with Z, too,” Stevie Rae’s voice broke into my neurotic study of Aphrodite. “When we get done talkin’ to Thanatos I’ll be out by the funeral pyre. You’re gonna be needin’ some serious grounding there, and earth is the right element for that.” She gave Rephaim a quick kiss. “Will you meet me out there?”