Hidden (House of Night Novels) (24 page)

He does not merely work for Lenobia. She trusts him.
The realization surprised Aurox.
If a High Priestess can trust a human so much in times of stress and tumult, perhaps there is a chance that Zoey can—

No. Aurox would not allow himself to indulge in such a fantasy. He’d heard what he was. Zoey had heard what he was. They all had! He had been formed by Darkness through the lifeblood of Zoey’s mother. He was beyond her trust or her forgiveness.

There is only one person on this earth who trusts me—only one person who forgives me. It is to her that I must go.

Aurox hung there, peering through the roots and the shards of bark, waiting … watching … Finally the humans began to meander from the stables, talking about how glad they were to be within walking distance of Queenies so they could have the Ultimate Egg sandwich for lunch, and laughing. Friends always laughed.

Aurox longed to share the laughter of friends.

When their backs were to him and their voices faded, the boy pulled himself fully from the pit and, monkey-like, scaled the felled tree to where it rested against the wall of the school, and then vaulted over it.

Aurox wanted to sprint—to call the beast and tear the soil and run with all of his otherworldly might. Instead he forced himself to walk. He brushed the dirt, leaves, and grass from his clothing. He ran his fingers through the matted mess that was his hair, breaking apart the clumps of mud and blood, and combing it into some semblance of normalcy.

Normal was good. Normal was not noticed. Normal was not apprehended.

The vehicle was exactly where he’d left it the day before. The keys were still in the ignition. Aurox’s hands trembled only a little as the engine turned over and he made his way from the rear parking lot of Utica Square and headed southeast—to sanctuary.

The drive seemed to take only a moment. Aurox was thankful for that. As he turned the car down Grandma Redbird’s lane, he rolled down his windows. Even though the day was cool, he wanted to drink in the scent of lavender, and with it accept the calm it offered. Just as he accepted the sanctuary Grandma Redbird had offered.

When Aurox parked before her wide front porch, everything changed. At first he didn’t understand it—couldn’t process it. The scent hit him, but he fought the knowledge he breathed in with it.

“Grandma? Grandma Redbird?” Aurox called as he got out of the car and jogged around the side of the little cottage. He expected to find her beside the crystal stream—she belonged there. She should have been humming a joyful song. Peaceful. Secure. Safe.

She was not there.

A terrible premonition washed over him. Aurox remembered the fetid scent that had drifted to him amidst the lavender air when he’d parked before Grandma’s home.

Aurox ran.

“Grandma! Where are you?” he was shouting as he rounded the side of the cottage, his feet sliding in the loose gravel that paved the small parking space in front of the home.

Aurox grabbed the railing of the porch, and took the six stairs in two wide strides, stopping in the center of the wide, wooden deck, just before Grandma’s closed front door. Aurox yanked the door open and ran inside.

“Grandma! It’s me, Aurox, your
tsu-ka-nv-s-di-na
. I have returned!”

Nothing. She was not here. It felt wrong, so very wrong.

Aurox retraced his steps, moving to the middle of the porch. The scent was thickest there.

Darkness. Fear. Hatred. Pain. Aurox could read all those emotions and more from the blood that spattered the porch. As he stood there, breathing heavily, taking in the terrible knowledge of violence and destruction, the smoke came to him. It lifted from around his moccasin-clad feet in swirls, carrying wisps of information. Imprinted in the gray mist was an ancient song that lifted around him, feather-like. Within it Aurox could hear the echo of a courageous woman’s voice.

Aurox closed his eyes and breathed deeply.
Please,
he pleaded silently,
let me know what has happened here.

Feelings assailed him—hatred and anger. Those feelings were easy to understand, familiar. “Neferet,” he whispered. “You have been here. I scent you. I feel you.” But after the familiar emotions came those which knocked him to his knees.

Aurox felt Sylvia Redbird’s courage. He knew her wisdom and determination, and finally her fear.

He fell to his knees. “Oh, Goddess, no!” Aurox cried to the heavens. “This is Neferet’s blood, drawn by Grandma Redbird. Did Neferet kill her as she did her daughter? Where is Grandma’s body?”

There was no answer except the sighing of the listening wind and the annoying clicks and croaks of a huge raven that perched at the edge of the porch.

“Rephaim! Is that you?” Aurox ran his hands through his dirty hair while the raven stared at him, turning his head from side to side. “I wish the Goddess would take the bull within me and make me a bird. If she did I would take to the skies and fly forever and ever.”

The raven croaked at him, then spread his wings and flew away, leaving Aurox completely alone.

In equal parts Aurox wanted to weep in despair and frustration, as well as to call the beast to him and attack someone, anyone, in anger and fear.

The boy who was also a beast chose to do neither. Instead Aurox did nothing—nothing at all, except think. He sat on Grandma’s porch for a very long time, and amidst the residue of blood and smoke, fear and courage, Aurox reasoned his way to truth.

Had Neferet killed Grandma Redbird, her body would be here. She has no reason to hide her deeds. Her crimes have already been discovered. Thanatos made sure of that. So, what is it Neferet wants more than death and destruction?

The answer was as simple as it was horrible.

Neferet wants to create chaos and one very easy way to do that is to cause Zoey Redbird pain.
Aurox knew the truth of it as the thought came to him. Grandma was unique among mortals—she was a gifted leader—beloved of many. And powerful. Grandma was powerful.

Sylvia Redbird would make a more perfect sacrifice than her daughter had made.

“No!” Aurox’s mind skittered away from that terrible thought. It was also true that by capturing Zoey’s beloved grandmother, Neferet would ensure the fledgling would come after her with all of her very impressive might. In doing so she would also fragment the vampyre community and wreak havoc locally.

“Whether she is used as a sacrifice or as a hostage, as long as Neferet holds Grandma Redbird, and Zoey tries to save her, Neferet gets what she most desires—chaos and vengeance. Well, then, someone else must save Grandma.”

Aurox made his decision quickly, though he understood it could very well be the end of him. The drive back to Tulsa seemed to take an unusually long time. Aurox had time enough to think. He thought about Neferet and her callous disregard for life. He thought about Dragon Lankford and how he’d fought and vanquished the loneliness and despair that had tried to swallow his life. Aurox thought about the courage of those who stood against a foe so great that just the memory of the white bull made his insides shiver. And Aurox thought about Zoey Redbird.

It was well past sunset by the time Aurox returned to Tulsa. He did not drive to the obscure back lot of Utica Square. Instead, Aurox drove past the closed shopping center, heading east on Twenty-first Street. He turned left at the Utica Street light, and then left again a block later, entering through the front gate of the House of Night, parking not far from the empty small yellow bus.

Aurox drew a deep breath.
Be calm. Control the beast. I can do this. I must do this.
Then he got out of the car.

Aurox had thought a lot on the way from Grandma Redbird’s empty home, but he hadn’t actually considered the specifics of what he should do when he reached the House of Night. So, letting his instincts guide him, he simply began walking through campus.

It was obviously lunchtime. The scents that drifted from the cafeteria part of the main building made his mouth water, and he realized he hadn’t eaten in an entire day. Automatically, his feet moved toward the center of campus, following the food.

Just as he stepped on the sidewalk outside the entrance to the dining hall, the big wooden doors opened and a group of fledglings poured out, talking and laughing in familiar, easy voices.

Zoey saw him before anyone else did. He knew it because her eyes widened with surprise. She’d begun shaking her head and was opening her mouth as if to shout at him when Stark’s voice shot across the space between them like an arrow.

“Zoey, get back inside! Darius, Rephaim, to me. Let’s get him!”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Zoey

“I need to talk to Zoey!” Aurox shouted, and then Stark punched him squarely in his mouth and he was too busy spitting blood and falling to his knees to shout anything else.

“Stark! Holy crap! Stop it!” I tried to grab my Warrior’s arm.

“I said, get back inside!” Stark was yelling at me as he shook me off like I was an ant. He and Darius had thrown Aurox off the sidewalk and tossed him out into the school grounds and the waiting thicket of oaks where the shadows were deepest.

They’re going to beat the crap out of him!

“He’s not fighting you, Stark. He’s not hurting anyone.” I jogged after Stark and Darius, hating the muffled sounds of pain Aurox was making as they pulled him across the grass. I tried to reason with him, but Stark was seriously not listening to me. Darius didn’t even glance at me.

Then I felt Stevie Rae’s hand on my wrist. “Z, let the guys handle this.”

“No, but he’s—”

“He’s not going anywhere.” Stark kicked him and Aurox rolled into the shadows at the base of a big oak. “Even if he changes into that creature.” Stark sounded as dangerous as he looked. He’d pulled his bow from the sling across his back and had notched an arrow, pointing it directly at Aurox.

“I don’t want to change. I’m trying not to.” Aurox struggled to his knees. His head was bowed and blood spilled from his mouth onto his shirt. “If you won’t let me speak to Zoey, get Thanatos.”

“Do it,” Darius told Rephaim. “Get Kalona as well.” Rephaim took off as Darius walked up to Aurox. Aurox lifted his head. His eyes were glowing and I could see that his face was flushed. He started to stand, but Darius backhanded him, knocking him down again. Then the Warrior pulled a thin, dangerous looking knife from inside his coat and stood over him.

Aurox’s face was pressed against the pavement and I heard a terrible groan escape from him.

“You change and I will kill you,” Stark spoke slowly and clearly.

“I am trying not to!” The words sounded strange, as if they had been forced from Aurox’s throat. He turned his head then, and I could see that his face was totally contorted and his eyes were glowing. His skin was twitching and rippling like dozens of bugs were skittering around underneath the surface.

It looked disgusting and made my stomach roll.
This thing cannot be my Heath. The Seer Stone was wrong.
I put my hand over the stone and pressed it against my chest. Nothing. It wasn’t even warm.
I’d made a mistake. It had all been just another mess up by me.
I could barely think through the rush of sadness I felt.

“Try harder!” I was blinking at Aphrodite in surprise and wondering what the hell was going on, when she marched past me straight up to Aurox.

“Aphrodite, get back! He may—” Darius began, but Aphrodite interrupted him.

“He’s not gonna do shit. Bow Boy will shoot his ass. Then you’ll slit him open from crotch to throat. I couldn’t be safer if I was teaching kindergarten. Well, I’d be totally nauseated by the brats surrounding me, but you get my meaning.”

“Aphrodite, what are you doing?” I found my voice again.

She pointed a manicured nail at Aurox. “As long as you don’t attack anyone, there’s nothing here for you to fight. So control that shit that’s going on inside you. Now.” She glanced over her shoulder at me. “Get closer. We don’t need the whole damn school gawking at us like a train wreck.” Her gaze took in my circle, my friends who had closed ranks and were hurrying up behind me: Damien, Shaunee, Shaylin. Their presence along with Stevie Rae’s began to calm me, and helped me to think as she continued, “Okay, Shaylin says he’s the color of moonlight, which made me think of Nyx, which then had me realizing that anyone, even someone as disgusting as this boy-bull-thing, who makes me think of Nyx should probably be allowed to speak. That’s all. The end.”

“Yeah, sorry.” Shaylin moved closer to me and said softly, “I know it’s not what anyone wants to hear, but I totally see silver moonlight when I look at him.”

“It’s what I want to hear.” Aurox’s voice was more normal. His skin had stopped doing the nasty bug twitchy thing. His mouth was still bleeding, and the side of his face had a bright red skid mark from where he’d hit the sidewalk when Stark had punched him, but he looked like a regular kid again and not like something out of
Resident Evil.

“Don’t you fucking move,” Stark ground between his teeth. “Aphrodite, for once listen to Darius and back off. Do you not remember what he changed into?”

“He killed Dragon. He could kill you,” Darius said.

“I did not want to! I tried not to.” Aurox’s gaze found mine. “Zoey, tell them. Tell them that I tried to stop what was happening. I don’t know what happened. You believe me. I know you do. Grandma Redbird said you protected me.”

Stark took a step toward Aurox. “Do
not
talk about Zoey’s grandma!”

“That’s why I’m here! Zoey, your grandma’s in danger.”

I felt like Aurox had punched me in the gut. Stark was stepping on the back of Aurox’s neck, forcing his face into the ground and yelling something about Grandma. Darius was shouting, too. Damien had started screaming. Aurox’s face had begun to ripple again and suddenly Kalona was there. He picked up Stark in one hand and Darius in another and tossed them away. Wings fully spread, he stood over Aurox, fists closed, face looking like an immortal Hulk. He was totally going to smash Aurox into nothingness.