45Here's chapter two. Glad I could update for you rather quickly, since the last chapter was so short. Thank you vampluver19 for being my first reviewer!
Chapter 2
Stark was awake and looking at me, his brown eyes finding my hazel ones. Though the blood was gone from his body, I could tell from his expression that he was still pained. I reached up, touching his arrow tattoos on his face.
"Spirit, come to me," I whispered without looking away from Stark's eyes. "Spirit, Stark has traveled to another realm for me, to protect me, and in doing so, wounds were inflicted upon his body. Please, Spirit, travel into Stark and strengthen and help heal him." Then, though it wasn't a necessity, I kissed Stark. I could feel spirit flowing into Stark, leaving me weak and staggering slightly but I managed to hold myself up over the stone table.
"Priestess, you must rest. Your body and spirit has been through a strenuous ordeal," Darius said from behind me. The warrior put a steadying hand on my elbow.
"Not without Stark," I said firmly, grabbing Stark's hand.
"Well duh, Z, we're not just going to leave Stark here to bleed his guts out," Aphrodite snapped but I could swear that she sounded happy.
"Nice to see you too, Aphrodite," I said, turning around. I didn't even turn around fully when she pulled me into a hug.
"If you ever did that again, I swear I'll kill you…or have Darius kill you," she muttered in my ear, squeezing me tightly before releasing me.
"When you two stop being all nice to each other, I would like to go up to our room," Stark said from behind me. Before I could suggest Darius carry him up there, Stark went on, "I'm not even bleeding anymore." I looked back at him to see that he was right. His wounds no longer were red and raw but pinkish and shiny, like they were several days, or weeks, into the healing process.
"Shit…did you do—you never told me you could heal," Aphrodite accused angrily, glaring at me.
"I can't—or I couldn't—heal," I protested loudly, still admiring the scars that I could nearly see healing before my eyes.
"I believe that Zoey's journey has strengthened her," the woman that had been on the throne said mildly but I could see her interest.
"Who the hell are you?" I asked. It had hardly occurred to me before.
"I am Sgiach and my guardian is Seoras. Welcome to the Isle of Sgiach, Zoey." At my expression, which I'm sure was quizzical, she went on to explain what had happened in the last few days, Aphrodite adding clips as she went along. "And as I was saying, I believe that your journey to Nyx's realm has strengthened your affinity of the elements or, perhaps, Nyx has gifted you with a whole new affinity: an affinity for healing."
I frowned. "I don't think I have a new affinity…I was using spirit, I could feel spirit leaving me and entering Stark."
"Either way, it is a valuable gift, especially as the Tulsa House of Night no longer has a healer," Sgiach said, referring to Neferet.
"Tell me about it. We could have used this gift after the Raven Mockers attacked the school," Aphrodite muttered hatefully.
"Priestess, if we are going to go to your room we should go now. The sun will be rising soon and it will make the trip up there easier if we don't have to cover the windows." Darius shot a meaningful glance at Stark.
"Yeah, we should. You can walk?" I asked Stark. He must have seen the worried look on my face because he smiled softly and nodded. In response, I let him take my hand and then when he stood up, I placed an arm around his waist to help support him.
Stevie Rae
Stevie Rae did not know where Rephaim was and she tried to make herself uncaring. By now he could he miles away from Tulsa, heading towards Italy to be with Kalona. When she had walked away from him, she didn't know what to expect. Maybe for him to catch her by the arm as he had done before, stopping her. But he hadn't. He had just said that he wanted to be with her but then the return of Kalona, his daddy, and Zoey had complicated everything. Perhaps if it had only been Zoey he would have agreed that they could stay together but after generations of being with his daddy, could Stevie Rae really expect him to ignore his daddy's return and stay with her? It hurt her to admit that the answer was no, she could never have expected that of him, no matter how much she had wished.
Stevie Rae couldn't even tell if the bond was weaker or not, and that was sad. No, she felt it now. Her own feelings were obscuring it too much but she could feel his confusion and anger, at himself and…at her? She couldn't tell. But he was flying. She could make herself concentrate on him enough to pick up the wild exhilaration that came with flight, despite his other feelings.
"It's hotter than a firecracker out here," Stevie Rae muttered to herself, shifting angrily. "Ah hell!" Stevie Rae stopped on the sidewalk, crossing her arms in front of her chest. She was on Gilcrease Road and she had no way of getting home. Dallas had taken off in her car. Stevie Rae sighed and started walking now, at a slightly faster pace but making herself concentrate on the earth. Before she had regained her humanity she hadn't had a car, she had had to travel on foot. She certainly was able but it was annoying slow compared to driving.
When Stevie Rae finally returned to the school, there was only an hour left in the night. It didn't take long for Lenobia to find her.
"Stevie Rae! There you are, we were wondering where you had gotten off to, you had us worrying," Lenobia said, calm as ever.
"Sorry Professor, I told you in the message that Dallas took off with my car so I decided to walk rather than have someone pick me up. I could have gotten here sooner but I took my time so I could think."
"Well, you're here now," Lenobia said, "I'm going to be in the stables if you need me."
"Thanks but I'm sure I'll be fine. I'll be in my room, I need to call Aphrodite. If Dallas appears, can you have someone tell me?" Stevie Rae asked.
"Of course. Good night, Priestess." Stevie Rae waved good bye at Lenobia and made her way to the dorm. When she got there and stepped inside, she didn't fail to notice how much of the room suddenly went quiet. All except Kramisha, that is.
"Stevie Rae, girl, can I sleep in your room tonight? Zoey's bed is still empty—wait, did you hear that she returned to her body?" Kramisha asked, taking Stevie Rae by the arm and leading her up the stairs.
"Yeah, I did, its wonderful news," Stevie Rae answered immediately. "Why are we going straight up here?"
"Huh? Oh, um, well, you see, the news about Dallas freaking out on you has been spread around and everyone is saying that all the other red vampyres will do the same. A little hostile down there right now." Kramisha sat down on Zoey's bed with a bounce. "Now tell me the details about Dallas's 'freak out,'" she demanded, staring hard at Stevie Rae.
"Oh well," Stevie Rae started. She would have to lie to Kramisha. "You know about his affinity for electricity? We were in the tunnels and he started messing around, testing it. I told him to be careful 'cause, ya know, these types of affinities can be shifty and you don't want to do anything that can make it mad because then you never really know what might happen." Stevie Rae was about to say more about it but she figured that she had already lost Kramisha on that part with her rambling. "Anyways, I think it kinda zapped him or something 'cause he suddenly started acting really weird. Well, I thought it was just a short side-effect of the zap, ya know? So we started driving and then before we had gotten far, he told me to get out of the car. So there we were, both standing outside the car. And he was rambling something about him cheating on me, even though I told him I wasn't—I broke it off with that other guy, by the way. Well, then he started ranting about how wonderful Darkness was and then I saw the tendrils of Darkness…" Stevie Rae shivered now, her speech slowing. "And…he-he embraced it. It Changed him, Kramisha, somehow Darkness Changed him…His tattoos are like whips, like electrical wires almost." Stevie Rae broke off, blinking tears out of her eyes. It hurt her that Dallas had rejected the mere idea of Rephaim and her together so much but then again, she couldn't have expected anything more.
"Ah, honey, it's okay," Kramisha said, moving towards Stevie Rae and putting an arm around her shoulders.
"Thanks, Kramisha. Come on, we better get to sleep," Stevie Rae said, changing the subject and pulling the blankets back on her bed. Kramisha looked like she wanted to say more but instead went to Stevie Rae's dresser, taking out some of Stevie Rae's pajamas.
"Good night, Stevie Rae." Kramisha went into the bathroom to change. Stevie Rae considered going to sleep in her clothes but she decided against it; they were, after all, sweaty and dirty. She wouldn't bother with a shower tonight though, she decided while getting changed. She was in bed before Kramisha came out of the bathroom.
"Good night, Rephaim," Stevie Rae whispered to herself before falling asleep.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter and please, please review. Critics always welcomed.