45Sorry for taking so very long to update. I haven't had much time lately to write and in the time I have had, I haven't had very much inspiration. Procedure is the same, please review and enjoy! Thanks for all the reviews so far, I love them all!
Chapter 5
"Well, you should have everything here that you need," Stevie Rae said, finishing the careful task of arranging provisions beside the closet. "We'll have to find you a new place to stay soon. With a the power being restored, it won't be long until humans come back here."
"Thank you, Stevie Rae," Rephaim answered. He had an armful and blankets that Stevie Rae had directed him to take and dumped them in the closet. Stevie Rae could tell by his look of disgust that he hated staying in the closet.
"Rephaim? I…I think I'm going to tell Zoey about you. I don't want to continue keeping secrets from her," Stevie Rae said slowly, keeping her back to him.
"Do you think that is wissse?" Rephaim asked her with the hiss that disturbed her so much. Stevie Rae knew that the hiss meant that he was either agitated or angry. She hoped it wasn't the latter.
"She's my BFF—my best friend, she won't lead an army here to kill you. And…if it goes wrong, I'll tell you through the Imprint to get out. But it won't," she added hastily, finally turning to look at Rephaim. "I'll make sure that she understands that you are dangerous."
"But I am," Rephaim reminded her. "You know what I have done."
"We've been over this!" Stevie Rae nearly shouted. "Just because your daddy is a crazy evil man and you have been his favorite son for, well, generations, that does not mean you can't change. Everyone else sees an even Raven Mocker but I've seen the other part of you and I can tell that you are not meant for evil."
"I was born from—" Rephaim started but Stevie Rae cut him off.
"From rape and hate, I know. So you have been bad in the past but no one is meant for bad, they just turn bad. Your daddy loved and served Nyx at one point, you don't think that you can't turn to her too?" This time, Rephaim remained silent as if thinking over what she had said. "Now, I've got to go before Lenobia comes to find me—we're picking Zoey up from the airport."
"Will you tell her then?" Rephaim asked quietly.
"I think so. I'm sorry, Rephaim, but I need to tell her. She won't hate you if I explain. Stay here, please?" Stevie Rae pleaded, looking up at Rephaim with her blue eyes huge.
Rephaim hesitated but nodded. "If you believe that it will be fine then yes, I'll stay."
"Thank you. She'll help us, I know it. Stay here and I'll see you soon, 'kay?"
"Okay," Rephaim said slowly.
"Great. Bye!" Stevie Rae called, waving over her shoulder as she hurried out of the museum. She had been in there a half hour—what would she tell Lenobia?
Fifteen minutes later, Stevie Rae pulled her car in beside Lenobia's. Lenobia was sitting in the car and at the sight of Stevie Rae, she got out.
"Good, you're here, let's go in. Zoey's plane should land in about ten minutes," Lenobia said, making sure to lock the doors of her car. Stevie Rae nodded, not saying anything about where she had been because Lenobia had not asked.
"Isn't it going to be weird for a bunch of vampyres to be walking through the airport?" Stevie Rae asked when Lenobia lead the way to the entrance doors.
"Very much so," Lenobia answered pleasantly. "But we will be. The security has been informed and they'll be on the watch to prevent any fights. We may be vampyres, Stevie Rae, but we should never be ashamed of that. People of Faith may hate us but not all humans feel that way." Stevie Rae nodded in agreement, thinking of her own mama who had never hated her for being Marked.
"Well then, let's do this," Stevie Rae muttered to herself, holding the door open for Lenobia.
"Remember, don't look down, look up," Lenobia murmured to her, taking long strides like a horses in grace and ease.
"Right. Where are we meeting them?" Stevie Rae asked, trying to match her steps with Lenobia's. After a few tries, she gave up and studied the humans out of the corner of her eyes as she walked. They were, of course, staring at the vampyre pair, one with sapphire tattoos and the other with red ones.
"The baggage claim. The airport is putting aside one of the currently empty ones for us, to make it easier," Lenobia answered, following the signs to the baggage claim.
If Stevie Rae had thought it was weird while walking through the airport, it was just plain awkward when they were sitting on a bench next to the baggage claim. The humans weren't even trying to disguise the fact that they were gawking. When Zoey and the gang came, a path parted that lead them straight to Stevie Rae and Lenobia. The instant Stevie Rae caught sight of Zoey she jumped up with a shriek and ran at her BFF.
"Z!" Stevie Rae cried, wrapping her arms around Zoey.
"Stevie Rae, I missed you so much," Zoey sniffed, hugging Stevie Rae back.
"Stop it before you start snotting," Aphrodite said from beside Zoey. "And that is unattractive enough at home—don't do it in the airport too."
"Oh, be quiet hag," Shaunee said. It sounded like she was smiling.
"Oh shit. Does she look familiar to you?" Aphrodite asked, to either one of the Twins or Damien and Jack. It was obvious she wasn't talking to Z. Stevie Rae looked up and over Zoey's shoulder, at Aphrodite. She was pointing at a two people, trying to be discreet and failing. Stevie Rae studied the two people, knowing that they were familiar. They both had dark hair; the man had skinny legs and a gut which was, as Aphrodite would say, highly unattractive. Stevie Rae would bet anything that if she could see his eyes they would be an ugly, dull brown. And, to top it all off, he was heading towards them, reluctantly trailed by the women.
"Step-loser alert," Stevie Rae whispered to Zoey and immediately Zoey stepped back, wiping her eyes with her sleeve.
"Let's go," Lenobia instantly said, moving as if to draw them away.
"No, let's see what he wants," Zoey said, turning to face John Heffer, her step-father but called the step-loser. Stevie Rae also turned around to she was on Zoey's right side and Stark was on her left. Almost unthinkingly, the rest of the fledglings joined the line. John's eyes widened but he didn't stop moving towards them.
"How dare you taint a place such as this where there are children with your evilness," John snarled as he got within hearing range.
"Perhaps you see some evil that I do not then," Zoey replied mildly, looking around pointedly. "All I see is the humans and my friends and, of course, you. Unless…Maybe you mean yourself?"
The words made John furious and he raised his fist. "Your snark does not belong here, devil worshipper."
"John, we've been over this. Nyx is not the devil. In fact, I have been lead to speculate recently that Nyx and Mary are really the same but in different forms," Zoey said, calm as she had been before. Stevie Rae could only tell from her tense shoulders what she really thought of this conversation and, of course, the step-loser.
"Take your blasphemous words out of here!" John stuttered. For a few moments, Stevie Rae thought it looked like he was about to have a heart attack. When Zoey's mama Linda placed her hand on his shoulder, he jerked roughly away from her touch.
"John, don't you ever get tired of saying the same thing over and over?" Aphrodite butt in before Z could respond. "I mean, really, you sound like a freaking parrot. And one more thing. Your legs? What are you thinking wearing shorts with those legs? Not right at all."
"The hag from hell," Shaunee began.
"Has a point," Erin finished. Both were eyeing John's legs critically.
"They don't look right at all, Twin," Shaunee said.
"No, not at all. And his shorts are way too short," Erin added, wrinkling her nose.
"Definitely. And look at his eyes. They look like what Duchess throws up."
"Hey!" Jack protested loudly, his eyes huge. Stark laughed and bumped Jack on the shoulder.
"Silence!" John proclaimed, holding up an arm. Erin's eyebrows popped up and Shaunee's mouth dropped open.
"You did not just tell us to shut up!" Shaunee said loudly, glaring at John. "I should burn you with fire, you know that?"
"And I should drown you with water," Erin added, bringing her hands together so she was clasping them tight.
"But we will do neither," Zoey broke in, fixing both of them with a hard glare. "And nor shall we suffocate him with air or have a whole bunch of plants start growing on him or zap him with spirit." If John was puzzled before, he was completely confused—and enraged—now.
"I could sue you, you know that?" John spluttered. His face was turning red as his anger grew. "You do realized that you just threatened one of the People of Faith Elders?"
"I wouldn't call it threatening," Zoey said, her eyes focused on her mama, hovering behind John. Stevie Rae watched Linda too, trying to decipher the mix of emotions on her face. "Now, if you don't mind, I'd like to go home—to the House of Night. It's pretty exhausting having your soul shattered and almost dying, which I'm sure you'll understand." Linda looked shocked but John didn't move. "That means move out of our way, please," Zoey added, still looking at Linda. Finally, John moved out of the way. Zoey lead the way, brushing past him.
"You will all burn in hell," John hissed as we passed. Shaunee and Erin looked at him with amusement.
"Dude, my Twin here is fire," Erin said, jerking her head towards Shaunee.
"Yeah. And if we were burning, sister here would put it out with water," Shaunee declared, hooking her arm in Erin's and walking purposefully away.
"Go to the car," Stevie Rae heard John command Zoey's mama. "I'll get the bags." Linda said something that Stevie Rae couldn't hear and hurried off—in the same direction as them but that was only because that was the direction the parking lot was in. When they were out of sight of John, Linda hurried over to them.
"Zoey, dear, what happened?" she asked, looking frantically worried.
"Well, Heath was killed, my soul shattered, and Stark here nearly died to save me," Zoey told her without stopping.
"Wait, Heath was killed?" Linda said, resting a hand on Zoey's shoulder.
"Yes."
"Honey, stop and talk to me," Linda pleaded. Zoey did stop, turning slightly to face her mama.
"Are you still with John?" Zoey asked, though Stevie Rae knew that Zoey knew the answer.
"Zoey, don't start this. You know how much he has done for us—" Linda started but Zoey cut her off.
"Yeah, he'll love you as long as you're not a vampyre. But the second you are, he'll kick you out of the house. Mom, when you're with him you can't act like I'm your daughter so why should I act like you're my mom? You know, I could really have used you this past year but you had to get yourself kicked out of the House of Night. Look at this, mom." Zoey held up her arm, showing Linda the swirls tattooed there. "I have more of these and each one has a story about what has happened to me. Stories that you'll never be able to understand or know about while you're with him."
"But Zoey…"
"I need to get back to the House of Night, mom. I do love you, mom, but good-bye." Zoey kissed her mom's cheek and then pulled away.
"Priestess, the hummer is here. Are you ready to go?" Darius asked Zoey.
"Of course," Zoey answered immediately. "Sorry, mom, but this is how it has to be."
"Zoey?" Stevie Rae grabbed Zoey's arm and held her back from the group a bit. "Do you want to drive back with me? I have something I need to tell you."
"Sure, Stevie Rae. Let me go tell Stark," she said, hurrying forward to where Stark waited. They talked for a few moments and, though Stark looked reluctant, he nodded.
Zoey
"So, what's this about, Stevie Rae?" I asked her after we pulled out of the airport parking lot.
"So…um, there's someone you need to know about," she started hesitantly.
"Is it a guy?" I asked.
"Well…kind of. Let me talk." So then Stevie Rae told me everything. Everything about how she had found Rephaim and helped heal him, how he had saved her from Darkness and then how she had used Light to save him in return. About how he had saved her on the rooftop and then they had imprinted. When she was finished, I was utterly shocked. I could have considered a thousand things that she might tell me about but this would never have occurred to me.
I'll try to update again as soon as possible. Hopefully there won't be so much time between chapters this time. Please review!