Burned (House of Night #7)(57)

"I'm gonna go see the guy, and I don't want anyone to know about it!" Stevie Rae blurted.

Kramisha cocked her head to the side. "That's more like it. He ain't a fledgling or a vamp, is he?"

"No," Stevie Rae said with absolute honesty. "He's someone no one would like."

"He ain't abusing you, is he? 'Cause that's some wrong shit, and I know some females who been caught up in it and can't get their way out."

"Kramisha, I can make earth rise up and kick someone's ass. No guy would ever hit me. Ever."

"So that means he a human and he married."

"I promise he's not married," Stevie Rae evaded.

"Huh," Kramisha snorted through her nose. "Is he an ass**le?"

"I don't think he is."

"Love sucks."

"Yep," Stevie Rae said. "But I'm not sayin' I'm in love with him," she added hastily. "All I'm sayin' is that - "

"He's messin' with your head, and you do not need that right now." Kramisha pursed her lips up, thinking. "Okay, how 'bout this: I get one of the nuns to take me back to the House of Night, and when everbody stresses 'bout you bein' out here all alone, I just tell them you needed to visit a human, so you ain't technically alone - and I ain't lying, either."

Stevie Rae thought about it. "Do you have to tell them it's a human guy?"

"I'll just say human and say they need to mind they own business. I'll only say guy if someone asks me specifically."

"Deal," Stevie Rae said.

"You know you gonna have to come clean about him sooner or later. And if he ain't married, there's really no issue. You're a High Priestess. You can have a human mate and a vamp consort at the same time."

It was Stevie Rae's turn to snort. "And you think Dallas is gonna be okay with that?"

"He will be if he wants to be with a High Priestess. All vampyres know that."

"Well, Dallas isn't a vampyre yet, so it might be a little much to ask of him. And here's the truth - I know it'll hurt his feelings, and I don't want to do that."

Kramisha nodded. "I can tell you don't, but I think you makin' too much of this. Dallas will have to learn to deal. What you need to figure out is if this human guy is worth it."

"I know that, Kramisha. That's what I'm tryin' to do. So, bye. I'll see you at the House of Night in a little while." Stevie Rae started to walk quickly toward the Bug.

"Hey!" Kramisha called after her. "He ain't black, is he?"

Thinking of Rephaim's night-colored wings Stevie Rae paused and looked over her shoulder at Kramisha. "What difference does his color make?"

"It make a lot of difference if you're ashamed of him," she shot back.

"Kramisha, that's just silly. No. He's not black. And, no, I wouldn't be ashamed of him if he was. Jeeze.

Bye. Again."

"Just checkin'."

"Just soundin' crazy," Stevie Rae muttered as she turned back to the parking lot.

"I heard that," Kramisha said.

"Good!" Stevie Rae yelled. She got into Zoey's Bug and headed toward the Gilcrease Museum, talking to herself out loud. "No, Kramisha, he's not black. He's a killer bird with evil for his daddy, and it's not just white folks and black folks who would be pissed at me bein' with him - it's all folks!" And then, completely surprising herself, Stevie Rae started to laugh.

Chapter Eighteen

Rephaim

When Rephaim opened his eyes, he saw Stevie Rae squatting in front of his closet nest, studying him so intently that there was a deep furrow on her brow between her eyes, making her red crescent tattoo look oddly wavy. Her blond curls spilled around her face, and she seemed so girl-like that he was suddenly taken aback by remembering how young she really was. And, no matter the vastness of her elemental powers, how vulnerable her youth made her. The thought of her vulnerability had fear knifing his heart.

"Hey there. You awake?" she said.

"Why are you staring at me like that?" he asked in a purposefully gruff voice, annoyed that just the sight of her could make him worry about her safety.

"Well, I'm tryin' to figure out how close you've come to dyin' this time."

"My father's an immortal. I'm hard to kill." He made himself sit up without grimacing.

"Yeah, I know about your daddy and your immortal blood and all, but Darkness fed from you. A lot.

That can't be good. Plus, to be honest, you look really bad."

"You don't," he said. "And Darkness fed from you, too."

"I'm not as hurt as you because you swooped in like Batman and saved the day before that dang nasty bull could mess me up too much. Then I got a shot in the arm from Light, which was totally cool, by the way. And that immortal blood of yours is like the Energizer Bunny inside me."

"I am not a bat," was all he could think to say, as that was the only thing she'd said he vaguely understood.

"I didn't compare you to a bat, I said you were like Batman. He's a superhero."

"I'm not a hero, either."