Destined (House of Night #9)(32)

"Um, th-thanks," I stuttered, and had just started thinking that I was going to have to come up with a non-awkward way to respond to people who were telling me they were sorry my mom was dead when Kramisha continued with, "Z, I know it ain't good timin', but we got us a problem." I stifled another sigh. "We, as in me, or we as in you?"

"We think this problem might spil over onto all of us," Stevie Rae said.

"Great," I said.

"Zoey, this is Shaylin." Erik introduced me to the unfamiliar girl, who was studying me like she wished she had me under a microscope. Jeesh, it was a pain to meet new kids.

"Hi, Shaylin," I said, trying to sound normal while I ignored her stare.

"Purple," she said.

"I thought Erik said your name was Shaylin," I said, even though I wanted to shriek Yes! It's me! The one with the weird tattoos!

"My name is Shaylin." She gave me a really warm, really nice smile. "You're purple."

"She's not Purple, she's Zoey," Stark said, sounding as confused as I felt.

"You're also flecks of silver." Shaylin finished staring at me and then turned her gaze to him. "You're red and gold and a little black. Huh. That's weird."

"Okay, I'm not-"

"Oh, for shit's sake," Aphrodite interrupted, pointing at Shaylin. "This new kid's name is Shaylin, and she's not calling you colors, she's seeing your colors."

"My colors? I don't have a clue what that means," I said, frowning at Aphrodite and then giving Shaylin a big question mark look.

"I don't really know what it means, either," Shaylin said. "It just happened to me, right after I was Marked."

"I think Shaylin has been gifted with something called True Sight," Damien said. "It's rare. I think there's something about it in the Advanced Fledgling Handbook, but I only peeked at one of those." He looked embarrassed and apologetic. "I didn't really study it."

"Damien, you're only a forth former. It wasn't part of your classwork," Stevie Rae said.

"hello, talk about homework obsessed," Erin muttered.

"Seriously," Shaunee added.

"Look." I raised my voice so everyone would gawk at me instead of launching into the bickering I was pretty sure was getting ready to start. "I don't know what True Sight is, but if it's a gift, and I'm assuming you mean from Nyx, then why is that a problem?" I said.

"She's a red fledgling," Aphrodite said.

"So? There's a whole short bus full of them," I said, gesturing behind them.

"Yeah, and each of us had to die and then un-die before we got us these." Kramisha pointed at the red outline of a crescent moon on her forehead.

I stared at her, then at the new kid, and then my mind caught up with my eyes. I looked at Erik. "You just Marked her in red?"

"No. Yes." Erik shook his head and looked worried as hell. "I didn't mean to. I Marked her. Okay, yes, it didn't go exactly according to plan, but that was because she was blind, and that surprised me." We all stared at him and he ran his hand through his thick, dark hair. His shoulders slumped. Then he added, "I messed up, and that's why she's a red fledgling and can see our colors."

"You didn't mess up, Erik." It looked like Shaylin started to reach out to pat Erik's arm, but halfway through the motion changed her mind. Her gaze moved to me and she continued, "Before he Marked me I was blind. I've been blind since I was a kid. The second he Marked me I could see again, and that's not a mess up. That's amazing."

"Ah! I knew I felt a new fledgling!" At the sound of Neferet's voice we all jumped like she'd Tasered us. She was hurrying toward us, her long green velvet gown sweeping the ground and making it appear as if she was gliding instead of walking (which was super creepy). "Merry meet, I am Neferet, your High Priestess." She turned her attention briefly to Erik, and I could see displeasure flash in her eyes. "Professor Night, you should not have brought the child here." Neferet reached Shaylin and made a graceful, apologetic gesture to her. "Young fledgling, the Tracker should have instructed you to come to the female dormitory where you will join the rest of the-" She broke off when she finally saw Shaylin's Mark.

"Yeah," I said, unable to keep my mouth shut any longer. "She's red. Which means she is in the right place."

"And I'm her High Priestess. Not you," Stevie Rae finished for me.

"Oh! You're ... oh, I don't feel well!" Shaylin was staring at Neferet when she suddenly collapsed. Erik caught her before she conked her head on the ground, managing to look scared and hero-like at the same time. (Seriously, he's an excellent actor.)

"She's been through a lot," Aphrodite said, stepping up to stand toe to toe with Neferet. "She needs to go home. To the depot. With us. Now." I held my breath as Neferet's eyes narrowed and her gaze flicked around at each kid in our group. All vampyres are intuitive, but Neferet is more than that. She can read minds. Well, most fledglings' minds-or at least the surface of their thoughts. I sent a quick, silent prayer up to the Goddess: Please let each of them think about everything and anything except the fact that this new kid may have True Sight-whatever that is.