Destined (House of Night #9)(89)

"Okay, I'll try to lay off the speeches about staying away from Kalona, but I want you to promise me you'll think about staying away from Dragon-

at least for a little while."

"That is an easy promise to make. I already try to avoid the Sword Master because I know the sight of me causes him pain, but I will not hide. I cannot hide from Dragon any more than I can hide from my father."

She pulled back and looked at him. "We're in this together, aren't we?"

He met her gaze. "We are. Always."

"All right. Let's stay together, even if it's dangerous. I'll protect you," she said.

"And I will protect you," he agreed. Rephaim kissed her then, long and slow. He held her close for just a few moments more, letting her scent and her sweetness blanket him.

"You have to go now?" She spoke with her face buried in his chest.

"You know I do."

"I'm gonna quit asking that I go up there with you 'cause I know you don't want me to, but I want you to know that if you ever change your mind I'll be with you until the very end. 'Cause even when you're a bird, you're my bird." That made him chuckle. "I never thought of it like that, but I am your bird, and your bird needs to go out to the morning sky and stretch his wings."

"Okie dokie." He liked that she let go of him first and beamed an enthusiastic, if not totally believable smile at him. "I'll be here when you fly home."

"Good, because I will always fly home to you." He kissed her quickly, pulled on his shirt, and left their room. He was glad he'd left before his skin started that awful prickling. He hated the panicked feeling it gave him to run through the tunnels, yearning harder and harder for the aboveground world and the beckoning sky.

Just a little way from the last tunnel junction before the basement exit, he saw something move within the shadows and he automatically took a defensive stance.

"Hey, relax. It's just me."

He did relax as he recognized Shaunee's voice, followed closely by the girl herself as she emerged from the right-hand branch of the tunnel. She looked disheveled and was carrying a large plastic basket.

"hello, Shaunee," he said. "Are you well?"

"Yeah, I guess. I have one more load of my stuff to haul from Erin's room to my new place down there." She pointed her thumb behind her at the darkness. "And, yes, I know I'm gonna have to string lights."

"You need light?"

She grinned, held up her hand, palm flat, blew on it, and a little flame appeared, dancing merrily. "Well, not really, but anyone who wants to come visit probably does."

"I'll help you do that tomorrow if you'd like," he heard himself saying, and then suddenly wished he hadn't. What if she was like most of the other fledglings, and really didn't want much to do with him?

He needn't have been worried. Shaunee didn't reject him. Actually, her grin got bigger. "That'd be awesome. I was gonna try to put some up when I brought back the last load of stuff, but moving sucks and all I really want to do is curl up on my very comfy new bed and rewatch the last episode of Game of Thrones on my iPad. I really like me some Daenerys."

"Stevie Rae and I have been watching that, too. You know it has ravens in it."

"Yeah, and dragons and dead things and a cool dwarf, which should be all whatthef*ckery and crazy, which it is but in a good way." She bit her lip and looked like she was trying to decide whether to say more, so Rephaim just stood there, waiting, even when his skin began to tingle. Finally, Shaunee said in a very small voice, "Erin never liked it. She said it was too Dungeons and Dragons dorkified, and I agreed out loud with her, but I used to sneak and watch it while she was sleeping."

Rephaim wasn't sure how he should respond to that. He didn't really understand why the two girls used to need to act as if they were one person, so he also found it difficult to understand why they both, in their own ways, seemed so upset and lost now. "Maybe you could watch it with Stevie Rae and me when the new season begins?" he offered.

"Would Stevie Rae make buttered popcorn? She used to make awesome buttered popcorn."

"She still does, so yes, I'm saying she will make the popcorn. With butter."

"Oooh, yum. I'm in. And, thanks, Rephaim."

"You are welcome. I must go now..." he trailed off as he began moving away from her toward the basement exit to above.

"Hey, I heard about Aphrodite's vision. I just wanta say I hope you don't get dead."

"I hope I don't get dead, either." He paused, and then added, "If something does happen to me, would you call that phone you gave Father and tell him?"

"Yeah, of course. But nothing's gonna happen to you. I hope. And, plus, you don't have to get dead-you can call that phone whenever you want to, you know, just to talk to him."

Rephaim realized he'd never even thought of something so simple, so mundane, so normal-to just call his father. "I will. Soon," he said, and he meant it. "I'll see you after sunset."

"See ya," she called.

Then Rephaim did have to hurry through the last part of the tunnel and rush up the iron ladder and through the basement, but he didn't mind. His last thought before the raven and the sky overtook his human mind was that he was glad Shaunee and Erin had stopped being one person because Shaunee, all by herself, was a nice girl. And along with Damien and maybe even Zoey, they might possibly be the first true friends he'd ever had ...