Hidden (House of Night #10)(47)

"I was part of the High Council when you claimed to be Erebus come to earth," Thanatos said. "What say you about that?"

"I claimed no such title. That was Neferet's doing. She strives to be a goddess, and that means she needs an immortal Consort, so she named me Erebus come to earth. I rejected that role when I rejected Neferet."

Whispers soughed through the circle like wind through trees. Thanatos lifted the torch she still held. "Silence!" Voices stilled, but shock and disbelief remained. "Kalona speaks the truth about Neferet. Dragon was killed by her creature, Aurox. He was not a gift from Nyx. Last night, during the reveal ritual at Sylvia Redbird's lavender farm, the earth showed us the terrible truth. Aurox was created by Darkness through the sacrifice of Zoey Redbird's mother. He is a Vessel under the thrall of Neferet. Darkness continues to control him through sacrifice most bloody." She pointed her torch at the three bodies atop the pyre. "I have evidence that Shadowfax's life was taken by Neferet so that Darkness maintained dominion over Aurox. For Anastasia's little Guinevere, that death was one too many. Grief stopped her heart and she willingly followed Shadowfax to the Otherworld to be reunited with those they both loved best."

Aurox's body went still. He could not even find his breath. He felt as if Thanatos had just disemboweled him. He wanted to shout: It is not true! IT IS NOT TRUE! but her words continued to bludgeon him.

"Zoey, Damien, Shaunee, Erin, Stevie Rae, Darius, Stark, Rephaim, and I!" she shouted each name. "We bore witness to Neferet's dark deeds. Dragon Lankford died so that our witness could be made public. Now we must take up the battle that felled our Sword Master. Kalona, I am pleased to hear your confession. You attempted to usurp Erebus, though it was only on earth. It is clear to the High Council that you were goaded by the machinations of Neferet. I do accept you as Death's Warrior and the school's protector, but you may not lead the Warriors who have been sworn as his sons. That would be disrespectful to the Goddess as well as her Consort." Aurox saw the immortal's eyes flash with momentary anger, but he bowed his head to Thanatos and fisted his hand over his heart before saying, "So mote it be, High Priestess." Then he backed to the edge of the circle, where anyone near him took small, but conspicuous half steps away.

Thanatos called for Shaunee to invoke fire and light the funeral pyre. As the pillar of fire engulfed Dragon Lankford's pyre, Aurox dropped from the tree and, unseen by anyone, stumbled back to the shattered oak and disappeared belowground where, alone, he sobbed his despair and self-hatred into the torn earth.

CHAPTER THIRTEEN

Zoey

"Is everything okay, Z?" Stark spoke low next to my ear as my circle group and I gathered near the entrance to the school lobby. Thanatos had asked us to wait for her to finish speaking with the professors and Warriors, and then she'd join us for the press conference.

"I'm sad about Dragon," I whispered back to him.

"I didn't mean that." He kept his voice soft, so that I was the only one who could hear him. "I meant is everything okay with the stone? I saw you touch it during the funeral."

"I thought I felt it heat up for a little while, but then it went away. It was probably just because we were standing so close to the pyre. Speaking of"-I raised my voice and said to Shaunee-"good job with the fire part of Dragon's funeral. I know it's not easy to keep lighting funeral pyres, but you help. You make it get over with faster."

"Thanks. Yeah, we're all sick of funerals. At least before this one we got to watch Dragon enter the Otherworld, but seeing the cats up there on the pyre with him made it especially sad." She wiped her eyes and I wondered how she (or anyone) could bawl and still look pretty. "Actually, that reminds me," Shaunee continued, turning so she faced Erin, who was hanging at the tail end of our group, gawking at the kids still by the pyre like she was looking for someone. "Erin, is it cool with you if I move Beelzebub's litter box and stuff to my room? He's been sleeping there most days."

Erin glanced at Shaunee, shrugged, and said, "Yeah, whatever. That litter box smells like shit anyway."

"Erin, cats don't like to use a dirty litter box. You have to clean it every day," Damien informed her with a frown.

Erin gave a sarcastic little snort. "Not anymore I don't have to." Then she returned to checking out the other kids.

I noticed she wasn't crying. I thought about it and realized she hadn't cried once during the entire funeral. At first this whole Twin breakup had seemed to freak Shaunee out the most, but as time passed I was starting to notice that Erin was not acting like herself. Although, I suppose that's normal, since acting like herself used to mean acting just like Shaunee, who was now acting a lot more mature and nicer. I made a mental note to find time to talk to Erin, to make sure she was okay.

"Dang, I wish Thanatos hadn't told Rephaim to wait with the rest of the kids on the bus. He was super upset at the funeral. I hate leaving him alone like that," Stevie Rae said, coming up beside me.

"He's not alone. He's with all the other red fledglings. I watched them walk over to the bus. Kramisha was talking to him about poetry being a way to vent emotions."

"Kramisha will baffle birdboy with her poetry crap. Blah ... blah ... rhyming iambic blah," Aphrodite said. "Plus, even you have to understand that letting the human public know about his little 'bird issue'"-she air quoted-"isn't a good idea."