Hidden (House of Night #10)(63)

"I do not know. I only know that Neferet battled with her. Grandma Redbird drew her blood, and now they are both gone. I am sorry, Zo."

"Don't you ever, ever call me that again," I said.

Beside me, I could see Stark had narrowed his eyes and was studying Aurox like a fly he wanted to pull the wings off of.

"You are not Heath Luck," Stark said. He kept his voice pitched low, but it was obvious that he was ready to explode.

Aurox shook his head, looking utterly confused. "I am Aurox. I do not know this Heath Luck."

"Damn right you don't," Stark said. "So, like Zoey said, don't ever call her Zo again. You couldn't even wipe the shoes of the guy who used to call her that."

"Does Heath Luck have something to do with Grandma Redbird?" Aurox asked.

"No!" I cut off whatever pissed-off thing Stark was getting ready to say. "And we really need to focus on finding Grandma."

"I may know where Neferet has taken Sylvia Redbird," Kalona said. We all stared at him expectantly. "She has a penthouse suite at the Mayo Hotel. The entire balcony is hers. The walls are solid marble and leak no sounds. She has all the privacy that her wealth can purchase. She could have taken Sylvia Redbird there."

"How could she have done that?" I asked, even though I wanted very much to believe finding Grandma was as easy as following Neferet to her penthouse. "Grandma wouldn't have just walked in there with her, and even though the mayor and City Council seem to be kissing her butt, no way is the staff of the Mayo going to ignore the fact that she's dragging an old woman through their lobby."

"You have seen her move silently, invisibly. I daresay you can appear and disappear fairly easily yourself, Zoey Redbird," Thanatos said.

"Well, yeah, I can. Sorta. But I don't think I can make someone else invisible."

"Neferet can," Aurox said solemnly. "That and much more. Your goddess has gifted her with power. The white bull has gifted her with power. And what power she hasn't been gifted with, she steals through pain and death and deception. She is bloated with it."

"It would be a mistake to underestimate Neferet," Thanatos agreed.

"Then we need to go to her penthouse and make her let Grandma go," I said.

"Hang on," Stark said. "How do we know he's not making this all up as a way to get us to go after Neferet?"

"I am not Neferet's creature!" Aurox cried.

"You sure as hell were two nights ago. Dragon Lankford is dead because of it," Stark shot back at him.

"Stark has a point," Stevie Rae said. "Try callin' your grandma."

Glad I had something to do, I pulled out my phone and punched Grandma's number. As it rang, Thanatos said, "If she does not answer, sound normal. Leave her a message about the open house. If Neferet has taken her, she may have access to Sylvia's phone as well."

I nodded and felt my stomach sink when she didn't answer and Grandma's familiar voice said she wasn't available, but that she would call right back. I took a deep breath, and after the beep tried to sound as normal as possible.

"Hey there, Grandma, sorry to be calling you so late. I'm glad you have your phone on silent, though, so I'm not waking you up." My voice started to shake, but before I could fall totally apart and burst into tears Stark's strong arm slid around my shoulders. I leaned into him and spoke quickly, hoping I sounded perky and not hysterical. "I don't know if you saw the news yet, but Thanatos announced that we're having a big open house and job fair and basically inviting all of Tulsa. It's a charity for Street Cats, too, and a way to make Neferet look as crazy as she is and us look, well, not crazy," I added, thinking so there, you hateful hag! "Anyway, it's this coming Saturday, and Thanatos asked me to ask you if you'd help us coordinate with Sister Mary Angela. I told her I thought you'd be totally cool with that, so call me as soon as you can and I'll give you the details, 'kay? I love you, Grandma! I really, really love you! Bye."

Stark took the phone from me and pressed the END call button. Then he pulled me into his arms as I did, indeed, burst into tears. During my shaking and snotting I felt another hand touch my back and recognized the calm presence of earth. Then another hand touched me, and air brushed softly against me. Yet another hand joined the others, and fire warmed me. Spirit, that was already present, settled within me, calming my tears and allowing me to pull back from Stark enough to smile shakily at my friends.

"Thanks, guys. I'm better now," I said.

"Well, you will be after you blow your nose," Stark gently kidded as he handed me a balled up tissue from his pocket.

"You're a mess, Z. That's for damn sure," Aphrodite said. She was shaking her head, but she was also standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the rest of my circle-showing solidarity-showing support.

"I am not lying." I looked from my friends to see that Aurox had stood. He was facing Thanatos. Darius and Kalona had positioned themselves protectively between him and the High Priestess. Aurox turned his head and his eyes met mine. I was shocked to see tears standing in them. He looked almost as devastated as I felt. Then he faced the High Priestess and begged, "Chain me up. Lock me away. I will take whatever punishment you mete out to me, but please, for the sake of Sylvia Redbird, believe me. I am not in league with Neferet. I despise her. I hate that she created me from death and pain. In order to control me, she must have Darkness take over my body and awaken the creature within. High Priestess, you know that is true."