Hunted (House of Night #5)(97)

"You had another vision," I said.

She nodded.

"Ah, crap. Did I get killed again?"

I heard Lenobia's shocked intake of breath. "Uh, long story," I said.

"No, dork. You did not get killed. Again," Aphrodite said. "But I got a flash of the war--the same one I saw before--only this time I recognized the Raven Mockers." She paused, shuddering. "Did you know they can rape women? Not a comfortable vision to have. Anyway, Neferet hooked up with Kalona to fulfill her crazy war-with-the-humans scheme."

"But last time you had the war vision, saving Zoey kept it from happening," Damien said. "I know that. I'm Vision Girl, remember? What I don't know is why this one was different, except that now Kalona has been added into the mix. And, well, I hate to clue you in about this, 'cause it's more than a little frightening, but Neferet has totally gone over to the Dark Side. She's turning into something, and it's like no vampyre lthei^;we've ever known before."

Something clicked inside me, and as the pieces of the puzzle were fitting together, I knew what was happening. "She's becoming Queen Tsi Sgili, the first vampyre Tsi Sgili, and that's something we've never known before." I said it in a voice that sounded as cold as I felt.

"Yeah. That's what I saw," Aphrodite said, looking pale. "I also know that the war starts right here in Tulsa."

"So the Council they want to take over must be the Council at this House of Night," I said.

"Council?" Lenobia said.

"It's too much to explain right now. Let's just say it's a good thing that they're only thinking regionally and not globally," I said.

"It stands to reason if we make Kalona and, hopefully, Neferet with him, flee Tulsa, then perhaps the war won't start," Darius said.

"Or at least it won't start here," I said. "And that might give us time to figure out how to get rid of him permanently, since he seems to be a main player in the war."

"It is Neferet," Lenobia said in a voice so calm it almost sounded dead. "She is the impetus behind Kalona. She has desired a war against the humans for many years." She met my eyes. "You may have to kill her."

I blanched. "Kill Neferet! No way. I'm not doing that!"

"You might have to," Darius said.

"No!" I cried again. "If I was supposed to kill Neferet, I wouldn't have this horrible sickness in my gut just thinking about it. Nyx would let me know that it was her will, but I can't believe killing a High Priestess of hers would ever be the Goddess's will."

"Ex-High Priestess," Damien said.

"Is High Priestess a job you can really lose?" Shaunee asked.

"Yeah, isn't it one of those `for life' things?" Erin said.

"Plus, is she really a High Priestess if she's turning into something else, like Queen Tsi Sgili?" Aphrodite added.

"Yes! No!" I babbled. "I don't know. Let's just get off the subject of killing Neferet. I so cannot go there."

I saw Darius, Lenobia, and Aphrodite exchange a long look, which I definitely chose to ignore. Then Lenobia said, "Back to getting all of you out of here. I think that is something we need to do now."

"Right now?" Shaunee said.

"Like this second?" Erin chimed in.

"The sooner the better," I said. "I mean, I can feel your elements, and I know they're protecting your thoughts, but the truth is, if Neferet is trying to break into your minds, she'll know something is going on when she comes up against an elemental wall. She just won't know exactly what." I glanced around, half expecting her to be floating like a bloated, spectr$ q ^ Mal spider in the shadows. "She's also appeared twice to me like a disgusting ghost, so I say we need to get the hell out of here. Now."

"I don't like the sound of that," Erin said.

"Tell me about it," I said. "But getting out of here is going to be a problem. The weather is definitely not helping us. I couldn't even walk from the main building to the stables without almost breaking my butt. I had to use fire to melt some of the stupid ice." I glanced at Shaunee and smiled a little sheepishly.

"Wait, what did you say about using the element fire to melt the ice?" Lenobia broke in.

I shrugged. "I was just sick of almost falling. So I focused some flame on the sidewalk. It melted the ice with no problem."

"Actually, easy-peasy," Shaunee said. "I've done it myself."

Lenobia looked increasingly excited. "Do you think you could project flame specifically enough that it could melt the ice beneath your feet as a group if you moved?"

"Yeah, I think so. If we could figure out some way that it wouldn't burn our feet, too. I don't know how long I could do it, though." I glanced questioningly at Shaunee.

She nodded. "Sure, I could help, and it wouldn't even burn my feet. With the two of us joined together we could make it last longer than either of us trying to do it by ourselves."

"Plus, Twin," Erin said, "Twenty-first and Lewis is only like half a mile down the street. Zoey's looking way better today, so you guys should be able to keep the heat going that long."

"Even with the ice problem solved, we can't possibly move fast enough on foot, and I can't cloak the Hummer because it's not organic," I said.