Redeemed (House of Night #12)(68)

The tall detective smiled. “Just a little something so that you rest easily. The nurse said your system has been through a terrible shock. You need sleep to recover.”

“Yes, that’s my first question. Why am I here, at a vampyre infirmary, rather than at St. John’s Hospital just down the street?”

“Well, Kalona brought you straight here after he rescued you. I don’t believe a hospital for humans is anywhere on the immortals’ radar.”

“He didn’t rescue me. The High Priestess who put up that wall of fire did.”

“I suppose you could say that Kalona was at the right place at the right time,” the detective agreed. “Would you rather I call an ambulance from St. John’s and have you transported there?”

“Maybe in the morning. It was the High Priestess who made the wall of fire, wasn’t it?”

“It was teamwork that created the spell.”

The detective seemed determined to evade her question, so Lynette got to the point. “Did the High Priestess and her team kill people to make the spell work?”

Marx looked genuinely shocked. “Of course not! Ma’am, I was there when Thanatos cast the spell. Elemental magick was used, not human lives. Neferet has gone mad. She kills without remorse because she’s a sociopath, not because she’s a vampyre.”

“Has Neferet tried to get to the House of Night? Has she tried to contact anyone here at all?”

“Not that I know of—not that any of the school officials or fledgling leadership knows of. Neferet cannot leave the Mayo as long as the spell holds and her intent is to cause harm.”

“What if she just wants another case of her expensive wine? Or a new outfit or two from Miss Jackson’s? She might go out for those things, especially now that I’m gone. And her intent would only be to shop.” Lynette could feel her heart rate increasing as she spoke.

“No matter what Neferet’s reason to leave the Mayo would be, her true intent will always be to do violence, which the spell interprets as ill intent. She swore to kill both you and Kalona. That oath alone is enough to keep her trapped.”

“She won’t kill me. She’ll command one of those black snakes to go into my mouth and wrap itself around my brain and posses me!” As Lynette’s body began to tremble in renewed fear, the detective called from the room, “Hey, I need some help in here!”

The vampyre healer with the tattoo that looked like geometrical figures hurried into the room, frowning at the detective as she checked Lynette’s vital signs and made some adjustments on the IV.

“Detective, you have questioned my patient enough. It is time you left,” the healer told him sternly.

“No problem. I can see Ms. Witherspoon needs her rest. If you have any more questions, or think of any details you missed, here’s my card.” He put it on her bedside table. “Just give me a call.”

“Ms. Witherspoon will be resting. Not calling,” said the vampyre.

“Right, well then, good night, Ms. Witherspoon.”

After the detective had left the room, the healer offered her a glass of ice water, holding it for Lynette while she sipped gratefully from a straw.

“You are safe here, Lynette,” the healer spoke calmly, soothingly. “You are among friends and allies. Our campus is filled to overflowing with humans who have come to the House of Night so that they are out of Neferet’s reach. Have no fear. Rest and recover. We will watch over you.”

Lynette’s mouth couldn’t seem to form the word to thank her, so she just nodded and tried to smile. The vampyre understood because she patted her hand gently and, before she left, extinguished all except one of the gaslights that had been softly illuminating the room. Finally alone, Lynette leaned back against her mound of pillows and allowed herself to close her eyes and relax into the drugs.

“Ah, hell! She’s asleep.”

Lynette kept her eyes closed, careful not to move or change her breathing. She’d told the vampyres and the detective all she knew—and she had absolutely had enough questioning for one day. This new voice was going to have to wait.

“I told you we should have come straight here. She was fading fast last time I saw her.”

Lynette recognized the second voice as that of the mayor’s fledgling daughter, Aphrodite. Though it seemed the girl had somehow exchanged her fledgling status for that of a Prophetess.

“Zoey, Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, you may not disturb the human,” came the no-nonsense voice of the vampyre healer. “I have drugged her to ensure she is not bothered for the remainder of the night.”

Lynette could hear the soft squeak of the healer’s rubber-soled shoes fading away.

“Drugged to the gills,” said Aphrodite after a brief pause. “Lucky her.”

“Lucky? No dang way would I call that woman lucky,” said a voice with a thick Oklahoma twang. “Neferet is gonna hunt her down and skin her alive.”

“We’re not going to let her.”

Lynette recognized Aphrodite’s sarcastic snort. “Then you better get to Old Magicking and stop her, Z. From what you described, Thanatos and Shaunee aren’t going to be able to keep that spell up for long. But you’re right, bumpkin. I shouldn’t have called her lucky. It’s us that are lucky because of her and Kalona.”