Revealed (House of Night #11)(31)

Reluctantly, I stood. “All right. I’ll focus on the here and now. I’ll tell Thanatos what’s up as soon as the reporters are gone, and also clue in Stevie Rae. She can have the kids pack up their stuff and lay low until the basement’s ready for them. Then they can come in the back way and avoid the middle of the campus grounds where Dallas and his friends should be busy building the funeral pyre.”

“It will be done as you say, Priestess. Will you be moving to the basement as well?”

“No,” Stark answered for me, which was super annoying.

“I’m going to stay in my old room with Stark,” I continued, because I actually can speak for myself. “Stevie Rae and Rephaim will probably stay in the dorm, too.”

Kalona nodded thoughtfully. “My son needs a place from which he can come and go easily.”

“Yeah, and we decided it’s not a good idea for all of us to stay in one room together,” Stark said. “Especially when that one room is a basement with only one way in and out of it.”

“I agree,” Kalona said, standing. His hand resting on the desk drew my eye down and I noticed something weird about the wood. I kept looking and realized what I was seeing.

“Is that a handprint?”

“Is it?” Kalona replied to me. “I hadn’t noticed.”

My eyes met his and I realized I might not be the only bad liar in the room.

CHAPTER SEVEN

Zoey

I’d been right about one thing—Thanatos had made sure Chera and her crew interviewed a few kids, got some shots of our cafeteria—and then she’d had Damien explain (on camera) his class schedule as the Fox News team was quickly and politely herded off campus. It’d all happened in less than thirty minutes and Thanatos said our segment would air on the evening news as well as the Internet. I’d told her that it had been genius to have Damien be our school spokesman, then I caught her up on our Plan.

“And Kalona said he doesn’t think Neferet knows anything about the basement, so we decided to have him keep Dallas and his group distracted while we get the place cleaned out and get our kids moved there. Hopefully, they’ll have a day or two of peace, and then we’ll get to go back to the depot,” I finished explaining to Thanatos. “Oh, and if we’re here for much more than that, someone needs to go get our cats and Duchess. They have auto feeders and water, but they’ll be lonely and their litter boxes will be disgusting.”

The dark-eyed High Priestess had mostly been silent while I’d done a lot of talking. I told her that the basement had been used for storing old weapons and media center stuff, and that Darius and Stark were moving all of it to one of Lenobia’s tack rooms. I hadn’t told her that the weapons were covered with jewels and super old, and worth, like, a gazillion dollars. And there really wasn’t any media center stuff down there at all. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Thanatos, but I’d decided the fewer people knew about the fortune, the better. Stark and Darius had agreed. Actually, the more I thought about it, the more I believed that Dragon could have been keeping the weapon stash a secret for a very long time, and Dragon had been one of the most loyal Warriors I’d ever known. Clearly, there was a reason he’d kept that to himself, and I’d bet it wasn’t a selfish reason.

So I left the weapon/jewel/fortune detail out of my commentary.

“I am in absolute agreement with you regarding the cats—and Duchess. I will be sure they are transported here, if it comes to that. But how will Kalona distract Dallas?” Thanatos asked.

“He’s going to tell Dallas that I said I didn’t want to lead Erin’s funeral—that I didn’t even want to build the pyre. Then he’s going to say you left the job to him.”

Thanatos’s brow lifted. “In other words, Kalona is going to bait Dallas into building the pyre.”

“Yep, and hopefully leading Erin’s funeral, too. After everything that happened with her I decided that it really would be best for my circle, especially Shaunee, not to get involved.” I paused and added, “I hope all that’s okay with you.”

“When a fledgling rejects the Change and dies, it is always difficult for those left behind. In this case there were complex events surrounding this child’s death. I’m going to trust your instincts, Zoey. Erin was part of your circle—you have been acting as her High Priestess. It is your right to choose her funeral arrangements.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“I do believe it is wise that you allow Shaunee to invoke her element during the lighting of the pyre, though. It will help what must follow to be completed more quickly. It will also help Shaunee to bid her friend a final farewell.”

“Okay, yes. I’ll talk to Shaunee.”

“I believe you should talk with your Prophetess as well.”

“Aphrodite?” Thanatos’s request surprised me. “You mean about her dad?”

“Yes. Judge her mental health carefully.”

“Huh? I don’t think I’m qualified to judge Aphrodite’s mental health.” Not to mention that she might cut my heart out and eat it if I tried.

“You’re her High Priestess and, if my guess is correct, her closest friend. Being Prophetess to a goddess is never an easy gift to bear, and Aphrodite lost father and mother in one night—violently and publicly.”