Revealed (House of Night #11)(81)

Shaylin

Shaylin tried to stop bawling. She wasn’t usually a crier. She was used to not feeling sorry for herself. But this was different. First there was the horrible thing that had happened with Dallas and the two fledglings. She’d known about it. Shaylin had seen their deaths in Thanatos’s colors. And she’d shut her mouth and believed Thanatos was doing the right thing.

Then Shaylin had done the exact opposite—she’d opened her mouth and blabbed Zoey’s personal business because she felt like she was doing the right thing. Well, Shaylin had also felt like she was fitting in at the House of Night and doing a good job using her gift.

But that couldn’t be true because she’d felt absolutely terrible after Dallas had been killed, and the most powerful fledgling in the world had just knocked her on her ass.

She’d totally messed up. Twice.

Shaylin curled up in the dark corner of the basement where she’d made a little pallet for herself. She sat with her legs pulled up and her pillow on her lap. She pressed her face into the soft pillowcase to muffle her sobs. She shouldn’t have bothered, though. Most red fledglings slept during the day like they were dead.

That’s what I should have been doing, too, she chided herself. I should have been sleeping and not talking to Aphrodite about Zoey. Now they’re mad at each other, and at me! I’m never going to figure out this Prophetess thing.

Shaylin didn’t think about the fact that Aphrodite had, apparently, been right about Zoey’s anger and control problem. At that moment Aphrodite being right didn’t matter to her. At that moment all that mattered was that it felt like her world—and her friends—were falling apart.

“Hey, Shaylin, what’s wrong?”

Stifling a sob, Shaylin looked up to see Nicole standing above her, rubbing her eyes and looking tousled, like she was sleepwalking.

“N-nothing. I—I’m f-fine,” she whispered, then wiped her face on the pillowcase and forced herself to stop crying.

Nicole sat beside her. “No, you’re not. You’re bawling your eyes out.”

“Shhh,” Shaylin hushed her, looking around to be sure everyone else was still sleeping. “I’m f-fine.

Nicole scooted over closer to her, so that their shoulders were touching, and whispered. “It’s okay. They won’t hear. Tell me what’s wrong.”

Shaylin wiped her eyes again, and then spoke softly. “I think I messed up using my Sight.”

“Hey, you’re good at using your Sight. You saw that I’d changed.” Nicole smiled at her. “You should have more confidence in yourself.”

“I should learn when to open my stupid mouth, and when to keep my stupid mouth shut,” Shaylin said. She fished around inside her purse and found a wadded-up tissue, and blew her nose.

“You’re not stupid.”

“If you had known Thanatos was going to tell Kalona to cut off Dallas’s head, would you have said something?”

Nicole grimaced. “You can’t ask me that. I’m not objective about Dallas.”

“Are you still in love with him?”

Nicole shook her head quickly. “No, that’s the point. I never really loved him, and I knew how dangerous he was. So I can’t be objective about his death.”

Listening to her, Shaylin hiccupped a little sob. Nicole put her arm around her.

“If you’re upset because of what happened to Dallas, don’t be.”

“It’s not just him, even though that was bad. I talked to Aphrodite about someone else’s colors, and I should have stayed out of it.”

“But Aphrodite’s a Prophetess, too. She’s kinda mean and crazy, but still, a Prophetess. I’m thinking it’s okay for one Prophetess to talk to another about stuff like your True Sight.”

“That’s what I thought, too. Now I’m not so sure. I wish I knew the exact right thing to do.”

“I think there are a lot of times when there isn’t one exact right thing to do in a situation.”

Shaylin looked up at Nicole. “You’re really smart.”

“Nah, I’ve just made a ton of mistakes.” Nicole smiled at her. “But I’m not making one right now. I got you to quit crying.”

Shaylin’s smile was tentative. “I guess you did. Thank you. And, by the way, your colors have really turned pretty.”

“See, if you think my colors are pretty that proves what a great Prophetess you are.”

Shaylin was grinning up at Nicole when the fledgling bent and slowly, gently, kissed her on the lips. When Shaylin froze, eyes wide in shock, Nicole leaned away from her and quickly took her arm from around her shoulder. “I’m sorry,” Nicole whispered. Even in the darkness of the basement, Shaylin could see Nicole’s cheeks had turned red. “I don’t know why I did that. I’m really sorry,” she repeated.

Shaylin kept staring at her, seeing the soft beauty of her colors and feeling the soft, lingering warmth of her lips.

“Don’t be sorry. I’m not.” Then she put her arms around Nicole’s slender waist, rested her head on her shoulder, and said, “Would you stay with me and hold me?”

Nicole’s arm slid back around her shoulder. “Shaylin, sweetie, I’ll stay with you forever if you want me to.”