Tempted (House of Night #6)(57)

Just before he opened the door to the girls' dorm for me, I looked up at him and said, Thank you for being my Warrior. Thank you for making sure I'm strong, even though it hurt you. You're welcome, my lady. He smiled at me, but he looked old and really, really sad.

Chapter Twenty-seven

Do you want a brown pop, too? I called over my shoulder to Stark, who was waiting impatiently for me out in the very silent, very weird main room of the dorm. I say weird because it was silent, even though there were a bunch of fledglings, girls and guys, sitting in the clusters of chairs staring at the flat-screen TVs. Seriously. They just sat and stared. No talking. No laughing. Nothing. They did look up when Stark and I walked into the room.

Actually, I was semi-sure some of the kids sent us hateful glares, but they still didn't say anything. No, I'm fine. Just grab your pop and let's get upstairs, he said, already walking toward the stairway. Okay, okay. I'm coming. I just-- And I ran smack into a kid named Becca. Jeesh, sorry! I said, stepping back. I didn't see you 'cause I was-- Yeah, I know what you were doing. What you're always doing. You were checking out a guy. I frowned. I didn't know Becca very well. Except that she'd had a big crush on Erik. Oh, and I'd caught Stark biting and practically raping her--before he'd chosen good and sworn himself as my Warrior. Of course, Becca hadn't remembered the raping part. She'd only remembered the biting pleasure part, again thanks to the jerk Stark used to be. Still, that didn't give her permission to pop this ridiculous attitude on me.

But I didn't have time to get things right with her and, honestly, I didn't really care that she was a big, festering pile of I'm-jealous-of-Zoey. So I just made one of Aphrodite's unattractive snorting noises and walked around her and over to a fridge, opened it, and started my quest for brown pop. You did this, didn't you? You messed up everything. I sighed. I found my can of brown pop and turned around. If you mean, did I get rid of Kalona, who is not Erebus come to earth but really an evil fallen immortal, and chase away Neferet, who is not Nyx's High Priestess anymore but really an evil Tsi Sgili who wants to take over the world, then yes. Yes, with the help of some friends I did that. Why do you think you know everything? I definitely don't know everything. If I did, I'd know why you still can't see that Kalona and Neferet and the Raven Mockers are evil, even after they killed Professor Anastasia.

The Raven Mocker only killed her because you pissed them off by running away and then fighting Kalona, who a bunch of us think really is Erebus. Get a clue, Becca. Kalona isn't Erebus. He's the Raven Mockers' dad. He created them by raping Cherokee women. Erebus wouldn't do that. Has that occurred to the whole bunch of you? She acted like she hadn't heard a word I'd said. Everything was fine when you were gone. Now you're back and everything's screwed up again. I wish you would just leave for good and let the rest of us do what we want to do. The rest of you? You mean like the kids in the infirmary who were almost killed by your winged friends. Or do you mean Dragon, who is out there mourning the death of his wife by himself? That only happened because of you. No one was attacked before you took off. Seriously, are you not hearing a word I'm saying? Hey, Becca.

Stark was standing in the doorway to the kitchen, just behind Becca. She turned her head, tossed her hair, and gave him a flirty smile. Hey there, Stark. Erik's free meat, he said bluntly. She blinked and looked a little confused. He and Zoey broke up, he added. Oh, really? She tried to sound nonchalant, but her body language gave away her pleasure. She glanced back at me. It's about time he dumped you. Other way around, you . . . you . . . bitch! I blurted. Becca actually took a step toward me, raising her hand like she was going to try to hit me, which shocked me so badly that I didn't even think about calling one of the elements to smack her down. Thankfully, Stark wasn't so shocked, and he stepped quickly between us. Becca, I've done enough bad to you. Don't make me toss you out of here. Just walk away, he said, looking very warriorlike and dangerous.

Becca backed down instantly. Oh, whatever. Like I care enough about her to mess up my nails? She spun around and huffed out. I opened my pop and took a long drink before saying, Well, that was really disturbing. Yeah, I must be losing it. The real me would never stop a good girl fight. I rolled my eyes at him. You're such a guy. Come on, let's get upstairs where there's less crazy. We walked out of the kitchen and had to go through the main dorm room to get to the stairs, which meant jumping back into a whole bunch of crazy. Becca was all whispery with the biggest cluster of kids, though she stopped talking to give me the stank eye, which was the same stank- eye-kill-you-dead that all the other kids were giving me, too. I picked up the pace and practically vaulted up the stairs. Okay, that's freaky, Stark said as we hurried to my dorm room.

I just nodded. It was hard for me to find the words to describe how it felt to me that almost everyone at my school, my home, obviously hated my guts. Opening the door to my room, I was instantly assaulted by an orange ball of fur that hurled herself into my arms as she "mee-uf- owed" like a disgruntled old woman. Nala! I ignored her annoyance and kissed her on the nose, which made her sneeze in my face. I laughed and juggled my brown pop to my other hand so I didn't spill it or my cat. I've missed you, little girl. I pressed my face into her soft fur, which stopped her complaining and started her purr machine. When you're done making out with your cat, we have stuff to discuss--important stuff, Aphrodite said. Oh, don't be so odious, Damien told her. Ode this, Damien. Aphrodite made a rude gesture at him. Stop it! Lenobia spoke before I could tell them to be quiet.