Tempted (House of Night #6)(73)

Lenobia hesitated. There is a basement under the main House of Night building, she said. It's used for storage and is not particularly habitable, but with some work . . . Maybe, Stevie Rae said. Let me see what happens with the kids at the depot. We really did like it there, and we were fixin' it up real nice, too. I don't suppose there is any reason why we couldn't bus your fledglings back and forth. Human children do it every day. Stevie Rae grinned. The big yellow limo! Lenobia laughed. Either way, we will make it work with your group. You are part of us, and this is your home. Home . . . That sounds nice, Stevie Rae said. Okay, well, I better get busy if I'm gonna make it back to the depot before it gets close to dawn. Be sure to give yourself plenty of time. I don't want you stuck there, and the forecast is for lots of Oklahoma sunshine.

Travis Meyers even reported it might get above freezing long enough to get rid of some of this ice. Trav is my favorite weatherman, and don't worry. I'll be back before dawn. Excellent, then you'll have time to tell me how it went. I'll come straight here. Stevie Rae started to get up and then changed her mind. She had to ask--Lenobia wouldn't think it was a totally weird question--and she had to ask. Um, so, the Raven Mockers were pretty bad, huh? Lenobia's serene expression changed to disgust. I pray to Nyx they were banished from this realm when their father was forced to flee from Tulsa. Have you ever heard of them before? I mean, did you know about them before they all flew out of the ground? Lenobia shook her head. No. I knew nothing of them. I'd never even heard of the Cherokee legend. But I did recognize one thing about them very easily.

You did? What? Evil. I have battled evil before, and they were simply another of its dark faces. Do you think they were totally bad? I mean, they were part human. Not part human--part immortal. Yeah, that's what I meant. And the immortal they are part of is completely evil. But what if Kalona wasn't always like he is now? He came from somewhere. Maybe he was good there, and if that's true, then maybe there could be some good found in a Raven Mocker. Lenobia studied Stevie Rae silently before replying. Then she spoke quietly, but with conviction. Priestess, do not let the compassion you feel for the red fledglings color your perception of evil. It exists here in our world. It also exists in the Otherworld. It is tangible there, just as it is here. There is a great difference between a broken child and a creature fathered by evil and conceived through rape.

That's basically what Sister Mary Angela said, too. The nun is a wise woman. Lenobia paused and then continued, Stevie Rae, have you sensed something I should know about? Oh, no! she said hastily. I was just thinkin', that's all. You know, about good and evil and the choices we make. So I thought that maybe some of the Raven Mockers might be able to choose, too. If they had that ability they made the choice for evil long ago, Lenobia said. Yeah, I'm sure you're right. Okay, well, I better get. I'll come back around and see you before dawn. I'll look forward to meeting with you. May Nyx be with you, Priestess. And blessed be. Blessed be. Stevie Rae hurried from the stables, as if distance from the words she'd spoken could distance her from her guilt. What had she been thinking when she said that stuff about Rephaim to Lenobia? She needed to keep her mouth shut and forget about him.

But how could she forget about him when there was a chance she was going to see him again when she went back to the depot? She shouldn't have sent him there. She should have figured something else out. Or she should have turned him in! No. No, it was too late to think about that. Now all Stevie Rae could do was damage control. First, contact the red fledglings. Then, deal with the Rephaim issue. Again. Of course he might not be an issue. The fledglings might not have found him. He didn't smell like food, and he wasn't in any shape to attack them. He was probably hiding down in the darkest cubbyholed tunnel, licking his wounds. Or he could be dead. Who knows what would happen to a Raven Mocker if a nasty infection set in. Stevie Rae sighed and pulled her phone from the pocket of her hoodie. Praying the reception was back up in tunnels, she text messaged Nicole:

I need to see u tonite

She didn't have to wait long for a reply. Busy. Won't be bk til dawn.

She frowned at her phone and responded.

Get bk be4.

She'd started to pace by the time Nicole managed to text her back.

Be there @ 6.

Stevie Rae wanted to grind her teeth together. Six o'clock was only an hour and a half before dawn. Dang it! Nicole pissed her off so bad. She was really the biggest problem down there. The rest of the kids were just followers. Not very nice, but not like her. Stevie Rae remembered Nicole from before she'd died. She'd been a mean girl then, and that hadn't changed. Actually, it'd gotten worse. So what Stevie Rae needed to do was to get to Nicole. If she turned her back on the darkness, then the rest of the kids would probably follow her.

OK.

Stevie Rae texted. Then she added,

Anything weird going on?

She held her breath, waiting for her phone to chime. Nicole would tell her if she'd found a Raven Mocker. She'd probably think Rephaim was cool. Or maybe she'd just kill him right off, without thinking anything. Either way, she'd blab it to Stevie Rae--it would make her feel all powerful and in charge.

Just looking for food. Live food. Wanna join us?

Stevie Rae knew it would do no good whatsoever to remind Ni-cole they shouldn't be eating people. No, not even homeless people or bad drivers (who they liked to follow and then grab as they got out of their cars). She just texted back: