Untamed (House of Night #4)(82)

I couldn't move. I was frozen by its mutated red eyes--human in the face of a terrible bird--a creature that existed only because of ancient rape and evil. I could feel cold spots on my shoulders where one of these creatures had clung to me earlier. I remembered the touch of its disgusting tongue and stinging pain its beak had caused as it had tried to cut my throat.

As Nala began hissing and yowling, Grandma rushed to be beside me. I could see her reflection in the dark glass of the window. "Call wind to me, Zoey!" she commanded.

"Wind! Come to me--my grandma needs you," I cried, still trapped in the Raven Mocker's monstrous gaze.

I felt wind fluttering restlessly below and beside me, where Grandma stood. "U-no-le!" Grandma cried. "Carry this with my warning to the beast." I watched Grandma lift her hands and blow what was cupped in her palms straight at the creature that crouched on the other side of the window. "Ahiya'a A-s-gi-na!" she cried.

The wind, conjured by me but commanded by my grandma, the Ghigua Woman, snatched up the sparkling blue dust that she had blown from her palms and whizzed it through the tiny cracks between the panes of beveled glass. The wind whirled the dust around the Raven Mocker so that it was caught in the vortex of the sparkling dust. The beast's too-human eyes widened as the specks surrounded him and then, as the wind whipped fiercely, pressing the dust into the creature's body, a terrible scream was wrenched from the open beak, and in a flurry of flapping wings, it disappeared.

"Send away the wind, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya," Grandma said as she grabbed my hand to steady me.

"Th-thank you wind. I release you," I said shakily.

"Thank you, u-no-le," Grandma murmured. Then she said, "The dream catcher-- be sure you hang it."

With shaking hands, I hooked it around the inside of the curtain rod and hurriedly closed the curtains. Then Grandma helped me off the chair. Scooping Nala up, the three of us wrapped together while we shook and shook and shook.

"It's gone . . . it's over now . . . ," Grandma kept murmuring.

I didn't realize that we'd both been crying until Grandma gave me one last squeeze and then went to find Kleenexes. I sank down on the bed, cuddling Nala.

"Thanks," I said, wiping my face and blowing my nose. "Should I call the others?" I asked.

"If you do, how scared will they be?"

"Terrified," I said.

"Then I think it would do more good if you called the wind again. Can you send it in a big burst around the dorms so that if anything is lurking around outside, it'll be blown away?"

"Yeah, but I think I should stop shaking first."

Grandma smiled and stroked the hair back from my face. "You did well, u-we-tsi- a-ge-ya."

"I freaked and froze, just like I did last time!"

"No, you met the gaze of a demon without flinching and managed to conjure wind and commanded it to obey me," she said.

"Only because you told me to."

"But next time it won't be because I told you to. Next time you will be stronger and you will do what you must on your own."

"What was that blue dust you blew at it?"

"Crushed turquoise. I'll give you a pouch of it. It's a very powerful protective stone."

"Do you have enough to give the others, too?"

"No, but I'll put it on my shopping list. I can pick up some turquoise stones and a mortar and pestle to grind them with. The grinding will give me something constructive to do while you sleep."

"What was it you said?" I asked.

"Ahiya'a A-s-gi-na means 'leave, demon.'" "And u-no-le is wind?"

"Yes, sweetheart."

"Grandma, did it have physical form, or was it just a spirit?"

"I think it's some of both. But it is very close to its physical form."

"Which means Kalona must be getting stronger," I said.

"I believe so."

"It's scary, Grandma."

Grandma pulled me into her arms and stroked my head like she used to when I was a little girl. "Do not fear, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. The demon's father will find that today's women are not so easy to subdue."

"You kicked butt, Grandma."

She smiled. "Yes, daughter, we certainly did."

Chapter Twenty-eight

With Grandma watching in approval, I called wind back and had it whip around campus, especially focusing on the dorms. We listened carefully for sounds of shrieking demons, but all we heard was the comforting whistle of the wind. Then, exhausted, I put on my pj's and finally got into bed. Grandma lit a full-moon protective candle for us, too, and I curled up with Nala, liking the sounds of Grandma brushing out her long silver hair as she went through her familiar nighttime rituals.

I was just drifting off when her soft voice caught me. U-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, I want you to promise me something."

"Okay, Grandma," I said sleepily.

"No matter what happens, I want you to promise me that you'll remember Kalona must not rise. Nothing and no one is more important than that."

A little trickle of worry made me wake up all the way. "What do you mean?"

"Exactly what I said. Do not let anything distract you from your purpose."

"You're sounding like you won't be around to keep me straight," I said, feeling a flutter of panic start in my chest.