Kramisha gave Stevie Rae a long look before she answered him. "Nothin'. I just got me some paranoia goin' on, that's all. You two face-suckin' instead of payin' attention to business ain't helping."

"I'm payin' attention to business," Stevie Rae said, looking away from Kramisha's reflection and concentrating on the road.

"Yeah, remember my girl's a High Priestess, and they can definitely handle a bunch of s.h.i.t at once."

"Huh," Kramisha snorted.

The drive to the depot was short and silent. Stevie Rae was uber-aware of Kramisha in the backseat. She knows about Rephaim. She knows about Rephaim. The thought whispered through Stevie Rae's mind, and she immediately squelched it. Kramisha didn't know about Rephaim. She only knew there was another guy. n.o.body knows about Rephaim. The thought whispered through Stevie Rae's mind, and she immediately squelched it. Kramisha didn't know about Rephaim. She only knew there was another guy. n.o.body knows about Rephaim.

Except the red fledglings.

Panic fluttered through her stomach. What the heck was she gonna do if Nicole or one of the other kids told her fledglings about Rephaim? Stevie Rae could imagine the scene. Nicole would be hateful and crude. Her kids would be totally shocked and freaked. They wouldn't believe she could have- With a bolt of realization that almost had her gasping out loud, Stevie Rae knew the answer to her problem. Her fledglings wouldn't believe she'd Imprinted with a Raven Mocker. Ever. Her fledglings wouldn't believe she'd Imprinted with a Raven Mocker. Ever. She would simply deny it. There wasn't any proof. Yeah, her blood might smell weird, but she'd already explained that. Darkness had fed from her-that was bound to make her smell weird. Kramisha believed it, so did Len.o.bia. The rest of the kids would, too. It would be her word, the word of a High Priestess, against a bunch of kids who had gone bad She would simply deny it. There wasn't any proof. Yeah, her blood might smell weird, but she'd already explained that. Darkness had fed from her-that was bound to make her smell weird. Kramisha believed it, so did Len.o.bia. The rest of the kids would, too. It would be her word, the word of a High Priestess, against a bunch of kids who had gone bad and and had tried to kill her. had tried to kill her.

And what if some of them actually decided to choose good tonight and stayed here with the rest of them?

Then they'll have to keep their mouths shut, or they don't stay, was the grim thought that haunted Stevie Rae as she parked in the depot lot and gathered her fledglings around her. was the grim thought that haunted Stevie Rae as she parked in the depot lot and gathered her fledglings around her.

"Okay, we're goin' in. Don't underestimate them," Stevie Rae said. Without any discussion, Dallas moved to her right, and Johnny B took her left side. The rest of the kids followed closely behind as they pushed aside the deceptively secure-looking grate that gave them easy access to the bas.e.m.e.nt of the abandoned Tulsa depot.

It looked much like it had when they'd been living down there. There was maybe a little more trash, but basically it was a dark, cold bas.e.m.e.nt. They moved to the rear corner entrance, where the tunnels dropped below them into an even deeper darkness.

"Can you see?" Dallas asked her.

"Of course, but I'll light the wall torches as soon as I find a match or whatever, so y'all can see, too."

"I got a lighter," Kramisha said, digging in her giant bag.

"Kramisha, do not tell me you're smoking," Stevie Rae said, taking the lighter from her.

"No, I ain't smokin'. That's just stupid. But I do believe in bein' prepared. And a lighter come in handy sometimes-like now."

Stevie Rae started to lower herself down the metal ladder, but Dallas's hand on her arm stopped her. "No, I'm goin' first. They don't want to kill me me."

"Well, that you know of," Stevie Rae countered with, but she let him drop down the ladder before she did, Johnny B following closely behind her. "Hang on." She made both of them wait by the foot of the ladder while she moved with utter confidence in the complete blackness to the first of the old-timey kerosene lanterns she'd helped to hang from old railroad nails on the curved wall of the tunnel. She lit the lantern and turned to smile at her boys, "There, that's better, huh?"

"Good job, girl." Dallas grinned at her. Then he hesitated and c.o.c.ked his head to the side. "Do you hear that?"

Stevie Rae looked at Johnny B, who shook his head while he helped Kramisha down the ladder.

"Hear what, Dallas?" Stevie Rae asked him.

Dallas pressed his hand against the rough concrete wall of the tunnel. "That!" he sounded mesmerized.

"Dallas, you ain't makin' no sense," Kramisha told him.

He looked over his shoulder at them. "I'm not sure, but I think I can hear the electrical lines humming."

"That's weird," Kramisha said.

"Well, you have always been super good with electricity and all that kind of guy stuff," Stevie Rae said.

"Yeah, but it's never been like this before. Seriously, I can hear hear the electricity humming through the cables I connected down here." the electricity humming through the cables I connected down here."

"Well, maybe it's like an affinity for you, and maybe you didn't realize it before 'cause you were down here all the time, and it just seemed normal," Stevie Rae said.

"But electricity ain't from the G.o.ddess. How can it be an affinity gift?" Kramisha said, sending Dallas suspicious looks.

"Why can't it be from Nyx?" Stevie Rae said. "Truthfully, I've known weirder things before than a fledging getting an affinity for electricity. Uh, like a white bull personifying Darkness for one."

"You got a point there," Kramisha said.

"So I could actually have an affinity?" Dallas looked dazed.

" 'Course you could, boy," Stevie Rae told him.

"If you do, then make it come in handy," Johnny B said, helping Shannoncompton and Venus down the ladder.

"Handy? Like how?" Dallas asked.

"Well, can you tell from the hummin' or whatever if those nasty red fledglings have been using electricity down here lately?" Kramisha said.

"I'll see." Dallas turned back to the wall, pressed his hands against the concrete, and squeezed his eyes shut. Within just a few heartbeats his eyes popped open, and he gave a surprised gasp, then his gaze went straight to Stevie Rae. "Yeah, the fledglings have been using the electricity. Actually they are right now. They're in the kitchen."

"Then that's where we're going," Stevie Rae said.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO.

Stevie Rae "Okay, this really p.i.s.ses me off." Stevie Rae kicked at another empty liter bottle of Dr Pepper that littered the tunnel.

"They's nasty and trifling." Kramisha agreed.

"OhmyG.o.d. If they get me dirty, I'm gonna be so p.i.s.sed," said Venus.

"Get you you dirty? Girl, did you see what they done to my room?" Kramisha snarled. dirty? Girl, did you see what they done to my room?" Kramisha snarled.

"I really think we should focus," Dallas said. He kept running a hand along the concrete wall. The closer to the kitchen area they got, the more restless he became.

"Dallas is right," Stevie Rae said. "First we gotta kick them outta here, and then we can worry about gettin' our stuff back into shape."

"Pier One and Pottery Barn still have Aphrodite's gold card on file," Kramisha told Venus.

Venus looked majorly relieved. "Well, that'll fix this mess."

"Venus, you need a lot more than a gold card to fix the mess you've turned into." Sarcasm shot out of the shadows of the tunnel in front of them. "Look at you-you're all tame and boring. And I used to think you had seriously cool potential."

Venus, along with Stevie Rae and the rest of her fledglings, came to a halt. "I'm tame and boring?" Venus's laugh was as sarcastic as Nicole's voice. "So your idea of seriously cool must be ripping out people's throats. Please. That can't even be attractive."

"Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it," Nicole said, tucking aside the blanket that had been resting across the entryway to the kitchen.

She was framed in the doorway by lanternlight from within. She looked thinner-harder than Stevie Rae remembered her looking. Starr and Kurtis stood a little way behind her, and behind them at least a dozen red-eyed fledglings gathered, glaring at them maliciously.

Stevie Rae took one step forward. Nicole's mean, red-tinged eyes darted from Venus to her.

"Oh, did you come back to play some more?" Nicole said.

"I'm not playin' with you, Nicole. And you're done 'playing' "-she air quoted the word-"with people around here."

"You can't tell us what to do!" the words exploded from Nicole. Behind her, Starr and Kurtis bared their teeth and made noises that were more snarls than laughter. The fledglings in the kitchen stirred restlessly.

It was then that Stevie Rae saw it. It hung near the ceiling over the rogue fledglings like a wavering sea of blackness that seemed to pool and write like a ghost made of nothing but darkness.

Darkness ...

Stevie Rae swallowed down the bile of fear and forced her eyes to focus on Nicole. She knew what she had to do. She needed to end this now, before Darkness got a better hold than it already had on them.

Instead of responding to Nicole, Stevie Rae drew a deep, cleansing breath and said, "Earth, come to me!" When she felt the ground beneath her feet and the curved sides of the tunnel around her begin to warm, she turned her attention to Nicole.

"As usual, you have it wrong, Nicole. I'm not gonna tell you what to do." Stevie Rae spoke in a calm, reasonable voice. She knew from Nicole's widened eyes that she was probably taking on that green glow that had surrounded her at the House of Night, and she began lifting her hands, drawing more of the rich, vibrant energy of her element to her. "I'm gonna give you a choice, and then y'all are gonna take the consequences for what you choose. Just like all of us have to."

"How about you choose to take your p.u.s.s.y a.s.ses back to the House of Night with the rest of the spineless f.u.c.ks who call themselves vampyres," Nicole said.

"You know I ain't no p.u.s.s.y," Dallas said, stepping closer to Stevie Rae.

"Neither am I," rumbled Johnny B from behind Dallas.

"Nicole, I never did like you much. I always thought you had you a bad case of head-up-your-a.s.s-itis. Now I'm sure of it," Kramisha said, moving up to stand closer to Stevie Rae's other side. "And I do not like the way you talkin' to our High Priestess."

"Kramisha, I do not give one single s.h.i.t for what you like or don't like. And she ain't my High Priestess!" Nicole shouted, spraying white spittle from her lips.

"Seriously gross," Venus said. "You might want to rethink this whole evil-fledgling thing. It's making you ugly, in more ways than one."

"Power is never ugly, and I have power," Nicole said.

Stevie Rae didn't have to look up to tell that the Darkness seeping from the ceiling of the kitchen was getting thicker.

"Okay, that's enough. Y'all clearly can't be nice, so this needs to be done. Here's your choice-and each of you need to make it for yourself." Stevie Rae looked behind Nicole as she spoke, meeting each set of glowing scarlet eyes, hoping beyond hope that she might get through to at least one of them. "You can embrace Light. If you do, that means you choose goodness and the way of the G.o.ddess, and you can stay here with us. We'll be starting back to school at the House of Night Monday, but we'll be livin' here in our our tunnels, where we're surrounded by earth and we feel comfortable and all. Or you can keep choosing Darkness." Stevie Rae saw Nicole's little jerk of surprise when she gave a name to it. "Yeah, I know all about Darkness. And I can tell you that messin' with it, in any way, is a major mistake. But if that's your choice, then you're gonna have to leave here, alone, and not return." tunnels, where we're surrounded by earth and we feel comfortable and all. Or you can keep choosing Darkness." Stevie Rae saw Nicole's little jerk of surprise when she gave a name to it. "Yeah, I know all about Darkness. And I can tell you that messin' with it, in any way, is a major mistake. But if that's your choice, then you're gonna have to leave here, alone, and not return."

"You can't make us do that!" Kurtis said from behind Nicole.

"I can," Stevie Rae lifted her hands, squeezing them into glowing fists. "And it won't be just me. Len.o.bia is tellin' the High Council 'bout y'all. You'll be officially banished from every House of Night in the world."

"Hey, Nicole, like Venus said before, you be lookin' kinda rough. How you feelin'?" Kramisha suddenly said. Then she raised her voice, talking to the kids over Nicole's shoulder. "How many a you been coughin' and feelin' like c.r.a.p? Ain't no vampyre been 'round y'all for a while now, right?"

"Ohmygood ness, ness, I don't know how I could've forgotten 'bout that," Stevie Rae said to Kramisha, then she turned her attention back to the kids in the kitchen, speaking right past Nicole. "So, how many of you wanna die? Again." I don't know how I could've forgotten 'bout that," Stevie Rae said to Kramisha, then she turned her attention back to the kids in the kitchen, speaking right past Nicole. "So, how many of you wanna die? Again."

"Looks like bein' a red fledgling is really just another kind of fledgling," Dallas said.

"Yeah, you might die if you're around vamps," Johnny B said.

"But you for sure will die if you not not around them," Kramisha said, with more than a hint of smugness in her tone. "But you know 'bout that 'cause y'all already died once. Wanna do it again?" around them," Kramisha said, with more than a hint of smugness in her tone. "But you know 'bout that 'cause y'all already died once. Wanna do it again?"

"So y'all need to choose," Stevie Rae said, still holding up her glowing fists.

"We sure as h.e.l.l ain't choosing you for our High Priestess!" Nicole spat the words at her. "And neither would any of you if you knew the truth about her." With a Cheshire cat smile, she spoke the words Stevie Rae had feared most anyone hearing. "I'll bet she didn't tell you she saved a Raven Mocker, did she?"

"You're a liar," Stevie Rae said, meeting Nicole's red gaze steadily.

"How did you know there's a Raven Mocker in Tulsa?" Dallas said.

Nicole snorted. "He was here. Your precious High Priestess's scent was all over him because she saved his life she saved his life. He's how we trapped her on the roof. She went up there to save him again again."

"That's bulls.h.i.t!" Dallas shouted. He pressed his palm against the cement wall. Stevie Rae felt her hair lift in a sudden rush of static electricity.

"Wow, you really have them fooled." Nicole said mockingly.

"That's it. I'm done with this," Stevie Rae said. "Make your choice. Now. Light or Darkness, which will it be?"

"We already made our choice." Nicole's hand went up under her baggy shirt and came out with a snub-nosed gun, which she aimed at the middle of Stevie Rae's head.

Stevie Rae felt one instant of terror, and then she heard c.o.c.king sounds and her stunned gaze went from Nicole's gun to the two Kurtis and Starr had raised and pointed at Dallas and Kramisha.

That p.i.s.sed off Stevie Rae, and everything kicked into fast-forward. p.i.s.sed off Stevie Rae, and everything kicked into fast-forward.

"Protect them, earth!" Stevie Rae cried. Spreading wide her arms and releasing her fists, she imagined the power of earth, chrysalis-like, enclosing them. The air around her glowed a soft, mossy green. And as the barrier manifested, Stevie Rae saw the oily Darkness that was clinging to the ceiling shiver and then dissipate completely.

Dallas yelled, "Ah, h.e.l.ls no. You're not pointing that thing at me!" Closing his eyes and concentrating, Dallas pressed both of his hands against the side of the tunnel wall. There was a crackling sound. Kurtis yelped and dropped his gun. At the same instant, Nicole screamed-a raw, primal sound that was more like the roar of an enraged animal than something that should have come from a fledgling, and she squeezed the trigger.

The gunshots were deafeningly loud. The sound echoed painfully over and over until Stevie Rae lost count of how many real shots there were and how many were just an avalanche of sound, smoke, and sensation.

Stevie Rae didn't hear the screams of the rogue fledglings as the bullets ricocheted off the earth barrier and slammed into their bodies, but she saw Starr fall and watched the terrible blossom of red that bloomed from the side of her head. Two other red-eyed kids slumped to the ground, too.

Pandemonium broke loose, and the unwounded fledglings in the kitchen pushed and shoved and climbed over each other as they fought to get to the narrow entrance that led up to the main depot building above.

Nicole hadn't moved. She was holding the empty gun, looking wild-eyed and still pulling the trigger when Stevie Rae yelled, "No! You've done enough!" Acting on an instinct totally allied to the earth, Stevie Rae clapped her glowing hands together in front of her. With a tearing sound, a raw, gaping hole opened in the far end of the kitchen, where before there had only been the curving side of the tunnel. "You need to leave here and never come back." Like an avenging G.o.ddess, Stevie Rae hurled earth at Nicole and Kurtis and the others who still stood with them, sending a wave of power washing through the kitchen. It lifted all of them and hurled them into the newly opened tunnel. While Nicole snarled curses at her, Stevie Rae calmly waved her hand. In a voice magnified by her element, she said, "Lead them away from here and close behind them. If they don't go, bury them alive."

Stevie Rae's last sight of Nicole was of her screaming at Kurtis and telling him to get his big a.s.s moving.

Then the tunnel sealed, and all was quiet.

"Come on," Stevie Rae said. Not giving herself time to think about what she was walking into, she strode into the kitchen, straight to the broken, bleeding bodies Nicole had left behind. There were five of them. Three, including Starr, had been struck by Nicole's deflected shots. The other two had been trampled. "They're all dead." Stevie Rae thought it was strange that she sounded so calm.

"Johnny B, Elliott, Montoya, and I will get rid of 'em," Dallas said, taking a second to squeeze her shoulder.