House of Night 3 - Chosen by P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Author:P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast [Cast, P. C. & Cast, Kristin]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Horror, Young Adult, Paranormal, Vampire, Urban Fantasy
ISBN: 0312360290
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 2008-01-02T08:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 15

Everything happened fast after that, but it seemed to me like it was happening to someone else who had temporarily taken up residence in my body. Neferet immediately took charge. She assessed Aphrodite and me and decided (unfortunately) that I was the only one still together enough to return with them to the body. She called for Dragon Lankford, who showed up armed. I heard Neferet checking with Dragon about which warriors had already come back from winter break. It seemed like seconds later that two tall, muscular male vamps appeared. I vaguely recognized them. There was always an assortment of adult vamps coming and going from the school. I'd learned early that vampyre society was heavily matriarchal, which just means women run things. It doesn't mean that male vamps aren't respected, though. They are. It's just that their gifts are usually more in the physical realm and women's gifts are more intellectual and intuitive. Bottom line is, male vampyres are amazing warriors and protectors. These two plus Dragon and Loren made me feel about a zillion times safer.

That doesn't mean I was thrilled about leading them to Professor Nolan's body. We got in one of the school SUVs and retraced the path I'd taken to the school. With a shaking hand I pointed to the spot where I'd pulled to the side of the road. Dragon parked the SUV.

"I was driving by and here's where Aphrodite said she felt like something was wrong," I launched into our Big Lie. "We couldn't see much from here." My eyes skittered over to the dark area by the trapdoor in the wall. "I felt weird, too, so we decided to check out what was wrong." I drew a shaky breath. "I guess I thought there might be a kid who was trying to sneak back to the dorm, but she couldn't find the trapdoor." I swallowed to clear the thickness in my throat. "As we got closer to the wall we could tell there was something there. Something terrible. And—and I smelled the blood. When we realized what it was—that it was Professor Nolan—we came straight to you."

"Can you go over there again, or would you rather stay here and wait for us?" Neferet's voice was kind and understanding, and I wished with everything inside me that she was still one of the good guys.

"I don't want to be alone," I said.

"Then you'll come with me," she said. "The warriors will protect us. You have nothing to fear now, Zoey."

I nodded and got out of the SUV. The two warriors, Dragon and Loren, flanked Neferet and me. It seemed to take only a couple of seconds to cross the grassy area and get within smelling—and seeing—distance of the crucified body. I felt my knees go all shaky as the fresh horror of what had been done to her registered on my already shocked senses.

"Oh, gracious Goddess!" Neferet gasped. She moved forward slowly until she reached the terrible staked head. I watched as she stroked Professor Nolan's hair back and then rested her hand on the dead woman's forehead.

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