“I’m not really one,” I assured her. “I’m still a fledgling. Stevie Rae is the High Priestess here.”

“And where is she?”

“She’s with Rephaim. It’ll be light soon and she likes to be with him before he changes into a bird,” I said bluntly.

“And what are you?”

I frowned. “You know as much as I do about what I am. You know Stark was gifted with a Guardian Sword in the Otherworld, which means that to some extent I’m a Queen because he’s my Warrior and Guardian.”

“Why all the questions? I thought you were on our side,” Aphrodite said.

“I’m on the side of truth,” Thanatos said.

“You know Neferet is a lying bitch,” Aphrodite said. “We told you that on San Clemente Island when Z was in LaLa Land.”

“She means the Otherworld.” I rolled my eyes at Aphrodite.

“Yeah, right, the Otherworld. Whatever,” she said. “But we told you the real deal about Neferet then, and you acted like you believed us. You even helped us figure out the Skye stuff with Stark. So, what’s up with you now?”

There was a super big pause, which meant there was time enough for me to wonder if Aphrodite and I had gone too far. I mean, Thanatos was a powerful, ancient vampyre, a member of the High Council whose Goddess-given affinity was death. It probably was a bad idea to question her, let alone piss her off.

“I believe what you told me when Zoey’s soul was shattered was what you, all of you, thought was the truth,” Thanatos finally said.

“I’m back, and we’re not in Italy, but the truth hasn’t changed. Neferet hasn’t changed,” I said.

“And yet she insists that she has been forgiven by Nyx who gifted her with Aurox as a sign of divine favor,” Thanatos said.

“That’s bullpoopie,” I said. “Neferet hasn’t changed and Aurox is no gift from Nyx.”

“I do believe Neferet is hiding a truth,” Thanatos said.

“That’s one way of putting it,” I said.

“But not the way we’d put it,” Aphrodite said.

“We don’t mean to be disrespectful,” I added. “It’s just that we’ve faced off against Neferet for a while now, and we’ve seen things that she’s been careful to keep from the High Council and, really, most vampyres in general.”

“But when we try to out her no one believes us because we’re kids,” Aphrodite said. “And a messed-up group of reject kids at that.”

I raised my brows at Aphrodite and she amended, “Well, not me. I’m talking about the rest of you guys.”

“That is part of the reason I’m here,” Thanatos said. “To be the eyes and ears of the High Council.”

“So, what exactly does it mean that the High Council has bought this building?” I asked.

“Hopefully it means I can give my mom’s gold card a rest and some of us—as in those who don’t need to crawl into a coffin when the sun rises—can have decent rooms up here once this building is renovated,” Aphrodite said.

“It does mean that. It also means that this could become a legitimate House of Night on its own, without any ties to the original Tulsa House of Night,” Thanatos explained. “The Council believes it might be wise to have a red fledgling House of Night that remains, for the most part, separate from the original.”

“Okay, no. That’s exactly why BA hasn’t built two high schools. It’d be just too much rivalry in one district,” I said. “Hating on Union and Jenks is good enough for us—and BA needs to do that with a combined front.”

“What in the hell are you talking about?” Aphrodite asked.

“Broken Arrow—Union—Jenks,” I said. “High schools. Too many in one town just sucks.”

“Were you student council president or did you hold some other socially unacceptable position? Tulsa has like a zillion high schools and hell has not frozen over yet,” Aphrodite said. “Having too many bussed kids to one school is just moronic and allows the white trash to slither in. Ugh. Just ugh.”

Thankfully, Thanatos stepped between the two of us. “Human teenage standards have never governed vampyre fledgling law. Tulsa is a middle point in the nation. It could definitely support a second House of Night. Our numbers are growing, especially with the inrush of the red fledglings, which have been discovered in other areas as well as here.”

“There are other red fledglings? I mean, besides just ours?” I said.

“Yes.”

“But have any been Marked red, or have they all died and then un-died and turned red?” Aphrodite asked before I could give her a shut up look.

“Yours is the only red fledgling on record to date as having been Marked red,” Thanatos said.

“So you know about Shaylin?” I asked, holding my breath.

“Yes. Neferet announced that she was blind before she had been Marked, and that now she has sight. She extrapolated that the poor child was broken, so she didn’t need to die to receive the red Markings.”

I wanted to stand up for Shaylin and say she wasn’t broken, that she was special, but my gut told me to continue to keep my mouth shut about her True Sight.

“Zoey, there is no reason to hide anything from someone who is seeking the truth, unless you prefer lies and deceit,” Thanatos surprised me by saying.

I met her gaze. “I don’t prefer lies and deceit, but one big thing Neferet has taught me is to be careful about who I trust.” And then, because my gut continued to talk to me I said the rest of what was on my mind. “I hear Neferet has a new Consort. Have you heard anything about that?”

“I have not. Zoey, are you confusing Aurox for her Consort? Whether he is or is not a gift from Nyx, Neferet has given no indication that she is romantically involved with him; he seems simply her servant.”

“I’m not talking about Aurox,” I kept on, even though just saying his name made my stomach feel weird. “I’m talking about the white bull.”

Thanatos looked absolutely and utterly shocked. “Zoey, the worship of the white and black bulls is an ancient one, and its popularity died out centuries ago. I only have a rudimentary understanding of that religion and its past, but I can tell you that no Priestess of Nyx has ever given herself to the white bull. What you are saying would be an abomination, and it is a grave accusation.” As she spoke Thanatos had become paler and paler, until finally she was so disturbed that the air around her lifted her hair and blew with agitated little gusts.

An air affinity as well as an affinity for death—that’s interesting, I thought. “I’m not accusing,” I said aloud. “I’m just asking you if you’ve heard anything about it.”

“No! The High Council, as well as the vampyre community, believe Kalona, the creature Neferet convinced was Erebus on Earth, was and still is her Consort, though he has been banished from her side for one hundred years.”

Aphrodite snorted. “That’s bullshit. He was here with her because he thought she had control of his soul. Something got messed up, though, in the Land of the Crazy and Neferet lost control of Kalona.” I thought she was going to blurt the rest of the news about Kalona hanging around wanting to truce with us to destroy Neferet, but instead Aphrodite said something smarter. “Uh, would you answer a quick question for me?”

Looking shell-shocked, Thanatos nodded.

“Okay, let’s say Aurox isn’t a gift from Nyx and is instead, I dunno, say, something super evil the white bull and Neferet cooked up together because they’re being way inappropriate. What kind of cooking would create something like him?”

“A great sacrifice,” Thanatos said.

“You mean Neferet would have to have killed someone specifically for the creation of Aurox?” Aphrodite asked.

“Yes, though I shudder at the thought of such psychopathic behavior.”

“Yeah, so do we,” Aphrodite said, meeting my eyes with a sad, but knowing look. “Too many people around us have died recently.”

“Yeah,” I echoed, feeling super sick. “Too many.”

Aurox