Awakened

from you. That, the death of her friend, and Neferet’s return to her House of Night should be enough to coax the young High Priestess out of seclusion.”
    “She is not a High Priestess. She is a fledgling! And the Tulsa House of Night is mine, not hers!” Neferet practically shrieked. “No. I have had enough of your father’s connection to her. It didn’t bring about her death, so I want it severed. If Zoey is to be lured from Sgiach, I will do it by using Stevie Rae or Aphrodite—or perhaps both of them. They need a lesson in showing me the proper respect.”
    “As you wish, my Queen,” Kalona said, sending his son a pointed look. Rephaim met his gaze, hesitated, and then he, too, bowed his head and said softly, “As you wish…”
    “Good, then that is that. Rephaim, local news reports say that there has been gang violence near Will Rogers High School. The gang is cutting throats and draining blood. I believe if we follow that gang we’ll find the rogue red fledglings. Do that. Discreetly.”
    Rephaim didn’t speak, but he bowed his head in acknowledgment.
    “And now I’m going to luxuriate in that lovely marble bathtub in the other room. Kalona, my love, I will join you in our bed very soon.”
    “My Queen, did you not wish me to search for the red fledglings with Rephaim?”
    “Not tonight. Tonight I need a more personal service from you. We have too long been apart.” She ran one red nail down Kalona’s chest and he had to force himself not to flinch away from her.
    She must have seen something of his desire to avoid her touch, though, because her next words were cold and hard. “Do I displease you?”
    “Of course not. How could you possibly displease me? I will be ready and willing for you, as always.”
    “And you will be in my bed, awaiting my pleasure,” she said. With a cruel smile she spun around and glided into the huge bedchamber that took up half of the palatial penthouse, closing the double doors to the bathroom with a dramatic slam that Kalona thought sounded much like a gaoler closing a prison door.
    He and Rephaim remained still and silent for almost one full minute. When the immortal finally spoke his voice was rough with repressed anger.
    “There is no price too great to pay to break the hold she has over me.” Kalona swiped his hand down his chest as if he could wipe away her touch.
    “She treats you as if you are her servant.”
    “Not for all of eternity, she will not,” Kalona said grimly.
    “For now she does, though. She even commands you to stay away from Zoey, and you’ve been bound to the Cherokee maiden that shares her soul for centuries!”
    The disgust in his son’s voice was mirrored by Kalona’s own thoughts. “No,” he said quietly, speaking more to himself than his son. “The Tsi Sgili may believe she commands my every move, but though she thinks herself a goddess, she is not omniscient. She cannot know everything. She will not see everything.” Kalona’s massive wings moved restlessly, mirroring his agitation. “I believe you were correct, my son. It may prod Zoey to leave the ancient Isle of Skye if she understands that even there she cannot escape her connection with me.”
    “It seems logical,” Rephaim said. “The girl hides there to avoid you. Show her your powers are too great for that, whether the Tsi Sgili approves or not.”
    “I do not require that creature’s approval.”
    “Exactly,” Rephaim said.
    “My son, take to the night’s sky and track the rogue fledglings. That will pacify Neferet. What I truly wish you to do is to find and watch Stevie Rae. Observe her carefully. Note where she goes and what she does, but do not capture her yet. I believe her powers are linked to Darkness. I believe she can be of use to us, but first her continuing friendship with Zoey and the House of Night has to be corroded. She must have a weakness. If we watch her long enough we will discover it.” Kalona paused, then he chuckled, though the sound was utterly humorless. “Weaknesses can be so beguiling.”
    “Beguiling, Father?”
    Kalona looked at his son, wondering at his odd expression. “Beguiling, indeed. Perhaps you have been so long apart from the world that you do not remember the power of a single human weakness.”
    “I … I am not human, Father. Their weaknesses are difficult for me to understand.”
    “Of course … of course, just find and observe the Red One. I will consider what to do with her from there,” Kalona