Burned

are.”
    “Should I call Dragon in on this?”
    “No. I’m not goin’ alone, and I do plan on givin’ them an ultimatum—shape up or ship out—but if I take outsiders down there, I won’t have a chance of any of them deciding to give up Darkness and come with me.” Then Stevie Rae realized what she’d said and stopped like she’d run into the side of a barn. “Ohmygood
ness,
that’s it! I couldn’t have known it before I met the bulls, but now I understand.Lenobia, whatever it is that gets ahold of us after we die, and then un-die, and we’re all evil and filled with bloodlust and stuff—it’s part of Darkness. That means it isn’t a new thing. It has to be as ancient as the Warrior/bull religion. Neferet is behind what happened to me and the rest of the kids.” She met the Horse Mistress’s gaze and saw the fear she was feeling reflected there. “She’s involved with Darkness. There’s no doubt about that now.”
    “I’m afraid there’s been no doubt about that for a long time,” Lenobia said.
    “But how the heck did Neferet find out about Darkness? For centuries and centuries, vampyres worshipped Nyx.”
    “Just because people stop worshipping, doesn’t mean the deity stops existing. The forces of good and evil move in a timeless dance, regardless of mortal whim or fashion.”
    “But Nyx is
the
Goddess.”
    “Nyx is
our
Goddess. You can’t really believe there is only one deity for a world as complex as ours.”
    Stevie Rae sighed. “I guess when you put it like that, I gotta agree with you, but I wish there wasn’t more than one choice for evil.”
    “Then there would be only one choice for good. Remember, there must always, eternally, be balance.” They walked in silence for a while before Lenobia said, “You’ll take the red fledglings with you to confront the rogues?”
    “Yep.”
    “When?”
    “The sooner the better.”
    “There is only a little over three hours left until dawn,” Lenobia said.
    “Well, I’m askin’ them a simple yes-or-no question. That’s not gonna take much time.”
    “And if they say no?”
    “If they say no, I’ll make sure they can’t use the depot tunnels as their cushy hideout anymore, and I’ll make sure they’re separated. As individuals, I still don’t believe they’re all bad.” Stevie Rae hesitated,and then added, “I don’t want to kill them. I feel like if I do, I’ll be giving in to evil. And I don’t want that Darkness to touch me, ever again.” An image of Rephaim, wings spread, fully healed and powerful, flashed through her memory.
    Lenobia nodded. “I understand. I don’t agree with you, Stevie Rae, but I do understand. Your plan has merit, though. If you shake them from their stronghold and force them to scatter, those who are left will have to worry about surviving and won’t have time to ‘play’ with humans.”
    “Okay, so let’s split up and spread the word that I need all the red fledglings to meet me at the Hummer in the parking lot—now. I’ll take the dorms.”
    “I’ll go to the Field House and the cafeteria. Actually, on my way to meet you, I saw Kramisha going into the cafeteria. I’ll get to her first. She always knows where everyone is.”
    Stevie Rae nodded, and Lenobia jogged away, leaving her alone and heading toward the dorms. Alone and able to think. She should be thinking about what the heck she was gonna say to the stupid Nicole and her group of killer fledglings. But she couldn’t get Rephaim out of her mind.
    Driving away from him had been one of the hardest things she’d ever done in her life.
    So why had she?
    “Because he’s well again,” she said aloud, and then closed her mouth and looked guiltily around her. Thankfully, there was no one nearby. Still, she kept her big mouth clamped shut as her mind continued to race.
    Okay, Rephaim was healed and all. So? Had she really thought he’d be broken forever?
    No! I don’t want him to be broken!
The thought came quick and honest. But it wasn’t just that he was well. It was that Darkness had healed him—had made him look . . .
    Stevie Rae’s thoughts trailed off because she didn’t want to go there. She didn’t want to admit, even silently to herself, how Rephaimhad looked to her standing there, framed by the moonlight, powerful and whole.
    Nervously, she twirled a blond curl. And anyway, they were Imprinted. He was supposed to look a certain way to her.
    But Aphrodite hadn’t affected her like Rephaim had started