House of Night 09 - Destined

“You’re the one who asked.”
    “You don’t know shit about me.”
    Shaylin suddenly looked pissed. “Oh, please! I don’t know why, but I do know I know what I’m seeing.”
    “Hey, it’s not like I have to be dripping in mushy peas for you to figure out this smile has taken me places,” Erik said sarcastically.
    “Yeah, well, explain to me why I also know the gray, foggy-looking stuff means something has made you sad.” She put her hands on her hips, squinted her eyes, stared at him. Hard. Then she nodded, like she was agreeing with herself. Looking smug she added, “I think someone close to you just died.”
    Erik felt like she’d smacked him in the face. He couldn’t say anything. He just looked away from her and tried to think through a wave of sadness.
    “Hey, I’m sorry.”
    He looked down to see that she’d hurried up to him and put her hand back on his arm. She didn’t look smug anymore.
    “That was really wrong of me,” she said.
    “No,” he said. “You weren’t wrong. A friend of mine did just die.”
    She shook her head. “That’s not what I meant. I was wrong to have said it like that—all mean-girl. That’s not who I am. That’s not how I am. So, I’m sorry.”
    Erik sighed. “I’m sorry, too. None of this happened like it was supposed to.”
    Shaylin touched her forehead gingerly. “You’ve never Marked someone with red?”
    “I’ve never Marked anyone beside you,” he admitted.
    “Oh, wow. I’m your first?”
    “Yeah, and I messed it up.”
    She smiled. “If me being able to see is a mess-up, I’m all for it.”
    “Well, I’m glad you can see, but I still need to figure out how that happened.” He gestured at her red Mark. “And this.” Erik waved his hand around him. “The pea stuff.”
    “The pea stuff came from you, but there’s other colors there, too. Like when you said sorry I could see—”
    “No!” he held up a hand, cutting her off. “I don’t think I want to know what else you can see.”
    “Sorry,” she said softly, looking down and scuffing the toe of one shoe through the winter-brown grass. “I guess it is really weird. So, what happens next?”
    Erik sighed again. “Don’t be sorry, and there’s nothing wrong with weird. I’m sure Nyx has a reason for giving you this gift, and this red Mark.”
    “Nyx?”
    “Nyx is our Goddess. The Goddess of Night. She’s awesome, and sometimes she gives her fledglings cool gifts.” As he spoke Erik felt like a total ass. He had to be the crappiest Tracker in House of Night history. He’d turned a blind kid into a red fledgling who could see inside stuff, and he was just now telling her about their Goddess. “Come on.” He didn’t care if Charon would approve or not—he wasn’t following the damn script anyway. He might as well go for broke and screw everything up. “Show me where you used to live. Pack a bag or whatever. You’re going to come with me.”
    “Oh, yeah. To the House of Night in Tulsa, right?”
    “Actually, no. First I’m going to take you to a red fledgling High Priestess. Maybe she can figure out what I did wrong.”
    “Hey, she’s not gonna try to ‘fix’ me by making me blind again, is she?”
    “Shaylin, as much as I hate to admit it, I don’t think it’s you who needs to be fixed. It’s me.”

CHAPTER SEVEN
    Zoey
    “Zoey, did you hear me?”
    I realized that while I’d been maniacally brushing Persephone, Lenobia had come into the stall and had been talking at me. Well, I mean I realized she’d been saying words. Out loud. To me. But I hadn’t really heard them. I sighed and turned to face the Horse Mistress, leaning against the mare’s warm, sturdy side and trying to draw calmness and energy from her familiar presence. “Sorry, no. I wasn’t paying attention. I’m super distracted. What were you saying?”
    “I was asking what you know about this Aurox boy.”
    “Nothing except that I can promise you he’s not just a boy,” I said.
    “Yes, word’s already spread around campus that he’s a shape-shifter.”
    I felt my eyes get really big. “Seriously? There are such things? Like Sam and his crazy white trash mom and brother?”
    “Sam?”
    “True Blood,” I explained. “They’re shape-shifters. They can change into anything they’ve seen. I think. Although I don’t think they can change into inanimate stuff. Jeesh, I need to read those books to get the real deal. Anyway, again, there are such things ?”
    “A, I don’t