Hunted

think much of it then.” I paused and gave a little laugh. “Actually, I didn’t take her seriously, and thought she was just being crazy-eccentric-nun-lady.”
    “Well, in your defense, the nun is kinda different,” Aphrodite said.
    Darius nodded, “At least she is for a nun.”
    “She’s also the Spirit the poem talks about,” I said.
    “Wow, you did figure it out!” Damien grinned at me. “Who are the rest of the personifications?”
    “Blood is Stevie Rae.”
    “She definitely likes it enough,” Aphrodite said under her breath.
    “You’re Humanity,” I told her firmly, punctuating my announcement with a big grin.
    “Great. Just great. Let me state right now for the record: I. Do. Not. Want. To. Get. Bit. Again. Ever.” Then she glanced up at Darius and her expression changed, and she added, “Except by you, handsome.”
    The Twins made retching noises.
    “Earth is my grandma,” I continued, ignoring all of them.
    “Good thing your grandma’s already at the abbey,” Damien said.
    “How about Night?” Shaunee asked.
    “It’s Zoey,” Aphrodite said.
    I raised my brows at her.
    She rolled her eyes. “Who the hell else could it be? Anyone who’s not mentally impaired or sharing a brain”—she gave the Twins and Damien pointed looks—“could figure that one out.”
    “Okay, yeah, I’m Night,” I said.
    “So we need to get to the Benedictine Abbey,” Darius said, going, as usual, straight to the heart of the logistics of our “operation.” I say “operation” because it usually feels to me like I’m flailing about hoping that somehow I’m getting enough things right that I don’t totally make a mess of stuff, which isn’t exactly an Operation.
    “Yes, and you need to get there quickly, before Kalona and Neferet cause any more damage to our people,” Lenobia said.
    “Or begin a war with the humans,” Aphrodite said.
    Everyone but Darius gawked at her. And in my gawking I saw through the façade of her beauty, and how she always looked totally together, to the bruised darkness under her eyes and the vaguely reddish tint that hadn’t yet faded from their whites.
    “You had another vision,” I said.
    She nodded.
    “Ah, crap. Did I get killed again?”
    I heard Lenobia’s shocked intake of breath. “Uh, long story,” I said.
    “No, dork. You did not get killed. Again,” Aphrodite said. “But I got a flash of the war—the same one I saw before—only this time I recognized the Raven Mockers.” She paused, shuddering. “Did you know they can rape women? Not a comfortable vision to have. Anyway, Neferet hooked up with Kalona to fulfill her crazy war-with-the-humans scheme.”
    “But last time you had the war vision, saving Zoey kept it from happening,” Damien said.
    “I know that. I’m Vision Girl, remember? What I don’t know is why this one was different, except that now Kalona has been added into the mix. And, well, I hate to clue you in about this, ’cause it’s more than a little frightening, but Neferet has totally gone over to the Dark Side. She’s turning into something, and it’s like no vampyre we’ve ever known before.”
    Something clicked inside me, and as the pieces of the puzzle were fitting together, I knew what was happening. “She’s becoming Queen Tsi Sgili, the first vampyre Tsi Sgili, and that’s something we’ve never known before.” I said it in a voice that sounded as cold as I felt.
    “Yeah. That’s what I saw,” Aphrodite said, looking pale. “I also know that the war starts right here in Tulsa.”
    “So the Council they want to take over must be the Council at this House of Night,” I said.
    “Council?” Lenobia said.
    “It’s too much to explain right now. Let’s just say it’s a good thing that they’re only thinking regionally and not globally,” I said.
    “It stands to reason if we make Kalona and, hopefully, Neferet with him, flee Tulsa, then perhaps the war won’t start,” Darius said.
    “Or at least it won’t start here,” I said. “And that might give us time to figure out how to get rid of him permanently, since he seems to be a main player in the war.”
    “It is Neferet,” Lenobia said in a voice so calm it almost sounded dead. “She is the impetus behind Kalona. She has desired a war against the humans for many years.” She met my eyes. “You may have to kill her.”
    I blanched. “Kill Neferet! No way. I’m not doing that!”
    “You might have to,” Darius said.
    “No!” I