Hunted

back off and let us out of here. You didn’t. I did what I had to then to protect someone I cared about—and you all should know I’d do it again.” My eyes shifted from Venus to the fledglings behind her while I stifled the urge to reach for a couple of the elements and have wind and fire put a little added punch to my threat.
    Venus glared back at me.
    “Okay, y’all have got to learn to get along. Are you remembering that the entire outside world might be against us, or at least filled with scary booger monsters?” Stevie Rae sounded tired but herself. She sat up, gingerly straightening her Dixie Chicks T-shirt and slowly leaning back against the pillows Darius had propped behind her. “So, like Tim Gunn on Project Runway would say, let’s make it work.”
    “Ooooh, I love that show,” Jack gushed.
    I heard a couple of the red fledglings mumble agreement and decided Stevie Rae might have had a point during one of our many trash TV arguments: Reality shows could make the world a better place and bring peace to all mankind.
    “Making it work sounds good to me.” Even though my internal alarm was still warning me that all was not sweetness and light with the red fledglings, I smiled at Stevie Rae, who dimpled back at me. Okay, she obviously believed we could figure out a way to get along. So maybe my alarm system was misfiring simply because Venus was a hateful bitch, and not because she and the rest of them were evil incarnate.
    “Good. So, first, could I please have a refill of that blood and wine? Heavy on the blood part.” She held her empty glass out toward the Twins, who gratefully moved closer to Stevie Rae’s bed and farther away from the group of red fledglings. I noticed Damien and Jack, with Duchess by his side, had also managed to make their way over to where I was standing. “Thanks,” she said when Erin took her glass. “And there’re some scissors in the drawer over there so you don’t have to rip it open with your teeth.” She gave me a little eye roll. While Erin and Shaunee were busy getting Stevie Rae more bloody wine, she studied the little group of red fledglings. “Look, we already talked about this. You know y’all are gonna have to make nice with Zoey and the rest of the kids.” She glanced up at Darius and smiled, “Well, kids and vamps, that is.”
    “Hey, excuse me, guys. I need to get through.”
    I’d bristled automatically as Erik pushed through the crowd at the door. If someone (Venus) tried to bite him, someone (me) was gonna kick her ass. Period.
    Ignoring the tension in the room, Darius said, “What does the radio report is happening in the world above?”
    Erik shook his head. “I can’t get anything in. I even went up into the basement. Nothing but static. Couldn’t get my cell phone to work, either. I did hear a bunch of thunder and could see flashings of massive lightning. It’s still raining, even though it’s getting colder, which means it’ll probably turn to ice. Plus, the wind’s kicked up like crazy. I couldn’t tell if the weather was natural, or if Kalona and those bird thing were causing it. Either way, that’s probably what’s knocking the radio stations and cell towers off-line. I thought you’d want to know, so I came back down.” I saw his eyes move from Dairius to arrowless Stevie Rae and he smiled. “You look better.”
    “Aphrodite saved her by letting Stevie Rae drink her blood,” Shaunee said, and then giggled.
    “Yeah, and now the two of them have Imprinted,” Erin finished in a rush, and then joined Shaunee’s laughter.
    “Wow, you’re kidding. Right?” he said, sounding totally shocked.
    “No, they are not kidding,” Venus said smoothly.
    “Huh. Well. That’s interesting.” I watched Erik’s lips twitch as he stared at Aphrodite. She totally ignored him and kept drinking straight from the wine bottle she clutched in her hand. He stifled a big laugh with a cough, and then his eyes lit on Venus. He nodded, his normal easygoing, popular self. “Hi again, Venus.”
    “Erik,” she said, with a feral smile that made me want to squash her like a bug.
    “Aphrodite was right to start introductions,” Stevie Rae said, and before Aphrodite could, she hurried on, “And, no, I’m not saying that because we’re Imprinted.”
    “I really wish you would all quit talking about it,” Aphrodite muttered.
    Stevie Rae continued as if she hadn’t heard her. “I think being polite is a real good idea, and