Hunted

I also had to believe Stevie Rae could get all the kids there without being captured by the Raven Mockers. If only the rest of us were that lucky, we could meet and regroup and figure out what the hell we could do about Kalona and Neferet. And I would ask Stevie Rae about the creepy dark shadow stuff. Sadly, I had a feeling she would know way more than me about it.
    I entered the common room. Normally, after school it would have been crazy busy with fledglings hanging out, watching one of the several flat-screen TVs. Comfortable chairs and loveseats were clustered around the room, and kids should have filled them up as they relaxed after a long school day.
    Today there weren’t many fledglings, and those who were sitting around were unusually subdued. Part of that might be because the cable had been knocked out by the storm, but the House of Night had some major backup generators, and kids should have been watching DVDs—I mean, hello! Almost everyone had Netflix. But the few kids who were present were crouched together, speaking barely above a whisper.
    Automatically I looked over at the area where my friends and I liked to gather and was relieved to see Damien and the Twins. They had Becca in the middle of them, and I assumed they were comforting the girl and keeping her from bursting into hysterical tears. When I got closer, I understood that I was very wrong.
    “Really, I’m fine. It’s no big deal,” Becca was insisting in a voice that wasn’t shaky and scared anymore, but had suddenly changed to sounding incredibly annoyed.
    “No big deal!” Shaunee said. “Of course it was a big deal.”
    “The guy attacked you,” Erin said.
    “It wasn’t exactly like that,” Becca said, waving her hands dismissively. “We were just messing around. Plus, Stark really is hot.”
    Erin snorted. “Yeah, I usually find rapists majorly hot.”
    Becca’s eyes narrowed and she looked cold and mean. “Stark is hot, and you’re just jealous that he didn’t want you.”
    “Didn’t want me?” Erin said incredulously. “Don’t you mean, didn’t want to molest me? Why are you making excuses for him?”
    “What the hell’s wrong with you, Becca?” Shaunee said. “No guy should ever get away with—”
    “Hang on,” Damien spoke up. “You know, Becca’s right. Stark is one hot guy.” The Twins stared at him in shock, and he hurried on. “If Becca says they were just messing around, who are we to judge?”
    It was then that Darius and I stepped into their agitated little circle. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” I asked Becca.
    “Totally fine.” Throwing the Twins an icy look, she got to her feet. “Actually, I’m starving, so I’m gonna go find something to eat. Sorry I caused you two a hassle out there. Later.” She hurried away.
    “What the hell just happened?” I asked in a low voice.
    “The same thing that’s happened all over this damn—”
    “Upstairs!” Darius commanded, shutting Erin up.
    I was semi-amazed to see my friends meekly obey Darius. We filed out of the common room, ignoring the curious stares of the few kids who were quietly sitting around. On the way up the staircase, Darius said, “Is Aphrodite in her room?”
    “Yeah, she said she was tired,” Shaunee said.
    “She’s probably hanging upside down from the ceiling in her usual batperch,” Erin said. She glanced over her shoulder at Darius and added, “Speaking of Aphrodikey, she’s gonna give birth to a big ol’ litter of kittens when she sees that you’ve messed up your pretty face.”
    “Yeah, and if you need comfort from her shallow hatefulness, you can try a little café mocha over here,” Shaunee said, waggling her brows at him.
    “Or a vanilla smoothie over here,” Erin flirted.
    Darius smiled good-naturedly and just said, “I will keep that in mind.”
    I thought the Twins were taking their lives in their hands, and I was darn sure not going to get between them and Aphrodite if she found out they’d been flirting with her man, but I was too tired to say anything.
    “You know that blue cashmere pullover you just got from Saks?” Damien asked Erin.
    “Yeah, what about it?”
    “I call dibs on it if Aphrodite disembowels you for hitting on her man,” Damien said.
    “She’s just a human now,” Erin said.
    “Yeah, we figure together we can take her,” Shaunee said, then she blew kisses at Darius. “Remember that, warrior boy.”
    Darius chuckled and I rolled my eyes. We were just passing