Revealed

group who follow him.”
    “And are equally as hateful,” Stevie Rae added. “Just last night that little red fledgling, Nicole, you know the one who helped Lenobia save the horses when the stable caught fire?” Thanatos nodded and Stevie Rae continued. “Well, she officially left Dallas’s group and swore herself to me—basically because of how hateful Dallas and his group are.”
    I was opening my mouth to agree with Stevie Rae—no way did I want to be stuck in a basement with those jerks Dallas called friends—but Thanatos spoke first.
    “When my judgment of Dallas is finished, there will be no fledglings who follow him.” Her voice was like ice.
    I wondered how Thanatos thought she was going to get the jerk red fledglings to be nice, but she had, like, a zillion years of experience and was super powerful. Who knew what kind of magickal vampyre stuff she could have up her sleeve? I hoped it was something uber mean. The truth was that after what had happened tonight, I was done being patient with anyone who wanted to hurt my friends or me—and if that meant Thanatos was going to use the vampyre equivalent of old school corporal punishment, then so be it. Dallas and his friends deserved whatever they got.
    “Zoey, would you go check on my kids? Tell them that I’m gonna be okay? You know Kramisha and Shaylin are gonna be freakin’ out when they hear what happened.” Stevie Rae’s voice was getting weaker and weaker, and even though she was smiling at me and holding Rephaim’s hand, she’d laid back on her pillow, looking exhausted and broiled.
    “No problem,” I assured her. “I don’t want you to worry about anything except getting well. Aphrodite and Shaunee and I will all go see the kids and make sure they know you’re gonna be just fine.”
    “Good. While you’re speaking to the red fledglings you can tell them that even though it is Saturday I have decided the House of Night needs an extra day of classes to make up for all the school time we have missed. I have already notified the professors. I will make a schoolwide announcement in a few moments. I expect everyone in their first-hour classes at eight P.M. , sharp. Tardiness is unacceptable. Violence and hatred will not throw my House of Night into chaos,” Thanatos said.
    “Oh, for shit’s sake—school—ugh,” Aphrodite muttered under her breath.
    “I think that’s an awesome idea,” Stevie Rae said. “Take notes for me, Z.”
    “Okie dokie,” I said, thinking that I’d get Damien to take notes for her. “I’ll come see you after class.”
    “We all will,” Shaunee said.
    Aphrodite grunted.
    So, Stevie Rae had been totally right. Her red fledglings were freaked. Kramisha descended on us the second we entered the basement.
    “If she ain’t okay I’m gonna shank Dallas my own self.”
    “Stevie Rae’s going to be fine,” I assured her and the other kids who were clustering around.
    “He really tried to kill her, didn’t he?” Everyone turned to Nicole, who was standing off from the group, with only Shaylin near her.
    “Dallas tried to kill Stevie Rae and Shaunee,” I said, meeting her gaze and looking for any clue that she’d known what he’d planned.
    Nicole’s expression didn’t betray anything except disgust. She shook her head. “He got worse and worse, but I didn’t think he’d try anything right here at the House of Night.”
    “You used to be like him,” I said.
    “You’re right. I
used to be.
Not anymore. Not for a while now.”
    “How do we know you’re telling the truth?” Shaunee asked.
    “I believe her.” Shaylin spoke with no hesitation. “I’ve watched her colors change.”
    I looked to Aphrodite. “You’re still sure about her?”
    “Who her? Shaylin or Nicole?”
    “Both,” I said.
    Aphrodite’s gaze flicked over Shaylin before coming back to me. “I trust Shaylin’s judgment. If she says the girl’s changed, then I say believe her.”
    “She used to be Dallas’s girlfriend, and Dallas just tried to kill Stevie Rae and me!” Shaunee blurted. “I’m not being a bitch—I’m just telling it like it is.”
    I heard a few of the kids mutter in agreement with her. Nicole’s face had paled, but she’d lifted her chin and faced Shaunee. “Erin was Dallas’s girlfriend and you still cared enough about her to stand by her pyre until after dawn.”
    “I knew Erin a long time,” Shaunee said. “I’ve known you for, like, two seconds.”
    “Was Erin perfect for