Tempted

it.”
    “That’s bullpoopie.”
    And then Stark, my big, bad, macho Warrior, raised his voice, put on a little girl’s Southern drawl, and said, “ ‘Uncle Jack? What’s a whore-lady?’”
    “I do not think that’s the most important quote from that book,” I said, but laughed anyway.
    “Okay, how about: ‘Ain’t no snot-nosed slut of a schoolteacher ever born c’n make me do nothin’!’ That one’s really my favorite.”
    “You got a twisted mind, James Stark.” I was smiling and feeling warm and happy when we turned into the long driveway that led to the House of Night. I was just thinking how magical it looked, all lit up and welcoming, when I noticed there was more light than usual coming from the school’s backup generators and old-fashioned oil lanterns. Then I realized the light wasn’t coming from any of the school buildings. Instead it was flickering from an area between Nyx’s Temple and the school proper.
    I felt Stark tense instantly.
    “What is that?” I asked.
    “Stop the horses,” he said.
    “Whoa.” I pulled Persephone to a halt, calling for Shaunee and Johnny B to stop their horses, too. “What’s going on?”
    “Keep your eyes open. Be ready to ride back to the abbey. Go and go quickly if I tell you to. And don’t wait for me!” was all Stark said before he slid off Persephone and sprinted behind us to the Hummer.
    I twisted around and could see that Darius was already getting out of the Hummer as Heath took his place behind the driver’s wheel. The two warriors talked briefly, and then Darius called Erik and all the male red fledglings to him, plus Stevie Rae. I was just getting ready to head Persephone over to the Hummer when Stark jogged back to me.
    “What is it?” I asked.
    “Something’s on fire inside the school grounds.”
    “Can you tell what it’s from?” I asked Shaunee.
    “Don’t know,” Shaunee said, wrinkling her forehead in concentration. “But it feels sacred.”
    Sacred? What the hell?
    Stark took Persephone’s bridle to get my attention. “Look under the trees.”
    I looked to my right, to the row of Bradford pear trees that lined the lane leading to the House of Night. There were things under them—shadows within shadows of crumpled forms. My stomach felt sick when I realized what I was seeing.
    “Raven Mockers,” I said.
    “They’s dead,” Kramisha said.
    “We have to check. We have to know for sure,” Stevie Rae said. She had stepped up with the red fledgling males and Erik.
    “That we will,” Darius said. Then, pulling a knife for each of his hands from inside his leather jacket, he told Stark, “Stay with Zoey.” Nodding to Stevie Rae and Erik to follow him, he started toward the trees.
    It didn’t take long.
    “Dead,” he called, after pausing by each one.
    When the group rejoined us, I couldn’t help but notice how white Stevie Rae’s face looked.
    “You okay?” I asked her.
    She looked up at me, her eyes more than a little startled. “Yeah,” she said quickly. “Fine. It’s just . . .” Her voice trailed off and her gaze went back to the grisly lumps under the trees.
    “It’s ’cause they smell bad.” Kramisha said. We all looked at her. “Well, it’s true. Them Raven Mockers have something nasty in they blood.”
    “Their blood does smell wrong. I know because I had to clean it up from where Darius had shot some of them down from the sky back at the abbey,” Stevie Rae spoke quickly, like the subject made her uncomfortable.
    “That’s what I smelled on you!” I was relieved I’d finally identified the odd scent.
    “Everyone needs to focus on the here and now,” Darius said. “We don’t know what’s happening in there.” He motioned toward the school grounds and the flickering flames that were illuminating its heart.
    “What is that? Is the school really on fire?” Stevie Rae spoke our thoughts aloud.
    “I can tell you what it is.” The voice startled all of us except the three horses we rode, which should have clued me in instantly to who was standing in the shadows on the field house side of the lane. “It is a funeral pyre,” said Lenobia, Professor of Equestrian Studies, and one of the few adult vamps who had stood by us after Kalona and Neferet had taken over the school.
    She went straight to the horses, greeting them, checking them, and generally ignoring us until she was sure they were okay. Finally, looking up from caressing Persephone’s muzzle she said, “Merry meet,