Untamed

they're not normal fledglings."
    "Stevie Rae, what difference does that make?"
    She blinked at me. "You don't understand. They're not normal, and I'm not normal."
    I looked at her for a long time, considering what I knew—that Stevie Rae had been given back her humanity, and what I half suspected but didn't want to admit—that even though she had her humanity back, she still had dark places within herself that I couldn't understand.
    I knew I had to make a decision. I either trusted her, or I didn't. And when it came right down to it, that was really an easy decision to make.
    "I know you're not exactly like you used to be, but I trust you. I believe in your humanity, and I always will."
    Stevie Rae looked like she might cry. "Are you sure?"
    "Totally."
    She drew a deep breath. "Okay, then what's your plan?"
    "Well, I haven't really thought this through, but it seems to me that the vamps and fledglings should know about you and the rest of the others, especially now that another fledgling has died. We don't know everything we wish we did about you, but we are pretty sure that Neferet somehow created you guys, or at least opened some kind of weird door so you could be created, right?"
    "I think so. The truth is, I still worry that the fledglings might be able to be controlled, or at least influenced by her, even though they are different now and she's been leaving us alone."
    "So doesn't it make sense that it's bad that Neferet is the only adult vamp who knows about you guys? Especially if she can still have some kind of control over you? Especially now that there might be a new red fledgling getting ready to wake up?" And then another thought hit me. "Stark had a special gift. He never missed what he aimed at with his bow and arrows. I mean never."
    "She would for sure want to use him," Stevie Rae said. "Before my Change, she was for sure using the others, or at least trying to." She shrugged apologetically. "I'm really sorry that I can't really remember the stuff that happened before I Changed, and the rest of the kids say their memories aren't so good around then, either. I can only guess at most of this stuff."
    "Well, from what little I saw, it was obvious Neferet was up to no good."
    "Not a big surprise, Z," she said.
    "I know. But that brings us back to other vamps knowing about you guys. If you're out in the open, it stands to reason that Neferet would have a harder time using you for her own bizarre little take-over-the-world evil plot."
    "Does she have a plot like that?"
    "I dunno. Sounds like something she'd have, though."
    "True," Stevie Rae said.
    "So? What do you think?"
    She didn't answer for a while, and I kept my mouth shut and let her think. This was a big deal. As far as either of us knew, Stevie Rae and the red fledglings were something that had never before existed. If Stark didn't die, if he woke up as a red fledgling, Stevie Rae would be the first of a new kind of vampyre, and being the first of something was a serious responsibility. I definitely knew about that.
    "I think you might be right," she finally said in a voice that was barely louder than a whisper. "But I'm scared. What if the normal vamps think we're freaks?"
    "You're not freaks," I said with way more conviction than I actually felt. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you or them."
    "Promise?"
    "Promise. Plus, it's perfect timing. Shekinah is more powerful than Neferet, and there's a whole buttload of Sons of Erebus warriors around the school."
    "How does that help me?"
    "If Neferet loses her mind, they can handle her."
    "Zoey, I don't want you to use this as an excuse to openly take on Neferet," Stevie Rae said, looking suddenly kinda pale.
    Her words gave me a little jolt of shock. "I'm not!" I said much too loud, and then continued in a lowered voice. "I wouldn't use you like that."
    "I don't mean that you set this up on purpose to get at Neferet. I just mean that I don't think it's smart for you, or any of us, to come out against her so publicly, and I don't think it matters all that much that the Sons of Erebus and Shekinah are here. There's something more going on with Neferet than just her normal craziness. I know it deep inside me. I can't remember what I know, but she's dangerous. Really, really dangerous. Something basic has changed about her, and that change is not a good thing."
    "I wish you could remember what all happened to you."
    Stevie Rae grimaced. "I do, too, sometimes. And then sometimes I'm really, really