“They are not roaming free,” Darius said quickly. “Thanatos escorts and observes them. They have been confined to the cafeteria.”
“And my guess is they won’t be here very long,” I said.
“Long enough to combat Aphrodite’s mom’s hateful interview on that other channel,” Stark said.
“Communication is too easy in the modern world. It is a curse as well as a convenience,” Kalona said.
“I could ask Thanatos to confiscate Dallas’s cell phone,” I said, trying to think of something—anything—to help keep our business private.
“He’d just use someone else’s, even if he had to steal one,” Stark said. “And don’t forget—the kid’s affinity is with electronics. If he wants to communicate with Neferet, he will.”
“Let us hope he and his allies are not currently in the cafeteria,” Kalona said.
“Jeesh, it’s such a pain in the ass to have to worry about being betrayed by one of our own.” I was frustrated as hell. “I wish I could make everyone just act right!”
“This from the same young High Priestess who lectured me more than once about the importance of free choice?” Kalona’s raised brows and knowing look mocked me.
“I didn’t mean I wanted to take away people’s free choice,” I said.
“No, not as long as their choice allies with yours,” Kalona said.
“That’s not what she meant.” Stark frowned at Kalona. “You just don’t get her.”
Kalona said nothing, but his eyes remained mocking … knowing…
Did I really want to take away free choice? No! I just wished kids would make the right choice. Jeesh, that was way different. God, this whole thing was giving me major heartburn. I’d probably have IBS any second…
“Huh?” I’d totally missed what Stark had been saying.
“Z, I said that Darius and I would go gather up that old stuff that we found in the basement and get it out of the way so the kids could start moving sleeping bags and TVs and things down there.”
“Oh, uh, the stuff.” I stared at Stark. “What are you going to do with it?”
“I thought we’d box it up and ask Lenobia if she could find a place for it in one of the new storerooms she had built in the stables after the fire. Should be safe and out of the way there.”
“Why not pile it up and have Shaunee set it afire?” Kalona said.
“Because we can’t burn books!” I made up in a rush.
“Books?” Kalona looked super confused.
“Yeah, the old stuff is mostly books. You know, things that were probably moved out of the media center when they added the computers.” I hoped I didn’t sound as lame as I felt. I am absolutely a crappy liar—I’m especially a crappy unpremeditated liar.
“Well, as you say. I’ll help you in gathering—”
“No!” Stark, Darius, and I said together.
Kalona’s keen gaze said he thought we were up to something. I knew that even though the immortal was oath bound to be on our side, that didn’t mean we wanted him to know the old stuff in the basement was worth a small, or large, fortune.
“Okay, well, here’s the thing,” I said, trying to start with enough of the truth that I could tell myself that I was just exaggerating a story and not actually doing a really bad job of lying. “You’ve got to stay here and out of sight until we let you know that the reporters have totally left the school.”
“Yea,” Stark said with a smirk. “Wings are kinda noticeable to reporters.”
I hurried on before Kalona and Stark could bicker. Again. “I’ll tell Damien to come tell you when the reporters are gone. But then we don’t need you to help us box stuff up from downstairs. See, we’ve already, um, talked about the Dallas issue, and we know he’s trouble. So, we were hoping that you could figure out something that would keep him occupied while we clean out the basement and get the red fledglings who don’t hate us settled in down there.”
“Do you really expect to keep Dallas and his group from finding out that your fledglings have made the basement their home?”
“No, not forever,” Stark said. “But it would be nice if at least the first time they slept down there we could be sure nothing would try to eat them or trap them or light them on fire or—”
“Holy crap, enough already, Stark!” He was making my head hurt. “What Stark means is that, hopefully, we’re going to be able to go back to the depot soon, so if Dallas and his group could just be kinda distracted, and if our fledglings just didn’t mention that they were sleeping in the basement, well, then maybe we’d have a safe spot here at the House of Night Neferet doesn’t know about.”
“It is always wise to have a safe place to rest,” Darius added.
“So, like I said before, can you think of anything you could do to help us keep Dallas distracted and not nosing around while we get the basement cleared out and our kids moved down there?” I finished, deciding that all three of us were pretty crappy liars.
“There is the fledgling’s funeral,” Kalona said. “Though she used to be one of your group, everyone is aware that recently she changed her allegiance to Dallas. Would it not be a kind thing for you to ask that Dallas tend to the building and even, perhaps, the lighting of her pyre? That should keep him preoccupied, and he would, naturally, ask his group to assist him.”
“That’s actually an awesome idea,” I said. “It’ll definitely keep Dallas and his buddies busy, and it’s honestly a nice thing for us to step aside and let him publicly light her pyre and say good-bye. It’ll show that we believed he really cared about her.”
“If he’ll do it,” Stark said. “You heard him yesterday. He said he’d tell Erin good-bye in his own way, and that meant he didn’t want anything to do with us.”
“Which is the reason I should approach him instead of Zoey,” Kalona said. “I will tell him that Zoey has declined Thanatos’s invitation to conduct Erin’s funeral and so the job has been left to me.”
“That’ll piss him off,” Stark said.
“That is my intention,” Kalona said. “He can direct his anger at me as I supervise the building of the fledgling’s pyre.” The immortal’s lips turned up in a wicked smile. “I do like a good pyre. Such a shame humans ended that tradition. I can’t imagine even enjoying a modern human funeral. It’s sad, really.”
“Kalona, it’s a problem when what you say reminds me of Neferet,” I said.
Kalona’s smile widened, and I thought he looked like a little boy, as in the kind of little boy who would set fire to his family in the middle of the night and then say his sister’s Barbie made him do it.
“Z, don’t overthink it. Kalona will keep Dallas busy, and that’s all we’re worried about right now,” Stark said.
“Except for the reporters and the police and—”
“Stark is correct,” Darius interrupted me. “You overthink.”
Reluctantly, I stood. “All right. I’ll focus on the here and now. I’ll tell Thanatos what’s up as soon as the reporters are gone, and also clue in Stevie Rae. She can have the kids pack up their stuff and lay low until the basement’s ready for them. Then they can come in the back way and avoid the middle of the campus grounds where Dallas and his friends should be busy building the funeral pyre.”
“It will be done as you say, Priestess. Will you be moving to the basement as well?”
“No,” Stark answered for me, which was super annoying.
“I’m going to stay in my old room with Stark,” I continued, because I actually can speak for myself. “Stevie Rae and Rephaim will probably stay in the dorm, too.”
Kalona nodded thoughtfully. “My son needs a place from which he can come and go easily.”
“Yeah, and we decided it’s not a good idea for all of us to stay in one room together,” Stark said. “Especially when that one room is a basement with only one way in and out of it.”
“I agree,” Kalona said, standing. His hand resting on the desk drew my eye down and I noticed something weird about the wood. I kept looking and realized what I was seeing.
“Is that a handprint?”
“Is it?” Kalona replied to me. “I hadn’t noticed.”
My eyes met his and I realized I might not be the only bad liar in the room.
CHAPTER SEVEN
Zoey
I’d been right about one thing—Thanatos had made sure Chera and her crew interviewed a few kids, got some shots of our cafeteria—and then she’d had Damien explain (on camera) his class schedule as the Fox News team was quickly and politely herded off campus. It’d all happened in less than thirty minutes and Thanatos said our segment would air on the evening news as well as the Internet. I’d told her that it had been genius to have Damien be our school spokesman, then I caught her up on our Plan.
