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Zoey

We all huddled around Daan Along the bottom of the screen blazed the caption: CHAOS AT THE TULSA HOUSE OF NIGHT? Then the screen was filled with Neferet and a bunch of guys in suits She was standing someplace really pretty-lots of nition Chera Ki off camera

"Va yes Fox 23 exclusively has breaking news tonight froht"

A stupid commercial came up and while Damien tried to skip it I said, "The picture looks like she&039;s someplace don"

"It&039;s the lobby of the Mayo," Aphrodite said dryly "And that&039;s oodness!" Stevie Rae&039;s eyes were giant and round "She&039;s giving a press conference with the mayor?"

"And some of the city council Those are the rest of the suits with him," Aphrodite said

Then the video started to play and we all shut up and gawked

"I am here to officially and publicly sever h Council" Soal and victimized at the same time

"She&039;s so full of shit," Aphrodite said

"Shhh!" the rest of us shushed her

"High Priestess Neferet, ould you sever ties with your people?" asked one of the reporters

"Can we not be considered one people? Are we all not intelligent beings with the capacity to love and understand one another?" Apparently she was speaking rhetorically because she didn&039;t wait for an answer "Vampyre politics have become distasteful to me Many of you know that recently I opened eht to the Tulsa community I did so because of my conviction that humans and vampyres can do more than just uneasily co-exist We can live and work and even love together"

Stevie Raemy head back and forth in disbelief

"I received so h Council that they sent their High Priestess of Death, Thanatos, to Tulsa to intercede The current vaation-just look at the past sixviolence in Midtown Tulsa Do you really believe all of the attacks, especially those involving bloodletting, were huh Priestess, are you ad that vampyres have attacked humans in Tulsa?"

Neferet&039;s hand flew dramatically to her neck "If I knew that with one hundred percent certainty, I would have gone to the local police immediately I only have suspicions and concerns I also have a conscience, which is why I have left the House of Night" Her sh Priestess Froh the video I could see the reporter blushing and s at her

"There have been rumors of a new kind of vampyre, one with red Marks Can you substantiate that rumor?" asked another reporter

"Sadly, I can There is, indeed, a new type of vaed in soive us an example?"

"Certainly The first that co who cao after he accidentally caused his mentor&039;s death He has becoasped

"That bitch is talking about your boyfriend!" Aphrodite said

"Just last night the school&039;s longtion Lankford, was killed Gored to death by a bull Lankford was in James Stark&039;s co it clear she didn&039;t believe it-"happened"

"Are you saying this Stark vaerous?"

"I&039;s and vah Priestess of the Tulsa House of Night is Death"

"Can you give us more specifics about-"

One of the suits stepped forward, cutting Neferet off "I, hly concerned about these developments in the vahter, Aphrodite, was Marked alo I understand all too well that vampyres do not like humans to meddle in their personal, political, or cri policed their own But, let ht, that by Tulsa Council resolution, ill be creating a committee to look into vampyre-human relations I&039;m afraid that is all the time we have for questions today" The man who stepped forward and spoke into Neferet&039;s microphone was Aphrodite&039;s dad-the mayor of Tulsa "I do have oneimmediately, Neferet has been added to the City Council committee under the title of Vampyre Liaison Let me reiterate, Tulsa intends to partner with vampyres ish to live peacefully with hu at once, he raised one hand, sly (which weirdly re a weekly column in the Tulsa World&039;s Scene insert For now that will be the foruh which she will answer your multitudes of questions Keep in s of a partnership here We ently so as not to upset the delicate balance of va Neferet&039;s face instead of theof her expression Then Mayor LaFont waved at the camera and the video shifted back to Chera Kimiko and the studio Damien tapped the screen, and it went blank

"Oh, for shit&039;s sake! My father has lost what living with my mother had left of his ht I heard so his fingers through his bed head and giving me his sexy, cocky, half smile

"Neferet just had a press conference and told everyone you&039;re a dangerous killer," I heardhim

"She did what?" He looked as shocked as I felt

"Yeah, and she did ot with uy-like, and us all blood-sucker-like"

"Uh, newsflash of our own, Aphrodite," Stevie Rae said "You&039;re not a blood-sucker anymore"

"Oh, please As ifabout me I haven&039;t spoken to either one of thehter when it&039;s convenient for them-like now"

"If it wasn&039;t so scary it&039;d be funny," Shaylin said

"Neferet is h Council and the school, versus being kicked out for killing my mom," I explained to Stark

"She can&039;t do that," Stark said "The Vah Council won&039;t let her do that"

"My dad is loving this," Aphrodite said I noticed she&039;d set the chalass with just orange juice "For years he&039;s wanted to figure out how he could get in with va into a clone of my mom, they were actually pleased when I was Marked"

I atching Aphrodite closely and reo nohen I had overheard her parents being really pissed at her for having the leadership of the Dark Daughters taken away fro like her usual ice queen self right now, but in my memory I could still hear the sound of herher face and see the tears she had had to choke down It couldn&039;t be easy for her to have her dad call her a "beloved daughter" when the truth seemed like all he&039;d ever wanted was to use her

"Why? What do your parents ith vaet access topart of the cool crowd It&039;s all they&039;ve ever wanted-to be cool and powerful They use whoever they can to get thewhat I&039;d been thinking

"Neferet is not the way for theet any of that," I said

"No kiddin&039;, Z, she&039;s crazier than a rat in a tin shithouse," Stevie Rae said

"Well, whatever that means, yeah, but not just that Did anyone else notice Neferet&039;s look when Aphrodite&039;s dad was talking? She definitely didn&039;t like how things ended," I said

"A coently doesn&039;t see the Consort of Darkness would be particularly interested in," Dareed

"And she definitely didn&039;t like it when the erous," I said

"I&039;d like to be dangerous to Neferet!" Stark blurted, still looking kinda shell-shocked

"My dad is very good at pro another," said Aphrodite "I can tell you right now that he thinks he can play that game with Neferet" She shook her head No matter how callous she sounded, her expression was strained

"We need to go to the House of Night Now If Thanatos doesn&039;t know about this, she needs to," I said

Neferet

Hu and so terribly plain, Neferet thought as she watched the mayor, Charles LaFont, simper and placate and continue to avoid any direct questions about danger and deaths and vampyres after their press conference Even this s of rumor said was next in line for a senatorial seat, and was supposedly so charishter in a cough ThisNeferet had expected more from Aphrodite&039;s father

Father! A voice echoed frorip on the filigreed iron banister to tighten suddenly, spas sound that caht iron as she pried her hand from it This hen her patience ended

"Mayor LaFont, would you escort me to my penthouse" The words should have been a question, but Neferet&039;s voice did not frame them as such The four city councilmen who had joined the press conference and the mayor turned in her direction She easily read each of them