She shook her head. "That's not what I meant. I was wrong to have said it like that-all mean-girl. That's not who I am. That's not how I am. So, I'm sorry."

Erik sighed. "I'm sorry, too. None of this happened like it was supposed to."

Shaylin touched her forehead gingerly. "You've never Marked someone with red?"

"I've never Marked anyone beside you," he admitted.

"Oh, wow. I'm your first?"

"Yeah, and I messed it up."

She smiled. "If me being able to see is a mess-up, I'm all for it."

"Well, I'm glad you can see, but I still need to figure out how that happened." He gestured at her red Mark. "And this." Erik waved his hand around him. "The pea stuff."

"The pea stuff came from you, but there's other colors there, too. Like when you said sorry I could see-"

"No!" he held up a hand, cutting her off. "I don't think I want to know what else you can see."

"Sorry," she said softly, looking down and scuffing the toe of one shoe through the winter-brown grass. "I guess it is really weird. So, what happens next?"

Erik sighed again. "Don't be sorry, and there's nothing wrong with weird. I'm sure Nyx has a reason for giving you this gift, and this red Mark."

"Nyx?"

"Nyx is our Goddess. The Goddess of Night. She's awesome, and sometimes she gives her fledglings cool gifts." As he spoke Erik felt like a total ass. He had to be the crappiest Tracker in House of Night history. He'd turned a blind kid into a red fledgling who could see inside stuff, and he was just now telling her about their Goddess. "Come on." He didn't care if Charon would approve or not-he wasn't following the damn script anyway. He might as well go for broke and screw everything up. "Show me where you used to live. Pack a bag or whatever. You're going to come with me."

"Oh, yeah. To the House of Night in Tulsa, right?"

"Actually, no. First I'm going to take you to a red fledgling High Priestess. Maybe she can figure out what I did wrong."

"Hey, she's not gonna try to 'fix' me by making me blind again, is she?"

"Shaylin, as much as I hate to admit it, I don't think it's you who needs to be fixed. It's me."

CHAPTER SEVEN

Zoey

"Zoey, did you hear me?"

I realized that while I'd been maniacally brushing Persephone, Lenobia had come into the stal and had been talking at me. Well, I mean I realized she'd been saying words. Out loud. To me. But I hadn't really heard them. I sighed and turned to face the Horse Mistress, leaning against the mare's warm, sturdy side and trying to draw calmness and energy from her familiar presence. "Sorry, no. I wasn't paying attention. I'm super distracted. What were you saying?"

"I was asking what you know about this Aurox boy."

"Nothing except that I can promise you he's not just a boy," I said.

"Yes, word's already spread around campus that he's a shape-shifter."

I felt my eyes get really big. "Seriously? There are such things? Like Sam and his crazy white trash mom and brother?"

"Sam?"

"True Blood," I explained. "They're shape-shifters. They can change into anything they've seen. I think. Although I don't think they can change into inanimate stuff. Jeesh, I need to read those books to get the real deal. Anyway, again, there are such things?"

"A, I don't watch TV. I never got into the habit. I'll have to read the True Blood books, too."

"Actually, they're the Sookie Stackhouse books by a cool human author named Charlaine Harris." I registered Lenobia's look and hastily added,

"Sorry, sorry, that's really not your point. What's your B?"

"My B is back to your original question, there are a lot of things out there-in this world as well as the Otherworld." I swallowed hard. "I know that. Especially the Otherworld part."

"That said, many cultures have evidence of shape-shifters in their legends and mythology. It only stands to reason that at least some of those stories are based on truth."

"I can't figure out whether that's good or bad," I said.

"I think the best we can hope for is that it's like the rest of us-good or bad based on the individual. Which leads me to my next question. Along with campus gossip about Aurox and his ability to at least appear to be able to change form, word has it that you had a pretty strong reaction to him. Is that true?"