When she spoke, her voice was little above a whisper, but it carried such power with it that the air around her literally shivered like heat waves off a blacktop road in the summer. Earth, you are mine, just like I am yours. I call you to me. The tunnel around Stevie Rae was instantly filled with the scents of a hayfield, and the sound of wind soughing through trees. She could feel grass that wasn't there beneath her feet. And that wasn't all Stevie Rae could feel. She felt the earth all around her, and it was that sense of her element--an acknowledgment of earth as an ensouled, sentient entity, that Stevie Rae tapped into.

She raised her arms and pointed her fingers at the low, dirt ceiling of the tunnel. I need you to open for me. Please. The ceiling trembled and dirt showered down, slowly at first, and then, with a sound like an old woman sighing, the earth split open above Stevie Rae. Instinct had her jumping back into the protective shadows of the tunnel, but she'd been right about the sun; it was definitely nowhere to be seen or felt. Was it raining? No, she decided as she peered up at the dismal sky and a few drops found her face, it wasn't raining; it was sleeting, and pretty hard at that, which was all the better for what she had to do. Stevie Rae wrapped the blanket around her shoulders and began the short climb up the collapsed side of the tunnel to the world above. She emerged not far from Mary's Grotto, between it and the trees that lined the western edge of the abbey grounds. It was dark enough that it seemed that the sun had already set, but still Stevie Rae squinted uncomfortably, not liking how vulnerable daylight made her feel, even if that light was so well filtered it was practically nonexistent. She shook off the unease and got her bearings quickly, sighting the shed where she'd left Rephaim a little way off to her left. Putting her head down against the stinging pellets of frozen rain, she jogged to the shed. Just like the night before, as she touched the latch she couldn't help but think Please let him be dead . . . It'd be easier if he was dead . . . The shed was warmer than she'd imagined, and it smelled strange. Along with the scents of the lawn mower and other oiled and gassed yard equipment, as well as the various pesticides and fertilizers stored on the shed's shelves, there was something else. Something that made her skin crawl. She'd just made her way around the lawn-implement obstacle course and was moving slowly to the back of the shed when Stevie Rae realized what the scent reminded her of, and that realization made her steps falter and then stop completely.

The shed, perfumed by Rephaim and his blood, smelled like the darkness that had surrounded her after she had un-died and her humanity had been almost totally destroyed. It reminded her of that black time and those days and nights that had been filled with nothing but anger and need, violence and fear. She stifled a little gasp of realization as she made the rest of the scent connection. The red fledglings, those other red fledglings--the ones she was so reluctant to reveal to Zoey--had this same scent about them. It wasn't a perfect match, and she doubted whether a nose less keen than hers could even draw the connection, but she could. She did. And the connection made her own blood cold with foreboding. Again you come to me alone, Rephaim said.

Chapter Seventeen

Rephaim's words drifted to her out of the darkness. Without seeing the monster he was, his voice had a quality that made him sound hauntingly, heartbreakingly human. That was, after all, what had saved him the day before. His humanity had reached Stevie Rae, and she hadn't been able to kill him. But today he sounded different, stronger than he had before. That relieved and worried her at the same time. Then she shook off the worry. She wasn't some helpless kid who went running for the hills at the first sign of danger. She could definitely kick some bird butt. Stevie Rae straightened her spine. She'd made the decision to help him get away, and that's dang well what she was gonna do. And who'd ya expect? John Wayne and the cavalry? Pretending to be her mom when one of her brothers was being sick and annoying, Stevie Rae marched forward. The shape that had been a dark blob hunkered in the back of the shed came into focus and she gave him her best no- nonsense look. Well, you're not dead and you're sittin' up. So you must be feelin' better.

He cocked his head slightly to the side. Who is John Wayne and cavalry? The cavalry. It just means the good guys comin' to the rescue. Don't get excited, though. There isn't an army comin'. All you got is me. Don't you consider yourself one of the good guys? He surprised her with his ability to have an actual conversation with her, and she thought if she could close her eyes or look away from him, she might almost fool herself into thinking he was just a normal guy. Of course she knew better. She could never close her eyes around him or look away, and he definitely wasn't a normal anything. Well, yeah, I'm good, but I'm not exactly an army. Stevie Rae made an obvious show of looking him over. And he did still look like crap--definitely battered and bloodied and broken-- but he wasn't lying on his side in a crumpled heap anymore.