There was also plenty of room for the other professors and fledglings who should have been there, standing beside Dragon and sending prayers to Nyx for Anastasia, as well as her mate, not intruding on his grief, but bearing silent witness that they loved and supported him. No one's out here with him, I said quietly, not wanting Dragon to hear the disgust in my voice. Where the hell is everyone? He shouldn't be out here alone, Stevie Rae said, wiping tears from her face. It's just not right. I was with him until I felt the horses approaching, Lenobia said, jogging up to join us. What about everyone else? I asked. She shook her head, the disgust I felt was mirrored in her expression. The fledglings are in the dorms. The professors are in their rooms. Anyone else is in the infirmary--anyone else who would have cared to stand with him, that is. That doesn't make any sense. I couldn't wrap my mind around it. How could his students and the professors not care to stand with him? Kalona and Neferet might be gone, but their poison remains, Lenobia said cryptically. You need to be in the infirmary, Aphrodite said, coming up behind us. I noticed she kept her gaze from moving to the pyre or Dragon. Go, Lenobia said. I'll remain here with him. So will we, Johnny B said. He was my favorite professor before, you know. I did know. Johnny B meant before he'd died and then un-died. We'll all stay with him, Kramisha said. It ain't right that he's alone, and you and your circle's got business to take care of in there.

She turned her eyes to the infirmary part of the school building. Come on, she called, and the rest of the red fledglings stepped out of the shadows to take places beside Dragon, creating a circle around the pyre. I'll stay, too, Jack said. He was crying steadily, but he didn't hesitate to take his place in the circle the red fledglings were making. Duchess stayed close beside him, her tail and ears down as if she truly understood. Without saying anything, Erik stepped beside Jack. Then Heath surprised me by filling the space next to Erik. He nodded at me solemnly before bowing his head. I wasn't sure of my voice, so I simply turned and, with my circle following me, along with Aphrodite, Stark, and Darius, we reentered the House of Night.

Chapter Twenty-three

The school's infirmary wasn't very big. Actually, it was only three little hospital-like rooms on one of the floors of the professors' building. So it was no surprise that there were hurt kids spilling out of the rooms. Not that it wasn't shocking to see an additional three pallets, each filled with a hurt fledgling, scattered in the hallway. The wounded kids blinked in surprise as my group and I paused in the entrance.

Zoey? I looked up from trying not to stare at the hurt kids--and not to smell the blood that seemed to hang in the air around us--to see two vampyres hurrying toward me. I recognized them as Neferet's assistants, kinda like the equivalent of nurses, and had to think hard to remember that the tall blonde called herself Sapphire, and the short, Asian one was Margareta. Were you injured, too? Sapphire asked, looking me over quickly. No, I'm fine. We're all fine, I assured her. Actually, we're here to help. Without a healer we've done all that can be done for them, said Margareta bluntly. None of the fledglings are in immediate danger of dying, though one never knows how an injury will affect the Change, so it is always possible that several of them might-- Okay, yeah, we get it. I cut her off before she could say die all loud and obvious in front of the group of kids who might very well die.

Jeesh, talk about bad bedside manner. We aren't here because of our medical skills, Damien explained. We're here because our circle is powerful, and within it we might be able to soothe those who have been injured. None of the other uninjured fledglings are here, said Sapphire, as if that was a reason for us to not be here, too. None of the other fledglings have affinities for the elements, I said. Really, we have done all that can be done, Margareta repeated coolly. Without a High Priestess-- This time Stark cut her off. We have a High Priestess, so it's time for you to step aside and let her, and her circle, help these kids. Yeah, back off, Aphrodite said, literally getting in the vamp's face. The two vampyres backed off, though I could feel their icy, disapproving stares. What the hell is their problem? Aphrodite asked in a low voice as we walked into the hallway. I don't have a clue, I said. I don't really even know them. I do, Damien said softly. I volunteered in the infirmary my third-former year. They've always been dour. I thought it was because they had to deal with fledglings dying.

Dour'? Shaunee said. Translate him, will ya, Stevie Rae? Erin said. Dour means stern and kinda gloomy.' You know, y'all really should read more. I was just gonna say that, Stark said. Damien sighed. Unbelievably, I had to stifle a smile. The circumstances were bad, but my friends being their normal selves made everything seem just a teensy bit better. Nerd herd, focus. You're here to help the fledglings. Dour One and Dour Two aren't important, said Aphrodite. Dr. Seuss reference. I like it, Stark said, giving me a check-meout-I've-always-read-books hottie grin. Aphrodite frowned at him. I said focus,' not flirt.' Stevie Rae? A guy called from a pallet halfway down the hall, interrupting all of us. Drew? Stevie Rae said, and then she hurried to his side. Drew, are you okay? What happened? Is your arm broke? The kid's arm was in a sling.