1、Hunted(House of Night 05)ByPC and Kristin CastALSO BY P.C.CAST and KRISTIN CASTMarkedBetrayedChosenUntamedThis is a work of fiction.All of the characters,organizations,and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the authors imaginations or are used fictitiously.HUNTED.Copyright(c)2009
2、by P.C.Cast and Kristin Cast.All rights reserved.Printed in the United States of America.For information,address St.Martins Press,175 Fifth Avenue,New York,N.YISBN-13:978-0-312-37982-7ISBN-10:0-312-37982-XThis one is for John Maslin-ex-student,research aide,andbrainstormer extraordinaire.An all-arou
3、nd great guy who bearsa striking resemblance to our Damien.hmmm.ACKNOWLEDGMENTSThe House of Night is a team effort,and not just because Kristin and I are the dynamic duo!The series is supported by an amazing group of people at St.Martins Press;their creativity is only exceeded by their generosity.Pl
4、ease know how much Kristin and I appreciate all of you:Jennifer Weis,Anne Bensson,Matthew Shear,Anne Marie Tallberg,Brittany Kleinfelter,Katy Hershberger,and our wonderful cover design team,Michael Storrings and Elsie Lyons.We heart SMP!As always,we are indebted to our agent and friend,Meredith Bern
5、stein.We would like to thank the manyabMarked in their English classes and who made our visit to their very cool school a great time!And while we are mentioning cool schools,we have to thank a group of longtime fans-the teachers from the Jenks,Oklahoma,school system.We heart us some Jenks teachers!(
6、See yall at the next signing!)HUNTEDCHAPTER ONEThe dream began with the sound of wings.In retrospect I realize I should have known that was a bad sign,what with the Raven Mockers being set loose and all,but in my dream it was just background noise,kinda like a fan whirring or the TV turned on to the
7、 QVC.In my dream I was standing in the middle of a beautiful meadow.It was night,but there was an enormous full moon hovering just above the trees that framed the meadow.It cast a silver blue light strong enough to throw shadows and made everything look like it was underwater,an impression that was
8、strengthened by the gentle breeze blowing the soft grasses against my bare legs in sweeps and whirls like waves lapping sweetly against a shore.That same wind was lifting my thick dark hair from my naked shoulders and it felt like silk floating against my skin.Bare legs?Naked shoulders?I looked down
9、 and let out a little yip of surprise.I was wearing a seriously short buckskin minidress.The top of it was cut in a wide V,front and back,so that it hung off my shoulders,leaving lots of skin visible.The dress itself was amazing.It was white and decorated with fringe,feathers,and shells and seemed t
10、o glow in the moonlight.All over it was beaded with intricate designs that were impossibly beautiful.My imagination is so darn cool!The dress tickled a memory,but I ignored it.I didnt want to think too hard-I was dreaming!Instead of pondering dj vu moments I danced gracefully through the meadow,wond
11、ering if Zac Efron or even Johnny Depp was going to suddenly appear and flirt outrageously with me.I peeked around as I twirled and swayed with the wind and thought I saw the shadows flicker and move oddly within the massive trees.I stopped and was trying to squint so I could get a closer look at wh
12、at was going on in the darkness.Knowing me and my weird dreams,Id created bottles of brown pop hanging from the limbs like bizarre fruit,just waiting for me to pick them.Thats when he appeared.At the edge of the meadow,just inside the shadows of the trees,a shape materialized.I could see his body be
13、cause the moonlight caught the smooth,naked lines of his skin.Naked?I stopped.Had my imagination lost its mind?I wasnt really up to frolicking around a meadow with a naked guy,even if he was the amazingly mysterious Mr.Johnny Depp.You hesitate,my love?Q twidAt the sound of his voice a shiver passed
14、through my body,and terrible,mocking laughter whispered through the leaves of the trees.Who are you?I was glad that my dream voice didnt betray the fear I was feeling.His laughter was as deep and beautiful as his voice,and as frightening.It echoed in the limbs of the watching trees until it drifted
15、almost visible in the air around me.Do you pretend you do not know me?His voice brushed against my body,making the little hairs on my arms stand up.Yeah,I know you.I made you up.This is my dream.Youre a mixture of Zac and Johnny.I hesitated,peering at him.I spoke nonchalantly even though my heart wa
16、s beating like crazy because it was already obvious this guy was not a mixture of those two actors.Well,maybe youre Superman or Prince Charming,I said,reaching for anything but the truth.I am no figment of your imagination.You know me.Your soul knows me.I hadnt moved my feet,but my body was slowly b
17、eing drawn toward him,like his voice was pulling me.I reached him and looked up and up.It was Kalona.Id known him from the first words hed spoken.I just hadnt wanted to admit it to myself.How could I have dreamed him?Nightmare-this had to be a nightmare and not a dream.His body was naked,but it wasn
18、t completely substantial.His form wavered and shifted in time with the caressing breeze.Behind him,in the dark green shadows of the trees,I could see the ghostly shapes of his children,the Raven Mockers,as they clung to the limbs with the hands and feet of men and stared at me with mens eyes from th
19、e mutated faces of birds.Do you still claim not to know me?His eyes were dark-a starless sky.They seemed the most substantial thing about him.That and his liquid voice.Even though this is a nightmare,its still mine.I can just wake up!I want to wake up!I want to wake up!But I didnt.I couldnt.I wasnt
20、in control.Kalona was.Hed built this dream,this dark,nightmare meadow,and somehow brought me there,closing the door to reality behind us.What do you want?I said the words quickly so he couldnt hear my voice shaking.You know what I want,my love.I want you.I am not your love.Of course you are.He moved
21、 this time,stepping so close to me that I could feel the chill that came from his unsubstantial body.My A-ya.A-ya had been the name of the maiden the Cherokee Wise Women had created to trap him centuries ago.Panic spiked through me.Im not A-ya!You command the elements,his voice was a caress,awful an
22、d wonderful,compelling and terrifying.Gifts from my Goddess,I said.Once before you commanded the elements.You were made from them.Fashioned to love me.His massive dark wings stirred and lifted.Beating forward softly,they enfolded me in a spectral embrace that was cold as frost.No!You must have me mi
23、xed up with someone else.Im not A-ya.Youre wrong,my love.I feel her within you.His wings pressed against my body,drawing me closer to him.Even though his physical form was only semi-substantial,I could feel him.His wings were soft.Winter cold against the warmth of my dreaming self.The outline of his
24、 body was frigid mist.It burned my skin,sending electric currents through me,heating me with a desire I didnt want to feel but was powerless to resist.His laugh was seductive.I wanted to drown in it.I leaned forward,closing my eyes and gasping aloud as the chill of his spirit brushed against my brea
25、sts,sending shooting sensations that were painful but deliciously erotic to places in my body that made me feel out of control.You like the pain.It brings you plea sure.His wings got more insistent,his body harder and colder and more passionately painful as it pressed against mine.Surrender to me.Hi
26、s voice,already beautiful,was unimaginably seductive as he became aroused.I spent centuries in your arms.This time our joining will be controlled by me,and you will revel in the plea sure I can bring you.Throw off the shackles of your distant goddess and come to me.Be my love,truly,in body as well a
27、s soul and I will give you the world!The meaning of his words penetrated through the haze of pain and plea sure like sunlight burning away dew.I found my will again,and stumbled out of the embrace of his wings.Tendrils of icy black smoke snaked around my body,clinging.touching.caressing.I shook myse
28、lf like a pissed cat shaking off rain and the dark wisps slid from my body.No!Im not your love.Im not A-ya.And Ill never turn my back on Nyx!When I spoke Nyxs name,the nightmare shattered.I sat straight up in bed,shaking and gasping.Stevie Rae was sleeping soundly beside me,but Nala was wide awake.S
29、he was growling softly.Her back was arched,her body was totally puffed up,and she was staring slit-eyed at the air above me.Ah,hell!I shrieked and bounded off the bed,spinning around and looking up,expecting to see Kalona hovering like a giant bat-bird over us.Nothing.There was nothing there.I grabb
30、ed Nala and sat on the bed.With trembling hands I petted her over and over.It was just a bad dream.it was just a bad dream.it was just a bad dream,I told her,but I knew it was a lie.Kalona was real,and somehow he was able to reach me through my dreams.CHAPTER TWOOkay,so Kalona can get i G zizento yo
31、ur dreams,but youre awake now,so pull yourself together!I told myself sternly as I petted Nala and let my cats familiar purr soothe me.Stevie Rae stirred in her sleep and murmured something I couldnt hear.Then,still sleeping,she smiled and sighed.I looked down at her,glad that she was having better
32、luck with her dreams.Gently I pulled back the blanket shed curled up under and breathed a sigh of relief when I saw no blood seeping through the bandage that covered the terrible arrow wound that had pierced her.She stirred again.This time Stevie Raes eyes fluttered and opened.She looked confused fo
33、r a second,then she smiled sleepily up at me.How are you feeling?I asked.Im okay,she said groggily.Dont worry so much.Its a little hard not to worry when my best friend keeps dying,I said,smiling back at her.I didnt die this time.I just almost died.My nerves are telling me to tell you theres not a b
34、ig difference in that almost to them.Tell your nerves to be quiet and go to sleep,Stevie Rae said,closing her eyes and pulling the blanket back up over her.Im okay,she repeated.Were all going to be okay.Then her breathing deepened and I swear in less time than it took for me to blink,she was asleep.
35、I stifled my big sigh and scooted back on the bed,trying to get comfortable.Nala curled up between Stevie Rae and me,and gave me a disgruntled mee-uf-ow!that I knew meant she wanted me to relax and go to sleep.Sleep?And possibly dream again?Uh,no.Not likely.Instead I kept an eye on Stevie Raes breat
36、hing and petted Nala absently.It was so darn weird how normal everything seemed here in the little bubble of peace wed made.Looking at sleeping Stevie Rae I found it almost impossible to believe that just a few hours ago shed had an arrow sticking through her chest and we had had to escape from the
37、House of Night as chaos tore our world apart.Unwilling to allow myself to sleep,my exhausted thoughts circled back,replaying the events of the night.And as I sifted through them,I was amazed anew that any of us had survived.I remembered that Stevie Rae had,unbelievably,asked me to get a pencil and s
38、ome paper cause she thought it would be a good time to make a list of stuff that we needed to get down in the tunnels so that wed have the right supplies and whatnot if we had to stay hidden for a while.Shed asked me that,in a totally calm voice,while she was sitting in front of me with an arrow stu
39、ck through her chest.I remember looking at her,getting really sick to my stomach,and then looking away and saying,Stevie Rae,Im not so sure this is a good time to be making lists.Ouch!Dang,that hurts worse than gettin one of those goat-head thistles stuck in your foot.Stevie Rae had sucked air and f
40、linched,but still managed to smile over her shoulder at Darius,who had ripped open the back of her shirt to expose the arrow that was sticking out of the middld I kep Me of her back.Sorry,I didnt mean its your fault that it hurts.Whatd you say your name was again?I am Darius,Priestess.Hes a Son of E
41、rebus warrior,Aphrodite had added,giving him a surprisingly sweet smile.I describe it as surprisingly sweet because Aphrodite is usually selfish,spoiled,hateful,and kinda hard to tolerate in general,even though Im starting to like her.In other words,shes definitely not sweet,but it was becoming clea
42、rer and clearer that she really had a thing for Darius,hence the unusual sweetness.Please.His warrior-ness is obvious.Hes built like a mountain,Shaunee had said,giving Darius an appreciative leer.A totally hot mountain,Erin echoed and made kiss noises at Darius.Hes taken,Twin freaks,so go play with
43、each other,Aphrodite automatically snapped at them,but it had seemed to me that she didnt have her heart in the insult.Actually,now that I was thinking about it again,shed sounded almost nice.Oh,by the way,Erin and Shaunee are soul twins,not biological twins,being as Erin is a blond-haired blue-eyed
44、 Oklahoma girl and Shaunee is a caramel-colored easterner of Jamaican descent.But genetics didnt mattered with them-they might as well have been separated at birth and then rejoined by twin radar.Oh,yeah.Thanks for reminding us that our boyfriends arent here,Shaunee said.Cause theyre probably being
45、eaten by man-bird freaks,Erin said.Hey,cheer up.Zoeys grandma didnt say the Raven Mockers actually ate people.She said they just picked them up with their humongous beaks and threw them against a wall or what ever over and over again until every bone in their body was broken,Aphrodite told the Twins
46、 with a lighthearted grin.Uh,Aphrodite,I dont think youre helping,I said.Though she was right.Actually,as scary as it sounded,she and the Twins both might have been right.I hadnt wanted to think about that too long,so Id turned my attention back to my injured best friend.Shed looked absolutely horri
47、ble-pale,sweaty,and covered with blood.Stevie Rae,dont you think we should get you to a-I got it!I got it!Just then Jack had burst into the little side-tunnel area that had been made into Stevie Raes room,followed closely by the yellow Lab that rarely let the kid out of her sight.He was flushed and
48、brandishing a white briefcase-looking thing that had a big red cross on it.It was right where you said itd be,Stevie Rae.In that kinda kitchen tunnel place.And as soon as I get my breath Ill tell you how pleasantly surprised I was when I discovered the working refrigerators and microwaves,Damien sai
49、d,following Jack into the room,breathing heavily and dramatically holding on to his side.Youll have to explain to me how you managed to get all of that down here,including the electricity to run it.Damien paused,caught sight of Stevie Raes bloody,ripped shirt and the arrow that still protruded from
50、her back,and his pink cheeks blanched white.Youll have to explain after youre fixed up and not en brochette anymore.En-Huh?Shaunee said.Bro-What?Erin said.Its French for something being skewered,usually food,cretins.The world going insane and evil letting slip the birds of war-he raised his brows at
