“Oh, boyfriend, you can definitely count on us to be übernosy and all up in your business,” Shaunee said.
“That’s right,” Stevie Rae said. “Heck, I don’t even need an excuse to be in your business. I like it. I’m naturally übernosy.
“Sadly, that’s too true,” Aphrodite said. “But you can count on us. We’re the Nerd Herd. Shit can’t tear us apart.”
“One for all—all for nerd!” Stevie Rae shouted.
“Th-thanks,” Damien said, wiping more tears from his face. “Okay. I’m ready for whatever.”
“And I do not understand,” Grandma said.
“Stay back by Stark,” I told Grandma. “We’re going to open this door. Jack’s inside. But he’s not our Jack.”
Grandma’s startled expression cleared quickly. She moved to Damien’s side and gently touched his shoulder. “I see. And I am here for you, too, child.”
Damien squeezed her hand. “Thank you, Grandma. That helps.”
“Remember, be careful,” I said. “It’s tough, but we don’t really know this kid—and he’s a different kind of red fledgling.”
“A zombie kind,” Aphrodite said.
“No! I can’t believe—” Damien began, but my raised hand stopped him.
“Damien, we don’t know what he is. We do know we’re going to keep you—and the rest of us—safe. Don’t be defensive. Remember we’re all on your side and we want to be on Jack’s side, too. We just don’t know what side he’s on.”
Damien nodded brokenly.
Grandma rested her hand on his shoulder. “I will stay with you, child.”
“Let’s do this,” Stark said, and opened the door.
Other Jack startled, hissed at us. I noticed his eyes weren’t red, though, and he stopped his hissing when none of us tried to come into the room. He was sitting on the edge of a very comfy queen-sized bed, clutching a tall glass that was empty, but my awesome sense of smell told me that Aphrodite had made sure he’d gotten a blood smoothie first thing.
“Hi, Jack,” I said. “Want more of that?”
“Yes.”
“I’ll get him some more,” Shaunee said, hurrying away.
“We need to talk to you,” I said. “It’s important.”
“I don’t have anything to say to rebels.”
“We aren’t rebels,” Stark said.
“I don’t know what’s going on with you, General. But you’re not a red vampyre. You’re Neferet’s right hand—leader of the Blue Army.” He made a brisk gesture that took in Stark’s adult red vampyre tattoos that were in the shape of arrows.
“Okay, here’s the thing.” Stark took one of the chairs from outside the room, turned it around, and nonchalantly sat in it, like talking to red fledgling dead/undead Jack was an everyday occurrence. “Something happened in Woodward Park. We don’t know why. We don’t know how. We do know you aren’t from here because the Jack who was a part of this world died several months ago.”
“How?” Jack’s voice was faint. His eyes flicked back and forth from Stark to me.
“Let’s table that until later,” I said.
“No.” Damien got up from his chair and moved into the doorway with us. “No. We’re telling him the truth. All of the truth. If we don’t, how can we expect him to trust us?”
“Damien has a good point, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya,” Grandma agreed.
“Okay, but just the basics for now. We’re under a time crunch,” I said. “Jack, your death was made to look like an accident, but we’re pretty sure Neferet killed you—or at least caused your death.”
“But how?” he asked, sounding so much like our Jack that my heart squeezed.
“It was a sword,” Damien said. “You fell off a ladder and landed on a sword.”
“What was I doing on a ladder?”
“Decorating,” Damien said.
“Oh. That makes sense,” Jack said.
I almost smiled. “Um, Jack, where are you from?”
He looked surprised. “Tulsa.”
I reconsidered and changed my question. “When are you from? What year is it?”
“2017. Well, it’s almost 2018.”
I sighed and muttered, “That didn’t help.”
“How about this—you’re obviously a red fledgling,” Stark said.
Jack nodded.
“And those others who came through with you into Woodward Park—they were mostly red vampyres, correct?”
“Yes.”
“But they’re not—you’re not—like the red the fledglings or vampyres we’re used to,” Stark continued. “So, what are you?”
“I don’t understand the question.”
“Look at Stark. He’s a red vampyre. The kind we’re used to,” Aphrodite said, moving so that Jack could see her. “Really look at him. And smell him.”
Jack actually did as she asked. He even sniffed in his direction.
“He’s like the blue vampyres,” Jack said.
“But I’m not. I’m a red vampyre.”
“Does your bite Mark others as red? Do they rise again?” Jack asked.
There was a long pause, and then Stark said, “You’re going to have to explain that question better.”
“No.”
I sighed. “We don’t have time for this.”
“Jack, you say that in your world there is a war going on?” Damien asked.
“You know there is,” Jack said, not looking at Damien.
“And the Tulsa House of Night—what is it?” he asked Jack.
Jack did look at Damien then. He shrugged. “I guess it can’t hurt to answer that. Everyone knows. The Tulsa House of Night is Neferet’s stronghold for her Blue Army. Like the Tulsa depot tunnels are a stronghold for her Red Army.”
“So, basically, this House of Night is a fortress for Neferet,” I said.
“Yes.”
“And you were just here? Like, earlier today?” I continued, understanding what Damien was setting up.
“Yes. I was at the House of Night earlier this evening. Then I returned to the tunnels just before sunrise. That’s where I was when we were pulled into Woodward Park.”