Page 114 of Lost

“Awesome!” said Z.

Then the four of them entered the enormous cavern that reminded Stevie Rae of the time she’d gone on her eighth-grade field trip to Missouri’s Meramec Cavern—minus the cool stalactites and stalagmites.

The main part of the sprite-made cave was a huge underground circle, and dotting the circumference of it were groups of people—mostly fledglings and blue vampyres, but Stevie Rae noticed that there were several humans among them, mostly either young or very old. Each of the groups were positioned around a hearth fire, and they were all busy. Some were cooking food, some were mending clothes, and others simply appeared to be telling stories. Cats padded around the cave as well, finding the best laps to rest in or the coziest spots close to crackling hearth fires. Stevie Rae thought the whole place was awesomesauce.

“It is bedtime,” Anastasia explained as they moved across the wide circle. “So, not as busy as usual. Typically, the Warriors will be practicing sword fighting or archery and teaching the young ones ways to protect themselves.”

And then Anastasia paused in her explanation, as one of the blue fledglings had noticed them, and was pointing at Stevie Rae with a shocked, open-mouthed expression.

“Uh, Anastasia, that girl over there looks like she just saw a boogerman, and that boogerman is me,” said Stevie Rae.

“Indeed,” said Anastasia. “I will handle this now.” The lovely priestess motioned for Stevie Rae to walk with her, and together they strode to the center of the cavern. Anastasia clapped her hands several times, focusing everyone’s attention on her. When she spoke, her words were clear and sharp and filled the cavern. “Everyone, I want you to meet our newest members of the Resistance. This is Stevie Rae. Yes, she is a red vampyre, but like Kevin, she is also our ally. Treat her as you would a friend. Her mate is Rephaim, and her other companion is Zoey Redbird, sister to our Kevin.”

Everyone stared, but there were several greetings offered, and to Stevie Rae’s surprise, people soon stopped staring and went back to whatever they had been working on—well, everyone went back to what they’d been working on except one tall, dark, and very handsome blue vampyre. He approached their little group, but he only had eyes for Zoey.

“Oh, lordy,” Stevie Rae said under her breath—then she and Z said his name together.

“Erik!”

“Hey there, beautiful. I don’t think I know you, and thought I’d introduce myself.” His grin was double-watt, movie-star brilliant. “But it seemsyoualready knowme.”

“Yepper, we sure do,” Stevie Rae said, stifling a giggle.

“At least he’s part of the Resistance,” Z said to Stevie Rae, ignoring Erik’s seductive smile.

“Well, Z, he mighta grown up,” Stevie Rae said.

“You stay positive, Stevie Rae. That’s one of the things I love about you,” Z said.

“Sorry, I’m confused,” Erik said.

“We know!” Z and Stevie Rae said together before they dissolved into girlish giggles.

Rephaim stepped up, offering his hand to Erik. “I am Rephaim. It is good to meet you. Again.”

Erik took his hand but frowned slightly. “ ‘Again’? I don’t remember meeting you.” Then his confusion cleared. “Oh, I get it. You’re a human fan.”

“Something like that,” Rephaim said.

Then Erik turned to Zoey. “You do seem familiar to me, though. Have we met?”

Z laughed softly. “Not in this world, Erik. But it is good to see you here, with the Resistance.”

“Yeah, well, this war is crappy for Hollywood. My career sucks right now, so this fighting stuff definitely needs to end.”

“What’d you say about him growing up?” Z asked Stevie Rae.

“I take it back,” Stevie Rae giggled.

Erik opened his mouth to respond, but Anastasia spoke first. “Erik, Johnny B, and Drew are bringing in new supplies from the main trail. Could you be a darling and see if they need your muscular help?”

“Anything for you, milady!” Erik bowed to Anastasia with a flourish. Then he winked at Zoey—“I’ll see you later, Miss Zoey.”—before striding away.

“Not if she sees you first,” Stevie Rae said, sotto voce.

“I take it you know Erik in your world,” Anastasia said.

“Very well,” Z said.