Post by Apharius Redrush on Nov 1, 2013 22:44:34 GMT -7
The book begins with Lenobia dreaming deeply about her former human love, Martin, who died while saving her in a fire. Neferet kills Dragon's cat, Shadowfax, as a payment to Darkness to ensure Rephaim's death, but accidentally causes a gas lamp to fall over, starting a fire. Lenobia wakes up to find Travis running into the fire-filled stables in an attempt to free the horses. Overtaken by a sense of déjà vu, she runs after Travis in an attempt to rescue him, and with the help of Nicole, succeeds in saving the horses and Travis, who is taken to a local hospital. The professors and Shaylin arrive; using her True Sight, Shaylin mentions that she saw Darkness in Neferet, and that the colors of Nicole's aura were changing for the better. Meanwhile, Lenobia is preoccupied about Dragon's disappearance.
As Neferet leaves the stables, Anastasia's cat, Guinevere, curls up next to Shadowfax's body and dies of a broken heart. Zoey, Stevie Rae and the rest of the gang return from the ritual to find the House of Night surrounded by the fire brigade and the stables in ruins. Upon finding the bodies of the two cats, Thanatos realizes a dark ritual has taken place and reunites their spirits with both Dragon and Anastasia in the Otherworld. Thanatos asks Kalona to build a funeral pyre for Dragon and resolves to proclaim Kalona as Death's Warrior at Dragon's funeral.
Aurox falls asleep at the stream, and is awoken by Grandma Redbird. Sensing his sadness, she invites him into her home. Grandma urges him to fight Darkness, and he resolves to return to the House of Night and seek redemption for his actions. Shaylin warns Zoey with her True Sight that Erin's colors are changing unfavorably. The gang are shocked when they see Neferet on the news attempting to instigate a war between humans and vampyres by claiming that the House of Night is a threat to the public. She uses Dallas to seduce Erin, who grows more and more distant from her friends.
The nerd herd hold their own press conference to dispel Neferet's claims by presenting her as a disgruntled ex-employee. The conference is a success, but when Neferet realizes that Aurox has turned against her because Linda Heffer was an imperfect sacrifice, she kidnaps Sylvia Redbird in order to create a truly perfect Vessel. During Dragon's funeral, Aurox hears Thanatos' speech and is horrified to learn that he is the result of Neferet sacrificing Linda. He leaves to seek refuge with Grandma Redbird but discovers signs of a struggle at her house and realizes that she has been taken. He returns to the House of Night to warn Zoey, only to be attacked by Stark. Thanotos and Kalona break up the fight and are concerned when they hear what Aurox has to say. Kalona volunteers to visit Neferet at her penthouse and find out where she is holding Grandma Redbird. Before he sets out to Neferet's penthouse, Thanatos prays to Nyx to watch over her Warrior. Kalona is shocked when he feels that Nyx is listening; resolved to not let her down, he sets out on his mission.
At the penthouse, Kalona gets a frosty welcome from Neferet but charms his way into her good books. He finds Sylvia being attacked by the threads of Darkness, and realizes that she has only survived by using the power of the earth to fight Darkness. Neferet sees through Kalona's ruse and orders Darkness to feed from Kalona and attack Sylvia. Kalona, having officially chosen Light, discovers that Darkness no longer obeys him and struggles to free himself from their assault; to prevent Darkness from feeding on him any longer, Kalona is forced to flee. Aurox then volunteers to rescue Sylvia. Zoey, the nerd herd, and the Warriors train him to master his anger. Before they set out, Kramisha gives Zoey a prophetic poem that appears to be a spell. Zoey has Shaylin stand in as her water element when it becomes clear that Erin has joined Dallas and Darkness.
Aurox arrives at the penthouse and is horrified to find Sylvia near death. Before he can free her, Neferet commands Aurox to release the beast and kill Sylvia. Despite the protection of the four elements, Aurox manifests into the bull when Neferet realizes that spirit is preventing him from killing Sylvia, and orders Darkness to ensure Aurox obeys. Zoey realizes that something is wrong when the elements return to their wielders and she and the gang race to the penthouse. When they confront Neferet, Zoey uses her Seer Stone and Kramisha's spell; the stone turns into a mirror. Neferet sees a vision of her past in the mirror and breaks down weeping. Zoey urges Aurox to return come back to them. While Neferet is distracted, Aurox charges towards her and the two fall over the balcony. Kalona saves Aurox, but Neferet's body hits the ground below, and dissolves into spiders which scurry away. Zoey realizes that their fight with Neferet is far from over. Stark, seeing Aurox's true form in the mirror when Zoey did the spell, urges her to repeat it, this time using the mirror on Aurox. The gang are shocked to see Heath within Aurox. Aurox is mesmerized by his reflection and asks Zoey who Heath was to her. She replies, "Heath was my humanity. Now it looks like he's your humanity too." Stark assures Zoey that they will always have love and the nerd herd return to the House of Night to prepare for Neferet's return.
In the epilogue, posted on the HoN website, the nerd herd are at the fair they had organized in the middle of Hidden. The fledglings seem to have recovered from their previous battle with Neferet, and Grandma Redbird has healed. The fair seems to be going successfully, but when Zoey and Aphrodite go to help Sister Mary Angela with a Street Cats adoption, they find large spiders multiplying in a basket of kittens. Thanatos successfully diverts attention from the scene, and Zoey begins to cast a circle. With Shaylin busy, Erin unenthusiastically stands in for water. The circle completes its banishing of the spiders, which morph into a ghostly figure of Neferet, but as Zoey closes the circle, Erin rejects the Change and dies in Shaunee's arms.
As Neferet leaves the stables, Anastasia's cat, Guinevere, curls up next to Shadowfax's body and dies of a broken heart. Zoey, Stevie Rae and the rest of the gang return from the ritual to find the House of Night surrounded by the fire brigade and the stables in ruins. Upon finding the bodies of the two cats, Thanatos realizes a dark ritual has taken place and reunites their spirits with both Dragon and Anastasia in the Otherworld. Thanatos asks Kalona to build a funeral pyre for Dragon and resolves to proclaim Kalona as Death's Warrior at Dragon's funeral.
Aurox falls asleep at the stream, and is awoken by Grandma Redbird. Sensing his sadness, she invites him into her home. Grandma urges him to fight Darkness, and he resolves to return to the House of Night and seek redemption for his actions. Shaylin warns Zoey with her True Sight that Erin's colors are changing unfavorably. The gang are shocked when they see Neferet on the news attempting to instigate a war between humans and vampyres by claiming that the House of Night is a threat to the public. She uses Dallas to seduce Erin, who grows more and more distant from her friends.
The nerd herd hold their own press conference to dispel Neferet's claims by presenting her as a disgruntled ex-employee. The conference is a success, but when Neferet realizes that Aurox has turned against her because Linda Heffer was an imperfect sacrifice, she kidnaps Sylvia Redbird in order to create a truly perfect Vessel. During Dragon's funeral, Aurox hears Thanatos' speech and is horrified to learn that he is the result of Neferet sacrificing Linda. He leaves to seek refuge with Grandma Redbird but discovers signs of a struggle at her house and realizes that she has been taken. He returns to the House of Night to warn Zoey, only to be attacked by Stark. Thanotos and Kalona break up the fight and are concerned when they hear what Aurox has to say. Kalona volunteers to visit Neferet at her penthouse and find out where she is holding Grandma Redbird. Before he sets out to Neferet's penthouse, Thanatos prays to Nyx to watch over her Warrior. Kalona is shocked when he feels that Nyx is listening; resolved to not let her down, he sets out on his mission.
At the penthouse, Kalona gets a frosty welcome from Neferet but charms his way into her good books. He finds Sylvia being attacked by the threads of Darkness, and realizes that she has only survived by using the power of the earth to fight Darkness. Neferet sees through Kalona's ruse and orders Darkness to feed from Kalona and attack Sylvia. Kalona, having officially chosen Light, discovers that Darkness no longer obeys him and struggles to free himself from their assault; to prevent Darkness from feeding on him any longer, Kalona is forced to flee. Aurox then volunteers to rescue Sylvia. Zoey, the nerd herd, and the Warriors train him to master his anger. Before they set out, Kramisha gives Zoey a prophetic poem that appears to be a spell. Zoey has Shaylin stand in as her water element when it becomes clear that Erin has joined Dallas and Darkness.
Aurox arrives at the penthouse and is horrified to find Sylvia near death. Before he can free her, Neferet commands Aurox to release the beast and kill Sylvia. Despite the protection of the four elements, Aurox manifests into the bull when Neferet realizes that spirit is preventing him from killing Sylvia, and orders Darkness to ensure Aurox obeys. Zoey realizes that something is wrong when the elements return to their wielders and she and the gang race to the penthouse. When they confront Neferet, Zoey uses her Seer Stone and Kramisha's spell; the stone turns into a mirror. Neferet sees a vision of her past in the mirror and breaks down weeping. Zoey urges Aurox to return come back to them. While Neferet is distracted, Aurox charges towards her and the two fall over the balcony. Kalona saves Aurox, but Neferet's body hits the ground below, and dissolves into spiders which scurry away. Zoey realizes that their fight with Neferet is far from over. Stark, seeing Aurox's true form in the mirror when Zoey did the spell, urges her to repeat it, this time using the mirror on Aurox. The gang are shocked to see Heath within Aurox. Aurox is mesmerized by his reflection and asks Zoey who Heath was to her. She replies, "Heath was my humanity. Now it looks like he's your humanity too." Stark assures Zoey that they will always have love and the nerd herd return to the House of Night to prepare for Neferet's return.
In the epilogue, posted on the HoN website, the nerd herd are at the fair they had organized in the middle of Hidden. The fledglings seem to have recovered from their previous battle with Neferet, and Grandma Redbird has healed. The fair seems to be going successfully, but when Zoey and Aphrodite go to help Sister Mary Angela with a Street Cats adoption, they find large spiders multiplying in a basket of kittens. Thanatos successfully diverts attention from the scene, and Zoey begins to cast a circle. With Shaylin busy, Erin unenthusiastically stands in for water. The circle completes its banishing of the spiders, which morph into a ghostly figure of Neferet, but as Zoey closes the circle, Erin rejects the Change and dies in Shaunee's arms.