Untamed Read Free Page B

way about him. It wasn’t like he was being openly rude or disrespectful to Dragon, but he also wasn’t speaking to him with the respect, and sometimes outright fear, with which the vast majority of newly Marked fledglings spoke to vampyres. I checked out the front of his vintage Pink Floyd T-shirt. No class insignia there, so I didn’t have a clue what year he was and how long he’d been Marked.
    “Stark,” Lenobia was saying, obviously trying to reason with the kid, “it’s just not possible to integrate a dog into this campus. You can see how much he’s upsetting the cats.”
    “They’ll get used to him. They did at the Chicago House of Night. She’s usually pretty good about not chasing them around, but that gray cat really did ask for it with that whole hissing and scratching thing.”
    “Uh-oh,” Damien whispered.
    I didn’t need to look—I could sense the Twins puffing up like blowfish.
    “My goodness, what is all this noise about?” Neferet swept into the room, looking beautiful and powerful and completely in control.
    I watched the new kid’s eyes widen as he took in her gorgeousness. It was soooo annoying that everybody automatically fell stupid at their first glimpse of our High Priestess and my nemesis, Neferet.
    “Neferet, I apologize for the disruption.” Dragon placed his fist over his heart and bowed respectfully to his High Priestess. “This is my new fledgling. He arrived only moments ago.”
    “That explains how the fledgling got here. It does not explain how
that
got here.” Neferet pointed at the panting dog.
    “She’s with me,” the kid said. When Neferet turned her moss-colored eyes on him, he mimicked Dragon’s salute and bow. When he straightened, I was utterly shocked to see him give Neferet a lopsided grin that looked more than a little cocky. “She’s my version of a cat.”
    “Really?” Neferet lifted one slim auburn brow. “Yet she looks oddly like a bear.”
    Ha! So it wasn’t just me being overly descriptive.
    “Well, Priestess, she’s a Lab, but you’re not the first person who’s said she looks bearlike. Her paws are definitely big enough to be a bear’s. Check it out.” Disbelieving, I watched as the kid completely turned his back on Neferet and told the dog, “Gimme five, Duch.” The dog obediently lifted a decidedly massive paw and slapped Stark’s hand with it. “Good girl!” he said, ruffling her floppy ears.
    Okay, I had to admit it. It was a cute trick.
    He returned his attention to Neferet. “But dog or bear, she and I have been together since I was Marked four years ago, so that makes her cat enough for me.”
    “A Labrador retriever?” Neferet made a show of walking around the dog and studying her. “She’s awfully large.”
    “Well, yeah, Duch has always been a big girl, Priestess.”
    “Duch? That’s her name?”
    The kid nodded and grinned, and even though he was a sixth-former, I was again surprised at how easily he spoke to an adult vamp, especially one who was a powerful High Priestess. “It’s short for Duchess.”
    Neferet looked from the dog to the kid, and her eyes narrowed. “What is your name, child?”
    “Stark,” he said.
    I wondered if anyone else saw her jaw clench.
    “James Stark?” Neferet said.
    “A few months ago I dropped my first name. It’s just Stark,” he said.
    She ignored him and turned to Dragon. “He’s the transfer we’ve been expecting from the Chicago House of Night?”
    “Yes, Priestess,” Dragon said.
    When Neferet looked back at Stark, I saw her lips tilt up in a calculating smile. “I’ve heard quite a bit about you, Stark. You and I shall have to have a long talk very soon.” Still studying the fledgling, Neferet spoke to Dragon. “Be sure that Stark has twenty-four-hour access to any and all archery equipment he might like to use.”
    I saw Stark’s body do a little jerk. Obviously Neferet saw it, too, because her smile widened and she said, “Of course, news of your talent