I've been so worried about you." Damien plopped down on the floor and started petting his blond tabby.
"Beelzebub, where the hell have you been?" Shaunee chastised the hateful gray creature who had chosen both of the Twins as his own.
"We figured you were chasing around after Maleficent, and sure enough here you are and here she is," Erin said.
"Hang on," I said, seeing Nala curled up on my bed. I looked around my room, taking inventory of the eight--eight!--cats that were hanging out there. "What's with all the cats?"
"That's why I'm over here," Aphrodite said, sniffling softly as she snuggled back into Darius's arms. "Maleficent was acting very odd. She kept coming in and out of her cat door and making weird yowling sounds." Aphrodite paused and blew a kiss to the awful white puff-ball that masqueraded as her cat. "So finally I followed her. She led me to your room. I came in and found all these cats. Then I heard you guys in the hall." She turned her beautiful blue eyes on the Twins. "I heard everything you guys said in the hall, and do not think for one instant just because I've turned human it doesn't mean I cannot happily kick your combined asses."
"But what are all these cats doing in here?" I said quickly before the Twins started a mini human-fledgling war.
"Hey there, Nefertiti!" Darius called, and a sleek calico female jumped up on the bed beside him and began to wind around his body.
"They're our cats," Damien said, still petting Cameron. "Remember when we escaped from here yesterday? They were all outside the school wall waiting for us." He -fledglin`{ thglanced up at me. "Are we leaving again?"
"I hope so," I said. "But wait." I was still taking stock of the cats. "All of our cats are here, but what about that great big one over there, and the little cream-colored one who's sticking close to him?"
"That big cat is Dragon Lankford's Maine Coon," Damien said. "His name is Shadowfax." Dragon Lankford, who almost everyone called Dragon, is our fencing professor and is a master with the blade. Damien was a talented fencer, so it wasn't surprising he recognized Dragon's cat.
"Hey, I think that little white one is Guinevere, Professor Anastasia's cat," Erin said.
"You're right, Twin," Shaunee said. "She's always hanging out during Spells and Rituals class."
"What about that one?" I pointed to a familiar-looking Siamese whose body was the silver- white of moonlight, tipped in delicate gray ears and face. Then I realized why she looked familiar and answered my own question. "That's Professor Lenobia's cat. I don't know her name, but I've seen her following the professor around the stables."
"So, let me get this straight: All of our cats, plus cats that belong to Dragon, his wife, and Professor Lenobia, are suddenly hanging out in Zoey's room," Darius said.
"Why are they here?" Erin asked.
I answered her question with my own. "Have you guys seen any other cats today? I mean, while you were in class and at lunch, coming and going from the dorm and class to class, did you see any cats?"
"No," the Twins said together.
"I didn't," Damien answered more slowly.
"Not a one," Aphrodite said.
"And you noticed earlier that we saw not one cat between the infirmary and the dormitory," Darius said.
"I thought it was bad then; I still think it's bad," I said.
"Why would all the cats except these disappear?" Damien asked.
"The cats hate the birdmen," I said. "Whenever Nala's been with me and one's been around, she's totally freaked."
"There's more to it than that. If it was just about hating them, then the cats would all be hiding, and not just special ones hanging out in here," Aphrodite said.
"Maybe that's it," Damien said. "There's something special about these particular cats."
"Okay, I hate to be a bitch--or maybe I don't--but anyway, can we forget about the damn cats for a second? I want to know who the hell did this to my man's face," Aphrodite said.
"Kalona," I said, when it was obvious Darius was too involved with grinning at the "my man" title Aphrodite had awarded him to answer.
"I was afraid of that," Damien said. "How'd it happen?&9n
"Darius attacked Rephaim," I explained, "which pissed off Kalona. He didn't let Stark kill him, but the cut was his parting gift for Darius wounding his favorite son."
"That fucking Stark!" Shaunee said.
"He's really bad news. He and the nasty-assed birdmen do what ever the hell they want," Erin said.