Marked (House of Night, #1)

by P.C. Cast

Just when I thought my day couldn’t get any worse I saw the dead guy standing next to my locker.

If I died, would it get me out of my geometry test tomorrow? One could only hope.

“Zoey Montgomery! Night has chosen thee; thy death will be thy birth. Night calls to thee; hearken to Her sweet voice. Your destiny awaits you at the House of Night!”

The problem, of course, was that turning into a monster was the brighter of my two choices. Choice Number 1: I turn into a vampyre, which equals a monster in just about any human’s mind. Choice Number 2: My body rejects the Change and I die. Forever.

No, to be fair to myself I should remember that Heath used to be incredibly sweet, and even now he had his moments. Mostly when he bothered to be sober.

From this day on my life would never be the same. And for a moment—just an instant—I forgot about the horror of not belonging and felt a shocking burst of pleasure, while deep inside of me the blood of my grandmother’s people rejoiced.

And me? You think I’m the bad one because I don’t pretend—because I’m honest.

“Get thee behind me, Satan!” he quoted in what I like to think of as his sermon voice. I sighed. “It’s not Satan. It’s just me.”

All my life I’ve known that, no matter what, I could count on Grandma Redbird.

But you, Zoeybird, my Daughter, may call me by the name by which your world knows me today, Nyx.

Believe in yourself, Zoey Redbird. I have Marked you as my own. You will be my first true U-we-tsi-a-ge-ya v-hna-i Sv-no-yi … Daughter of Night … in this age.

But remember, darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good.

“I’ve found that the way a person feels about cats—and the way they feel about him or her in return—is usually an excellent gauge by which to measure a person’s character.”

The first thing I saw was the life-sized Kenny Chesney poster that hung over one of the two beds

“Your grandma brought your stuff up here. She’s really nice,” Stevie Rae said. “She’s more than nice. She’s brave as hell to have faced my mom and her gross husband to get this stuff for me. I can only imagine the overly dramatic scene my mom caused.”

“You’re my roommate. I figured you’d tell me what was up with it when you were ready.

“Oh, no …” I whispered to myself, “it would be just my luck to get a raging case of diarrhea.”

“I like it,” Erin chimed in. “If everyone called things what they are we’d all be a lot less confused.

“And what’s a little melanin difference when a truly soul-deep love of shoes is involved?”

“Why did they have to do anything? He’s still their son. He just likes guys.”

Did you know that fencing is one of the very few sports where women and men can compete on entirely equal terms?” “No,” I said, instantly intrigued. How cool would it be to kick a guy’s butt at a sport?!

“Erik Night is the hottest damn thing at this entire school,” Shaunee said. “Forget that—he’s the hottest damn thing on this planet,” Erin said. “He’s not hotter than Kenny Chesney,” Stevie Rae said quickly.

My secret wish is that I belong … that I have finally found a home no one can take away from me.

I looked up. Perched on a limb that was resting against the wall was a small orange cat. She was staring at me with huge eyes and she definitely looked disgruntled.

I really hated it when he called me Zo.

Look at it from a human’s point of view; it would really suck to be totally in love with someone who never seems to age while you get old and wrinkled and then die.”

“And you should also know that I’m the guy for you if you decide you might like to try another sip of blood. Keep that in mind, too.”

“Or she’s a demon from hell, and she gets her power from the dark side. Hello! Has no one seen Star Wars? It was hard to believe Anakin Skywalker would turn, and look what happened there.”

I wanted to tell her; I wanted to tell her so bad I could explode, but I didn’t know how. And I was afraid—afraid she wouldn’t love me anymore. I mean, Mom had quit loving me, hadn’t she?

“It’s hard, Grandma.” I bit my lip to keep from crying. “Then let me make it easier. There is nothing you could say that would make me stop loving you. I’m your Grandma today, tomorrow, and next year. I’ll be your Grandma even after I join our ancestors in the spirit world, and from there I’ll still love you, Little Bird.”

On average, one out of every ten of you will not make the Change.