House of Night (Hunted) Chapter 32:
Darius returns and announces that the wall has fallen, but he had to kill a Raven Mocker in the process. Lenobia explains that this is good because now everyone will be expecting Zoey and friends to escape through the broken wall…but that’s just a diversion! The full plan is still not revealed to us, but I’m sure it will be a thrilling adventure.
Team Zoey begin mounting their horses, and…hey, wait a minute. I can’t remember the last time House of Night mentioned that Damien was gay.
With a long-suffering sigh he put his knee in her hands and tried (unsuccessfully) to stifle a very gay squeal as she boosted him up on Persephone’s broad back.
Okay, I can relax now. The same can’t be said for Zoey.
As you can well imagine, I was pretty concerned about having a raging case of nervous diarrhea.
Do it, Hunted. I fucking dare you. Have Zoey have nervous diarrhea on her horse while they’re escaping, and I will show some respect. But we both know you’re just bluffing.
Lenobia finally details the convoluted escape plan which involves the other allied professors casting confusion spells, fighting Raven Mockers, and having Shaunee start a fire in the stables so…the horses run around on campus adding more confusion on top of the confusion spell that is apparently a thing.
There was no time for flowery words or inspiring music; there was only time for action.
If you were to ask me to describe this series on opposite day, then these would be exactly the words I would use. Yup, House of Night only has time for action.
They then carry out their plan, which is a big challenge to recap because it is both extremely confusing and boring since it’s exactly what Lenobia just described to us above. They call the elements to protect them, call fire to burn the stables and heat the horses’ shoes so they can melt the ice, and the remaining horses start running around campus…which will distract the Raven Mockers and very powerful vampyres. I like the idea of Kalona and Neferet’s downfall being distracting horses.
Behind us I could hear the screams of panicked horses and the terrible cries of the Raven Mockers. I gritted my teeth and hoped Lenobia’s mares were taking out a bunch of the birdmen.
Wait, the horses are supposed to be fighting the Raven Mockers? This seems like animal abuse.
The gang escapes as they watch Dragon distracting some Raven Mockers, and they run through Tulsa which is covered in ice and seems “post-apocalyptic” somehow after like 1 night. They notice Raven Mockers are chasing them…and Darius pulls out a gun??? Even Zoey points out how weird this is.
Out of his jacket pocket he pulled a black gun. I’d never seen any of the Sons of Erebus carry modern weapons, and it looked completely out of place in his hand. He said something to Aphrodite, who was pressed against his back. She slid to the side a little, allowing him to swivel around. He lifted his arm, sighted, and squeezed off half-a-dozen shots. The sound was deafening in the frozen night, but not half as eerie as what followed it – the screams of wounded Raven Mockers and the thud! crash! of bodies as they fell from the sky.
I’m surprised the gun was so effective. Maybe there’s something magical about the bullets?
Everything is okay right away, and a paragraph later they find the Abbey. Sister Mary Angela greets Zoey, but then they notice there are more Raven Mockers around them. Good thing Darius brought a gun to a Raven Mocker fight!