Untamed

The fourth book in the House of Night series opens with Zoey Redbird, a vampyre fledgling gifted with affinities for all five elements (air, fire, water, earth, and spirit), isolated from her friends at the House of Night, a vampyre finishing school in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In previous books, Zoey's lies caught up with her: Her friends discovered she was secretly involved with the vampyre professor Loren Blake and that she hid the fact that her best friend, Stevie Rae, died and came back as an undead creature. Her closest friends, Damien, his boyfriend Jack, and the inseparable Shaunee and Erin (known as the Twins), refuse to speak to her.

One evening, Zoey is attacked by an unseen cold, flapping presence that leaves red welts on her hand before she drives it away with fire. The welts vanish, leaving no proof. At the cafeteria, Aphrodite, the school's most reviled fledgling, returns after a mysterious absence with her fledgling Mark, the crescent that appears on fledglings' foreheads, apparently restored. A new student, James Stark, also arrives with his Labrador retriever, Duchess. Neferet, the High Priestess, recognizes Stark as a celebrated archery champion. Her calculating interest unsettles Zoey, who suspects Neferet wants to exploit Stark for the war against humans she has been provoking, blaming recent murders of vampyre professors on human attackers. Zoey publicly announces that Aphrodite has rejoined the Dark Daughters, the school's elite student organization, forcing Neferet to accept the decision.

Before the evening's Council Meeting, Zoey discovers critical secrets. Stevie Rae has returned to campus with alarming new abilities, and the other undead fledglings hiding in abandoned tunnels beneath Tulsa now bear red crescent outlines, making them a new kind of fledgling. Aphrodite reveals her Mark is fake, drawn with eyeliner: She has become human again, though she retains the gift of prophetic visions from Nyx, the vampyre goddess. Aphrodite describes a terrifying vision in which the world ends because Zoey is dead. Zoey died two ways in the vision: once drowning near an island palace with Stark's face as her last sight, and once alone with her throat slashed by something dark and hooked. Aphrodite warns that Zoey must not be isolated from her friends.

This revelation forces a reconciliation. Zoey explains she kept secrets because Neferet can psychically read fledgling minds, and only Aphrodite's mind is immune. Her friends forgive her and commit to standing together. When Zoey prays for guidance, Nyx manifests, revealing that Neferet "has chosen to no longer hear me" and listens to another, darker voice. Nyx tells Zoey to look to the earth and to her grandmother's Cherokee stories for answers.

At the Council Meeting, Shekinah, the High Priestess of all vampyres, arrives unannounced and declares there will be no war, criticizing Neferet for not giving humans a chance to investigate the murders. The leader of the Sons of Erebus, the vampyre warrior order, confirms the warriors will not defy the Council. Shekinah reopens classes and assigns Zoey to lead a schoolwide New Year's Eve cleansing ritual.

That night, Zoey finds Stark alone in the field house. He confides that his gift ensures he never misses, but his true target is whatever he thinks of, not what he aims at. During the Summer Games, he accidentally killed his mentor when his arrow flew through a wall into the man's heart. Zoey and Stark share an immediate connection, but moments later Stark begins coughing blood as his body rejects the Change, the process by which fledglings become full vampyres or die. Zoey holds him as he dies, promising to care for Duchess. When Neferet arrives, Zoey alone sees a flash of triumph on the High Priestess's face.

Events accelerate. Zoey's group visits Street Cats, a cat rescue run by Benedictine nuns whose prioress, Sister Mary Angela, accepts vampyres as part of Nyx's design. Aphrodite acquires a nanny cam to monitor Stark's body in the morgue. Meanwhile, Aphrodite has a violent vision and transcribes a prophecy describing an ancient evil called Kalona who will arise when "earth's power bleeds sacred red," freed "through the hand of the dead" by a "Queen Tsi Sgili," a Cherokee term for witches who feed on death.

Zoey calls Grandma Redbird, who identifies Kalona as a Nephilim, a supernaturally beautiful fallen angel with black wings who was once welcomed by the Cherokee but became a monster who enslaved men and assaulted women. His offspring, the Raven Mockers, were creatures with raven bodies and human eyes. Tribal High Priestesses called the Ghigua Women created a maiden from clay to lure Kalona underground and trap him. Grandma confirms the prophecy warns of his imminent return. Zoey briefs all her friends, and together they identify Neferet as the likely Queen Tsi Sgili.

Grandma Redbird comes to the House of Night and helps drive away a Raven Mocker from Zoey's window using crushed turquoise. Raven Mockers, regaining physical form, later ambush Zoey on campus. One presses its hooked beak against her throat, but Damien and the Twins save her through their elemental affinities, allowing Zoey to survive one of Aphrodite's death visions. A Raven Mocker then causes Grandma's car to crash, hospitalizing her in intensive care. Zoey enlists Sister Mary Angela to guard Grandma from spiritual attack.

At midnight on New Year's Eve, the cleansing ritual begins before the entire school. Erik Night, Zoey's ex-boyfriend now serving as her consort, calls her into the circle. As Zoey invokes each element, Stevie Rae drops from the oak tree overhead to take her place at earth, her scarlet tattoos visible. Aphrodite steps through the cast circle's boundary, something humans should not be able to cross, and wipes off her fake Mark, publicly revealing her humanity. The red fledglings emerge to stand with Stevie Rae. Zoey tells the school these are new kinds of vampyres and fledglings who belong with them.

Neferet shatters the moment, denouncing the red fledglings and accusing Zoey of raising the dead. She brings forward a resurrected Stark, red-eyed and under her control, and commands him to shoot. His arrow strikes Stevie Rae in the chest, and her blood soaks the earth at the base of the oak, fulfilling the prophecy. Neferet declares herself Queen Tsi Sgili. The ground splits open and Kalona rises: golden-skinned, black-winged, and devastatingly beautiful. Raven Mockers burst from the earth around him. Neferet proclaims Kalona her consort and orders everyone to bow. When Shekinah strides forward to confront them, Neferet kills her with a gesture.

Aphrodite takes command, directing the group toward a trapdoor in the east wall. Zoey commands all five elements to shield their escape, and the group flees through a city under attack to the abandoned Tulsa depot, descending into the tunnel system. In the tunnels, Zoey addresses her frightened friends, telling them their love, truth, and unity are strengths Neferet and Kalona will never possess. Each friend commits to the fight. As they stack hands in a pledge, new tattoos appear on Zoey's palms, a sign from Nyx confirming she is on the right path. The novel ends with Zoey at peace despite the chaos, knowing she and her friends must find a way to stop Kalona and reclaim their school.