Текст книги "Revealed"

Автор книги: P. C. Cast

Соавторы: Kristin Cast,P. C. Cast
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“Mother,” Aphrodite tried to reason with her. “We don’t know how Dad died. He had high blood pressure. He might have had a heart attack.”

“His throat was ripped open and his blood was sucked from his body. That is not a heart attack. That is a vampyre attack!” her mother shouted at her.

I glanced at Darius for confirmation. He nodded slightly and continued to speak into his phone.

Ah, hell.

“Mrs. LaFont, if it was a vampyre attack I promise you that we will find the killer and bring him or her to justice,” Lenobia said solemnly.

“It’s just like your ex-High Priestess said—you are violent! That’s why she broke with you. We should have listened to her. We should have all listened to her. Poor Neferet was only your first victim…” Mrs. LaFont sobbed.

“I’m going to make sure the humans continue to leave. Zoey, get that woman’s mouth under control,” Lenobia whispered to us as she hurried past Stark and me. Then she raised her voice. “Okay, ladies and gentlemen, again I apologize for the tragedies tonight. Let the good sisters and me help you to your cars. The Tulsa police will be here soon, and the last thing they need is to have their crime scene polluted.”

“I better help her,” Stark murmured.

“No, you better help me.” I grabbed his hand. He gave me a question mark look. I lowered my voice and leaned into him. “You heard Lenobia. Her mouth needs to be shut. I need some of your red vampyre mojo,” I explained.

His eyes got big, but he nodded and whispered back, “What do you want me to do?”

“Let her cry, but no more screaming or shouting,” I said quietly.

He nodded again, and we went to Aphrodite, who was staring helplessly at her sobbing mom.

I met Aphrodite’s gaze, willing her to understand the true meaning of my words. “Stark’s going to talk to your mom. Is that okay with you?”

Aphrodite’s eyes flicked to Stark, then to her mom, before coming back to me. “Yeah. Actually, I think that’s a really good idea.” She took her mom’s elbow and, speaking to her quietly, said, “Mom, you’re right. We don’t need to go inside the school. But there’s a pretty courtyard right over there, away from the vampyres. Why don’t you and I sit at one of the benches while we wait for the police to get here? Okay?”

“The human police! I want the human police to find your father’s vampyre killer!”

“Like Lenobia said, the human police are on their way. Right now Stark and Zoey are going to come with us while we wait. You know, Stark’s not a normal vampyre. He’s a Guardian. He’s, uh, worked with the police before—the human police,” Aphrodite fictionalized as she guided her mom away from the crowd and toward the small, dark courtyard just outside the professors’ quarters. “So, Mom, I want you to let Stark ask you some questions while we wait for the human policemen to get here.”

Stark stepped up, nodded at Aphrodite, and then took her place beside Mrs. LaFont. “Ma’am, I’m really sorry about your husband,” he said in a soft, charming voice. Even I could hear the mesmerizing red vampyre magick within it as he continued. “I’m going to make sure you’re safe and all I want you to do right now is to go with me to the courtyard and cry quietly there. It would really be helpful if you didn’t scream or shout anymore.”

Aphrodite and I let out twin sighs of relief when we heard her echo back to him, “I’ll go with you to the courtyard and cry quietly there. No screaming or shouting.”

“Are you okay?” I asked Aphrodite while we followed Stark and her mom.

She moved her shoulders. “I don’t know. They—I mean my parents—they have never liked me. Actually, they’ve been mean to me for as long as I can remember. Seriously, it was a relief to have them out of my life. But it feels weird and sad to know my dad’s body is over there by the wall.”

I nodded and linked my arm with hers, wanting to reassure her with touch, even though I knew she wasn’t usually a toucher. “I totally understand what you mean. When my mom died it hadn’t mattered that she’d been mean to me for years, and picked the step-loser over me. All that mattered was that I’d lost my mom.”

“She was hugging me while she cried,” Aphrodite said, sounding young and broken. “I can’t remember the last time she hugged me.”

I couldn’t think of anything to say in response to that, so I just stood there with Aphrodite, holding tightly to her, and listening to her mom’s sobs while the sound of police sirens got closer and closer.

I was glad to see Detective Marx again, even though the circumstances were what Stark later called a complete and total cat herd. Marx, at least, wasn’t a vampyre-hating human. He had nice brown eyes, and I remembered how they lit up when he’d told me about his twin sister and how even after she’d been Marked and gone through the Change, the two of them had still kept in contact. It was nice to know that at least one cop in Tulsa wasn’t going to open the doors to a human lynch mob because Stark’s red vamp mojo ran out super fast, and Aphrodite’s mom was definitely in a pro-lynch mob state of mind.

“Arrest them!” Mrs. LaFont hurled the words at the detective. “Arrest all of them! A vampyre did this, and a vampyre should pay for it.”

“Ma’am, whoever is responsible should pay for this crime, which is why I’m going to thoroughly and carefully investigate your husband’s murder. I will find who did this. I give you my word on it. But I cannot, and will not, arrest every vampyre at this school.”

“Thank you, Detective. As High Priestess here I agree with and appreciate your professionalism, as well as your integrity.” I was super relieved to hear Thanatos’s authoritative voice. “Please be assured we will cooperate fully with your investigation. We, too, want the mayor’s killer to be found and brought to justice, as we do not believe a vampyre to be responsible for this tragedy.”

“My husband’s throat was ripped out and his blood was sucked from his body! That is a vampyre attack.” Mrs. LaFont’s eyes slitted at Thanatos. Her voice was filled with venom.

“It certainly looks like a vampyre attack,” Thanatos agreed. “Which is the first reason to doubt that a vampyre committed this crime. Why would a vampyre kill the mayor of Tulsa at the House of Night during one of our open houses, and leave his body at our front gate to be discovered by humans as well as vampyres? It makes no sense.”

“You prey on humans. That makes no sense!”

“Ladies, please, arguing does not help,” Detective Marx tried to intercede, but Mrs. LaFont ignored him.

“Do you deny that you are intimately allied with Death?” She snapped the question at Thanatos.

“My Goddess-given affinity is, indeed, an affinity for death. I have a gift that enables me to help the spirits of the dead find their way to the Otherworld.”

“Is that what you were doing with my husband? Seducing and trapping him? Helping him find his way to a fictitious vampyre otherworld?” Her voice got louder and louder with each question she hurled at Thanatos.

“Of course not, Mrs. LaFont. I had nothing to do with your husband’s death.” Thanatos turned to Detective Marx. “You may question any of the people who were at the open house tonight. I was always in view of the public. Even when tragedy struck and one of our fledglings rejected the Change and died, I remained accessible to our faculty and our students.”

“A fledgling died here tonight as well?” the detective asked.

Thanatos nodded. “She will be missed.”

“Why are you asking her about the fledgling? Everyone knows they could drop dead at any second. That’s normal for their kind. My husband was killed by a vampyre. That is not normal!”

“If a vampyre did kill my father, I can promise you that vampyre isn’t part of this school!” Aphrodite suddenly said. Then, when everyone was staring at her, she bit her lip and looked away uncomfortably.

“Are you saying you know who killed your father?” Aphrodite’s mom sounded like she was entering Crazy Town again.

Aphrodite swallowed hard and then surprised me by blurting: “The only vampyre I know who would do something like this is one who would want to set up the House of Night to take the blame.” She paused, and I tried to catch her gaze and telegraph a big DON’T SAY IT look, but Aphrodite was staring at her mom, like she could actually make Frances LaFont believe her. “Mom, our old High Priestess, Neferet, has a big grudge against us, all of us. She’s mean, Mom. Worse, she’s evil. She’d do something like this.”

“That’s ludicrous, Aphrodite! Neferet was a friend of your father’s. He appointed her to be a liaison between vampyres and the city. She wouldn’t have killed him!”

“Neferet was just using Dad and the city,” Aphrodite insisted. “She’s never wanted to make friends with humans. She hates humans. Actually, the only thing she hates more than a human is our House of Night, especially after she was kicked out of here. So it makes perfect sense that she’d kill Tulsa’s mayor at the House of Night during our open house. She knows it’ll make major problems between humans and vampyres.”

“High Priestess?” Marx turned to Thanatos before Mrs. LaFont could chime in. “What do you know about Neferet and her motives?”

“As I said in an interview for Fox News more than a week ago, Neferet has been let go by our House of Night. I believe what Aphrodite is saying does make sense. Neferet was very angry with us.”

“Angry enough to kill?” the detective asked.

Thanatos sighed. “I’m afraid she is capable of great violence. That is one of the reasons the High Council stripped her of her position here and her title of High Priestess of Nyx. Despite what she said to the mayor and the City Council members, Neferet was the one who advocated violence against humans, and not us.”

“If you knew she was violent, you should have come to us with your concerns,” said Marx grimly.

“They didn’t come to you because what they’re saying is a bunch of lies!” Mrs. LaFont exploded. “Just tonight some of the City Council members, Charles, and I were talking about how odd it is that Neferet’s penthouse had been vandalized, and that she then disappeared, all after she took a public stand against what has been going on here at the House of Night. Charles himself said he suspected foul play.”

Aphrodite looked totally shocked. “Mom, you can’t really believe that.”

“Of course I do! Neferet had the strength to speak out against vampyre killers. Your father took her side. And now she is missing and your father is dead.” She turned her blazing gaze on the detective. “And just exactly what are you going to do about these heinous crimes?”

“Mrs. LaFont, please—” the detective began, but LaFont interrupted him. “No, I’ve had enough of this. My husband is dead, and I will not sit passively by with his murder and allow blame to be cast onto the blameless. I’m going home. I’m calling my attorney. None of you have heard the last of me.” Her spiteful blue eyes found Aphrodite. “And you’re coming with me. Let’s go. Now.”

Mrs. LaFont had walked several steps from us before she realized her daughter wasn’t following her. She stopped, turned, and lifted her lip in a sneer that looked so like Aphrodite at her very worst that I know I must have gawked like a tourist. “Aphrodite, I said you’re coming home with me. Now. And I meant it.”

“No,” Aphrodite said simply. I thought she sounded really tired, but her voice was steady. “I am home, and this is where I’m staying.”

“Your father’s killer is one of them!”

“Mom, I already told you, if a vampyre killed Dad, it’s not one of these guys.”

“Aphrodite, I’m not going to tell you to come with me again.”

“Good. That means I won’t have to tell you no again. I’m sorry Dad is dead, and that means you’re alone. But I haven’t lived with you for almost four years. You’re really not my family anymore.”

“Detective, can I force her to come with me?” Mrs. LaFont asked him.

“Actually, that’s a good question.” The detective looked from Aphrodite to Thanatos. “I don’t see a crescent on her forehead. Is her Mark covered for some reason?”

“No. Aphrodite is an unusual member of the House of Night. She was once Marked, but her crescent disappeared, though the gifts Nyx gave her when she was a fledgling did not disappear, hence the fact that our High Council has named her a Prophetess of Nyx. So, though Aphrodite is not fledgling nor vampyre, she has been Chosen by our Goddess, and will always have a home at the House of Night.”

Detective Marx blew out a long breath. “Well, being Marked and Chosen by Nyx means that Aphrodite was emancipated from her human parents. Though the circumstances are odd, I’d say that with the ruling of the Vampyre High Council, her emancipation remains valid. Mrs. LaFont, I believe the answer to your questions is no, I cannot force your daughter to go with you.”

“Aphrodite.” Mrs. LaFont’s voice was frigid. “Will you do as I say and come home with me, or will you choose to remain with your father’s murderers?”

“I choose my real family and my real home,” Aphrodite said with no hesitation, sliding her hand into Darius’s and holding tightly to him as her mother spewed venom at her.

“Then I wish I’d never given birth to you. Don’t ever call me your mother again. Don’t ever speak to me again. I deny your existence completely. You are as dead to me as is your father.” Mrs. LaFont turned her back to her daughter and walked quickly away.

In the silence her mother had left behind, Aphrodite’s voice seemed very small when she said, “I’d like to really go home now. I’ll be on the bus, waiting for you guys to get done here.”

“Bus?” Detective Marx asked.

“Yes,” Thanatos spoke wearily. “Some of our students and vampyres have chosen to live together off campus. Dawn is nearing. They really should be returning to their home.”

“Is this new off-campus housing because there is a new kind of vampyre?” He glanced at Stark’s red tattoos. “A red vampyre?”

“There is, indeed, as Neferet announced in her public interview, a new type of vampyre among us, and some of them are among the fledglings and vampyres who have chosen to live off campus,” Thanatos said, her voice growing wary.

“And is what Neferet said about these new vampyres also true?”

“If you mean the part about us being violent and dangerous—no. That’s not true,” Stark said, meeting the detective’s gaze.

The detective hesitated, and then, with terrible finality, he said, “High Priestess, I am going to have to insist none of your fledglings or vampyres be allowed to leave campus until we have investigated tonight’s crime more thoroughly and are able to rule out a killer being from your House of Night. If you require one, I’m positive I can wake up a judge and get an injunction ordering your campus to remain closed, but I have to tell you I think it would look better if an official order wasn’t necessary.”

With no visible hesitation, Thanatos said, “There is no need for an injunction. I will voluntarily comply with your request. Zoey, tell the students to get off the bus. Until further notice, everyone will be living on campus.”

CHAPTER THREE

Aphrodite

“I don’t know which is worse, the fact that the asshole police aren’t letting us go home to the depot tunnels, or the fact that I’ve actually started thinking of those shitty tunnels as home,” Aphrodite muttered as she dug through her purse. “Where the hell is my bottle of Xanax?”

“Let me help you, my beauty.” Darius gently took the Red Valentino purse from Aphrodite, unzipped a little side pocket within, and pulled out the pill bottle. “Xanax or wine, not both,” he said, holding the bottle just out of her reach.

“My dad is dead,” she said flatly.

“I think the point is, Darius doesn’t want to see you dead, too,” Zoey said, plopping heavily down on the couch next to her in the little infirmary waiting room. “I get what you’re feeling, and I know it might seem like a good idea to make yourself totally numb tonight, but there’s no way to escape the death of a parent.”

“Even a shitty parent?” Aphrodite asked Z.

“Yeah, even one of those,” Zoey nodded knowingly. “You’re going to have to deal with it sometime. From my experience I’d say that it’s better to do that sooner rather than later.”

Aphrodite frowned, but put down the bottle of red wine she’d been drinking straight out of. “Fine. I choose Xanax.”

“But only one,” Darius insisted.

“Again, fine. Just give it to me. Even semi-numb sounds really good right now.”

Darius was putting the little blue pill in Aphrodite’s palm when Shaunee’s voice caused her to look up in surprise. “I don’t want to be numb. Not even semi-numb.” Shaunee entered the waiting room, followed by Stevie Rae, Rephaim, Damien, and Thanatos. “If I’m numb I might forget what happened tonight, and that means I’ll forget the last night of Erin’s life. Her life deserves to be remembered. And, Aphrodite, your dad’s life deserves to be remembered, too.”

Aphrodite popped the pill into her mouth and swallowed it without anything to drink. “When I remember my dad, I’m going to remember a weak man who was bullied by my mom into being a shitty guy. I’m not sure I want to remember that. What are you going to remember about Erin? How you two split one brain for all that time, or how you two split up?”

“Seriously, Aphrodite, I’m real sorry your daddy died tonight, but that’s no reason for you to be mean to Shaunee,” Stevie Rae said.

“Stevie Rae, we all deal with death our own way,” Aphrodite explained, sounding way more patient than she felt. “My way is to just say things right out, and I’m sorry if that makes you uncomfortable, but I’m not being mean. I’m being real. So, which is it, Shaunee?”

“Both,” Shaunee said slowly. “I’m going to remember my Twin like she really was, not all good or all bad. Most people aren’t all of either.” She looked from Aphrodite to Zoey. “How do you remember your mom?”

Zoey’s sigh was long and sad. “I try to remember the vision Nyx gave me of her entering the Otherworld. She was at peace then, and that’s a good memory.”

“Well, I don’t have that option with my dad,” Aphrodite said. “I’m not sure where he is, but my best guess is it’s not Nyx’s Otherworld.”

“You may be surprised,” Thanatos said.

Aphrodite looked at her in obvious shock. “Are you telling me you saw his spirit enter the Otherworld?”

“No, I was not present at his death, and his spirit did not stay to communicate with me, but I can tell you that I sensed a great amount of peace lingering in the earth at the site of his death. I hope it helps you to know that when I sense such a strong presence of peace after a death it is because the spirit that has departed has been freed from a life of turmoil, tragedy, or sadness. I believe your father’s spirit was relieved to be free of this life, and he will come around again reborn into happier circumstances.”

Aphrodite blinked hard several times, and kept the tears from falling from her eyes. It took a long time for her to collect herself, but her friends waited patiently. When she finally spoke, her voice was shaky. “Th-thank you for telling me that, Thanatos. It does help. I honestly can’t remember a time when my dad was ever really happy. I hope—” She paused, cleared her throat, and then continued. “I hope he finds happiness next time around.”

“That will be my prayer to Nyx,” Thanatos said.

“Mine, too. And mine. Yeah, me, too,” echoed the others.

“Are we going to watch Erin’s body for the next few days?” Zoey’s question seemed to jar the room.

“That won’t be necessary,” Thanatos said.

“Well, I know this isn’t exactly a pleasant subject, but someone needs to say it.” Zoey spoke as if she didn’t notice, or care, that everyone was staring at her in horror.

Aphrodite hid a surprised smile. Wow, Z was really starting to sound like a proper bitchy High Priestess.

“Right here are two vampyres,” Z continued as she motioned toward Stark and Stevie Rae, “who as fledglings rejected the Change and ‘died,’” she air quoted. “Just like Erin ‘died’ tonight,” Zoey air quoted again. “And both of them un-died and came back as red fledglings within a couple of days. So, I think we need to—”

“Z, no,” Stevie Rae said, looking uncomfortable. “Erin’s not coming back.”

“Stevie Rae, I said this isn’t pleasant, but we have to deal with it,” Zoey bulldozed on. “Who is going to watch—”

“No one need watch the dead fledgling,” Thanatos cut Zoey off. “She is truly dead.”

“Thanatos saw her spirit enter the Otherworld,” Shaunee said quietly. “Nyx welcomed her.”

“I can promise you that Nyx didn’t welcome any of us when we died and then un-died,” Stevie Rae added.

“Nope, she didn’t,” Stark agreed.

“Erin is really dead,” Damien said.

“Okay, I just … well, I didn’t mean to sound cold or anything like that,” Zoey explained haltingly. “It’s just that I thought we needed to be sure.”

“We are sure,” Thanatos said.

“I’m with Z about telling it how it is, and I think we need to be sure about something else, too,” Aphrodite said. She met Thanatos’s wise gaze. “The circle expelled what looked like Neferet’s partially reformed body, and when she was kicked out of campus, she passed through Erin, and went out in the exact direction Dad was found. I think we need to find out for sure if Neferet killed both of them—Erin and Dad.”

Thanatos’s shoulders slumped. “I’m afraid there is no way to be completely certain, but Aphrodite’s supposition about who could be responsible for both deaths does makes sense. I felt the presence of death only moments before Zoey called to tell me about the spiders. That death could have been Erin’s rejection of the Change beginning, or it could have been Neferet attempting to manifest from the dead.” She looked questioningly around the group. “Did any of you notice whether Erin was showing signs of sickness before tonight? Did anyone hear her cough or say she had been unusually tired lately?”

“Why don’t you try asking somebody who really knew her and gave a shit about her?” Dallas said from the hallway outside the room where he stood, looking pissed off.

“Dallas, I am glad you have joined us. Come, sit, talk with us. When you are ready to see Erin’s body, and to bid her farewell, I will take you within, and tell you of the joyous welcome our Goddess gave your dear friend’s spirit as she entered the Otherworld this night,” Thanatos said.

“I don’t got anything to say to any of you. She was fine before that goddamned circle was cast! I didn’t want her to do it. I tried to stop her. I would’ve stopped her if Miss I’m the Boss of Everyone hadn’t told her Warrior to get me outta the way. I didn’t even know Erin had died until a few minutes ago when I finally busted outta that fucking closet.” Dallas’s eyes were hostile red slits. “I don’t know who you’re trying to blame for this massive fuck-up, but I can tell you that I know the truth, and so will everyone else here at the House of Night—Erin is dead because of some shit Zoey Redbird and her friends caused to happen in that circle tonight. She was fine until then, and if I would’ve been able to stop her, she’d still be fine!”

The lights in the waiting room began to flicker as Dallas’s anger became palpable.

“It’s past time for you to shut up, Dallas,” Stark said, rising to stand between the angry red vampyre and Zoey.

Darius joined him, shoulder to shoulder. “Erin rejected the Change. That didn’t have anything to do with Zoey’s circle.”

“She didn’t want you to stop her,” Shaunee had started to cry again. “She wanted to be part of our circle again.”

“She didn’t want shit to do with any of you!” Dallas yelled.

“You will not raise your voice in anger so soon after a young fledgling’s untimely death.” The strength within Thanatos’s voice had the lights steadying and Dallas taking a step back. “If you wish to bid your friend farewell with peace and love and respect, then you are welcome to do so. If you wish to spew anger and sow dissent, then you must leave, Dallas, and take your negative energy with you. It has no place at the bedside of one who has recently joined our Goddess.”

“I’ll tell Erin good-bye in my own way, and it won’t be with the people who caused her death!” Dallas growled the words, and with a sneer he backed several more steps away before turning and running from the infirmary.

“He’s gonna be a serious problem,” Stark said.

“He’s been a serious problem since he found out about Rephaim and me,” Stevie Rae said, chewing her lip. “That screwed him up.”

“That is not your fault,” Rephaim said, taking Stevie Rae’s hand.

“Yeah, well, I wish I didn’t feel like it was,” Stevie Rae murmured, leaning into her boyfriend. “It’s just that he used to be so sweet, and now he’s not just a douche, he’s a dangerous douche.” She looked at Thanatos. “I hate to say it, but I have a feeling Erin’s death is going to be the excuse he needs to do something stupid like come after us.”

“Yeah, and with all of us being stuck together here on campus, Dallas and the asstards who follow him are going to be stirring up as much shit as they can,” Aphrodite said.

Stark’s intake of breath had the group turning to him. “Shit pot stirring—that’s the same thing that Neferet’s into. And we know that right before Neferet snatched Grandma Redbird, Dallas was in communication with her.”

“Which means if Neferet has managed to pull herself together enough to reform her body, chances are she’s going to contact Dallas again as a way to get the inside scoop on what’s going on at the House of Night,” Zoey finished for Stark.

“With Dallas blaming Erin’s death on us, he’ll be as happy as a vulture on a meat wagon to do anything he can to mess us up,” Stevie Rae said.

Aphrodite grimaced at Stevie Rae’s bumpkin analogy, but she had to agree with her logic. “The worst thing that could be done to mess us up would be to figure out a way to prove one of the House of Night vampyres killed my dad.”

“I believe your supposition is correct. Neferet killed your father. I also believe her manifestation may have caused Erin’s body so much trauma that it rejected the Change—so, quite literally, Neferet could be guilty of the taking of two precious lives tonight,” Thanatos said.

“She’ll be wanting to shove that guilt onto someone else,” Aphrodite said.

“Yep, she’ll be wanting to plant evidence to make it look like someone from here did it,” Z agreed with her. “Dallas would help her do that. There’s no doubt about it.”

“That must be prevented,” Thanatos said.

“How? This is a school, not a military fortress. It’s just not that tough to sneak in and out of here. We all know that—we’ve all done it. And we have to remember that Neferet knows her way around this school even better than we do,” Aphrodite said.

“Then my task is really rather simple. I must devise a way to prevent Neferet from entering our campus,” Thanatos said.

“Actually, you need to prevent more than just Neferet. I can see Dallas, or any of his disgusting friends, sneaking in and out and doing whatever batshit crazy thing Neferet has cooked up for them to do. She wouldn’t actually have to do anything; she likes to delegate. It makes her feel powerful,” Aphrodite said.

“Good point,” Z agreed.

“I will meditate on this, and until I have an answer I will be quite certain the school grounds are being patrolled diligently. Kalona and Aurox will not allow anyone to enter our campus during daylight hours.” Thanatos said. “In the meantime, it is almost dawn. You all need rest.”

Aphrodite stood up, and was surprised to feel the room rock slowly around her. Grateful the Xanax was beginning to work, she leaned against Darius’s strong arm. “Well, I’d say that I don’t want to sound like a bitch, but that would be a lie. I don’t care what I sound like. You and the rest of the School Council need to know that Darius is going to be staying with me in my old dorm room.” Aphrodite spoke to Thanatos in a firm, no nonsense voice that reminded her a little uncomfortably of her mother. “I know that’s against the rules, but so is kidnapping someone’s grandma, killing a human for no reason, and causing a fledgling to reject the Change and die—and that’s only three of the long list of rules that have been broken by the bad guys recently. So, I’m breaking a rule for the good guys. I don’t want to sleep without my Warrior, and I can promise you that Z feels the same way.” Aphrodite shot a humorous look at Stevie Rae. “The bumpkin would be insisting that she sleeps with her Bird Boy, but he’s going to be a bird and, apparently, she’s still refusing to put him in a cage at night—right, Stevie Rae?”

“I’m not talkin’ to you when you call Rephaim Bird Boy.” She frowned at Aphrodite.

“Yep, just as I thought. Still no cage. Anyway, we’ve been fighting evil and saving the effing world for months now, and I need my Warrior. I’m not sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. The end.”

There was a long pause while Thanatos and Aphrodite locked gazes, and then Thanatos said, “I believe there is precedence for Warriors to share the sleeping quarters of their Priestesses, especially if they believe their Priestesses could be in danger.”

“Z is always in danger,” Stark said quickly.

“As is my Prophetess,” Darius added, sliding a protective arm around her.

Aphrodite smiled. “I guess that settles that.”

“Stevie Rae, I know you’ll be sleeping alone as soon as the sun rises,” Shaunee spoke softly. “And if you wouldn’t mind too much, I’d really appreciate it if you stayed with me in the dorm room I used to share with Erin. I—I don’t think I can stay there by myself.”

“Oh, heck yeah, I’ll stay with you!” Stevie Rae said, hugging Shaunee. “But I’m gonna need to leave the window open for Rephaim.”

“We can do that,” Shaunee said. “No problem.”

“Just be sure you tie the blackout drapes into place so that no sun can get in during the day,” Zoey reminded her. She glanced at her watch. “How long until sunrise?”

“Twenty-four minutes,” Stevie Rae and Rephaim said together.

“Okay, you guys go get settled. Stark, go on up to my old room and do like I told Stevie Rae—be sure the drapes are tied closed. I’ll check up on the rest of our group and be sure they’re all set, at least for today,” Zoey said.

Aphrodite watched her. Z sounded normal, but there was something about her—an edge to her voice—an unusually strained look to her face—dark shadows under her eyes. All that didn’t quite add up to everyday Zoey. Everyday Zoey got tired, and even grumpy once in a while, but she always snapped out of it, and did what needed to be done. Aphrodite realized that the more closely she studied Z, the more she saw a girl who was doing what needed to be done, but who was obviously not snapping out of it.