Part 3 (1/2)

Stevie Rae turned narrowed eyes on me. ”I'm not dead.”

Aphrodite moved so that she was standing beside me. ”Hey, don't get all mental on us. The vamps think you're dead, remember?”

”But don't worry,” I said quickly. ”I made them give me back a bunch of your things. And I know where the rest of your stuff is. I can get it all back if you want it.”

And just like that, the meanness vanished and I was looking at my best friend again. ”Even my lamp made outta a cowboy boot?”

”Even that,” I said, smiling at her. h.e.l.l, I'd be p.i.s.sed, too, if someone had taken all my stuff.

Aphrodite said, ”You'd think if someone died, at least their s.h.i.+tty non-fas.h.i.+on fas.h.i.+on sense would change. But no. Your bad taste is f.u.c.king immortal.”

”Aphrodite,” Stevie Rae told her firmly, ”you really should be nicer.”

”And I say whatever to you and your countrified Mary Poppins outlook on life,” Aphrodite said.

”Mary Poppins was British. Which means she wasn't countrified,” Stevie Rae said smugly.

Stevie Rae sounded so much like her old self that I gave a little happy shout and threw my arms around her again. ”I'm so darn glad to see you! You're really okay now, aren't you?”

”Kinda different, but okay,” Stevie Rae said, hugging me back.

I felt an amazing wash of relief that drowned out the kinda different part of what she'd said. I guess I was just so glad to see her, whole and herself again, that I had to hold that knowledge safe and special inside myself for a while, and that need didn't let me consider that there could be any leftover problems with Stevie Rae. Plus, I remembered something else. ”Hang on,” I said suddenly. ”How did you guys get back on campus without the warriors going crazy?”

”Zoey, you really gotta start paying attention to the stuff that's going on around you,” Aphrodite said. ”I walked through the front gate. The alarm's down, which I imagine makes sense. I mean, I got the same school notification call on my cell about winter break being over I bet everyone else who was away from campus got. Neferet had to unzap this place or she'd go insane dealing with all the alarms the returning students would set off, not to mention the zillions of delicious Sons of Erebus who are descending on this place like yummy presents for us students.”

”Don't you mean all the alarms would make Neferet go more insane than she already is?”

”Yes, Neferet is definitely bats.h.i.+t crazy,” Aphrodite said, for an instant in complete agreement with Stevie Rae. ”Anyway, the alarm's gone, even for humans.”

”Huh? Even for humans? How do you know that?” I asked.

Aphrodite sighed, and with a weirdly slow motionlike movement, she brought the back of her hand up and wiped it across her forehead, causing the outline of the crescent moon to smear and partially rub off.

I gasped. ”Oh, G.o.d, Aphrodite! You're . . .” My words sputtered out as my mouth refused to say it.

”Human,” Aphrodite supplied for me in a flat, cold voice.

”How? I mean, are you sure?”

”I'm sure. d.a.m.n sure,” she said.

”Uh, Aphrodite, even though you're human, you're definitely not a normal human,” Stevie Rae said.

”What does that mean?” I asked.

Aphrodite shrugged. ”Doesn't mean s.h.i.+t to me.”

Stevie Rae sighed. ”You know, you're lucky you turned into a human and not a wooden boy, 'cause with all the lying you're doin', your nose would be like a mile long.”

Aphrodite shook her head in disgust. ”Again with the bad G-rated movie a.n.a.logy. I don't know why I couldn't have just died and gone to h.e.l.l. At least I wouldn't be bombarded with Disney there.”

”Would you just tell me what the h.e.l.l's going on?” I said.

”Better explain it to her. She's almost cussing,” Aphrodite said snidely.

”You're so hateful. I should have eaten you when I was dead,” Stevie Rae said.

”You should have eaten your countrified mom when you were dead,” Aphrodite said, bowing up like she thought she was black. ”No wonder Zoey needs a new BFF. You're totally a Pollyanna pain in the a.s.s.”

”Zoey does not need a new BFF!” Stevie Rae yelled, turning on Aphrodite and taking a step toward her. For an instant, I thought I saw her blue eyes start to flash the ugly red that illuminated them when she was undead and out of control.

Feeling like my head was going to explode, I stepped between them. ”Aphrodite, stop messing with Stevie Rae!”

”Then you better check your friend.” Aphrodite walked to the mirror that was over my sink, grabbed a Kleenex, and started to wipe what was left of the smeared crescent from her forehead. I noticed that for all her nonchalant tone, her hands were shaking.

I turned back to Stevie Rae, whose eyes were once again a familiar blue.

”Sorry, Z,” she said, smiling like a guilty kid. ”I guess two days with Aphrodite has gotten on my nerves.”

Aphrodite snorted and I looked over at her. ”Just don't start again,” I said.

”Fine, whatever.” Our eyes met in the mirror, and I was almost sure I saw fear in Aphrodite's gaze. Then she went back to work fixing her face.

Feeling utterly confused, I tried to pick up where the conversation had gotten way weird. ”So, what's the deal with you saying Aphrodite isn't normal? And I don't mean her abnormally bad att.i.tude,” I hastily added.

”Easy-peasy,” Stevie Rae said. ”Aphrodite still has visions, and visions aren't normal for humans.” She gave Aphrodite a so there look. ”Go ahead. Tell Zoey.”

Aphrodite turned from the mirror and sat on the little stool I kept close by. She ignored Stevie Rae and said, ”Yeah, I still have my visions. Whoop-tee-f.u.c.king-do. The only thing I didn't like about being a fledgling is the only thing I get to keep now that I'm a stupid human again.”

I looked more closely at Aphrodite, seeing through the I'm all that facade she liked to throw up. She was pale, and there were dark circles beneath the cover-up she had slathered under here yes. Yes, she definitely looked like a girl who had just gone through a bunch of c.r.a.p, and some of it could be one of her draining, life-changing visions. No wonder she was being such a b.i.t.c.h; I was a moron not to have noticed it before then.

”What did you see in the vision?” I asked her.

Aphrodite met my gaze with a steady one of her own and for a moment let down the steel wall of arrogance she liked to keep around her like a s.h.i.+eld. A terrible, haunted shadow crossed her beautiful face, and her hand shook as she raised it to brush a strand of blond hair behind her ear.

”I saw vampyres slaughtering humans and humans killing vampyres right back. I saw a world filled with violence and hatred and darkness. And in the darkness I saw creatures that were so horrible, I couldn't tell what they were. I-I couldn't even keep looking at them. I saw the end of everything.” Aphrodite's voice was as haunted as her face.

”Tell her the rest of it,” Stevie Rae prompted her when Aphrodite paused, and I was surprised by the sudden gentleness in her voice. ”Tell her why all of that was happening.”

When Aphrodite spoke, I felt her words as if they had been shards of gla.s.s she'd smashed into my heart.

”I saw all of it happening because you were dead, Zoey. Your death made it happen.”

CHAPTER FIVE