"She sure is," I said. Then I grinned at my friends (and the new kid). "So, ready to get to work now? We have lots of stuff to clear out of here." I saw poor Jack looking totally clueless. "Damien, you better give Jack a quick catch-up lesson in vamp rituals so he doesn't feel so lost." I started to walk back toward the kitchen (again), and heard Damien start his little professor act, beginning with the facts about the Full Moon Ritual. "Uh, Zoey, can we help you?" I glanced over my shoulder. Drew Partain, a short, athletic kid I recognized because he and I were in the same fencing class (he's an incredible fencer--as good as Damien, and that's saying something), was standing with a group of guys near the wall of black-shrouded windows. He smiled at me, but I noticed he kept checking out Stevie Rae. "There's a lot of stuff to be pulled around. I know because the guys and I used to help Aphrodite get the room ready."

"Huh," I heard Shaunee say under her breath. Before Erin could add to the sarcastic sound, I said, "Yeah, we could use your help." And then I tested them. "Except my ritual is going to be different. Damien can show you what I mean." I waited for the disdainful looks and the sarcasm that the jocklike guys tended to throw at Damien and the few other openly g*y kids at the school, but Drew just shrugged and said, "Cool with me. Just tell us what to do." He grinned and winked at Stevie Rae, who giggled and blushed. "Damien, they're all yours," I said. "I'm sure hell is freezing over somewhere," Damien whispered, barely moving his lips. Then, in his regular voice he said, "Well, the first thing Zoey didn't like is that it looks like a morgue in here with all of the arcade machines pushed to the walls and covered with that black fabric. So let's see if we can move most of them into the kitchen and the hall." Drew's group started to work alongside Damien and the new kid, and Damien returned to his mini-lesson. "We'll get the candles and pull the table out here," I told the guys, and motioned for the Twins and Stevie Rae to follow me. "Damien has died and gone straight to g*y boy heaven," Shaunee said as soon as we were out of earshot. "Hey, it's about time those kids stopped acting like ignorant rednecks and behaved like they have some sense," I said. "She doesn't mean that, even though we agree with you," Erin said. "She means little Mr. Jack the cute-gay-new-kid Twist."

"Now why in the world would you think he's g*y?" Stevie Rae asked. "Stevie Rae, I swear you have got to broaden your horizons, girl," Shaunee said.

"Okay, I'm lost, too. Why do you think Jack's g*y?" I asked. Shaunee and Erin shared a long-suffering look, then Erin ex plained. "Jack Twist is yummy Jake Gyllenhaal's totally g*y cow boy character from Brokeback Mountain."

"And just please! Anyone who chooses that name and who looks all geeky cute like that is totally, completely playing for Damien's team."

"Huh," I said. "Well, I'll be," Stevie Rae said. "You know, I never did see that movie. It didn't come to the Cinema 8 in Henrietta."

"You don't say?" Shaunee said. "Please. I'm so shocked," Erin said. "Well, Stevie Rae. I do believe it's time for a DVD showing of that excellent flick," Shaunee said. "Do guys kiss in it?"

"Deliciously," Shaunee and Erin said together. I tried, but failed miserably not to laugh at the look on Stevie Rae's face.

Chapter Fifteen

We were almost finished setting up the room when someone flipped on the nightly news on the big-screen TV we did have to leave in the main room. The five of us shared quick looks--what they were calling "the bomb hoax by Nature's Jihad" was the lead story. Even though I knew my call couldn't be traced, and I'd watched Damien "accidentally" drop and then totally step on and smash his disposable phone, I only breathed marginally easier when Chera Kimiko repeated that so far the police had no leads about the identity of the terrorist group. In a related Arkansas River story Fox News reported that this evening Samuel Johnson, captain of a river transport barge, had a heart attack while piloting the barge. It was a "lucky coincidence" for him that river traffic had been halted and that police and paramedics were so close by. His life had been saved, and there had been no damage done to any other barges or bridges. "That was it!" Damien said. "He had a heart attack and ran the barge into the bridge." I nodded numbly. "And that proves that Aphrodite's vision was true."

"Not that that's good news," Stevie Rae said. "I think it is," I said. "As long as Aphrodite lets us know about her visions, at least we can take them seriously." Damien shook his head. "There has to be a reason Neferet be lieves Nyx has withdrawn her gift from Aphrodite. It's too bad we can't tell her about this, then maybe she'd explain what's going on, or maybe even change her mind about Aphrodite."