I'd have to talk to Erik about fixing Shaunee up with Cole. In my opinion more white boys should date women of color. It was good for ex panding their horizons (especially true in Oklahoma white boys). Speaking of women of color--the next performer was Deino. She was a drop-dead mixed girl with to-die-for hair and skin the color of vanilla latte. She was also one of Aphrodite's inner circle, or she used to be. I'd been introduced to her at Aphrodite's Full Moon Ritual. Deino was one of Aphrodite's three best friends. They'd renamed themselves after the mythological sisters of the Gorgon and Scylla: Deino, Enyo, Pemphredo. Translated, the names mean Terrible, Warlike, and Wasp. The names definitely fit. They were three hateful, selfish bitches who had run out on Aphrodite during the Samhain Rit ual and, as far as I could tell, hadn't spoken to her since. Okay, Aphrodite had messed up, and she was definitely haggish, but I could mess up and be a total hag and I don't think Stevie Rae, the Twins, or Damien would turn their backs on me. Get pissed at me--yep, definitely. Tell me I'd lost my mind--of course. But run out on me--no way. Professor Nolan introduced Deino, saying that she'd finished an amazing eleventh overall, and then Deino began Cleopatra's death scene monologue. I had to admit that she was good. Really good. Watching her I was so dazzled by her talent that I started to wonder how much of her hateful haggishness had been because of Aphrodite's influence. Since I'd taken over the Dark Daughters none of Aphrodite's close friends had caused any kind of prob lems. Actually, now that I thought about it, I realized that Ter rible, Warlike, and Wasp had been keeping a pretty low profile. Huh. Well, I'd said that I wanted to include one of Aphrodite's old inner circle in my new Prefect Council. Maybe Deino would be the right choice. I could ask Erik about her. With Aphrodite out of power I could give Deino a chance (as well as sincerely wish her name wasn't so disturbing).

I was still considering how to go about telling my friends (who were also my fellow Prefects) that I was thinking about asking Terrible to join our Council when Professor Nolan returned to the stage and waited for the audience to quiet down. When she started speaking her eyes were shining with excitement and she seemed ready to burst. I felt a little thrill run through me. Erik had finished in the top ten! "Erik Night is our final performer. He has been an incredible talent since the day he was Marked three years ago. I am proud to be his teacher and his mentor," she said, beaming. "Please give him the hero's welcome he deserves for placing first in the International Shakespearian Monologue Competition!" The auditorium exploded as Erik strode, smiling, onto the stage. I could hardly breathe. How could I have forgotten how ut terly gorgeous he is? Tall--taller than Cole even--he had black hair that did that adorable Superman curl thing, and eyes so bril liant blue they were like staring into the summer sky. Like the other performers, he was dressed all in black, with the fifth for mer insignia of Nyx's golden chariot pulling a trail of stars over his left breast as the only break in the dark color scheme. And, let me tell you, he made black look good. He walked to center stage, stopped, smiled directly (and obvi ously) into my eyes, and winked at me. He was so damn hot I thought I would die. Then he bowed his head and when he raised it he wasn't eighteen-year-old Erik Night, vampyre fledgling, fifth former at the House of Night, anymore. Somehow, right in front of our eyes, he had become a Moorish warrior who was try ing to explain to a room full of doubters how a Venetian princess had fallen in love with him, and he with her.

"Her father lov'd me; oft invited me; Still question'd me the story of my life From year to year, the battles, sieges, fortunes That I have pass'd."

I couldn't take my eyes from him, and neither could anyone else in the room as he transformed into Othello. I also couldn't help but compare him to Heath. In his own way, Heath was as successful and talented as Erik. He was Broken Arrow's star quar terback, with a bright collegiate and maybe even pro football ca reer in front of him. Heath was a leader. Erik was a leader. I'd grown up watching Heath play ball, had been proud of him, and had cheered for him. But I had never been awed by his talent like I was awed by Erik. And the only time Heath had ever made me feel like I couldn't breathe was when he sliced into his skin and offered his blood to me. Erik paused in his monologue, and moved forward until he was standing at the edge of the stage, so close that if I stood I could reach up and touch him. Then he looked into my eyes and completed Othello's speech to me, as though I was the absent Desdemona he spoke of:

"She wish'd she had not heard it, yet she wish'd That heaven had made her such a man; she thank'd me,And bade me, if I had a friend that lov'd her, I should but teach him how to tell my story, And that would woo her. Upon this hint I spake: She lov'd me for the dangers I had pass'd, And I lov'd her that she did pity them." touched his fingers to his lips, then held his hand out to me as if to offer me his formal kiss, and then pressed those fingers over his heart and bowed his head. The audience erupted into cheers and a standing ovation. Stevie Rae stood cheering next to me, wiping her eyes and laughing. "That was so romantic I almost peed my pants," she yelled. "Me, too!" I laughed. And then Professor Nolan was back onstage, closing the per formance and directing everyone to the wine and cheese recep tion set up in the lobby. "Come on, Z," Erin said, grabbing one of my hands. "Yeah, we're staying with you 'cause that friend of Erik's that played Romeo is insanely hot," Shaunee said as she grabbed my other hand. The Twins started hauling me through the crowd, shouldering us past the slow-moving kids like mini-tugboats. I looked helplessly back at Damien and Stevie Rae. Clearly they were going to have to catch up on their own. The Twins were a force beyond even my control. We popped from the bottled-up crowd trying to exit the audi torium like three corks coming to the surface. And suddenly there Erik was, just entering the lobby from the side actors' en trance. Our eyes met and he instantly stopped talking to Cole and headed straight to me. "Mmm, mmm, mmm. He is so totally fiiiiine," Shaunee mur mured. "As usual, we're in complete agreement, Twin," Erin sighed dreamily. I couldn't do anything but stand there and smile like a moron as Erik reached us. With a very naughty sparkle in his eyes he took my hand, kissed it, and then made a sweeping bow and pro claimed in his actor's voice that carried all around the room, "Hello, my sweet Desdemona."