"Damn right," Erin said. Eagerly, I slid off the decorative string that held it shut, opened the lid, and gasped (along with everyone else who was standing close enough to see). Inside the box pooled the most beautiful dress I'd ever seen. It was black, but woven into the material were metallic specks of silver, so that wherever the light touched, it glittered and sparkled like shooting stars against the night sky. "Erik, this is beautiful." I sounded choked because I was trying really hard not to make a fool out of myself and burst into happy tears. "I wanted you to have something special for your first ritual as leader of the Dark Daughters," he said. We hugged again before my friends and I had to rush out and head to the rec hall. I clutched the dress to my chest and tried not to think about the fact that while Erik was buying me an amaz ingly cool present I had been either sucking Heath's blood or flirting with Loren. And while I tried not to think about that, I also tried to ignore the guilty voice inside my head that kept say ing, over and over, You don't deserve him ... you don't deserve him ... you don't deserve him .. .

Chapter Twenty

"Shaunee, Erin, and Stevie Rae--you guys start lighting the white candles. Damien, if you place the colored candles for the ele ments in their positions I'll be sure that everything's set for Nyx's table."

"Easy--" Shaunee said. "Peasy," Erin chimed in. "Japanesy," Stevie Rae added, making the Twins give her mir ror eye rolls.

"Are the element candles still in the supply room?" Damien asked. "Yep," I called as I headed to the kitchen. I was glad I'd already put together a big tray of fresh fruits, cheeses, and meats for Nyx's table. I just needed to retrieve it and the bottle of wine from the refrigerator, and arrange the bounty neatly on the table placed in the center of the large circle made of white candles. The table al ready had an ornate goblet on it, as well as a beautiful statue of the Goddess, a long, elegant lighter, and the purple candle that would represent spirit, the last element I would call to the circle. The table symbolized the richness of the blessings Nyx has given her children, vampyres and fledglings. I liked setting up the God dess's table. It made me feel calm, something that I especially needed tonight. I arranged the food and wine, and went over and over in my mind the words of the ritual I was going to use in--I glanced at the clock and felt my stomach tighten--in fifteen min utes. Fledglings were already starting to come into the rec hall, but they were being pretty subdued and hanging out in the cor ners of the large room in clusters while they watched the Twins and Stevie Rae light the white candles that would form the cir cumference of the circle. Maybe I wasn't the only one nervous about tonight. It was a big change to have me lead the Dark Daughters. Aphrodite had been leader for the past two years, and in that time the group had become a cliquish, snobby club where fledglings who weren't part of the "in" crowd were used and made fun of. Well, things were changing tonight. I glanced at my friends. We'd all hurried to change our clothes before coming to the rec hall, and everyone had chosen to wear solid black to keep with the theme of the amazing dress Erik had given me. I glanced down at myself for the zillionth time. The dress was simple, but perfect. It had a round neckline that was low, but not as low as ho-ish Aphrodite's ritual dresses had been.

It was long-sleeved and hugged my body to the waist, from there down it swirled gracefully to the floor. The silver specks that cov ered it glimmered in the candlelight whenever I moved. What also glittered whenever I moved was the necklace that dangled from the silver chain around my neck. Each Dark Daughter and Son had a similar necklace, with two exceptions--my triple moons were encrusted with garnets, and mine was the only neck lace that had been found with the body of a dead human teenager. Okay, it wasn't exactly my necklace that had been found. It was one like mine. Just like mine. No. I wouldn't think about negative things tonight. I would only concentrate on positives, and on preparing myself to lead my first public circle-casting and ritual. Damien returned to the main room with a big tray on which he balanced the four candles that represented each element: yellow for air, red for fire, blue for water, and green for earth. I already had my purple spirit candle on Nyx's table. I smiled and thought how great my friends looked, dressed chicly in black with their silver Dark Daughters' neck laces. Stevie Rae had already taken her place at the northernmost part of the circle where earth should be. Damien handed her the green candle. I just happened to be watching them, so there was no mistaking what I saw. As Stevie Rae touched the candle, her eyes widened and she let out a weird sound that was a cross be tween a scream and a gasp. Damien had taken such a hasty step back that he had to clutch at the other candles to keep them from tumbling off the tray. "Did you feel it?" Stevie Rae's voice sounded weird, hushed yet amplified. Damien looked shaky, but he nodded and said, "Yeah, and I smelled it, too." Then they both turned to look at me. "Uh, Zoey, could you come here for a second?" Damien asked. He sounded normal again, and had I not been watching what had happened between the two of them I would have thought noth ing more was going on than maybe they needed help with the candles. But I had been watching, which is why I didn't yell from the center of the circle and ask what they wanted. Instead I hurried over to them and kept my voice low. "What's going on?"