"Thanks," I said. "Again."

"You are welcome." He paused and almost smiled. "Again."

"I better get back to sixth hour." I broke the silence that had begun to settle between us. "I have a mare to finish grooming."

"I must continue to patrol," he said.

"So, the only class you have to go to is first hour?"

"Yes, as Neferet commands," he said.

I thought he sounded strange. Not exactly sad, but kinda resigned and still a little awkward.

"Okay, well. I'll see you first hour tomorrow." I wasn't sure what else to say. He nodded. We turned from each other and started to walk our separate ways, but something about first hour tugged at my mind and wouldn't leave me alone. I stopped and called to him. "Aurox, hang on." Looking curious, he came back to meet me beside the broken limb. "Uh, that question you wrote down today, was it for real?"

"For real?"

"Yeah, like, do you really not know what you are?" I asked.

He hesitated what felt like a long time before answering me. I could see that he was thinking and maybe weighing what he should and shouldn't tell me. I was getting ready to say something cliched (and untrue) like, "don't worry-I won't tell anyone" when he finally spoke.

"I know what I am supposed to be. I do not know if that is all that I truly am." Our eyes met and this time I did clearly see sadness there. "I hope Thanatos helps you find your answers."

"As do I," he said. Then he surprised me by adding, "You do not have a mean spirit, Zoey."

"Well, I'm not the nicest girl in the world, but I try not to be mean," I said.

He nodded, like what I'd said made sense to him.

"Okay, well, I'm really going now. Good luck with the rest of your patrol."

"Have a care when you walk under trees," he said, then he jogged away.

I looked up at the tree. The wind had gone from wild and crazy to gentle and barely noticeable. The old oak appeared strong and steady and totally unbreakable. As I walked back to sixth hour I thought about how deceiving appearances could be.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

Zoey

I'd meant to go to back to class. Straight to sixth hour. Really. Contrary to my recent actions, I'm usually not a class cutter. I mean, it just never made much sense. Like the homework wouldn't be there when I got back to class the next day? Uh, it would, plus the lovely added bonus of being in trouble.

Let me just say ugh to in-house and all other weird ineffective high school punishment systems that stick good kids in a study hall with frequent offender/gang members. Like that's not gonna just cause more problems?

Anyway, I'd made it about halfway to the stables when Thanatos seemed to materialize from the shadows beside the sidewalk, making me jump and put my hand over my heart to be sure it didn't pound from my chest.

"I did not mean to startle you," she said.

"Yeah, well, it's been a spooky kind of a day," I said, and then remembering how the wind had swirled around her when she'd gotten pissed at Dall as, I added, "Hey, do you have an air affinity?" She lifted a brow at me, and I also remembered how super scary and powerful she was and said,

"Unless it's none of my business. I don't mean to sound rude or anything."

"It is not rude to ask, and my closeness with air is no secret. It is not a true affinity. I cannot call the element, though it often manifests when I have need of it. I have long thought that air stays close to me because of my true affinity."

"Death?" Now I was really curious. "I'd think spirit would stay close to you because of your affinity."

"That does seem logical, but my affinity has only to do with helping the dead pass on, and sometimes soothing the living who have been left behind." We walked slowly, falling into an easy rhythm beside one another as we talked. "The dead move like the wind, or at least they do as they manifest to me. They are ethereal, diaphanous. They appear to have no real substance, though they are, indeed, very real."

"Like wind," I said, understanding. "It's real. It can move things. But you can't see it."

"Exactly. Why do you ask about air?"

"Well, it's been acting kinda crazy today. I wondered if you felt anything weird going on with it."

"As in it being manipulated?"

"Yeah, definitely," I said.

"No, I could not say that I have felt air being manipulated." She glanced up at the branches of the closest tree where the wind, gently, lazily, had them swaying in time to a slow, silent tune. "Seems all is quiet now."