“I’m not talkin’ to you when you call Rephaim Bird Boy.” She frowned at Aphrodite.

“Yep, just as I thought. Still no cage. Anyway, we’ve been fighting evil and saving the effing world for months now, and I need my Warrior. I’m not sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. The end.”

There was a long pause while Thanatos and Aphrodite locked gazes, and then Thanatos said, “I believe there is precedence for Warriors to share the sleeping quarters of their Priestesses, especially if they believe their Priestesses could be in danger.”

“Z is always in danger,” Stark said quickly.

“As is my Prophetess,” Darius added, sliding a protective arm around her.

Aphrodite smiled. “I guess that settles that.”

“Stevie Rae, I know you’ll be sleeping alone as soon as the sun rises,” Shaunee spoke softly. “And if you wouldn’t mind too much, I’d really appreciate it if you stayed with me in the dorm room I used to share with Erin. I—I don’t think I can stay there by myself.”

“Oh, heck yeah, I’ll stay with you!” Stevie Rae said, hugging Shaunee. “But I’m gonna need to leave the window open for Rephaim.”

“We can do that,” Shaunee said. “No problem.”

“Just be sure you tie the blackout drapes into place so that no sun can get in during the day,” Zoey reminded her. She glanced at her watch. “How long until sunrise?”

“Twenty-four minutes,” Stevie Rae and Rephaim said together.

“Okay, you guys go get settled. Stark, go on up to my old room and do like I told Stevie Rae—be sure the drapes are tied closed. I’ll check up on the rest of our group and be sure they’re all set, at least for today,” Zoey said.

Aphrodite watched her. Z sounded normal, but there was something about her—an edge to her voice—an unusually strained look to her face—dark shadows under her eyes. All that didn’t quite add up to everyday Zoey. Everyday Zoey got tired, and even grumpy once in a while, but she always snapped out of it, and did what needed to be done. Aphrodite realized that the more closely she studied Z, the more she saw a girl who was doing what needed to be done, but who was obviously not snapping out of it.

“Z, why don’t you let Thanatos take care of tucking the kids in tonight. You pulled our circle together and kicked Neferet out of here. Using that kind of power drains you—physically and mentally. We’re not screw-ups hiding out and licking our wounds by ourselves anymore. It’s a pain in the ass to be stuck here, but there are good points to being stranded at our House of Night. No more calling for cheap pizza to be delivered down the street. Bow Boy, you need to take your girl by the kitchen and grab her something real to eat and drink before the sun turns you into toast,” Aphrodite said.

“I don’t need you to tell me how to take care of Z,” Stark snapped at her.

“Nice. That’s how you’re going to respond to decent advice? That’s real mature,” Aphrodite said, shaking her head woozily.

“If Darius wasn’t holding on to you, you’d be on your ass,” Stark said.

“Would you two stop bickering!” Zoey shouted, and then took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she continued. “Aphrodite’s right. I’m super tired and I need to eat.”

“Rest and restore your energy,” Thanatos told Zoey. Then she glanced from Aphrodite to Stark. “And your High Priestess is correct. Your bickering helps no one except those who wish to sow dissention amongst us.”

“Sorry,” Stark muttered to Aphrodite. “I get touchy when Z gets tired.”

“Apology accepted. And I get messed up when one of my parents gets killed,” Aphrodite leaned even more heavily against Darius. “Would you please take me to bed, handsome?”

“Gladly,” Darius said. He bowed respectfully to Thanatos, Zoey, and Stevie Rae, and then he practically carried Aphrodite from the room.

They were walking under the old oaks that shaded the grounds around the girls’ dormitory building when pain knifed through Aphrodite’s temples, blinding her. Her body jerked spasmodically, causing her to cry out and fall from Darius’s arms, where she crumpled against the earth as the vision violated her.

With great power come great responsibilities

Weigh the pleasure of leadership and luxury with the sword Damocles

When she believes the ancient is the key to all her needs

Then is when all will tumble down; then is when Light bleeds and bleeds…

Aphrodite was truly fucked. Not only was she having the killer of a headache and the blackout that came before one of her visions, she was also hearing poetry.

Goddess, she hated poetry.

Figurative language sucked hairy ball sacs, which was, indeed, personifying figurative language and therefore forcing her to use that which she hated to explain, that which she hated.

She would have laughed at herself, but the pain wouldn’t let her.

At the edge of her consciousness Aphrodite was aware that Darius was calling her name and stroking her hair.

He’ll keep me safe. Okay, Nyx, I’m ready for whatever you have to show me. Goddess, I’m glad I already took a Xanax. Wonder if this will earn me one more glass of wine when I’m back and—

Aphrodite’s consciousness was ripped from her body, exploding through her eyes with a force that broke blood vessels and caused her head to pulse with pain.

Not that she felt those sensations just then. Aphrodite’s spirit was following a slender silver ribbon of light that carried her away … away…

Aphrodite’s spirit dropped down into the vision, and into Zoey’s body.

Goddess, she hated experiencing terrible shit that happened to people, especially when those people were her friends. Aphrodite steeled herself and peered out of Zoey’s eyes.

Z was sitting in the cafeteria. It seemed like she was alone in there, except for Aurox. She was staring up into Aurox’s eyes, and he was calling her Zo and telling her to take a chill pill. Aphrodite felt the flood of Z’s emotions as his words awakened something within her. She was so confused and torn between what she wanted, and what she thought she should do, that Zoey’s insides felt like a cauldron of boiling emotions. Aphrodite could feel the heat of her emotions expanding from the center of Z’s chest, almost like they were actually burning her. She was wondering what the hell that was about, but then Z, along with Aphrodite, was tasting Aurox’s blood. So, pretty much everything else went out of her mind.

Drinking the big blond Bull Boy’s blood wasn’t nearly as disgusting as Aphrodite would have thought—not that she’d thought about drinking the kid’s blood. Ever. Maybe part of the not-too-disgustingness of it was brought on by the fact that Z was definitely into the blood stuff. Huh. Z really did have a thing for Aurox. That was something she needed to remember. Along with the weird burning.

Then the scene changed and Stark was there, as per typically, spoiling all her (and Z’s) fun. He was acting like a possessive douche, so he and Zoey were fighting, which was annoying.

It was not white-hot-anger-making, though. But that’s what Aphrodite felt within Z. The girl was incredibly pissed.

That scene shifted into another, where the only thing that was the same was Z’s frustration level. Aphrodite couldn’t tell where she was. It wasn’t bright, sparking daylight, but it definitely wasn’t night, either, because the sky was bothering her eyes, so Zoey was keeping her gaze down, until some crappily dressed guys started messing with her. Zoey stood up to them, which Aphrodite totally agreed with, but then her anger level went way into the danger zone. Aphrodite watched helplessly as Z raised her hands and let loose all of the frustration and anger and confusion that had filled her. Aphrodite barely got a glimpse of the faces of the two guys, but the terror in their looks would forever be branded into her memory as they were hurled against a stone wall and blood exploded everywhere.

Change of scene again, and this time Aphrodite wasn’t looking through Zoey’s eyes. She was viewing her from a distance. Z had returned to the House of Night. Her anger had changed, and now she looked upset, scared, and confused. But that’s not the only change Aphrodite saw. She could see that Zoey carried something with her. Part of it was terrible. It looked like fleas or some kind of flesh-eating lice were clinging to Zoey, crawling under her skin. Yet as Aphrodite stared, completely grossed out, the crawling things shook and shifted, looking like glitter, or maybe even a beautiful cloak that was covering Zoey. And then Aphrodite blinked and the things changed back to horrible, crawling, nesting insects.

Aphrodite had no fucking idea what the things were, but it was pretty obvious that they were not coming from Zoey. They weren’t element based. Aphrodite’s mind raced. What had been pissing Z off so badly was normal stuff—boy frustration and people acting stupid in general. What was abnormal was Z’s reaction. Could that be because it wasn’t really Zoey’s reaction—it was frustration and anger flowing into her, being absorbed by her, being used by her, and Zoey didn’t realize it? And then why the hell did the things change, and look beautiful? Aphrodite didn’t know what was going on, but she did know the end result was Zoey being angry and powerful and completely out of control.