So instead of beginning my invocation of earth, I winked at Aphrodite and whispered, "Well, here we go," and turned around to face the circle and the questioning crowd of watchers.

"I need to invoke earth next. We all know that. But there's a problem. You all saw that Nyx gifted Aphrodite with an affinity for earth. And she did. But it turns out the gift was just a temporary one because Aphrodite was keeping the element safe for the one who really represented earth, Stevie Rae."

As soon as I said her name, there was a fluttering movement in the big oak and the night-darkened boughs that spread over our heads, and then Stevie Rae dropped gracefully from the branch above us.

"Dang, Z, it took you long enough to get to me," she said. Then she walked over to Aphrodite and took the green candle from her. "Thanks for keeping my place warm."

"Glad you could make it," Aphrodite said, and stepped aside so that Stevie Rae could move into her place.

Stevie Rae took the earth position, turned, and shaking her curly blond hair back from her face, grinned out at everyone while the intricate pattern of vines and birds and flowers that made up her scarlet tattoo blazed as brightly as her smile. "Okay, now you can invoke earth."

Chapter Thirty-two

Naturally all hell broke loose then. Sons of Erebus shouted and started forward toward our circle. Vampyres were crying out in shock, and I swear some girl started screaming.

"Ah, oh," I heard Stevie Rae whisper. "Better fix this, Z."

I whirled around to face Stevie Rae. With no time for niceties I said, "Earth, come to me!" For a second I wanted to freak because I didn't have a lighter and neither did Stevie Rae, but Aphrodite, cool as ever, leaned over, flicked the lighter she still held, and lit the candle. The scents and sounds of a summer meadow instantly surrounded us. "Here, have a drink." I lifted the goblet, and Stevie Rae took a big gulp. I frowned a little at her.

"What?" she whispered. "Erik's yummy."

I rolled my eyes at her and jogged back to the center of the circle, where Erik was gawking at Stevie Rae. I raised one arm over my head. "Spirit! Come to me," I said without any preamble. As my soul quickened within me, I took the ceremonial lighter from Nyx's table and lit the purple spirit candle that waited there. Then I, too, took a big gulp of the blood-spiked wine.

And what an amazing rush that was! Stevie Rae had a point, Erik was yummy, but then I already knew that. Filled with the exhilaration of wine and blood and spirit, I strode out. I couldn't have been prouder of my friends. They'd held steady to their places in the circle, lifting their candles and keeping control of their elements so that our circle stayed strong and unbreachable. Pacing around the circumference of the glistening thread of circle I'd just cast, I raised my voice and began to shout over the pandemonium that surrounded us.

"House of Night, listen to me!" Everyone fell silent when they heard the power of the Goddess magnifying my voice. I almost fell silent, too, as shocked as I was by it. Instead I cleared my throat and began again, this time not having to Goddess-shout over a screaming horde. "Stevie Rae did not die. She went through another kind of a Change. It was hard for her, and it almost cost Stevie Rae her humanity, but she made it through, and now she is a new kind of vampyre." I made my way slowly around the inside of the circle, trying to meet as many of the eyes as I could as I explained. "Nyx never abandoned her, though. As you can see, she still has her affinity for earth, a gift given to her, and then given to her again by Nyx."

"I do not understand. This child was a fledgling who died and then was resurrected?" Shekinah had stepped forward and was standing near Stevie Rae, staring hard at her.

Before I could answer, Stevie Rae spoke. "Yes, ma'am. I did die. But then I came back, and when I did, I wasn't the same anymore. I'd lost myself, or at least most of myself, but Zoey, Damien, Shaunee, Erin, and especially Aphrodite, helped me to find myself again, and when I did, I also found I'd Changed into a different kind of vampyre." She pointed to her beautiful red tattoo.

Aphrodite stepped forward, actually moving into the glowing silver thread that held our circle as one. I expected to see her get zapped or bounced back or something terrible, but instead the thread gave, allowing her to walk through to me. When she joined me, I could see her body was outlined in the same glowing silver thread that still held our circle.

"When Stevie Rae Changed, I did, too." Aphrodite lifted her hand and with a quick swipe, she wiped off the blue crescent that had been outlined there. I heard several gasps as she continued. "Nyx Changed me into a human, but I'm a new kind of human, just like Stevie Rae is a new kind of vampyre. I'm a human who has been blessed by Nyx. I still hold the gift of visions Nyx gave me when I was a fledgling. The Goddess has not turned her face from me." Aphrodite lifted her head proudly and faced the House of Night, as if daring anyone to say anymore crap about her.