P.C. Cast - Awakened

“Fine. I’ll keep it down. Jack is dead and no one has called Z?” she repeated her question, much less loudly.

“No. I haven’t exactly had time. Damien has been hysterical. Duchess has been hysterical. The school’s in a dang uproar. I’m the only effing High Priestess who isn’t, supposedly, locked away in her room praying or whatever, so I’ve been busy handling the shit storm out here and the fact that a really nice boy just died.”

“Yeah, I understand that and I’m sad, too, and all, but Zoey needs to get here and get here now. If you were too busy to do it, then you should have let one of the professors call her. The sooner she knows the sooner she’ll be on her way here.”

Darius hurried up to them and took Aphrodite’s hand.

“It was Neferet, right? That bitch killed Jack,” Aphrodite asked him.

“Not possible,” Darius and Stevie Rae said together. Stevie Rae flashed Aphrodite an annoyed I told you so look as Darius went on to explain. “Neferet was, indeed, in the school Council Meeting when Jack fell from the ladder. Not only did Damien see Jack fall, but another witness corroborates the time. Drew Partain was crossing the grounds when he heard the music Jack was singing to. He said he only heard part of the song because the bell clock on Nyx’s Temple began chiming midnight, or at least that was why he thought he didn’t hear any more of Jack’s voice.”

“But really that’s when Jack died,” Stevie Rae said, her voice gone hard and flat because that was the only way she could keep from sounding as shaky as she felt.

“Yes, the timing is right,” Darius said.

“And you’re sure Neferet was in the meeting then?” Aphrodite said.

“I heard the clock gonging while she was talking,” Stevie Rae said.

“I still don’t believe for an instant she’s not behind his death,” Aphrodite said.

“I’m not disagreein’ with you, Aphrodite. Neferet is slicker than hen crap on a tin roof, but facts are facts. She was in front of all of us when Jack fell off that ladder.”

“Okay, seriously, eew with your bumpkin analogies. And how about the whole sword thing? How the hell could it have ‘accidentally’ ”—she air quoted—“almost sliced his head off?”

“Swords should be positioned hilt down, point up. Dragon explained that to Jack. As the boy fell on the blade, the hilt was driven into the ground, impaling him. Technically, it could have been an accident.”

Aphrodite wiped a shaking hand across her face. “That’s horrible. Really horrible. But it was no damn accident.”

“I don’t think any of us believe Neferet is innocent of the boy’s death, but what we believe and what we can prove are two different things. The High Council has already ruled once in Neferet’s favor and, basically, against us. If we go to them with more supposition and no proof of her wrongdoings, we will only discredit ourselves more,” Darius said.

“I get that, but it pisses me off,” Aphrodite said.

“It pisses us all off,” Stevie Rae said. “Bad. Real bad.”

Picking up on the unusually hard edge in Stevie Rae’s voice, Aphrodite lifted an eyebrow at her. “Yeah, and let’s use some of that pissed off to kick that cow the hell outta here once and for all.”

“What’s your idea?” Stevie Rae said.

“First, get Zoey’s vacationing butt back here. Neferet hates Z. She’ll come against her—she always does. Only this time we’ll all be watching and waiting and we’ll get proof not even the Neferet-loving High Council will be able to ignore.” Without waiting for a response from either of them, Aphrodite pulled her iPhone from her metallic Coach clutch, punched in her code, and said, “Call Zoey.”

“I was gonna do that,” Stevie Rae said.

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. “Whatever. You’re too. Damn. Late. Plus, you’re too damn nice. What Z needs is a big dose of get-your-shit-together-and-do-the-right-thing. I’m the girl to feed it to her.” She paused, listened, and rolled her eyes again. “It’s her revolting Disney Channel–sounding Hey guys! Leave me a message and have an awesome day voice mail,” Aphrodite quoted in an uber-bubbly voice. She drew a breath, waiting for the beep.

And Stevie Rae grabbed the phone from her hand, speaking quickly into it. “Z, it’s me, not Aphrodite. I need you to call me the second you get this. It’s important.” She hit the end button to hang up and squared off against Aphrodite. “Okay, let’s get somethin’ real straight. Just because I try to be a decent human being, it does not mean I’m too nice. It’s bad enough what happened to Jack. Learnin’ ’bout it in a message is super, super bad. Plus, I don’t think it’s a good idea to freak Zoey out like that, ’specially so soon after her soul being shattered.”

Aphrodite snatched the iPhone from Stevie Rae. “Look. We do not have time to tiptoe around Zoey’s feelings. She needs to put on her big-girl High Priestess panties and deal.”

“No, you look.” Stevie Rae stepped forward and into Aphrodite’s personal space, making Darius automatically move closer to her. “Z doesn’t need to put on High Priestess panties. She is one. But she’s been through losin’ someone she loves. That’s somethin’ you obviously just don’t get. Watchin’ out for her feelings right now isn’t about babyin’ her. It’s about bein’ her friend. Sometimes all of us just need a little protection from our friends.” She glanced at Darius, shaking her head. “No, that doesn’t mean you need to protect Aphrodite from me. Jeeze, Darius, what’s wrong with you?”

Darius caught and held her gaze. “For a moment your eyes flashed red.”

Stevie Rae made sure her expression didn’t change. “Yeah, well, I’m not surprised. Watchin’ Neferet walk away without paying any consequences for what happened to Jack has been pretty hard for me to take. You’d feel the same way if you’d been here and saw it go down.”

“I imagine I would, but my eyes would not glow red,” Darius said.

“Die and un-die and then talk to me ’bout that,” Stevie Rae said. She turned to Aphrodite. “I have stuff I gotta do while Damien is sleepin’. Are you and Darius gonna stay here and keep an eye on him? Not for one hot second do I believe Neferet is really locked away in her room praying to Nyx for the rest of the night like she wants everyone to believe.”

“Yeah, we’ll stay,” Aphrodite said.

“If he wakes up, be nice,” Stevie Rae said.

“Don’t be a jerk. Of course I’ll be nice.”

“Good. I’ll be back pretty soon, but if you need a break, call the Twins and they’ll relieve you.”

“Whatever. Goodbye.”

“Bye.” Stevie Rae hurried down the hallway, feeling Darius’s questioning gaze following her with an intensity that was a physical weight. I have to stop letting Darius make me feel guilty! she told herself roughly. I haven’t done anything wrong. So what if my eyes glow red when I’m pissed? It doesn’t have anything to do with the fact that I’ve Imprinted with Rephaim. I left him. Tonight I ignored him. Yeah, I have to find him and ask what the hell he knows about what happened to Jack, but not because I want to. Because I have to. She told that big ol’ lie silently to herself, and was so distracted by her thoughts that she almost ran smack into Erik.

“Hey, uh, Stevie Rae. Is Damien okay?”

“Well, what do you think, Erik? His boyfriend who he loved just died in a real horrible way. No, he’s not okay. But he is sleepin’. Finally.”

“You know, you don’t have to be like that. I really am worried about him, and I cared about Jack, too.”

Stevie Rae took a good look at Erik. He did look like crap, which was totally unusual for pretty-boy Erik. And he’d obviously been crying. Then she remembered that he’d been Jack’s roommate, and also had been real sweet about standing up for Jack when that asshole Thor tried to pick on him for being gay. “Sorry,” she said, touching Erik’s arm. “I’m just upset ’bout all this, too. I got no reason to be a B to you. Here, I’ll start over.” She took a breath and smiled sadly. “Damien’s sleepin’ right now, but he’s not okay. He’ll be needin’ friends like you when he wakes up. Thanks for askin’ and thanks for bein’ here for him.”