P.C. Casr - Betrayed

"Good! Now that Z's here we can start the marathon," Erik said.

"You mean the dorkathon," Shaunee said with a snort.

"If it was the weekend we could call it the geekend," Erin said.

"Let me guess." I looked up at Erik. "You brought the DVDs."

"Yep I did!"

The rest of the group groaned in exaggerated pain.

"Which means we're watching Star Wars," I said.

"Again," his friend Cole muttered.

Shaunee arched one perfectly waxed brow at Cole. "Are you saying that you're not a big Star Wars fan?"

He smiled at Shaunee, and even from where I was sitting I could see the flirty glimmer in his eyes. "Watching Erik's long ex­tended director's cut of Star Wars for the millionth time is not why I came over here. I am a fan, but it's not of Darth and Chew­bacca."

"Are you saying Princess Leia does it for you?" Shaunee quipped.

"No, I'm more colorful than that," he said, leaning toward her. "I'm not here because I'm a fan of Star Wars either," Jack piped in, giving Damien an adoring look.

Erin giggled. "Well, we know Princess Leia doesn't do it for you.

"Thankfully," Damien said.

"I wish Stevie Rae was here," Erik said. "She'd be all, Y'all, you're not bein’ very niiiice."

Erik's words made everyone shut up. I glanced at him and saw that his cheeks were getting red, like he hadn't realized exactly what he'd said till after he said it. I smiled and rested my head on his shoulder.

"You're right. Stevie Rae would be scolding us like a mamma."

"And then she'd make everyone some popcorn and tell us to share nice," Damien said. "Even though she should say share nicely."

"I liked the way Stevie Rae messed up the English language," Shaunee said.

"Yeah, she Okie-fied it," Erin said.

We all smiled at each other, and I felt a small warmth begin in my chest. This is how it started—this is how we would remember Stevie Rae—with smiles and love.

"Uh, can I sit with you guys?"

I looked up to see that cute Drew Partain kid standing ner­vously at the edge of our group. He looked pale and sad, and his eyes were red as if he'd been crying. I remembered how he had looked at Stevie Rae, and felt a stab of sympathy for him.

"Sure!" I said warmly. "Pull up a chair." Then an inner prompt­ing made me add, "There's room over there by Erin."

Erin's blue eyes widened a little, but she recovered quickly. "Yeah, pull up a chair, Drew. But be warned, we're watching Star Wars."

"Cool with me," Drew said, giving Erin a hesitant smile. "Short, but cute," I heard Shaunee whisper to Erin, and I do believe I saw Erin's cheeks get a little pink.

"Hey, I'm going to make us some popcorn. Plus, I need my—"

"Brown pop!" Damien, the Twins, and Erik said together.

I disentangled myself from Erik's arm and went to the kitchen, feeling more lighthearted than I had since Stevie Rae began cough­ing. Everything would be okay. The House of Night was my home. My friends were my family. I'd follow my own advice and take one day at a time—one issue at a time. I'd figure out a way to wade through my boyfriend issues. I'd do my best to avoid Neferet (without being too obvious that I was avoiding her) until I could figure out what was going on with her and the weird nondead Elliott (who was enough to give anyone nightmares—no wonder I'd had such a terrible dream about Stevie Rae and Heath).

I put one bag of extra-butter, super-pop popcorn in each of the four microwaves and grabbed big bowls as they started pop­ping. Maybe I should cast another private circle and ask Nyx for help understanding the gross Elliott issue. My stomach clenched as I realized that I would be minus Stevie Rae. How was I going to deal with replacing her? It made me feel sick, but it had to be done. If not now, for my private ritual, I'd have to find someone before the next Full Moon Ritual. I closed my eyes against the pain of missing Stevie Rae and the reality of going on without her. Please show me what to do, I prayed silently to Nyx.

"Zoey, you need to come into the living room."

My eyes sprang open as Erik's voice startled me. The look on his face had my adrenaline surging through my body. "What's go­ing on?"

"Just come on." He took my hand and we hurried out of the kitchen. "It's the news."

Even though the big living room was full of kids, it had gone completely silent. They were all staring at our big-screen TV, where Chera Kimiko was looking into the camera and speaking solemnly.

"... police are warning the public not to panic, even though this is the third teenager to have disappeared. They are investigating, and assure Fox News that they have several viable leads.

"To repeat this special bulletin, a Broken Arrow teenager, an­other high school football player, has been reported as missing. His name is Heath Luck."

My knees no longer held me, and I would have fallen if Erik hadn't put his arm around my waist and helped me to the love seat. It felt like I couldn't catch my breath as I listened to Chera continue:

"Heath's truck was found outside the House of Night, but the High Priestess there, Neferet, assures police that he did not enter the school grounds, and that he has not been seen by anyone there. Of course there is much speculation about these disappearances, espe­cially since the medical examiner's report states that the cause of death of the other two abducted boys was blood loss from multiple bites and lacerations. And while it is true that vampyres do not bite when they take blood from humans, the lacerations do follow a pat­tern that is consistent with vampyric feeding. It is important that we remind the public that vampyres have a binding legal agreement with humans to not feed on any human being against his or her will. We'll have more on this story at ten o'clock, and of course will break as news becomes available …"

"Someone get me a bowl, I'm gonna be sick!" I managed to yell over the humming in my head. A bowl was thrust into my hands and I promptly puked my guts into it.

"Here, Zoey, it'll help if you swish this around in your mouth." Blindly I took whatever Erin handed me, relieved when it was just cold water. I spit it into the nasty bowl of puke.

"Ugh, take it away," I said, suppressing my gag reflex as I got a whiff of puke. I wanted to cover my face with my hands and burst into tears, but I knew that the entire room was looking at me, so I slowly straightened my shoulders and pushed my damp hair back behind my ears. I didn't have the luxury of dissolving into a pan­icked heap. My mind was already processing the things I needed to do—had to do. For Heath, He was what was important right now, not me, and not my need for hysteria. "I have to see Nef­eret," I said resolutely and stood up, surprised at how steady my knees had become.

"I'll go with you," Erik said.

"Thanks, but first I need to brush my teeth and put on some shoes." (I'd just stuck on a pair of thick socks to come down and watch TV.) I smiled my thanks to Erik. "I'll run up to my room and be right back." I could feel the Twins getting ready to follow me. "I'll be fine. Just give me a sec." Then I turned and hurried up the stairs.

I didn't pause at my room, but kept going down the hall, turned right, and stopped before room number 124. I'd raised my fist, but hadn't knocked when the door opened.

"I thought it would be you." Aphrodite gave me a cold look, but she stepped to the side. "Come on in."

I walked in, surprised by the pretty pastel interior of the room. I guess I'd expected it to be dark and scary, like a black widow's web.

"Do you have any mouthwash? I just puked and I've seriously grossed myself out."

She pointed her chin at the medicine cabinet over the sink. "In there. The glass on the sink is clean."