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Zoey

I&039;d fallen asleep wrapped in Stark&039;s arlared and almost shouted, "Zoey! Wake up! Stop it! I

"Stark? Huh?" I sat up, dislodging Nala, who&039;d e donut on rumbled and padded to the end of the bed I looked fro at me like I&039;d co yawn "I was just sleeping"

Stark grabbed his pillow and wadded it behind him so that he was propped up in bed He crossed his arms, shook his head, and looked away fro"

I wanted to strangle hi with you?" I asked him

"You said his na a flashback to that creepy oldif Stark had turned into a pod person

"Heath&039;s!" Stark scowled "Three ti at ?"

What he&039;d said had shocked the hell out of? I thought back I re me before I went to sleep I remembered the kiss was super hot, but I&039;d been super tired and instead of doinghim back, I&039;d put my head on his shoulder and totally passed out After that I didn&039;t re at me to stop it

"I have not one clue," I said honestly

"You don&039;t have to lie to me"

"Stark, I wouldn&039;t lie to you" I brushed my hair from my face and then touched his ar"

He looked atHeath I&039; for him"

The way he sounded made my heart squeeze I hated that I&039;d hurt him I could have told hi I&039;d said when I was asleep-so I hadn&039;t even remembered, but ridiculous or not, Stark&039;s hurt was real I slid my hand in his

"Hey," I said softly "I&039;ers with mine "Do you wish he was here instead of me?"

"No," I said I&039;d loved Heath since I was a kid, but I wouldn&039;t trade Stark for him Of course, the rest of the truth was that had Stark been the one killed, I wouldn&039;t have traded Heath for hi Stark didn&039;t need to hear-not now-not ever

Loving two guys was a confusing mess, even when one of the out for him because you want to be with him instead of me?"

"I want you Promise" I ainst his chest and breathed in his familiar sed uy"

"Yep," I said

"Especially when I actually liked the dead guy"

"Yep," I agreed

"But we belong together, Z"

I leaned back so that I could look into his eyes "Yes," I said seriously, "we do Please don&039;t ever forget that Noon around us-I can handle it, but I need to know my Warrior is here for me"

"Always, Z Always," he said "I love you"

"I love you, too, Stark Always" I kissed him then and showed him that he absolutely didn&039;t have to be jealous of anyone else And, at the same time, for just a little while, I let the heat of his love burn away the h the Seer Stone that night

Next time I woke up it was because I ay too hot I was still in Stark&039;s ar overCrazy Boyfriend He looked cute and little-boy young and out cold

As per usual, Nala had ruently and quietly as I could to the other, cooler, side of the bed Totally asleep, Starkout for hts-brown pop, new shoes, kittens that didn&039;t sneeze in my face-and he relaxed

I tried to relax, too-for real Nal stared at me I scratched behind her ears and whispered, "Sorry for waking you up Again" She butted her face against my chin, sneezed on me, and then jumped back on my fuzzy blue blanket, circled three ti fur donut

I sighed I needed to do like Nala-curl up and go back to sleep, butAfter we&039;d ether Everything else ork itself out" I&039;d fallen asleep feeling secure that he was right

Now that I was, sadly, fully conscious, I couldn&039;t avoid the whole think-too-uess was if Stark knehat I&039;d iht, he&039;d take back his everything else ork itself out comment, and turn back into Mr I&039;m Jealous of a Dead Guy

I puton a slender silver chain around led innocently between my breasts It felt normal-like any other necklace I could have worn It wasn&039;t radiating weird heat I pulled it from underbreath, and peeked through it at Stark

Nothing strange happened Stark stayed Stark I turned the necklace a little and took a peek at Nala She stayed a fat, sleeping, orange cat

I put the Seer Stone back under ined it? Seriously How could Heath be in Aurox? Even Thanatos said he&039;d been created by Darkness through the sacrifice of my mom He was a Vessel-a creature under the control of Neferet

But she&039;d needed to kill Shadowfax to totally control him, and he had asked those questions about what he really was to Thanatos

Okay, but does any of that make a difference? Aurox wasn&039;t Heath Heath was dead He&039;d gone on to a deeper realo because Heath was dead

Reflectingin his sleep Nala cat gruot quietly out of bed and tiptoed fro under the blanket Stark and I used as a door

Brown pop I needed a serious dose of brown pop Maybe I&039;d get lucky and there would be some Count Chocula and uncurdledabout it made me feel a little better I could seriously heart me some breakfast cereal

I shuffled down the di it past turn-offs and other blanket-covered doorways behind which my friends rested as aited for the sun to set, until I entered the alcove which was the common area we used as a kitchen The tunnel sorta dead-ended there,rooes "There&039;s gotta be some brown pop left in here soh the first fridge

"It&039;s in the other one"

Isqueak and jumped "Jeesh, Shaylin! Don&039;t lurk like that You almost scared the pee outta me"

"Sorry, Zoey" She went to the second of the three fridges, and pulled out a can of fully leaded, totally loaded with sugar and caffeine brown pop, handing it to etic s?" I sat in the closest chair and sipped rumpy as I felt

"Yeah, well, I&039;m tired and all I can feel the sun hasn&039;t set yet, but I got a lot on ave a little snort "I super knohat you mean"

"Your color&039;s kinda off" Shaylin made the co as nor the color of et this color stuff you talk about"

"I&039;et, either All I know is that I see it and if I don&039;t think about it too ive me an example of how it usually makes sense to you"

"That&039;s easy I&039;ll use you as e very much Most of the tietting ready to go to the ritual at your grand to watch, your colors stayed the same I checked because" Her voice trailed off

"You checked because?" I prompted

"Because I was curious I checked the nerd herd&039;s colors before you left, but, well, I just realized how invasive that sounds"

I furrowedourlike that Is it?"

"No!" she assured ht stuff, and the ets for s that they sometimes would rather keep hidden"

"Like Neferet You said she&039;s dead-fish-eye color on the inside, and on the outside she&039;s gorgeous"

"Yeah, like that But also like what I&039; with you It&039;s like Kra to my own business"

"Why don&039;t you tellwith me, and then I&039;ll tell you whether I think you&039;re poking too much into my business"

"Well, since you&039;ve been back frorandma&039;s house, your colors are darker" She paused, stared at me, shook her head, and then corrected herself "No, that&039;s not totally accurate It&039;s not that they&039;re just darker-it&039;s that they&039;re ether andto understand what she et that you see a difference in e, especially when you said e But what does it mean to you?"

"Oh, yeah, sorry I think itserious It&039;s bothering you Really ht?"

I nodded "That&039;s kinda right"

"And does it make you feel weird that I know that?"