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Zoey
Stevie Rae and I were supposed to meet Thanatos in her classroom I&039;d called her while ere in the short bus on our way to campus We hadn&039;t spoken much All she&039;d said was that she knew about Neferet&039;s press conference and to coht smelled like smoke
The whole school reeked As we pulled into the parking lot I realized that it didn&039;t just stink like snize the sharp scent of fear
The normal school day hadn&039;t started, thatall around in gossipy little groups They definitely weren&039;t heading to first hour That should have been cool I mean, what kid doesn&039;t love a snow day or a random water leak or whatever? But so and not safe
"Okay, so, I realize it&039;s totally not normal for me to say this, but I think Thanatos should have o to classes today" Aphrodite creepily echoed oing on instead is bullshit and a recipe for holy-fuck-we-can&039;t-esture that took in the clusters of whispering fledglings as well as the vari to the enoron Lankford&039;s funeral pyre
"I arimly
Silently, I sent up a quick but fervent prayer: Nyx, help -and helpand sure Then I faced ut "Okay, as much as I hate to admit it out loud, well, or even not out loud, Aphrodite&039;s right"
Aphrodite tossed back her long blond hair "Of course I a dose of normal and, sadly, I think we&039;re the best part of norht now"
"That mean they&039;s fucked," Kra and stacked heels that had to have been five inches of black patent leather Her skirt was short and super sparkly Soheelsserious, Kramisha," I said
"So am I," she said
"Look, y&039;all We can be normal A new normal One that&039;s rin up at Rephainored her, s to split up Part of you guys go to the stables Part of you go to Dragon&039;s pyre Reularly act We need to get a grip and help guide things back to soht now it feels like we&039;ve been attacked froon&039;s dead And now Neferet isn&039;t just an evil nutjob She&039;s an evil nutjob who has involved the human co or their ability to deal We gotta be strong and visible We gotta keep the House of Night together Like I told Thanatos last night-we&039;re a lotchildren and it&039;s about tiet the respect we deserve"
"Wise counsel, Priestess," Darius said, on&039;s pyre and spread calm there" He smiled warood for the Warriors who are bereft over the Sword Master&039;s death"
"Usually, I&039;d say, wherever you go, I go, handsome," Aphrodite said "But I need a little Z tio with her to talk to Thanatos How &039;bout I meet you at the pyre afterward?"
Her words surprised ht about the fact that, except for Shaylin earlier that day, I hadn&039;t really talked to anyone since the reveal ritual The bus ride back with Dragon&039;s body had been silent and difficult Then there had been the fire, the dead cats, and-thankfully-sleep, though not enough of it All of that meant no one had backedready to? I glanced at her She&039;d tiptoed and was giving Darius a kiss She looked like she always did-crazy about her Warrior and kinda bitchy about everything else
"I&039;o with Z, too," Stevie Rae&039;s voice broke into et done talkin&039; to Thanatos I&039;ll be out by the funeral pyre You&039;re gonna be needin&039; soht eleave Rephaim a quick kiss "Will you meet me out there?"
"I will" He kissed her back, touching her cheek gently Then he glanced at me "If no one has an objection, I would like to patrol around the wall of the school, especially the eastern wall If Neferet&039;s threads of Darkness are slithering around we need to know about it"
"That sounds like a good idea You guys okay with that?" I asked, looking to Stark and Darius for input The two Warriors nodded "Okay, great" Then I turnedyour eleood idea, too, Stevie Rae Dauys keep your elethen or support, call on them Just don&039;t be totally obvious and" My words trailed off as I fully realized what I was saying "No That&039;s wrong If you need to use your eleet your point, Z," Daht is aware that there are prodigious forces of good working on our side against all that Darkness"
"Prodigious ," Stevie Rae translated
"We knohat it means," Kramisha said
"I didn&039;t," Shaunee said
"Me, neither," Erin said
I wanted to grin at the Twins and say it was nice to have the twin-like coht pink and turned away froave up-teht a red and blue candle for the two of theive them some extra help If I could find the time Hell, if Nyx could find the tiood So, separate into groups Go do noro to the library"
"That&039;s not my normal," I heard Johnny B hed
I liked the sound of their laughter It was nor boy-like in the field house," I said, not able to not grin at theoin&039; to the cafeteria The kitchen at the tunnels looks like locusts been through it Z, we need to rocery before we head back there," Kramisha said
"Yeah, well, that&039;s noret to eat before we left go with her And, guys, spread out Don&039;t just eat in clulingsinto little groups around Darius, the Twins, Damien, and Kramisha Rephaim headed off by hi if he&039;d ever really fit in, and if he didn&039;t what that would do to his relationship with Stevie Rae I glanced at her She was gazing after Rephaim, too, with a look of total adoration I chewed my lip and continued to worry
"You okay, Z?" Stark&039;s voice was pitched low, and he put his ar into hi, as per usual"
He squeezedThe whole snot cry thing you do is seriously unattractive"
I punched him playfully "I never cry"
"Oh, yeah, that&039;s right, and you never snot, either," he said, srin at ht?" I teased
"Riiiight" He drew the word out and kissed me on the top of my head
"Hey," I said, still nestled safely in his arive Lenobia a hand? I&039; to meet with Thanatos, then I&039;ll come to the stables and find you"
He hesitated for just a hten around me Stark didn&039;t like to separate fro on, but he nodded, said a quick, "I&039;ll be there, watching for you" Then he kissed o, and started off toward the stables I shivered, chilled after the waran to drift away in their groups, with Stevie Rae and Aphrodite hanging back withwith you two, but wait a sec First I&039;ive my mom a call She needs to know Neferet isn&039;t just full of bullshit, but full of danger"
"Do you think she&039;ll listen to you?" I asked
"Absolutely not," she said without hesitation "But I&039;onna try anyway"
"Why don&039;t you just call your daddy? I mean, he&039;s the mayor and not your momma," Stevie Rae said
"In the LaFont household Mother is boss If there&039;s any chance of Mr Mayor getting a clue about Neferet, it&039;ll come from her"
"Good luck with that," I said
"Yeah, whatever," Aphrodite said, before taking out her phone androups and walked to uys?" Her voice was soft, but she&039;d spoken clearly and her chin was lifted as if she was ready for a fight
"Why do you want to?" I asked
"I want to ask Thanatos about ift, and I understand why It was definitely so Neferet didn&039;t need to know But she&039;s not High Priestess here anymore, and I have questions that I need to find answers to Like Da tiht Well, Thanatos is sive me some answers If either of you don&039;t mind, that is," she added quickly
I looked at Stevie Rae "You&039;re her High Priestess Are you okay with that?"
"I dunno for sure What do you think?"
"I think if we can&039;t trust Thanatos we&039;re totally screwed," I said honestly
"Well, then I think it&039;s tiood guys So, I suppose I&039;m okay with it"
"Yeah, okay," I said
"Thanks," Shaylin said
"Well, that was a waste of time" Aphrodite joined us as she put her phone back into her super cute sparkly gold Valentino purse "At least it wasn&039;t a waste of much time"
"She wouldn&039;t listen to you at all?" I asked
"Oh, she listened Then she said that she had tords forup"
"Huh?" I said
"Nelly Vanzetti is my mom&039;s shrink," Aphrodite said
"Why would your ive you her name?" Stevie Rae asked
"Because, busuper crazy Not that she cares whether I&039; me know she doesn&039;t care to listen to ed "Sa"
"That&039;s really mean," Shaylin said
Aphrodite narrowed her blue eyes "Why are you here?"
"She has a gift," Stevie Rae said
"My give-a-shit level is very low about that," Aphrodite said
"I have questions for Thanatos," Shaylin said