Burned (House of Night #7)(31)

"I swear you're a mutant," Aphrodite said. "A bull is a male cow. Even my mom's schizophrenic Bichon Frise knows that. Focus, would you, this is important. You need to go ask the f**king grass about an ancient and entirely too barbaric and therefore unattractive mythology or religion or some such that includes two fighting bulls, a white one and a black one, and a very guylike, violent, unending struggle between good and evil."

"What does this have to do with gettin' Zoey back?"

"I think it might somehow open a door for Stark to the Otherworld, without him actually dying because, apparently, that doesn't so much work for Warriors protecting their High Priestesses there."

"The cows can do that? How? Cows can't even talk."

"Bulls, double retard. Stay with me. I'm not just talking about animals, but the rawness of the power that surrounds them. The bulls represent that power."

"So they're not gonna talk?"

"Oh, for shit's sake! They might and they might not - they're super old magick, stupid! Who the hell knows what they can do? Just get this: to make it to the Otherworld, Stark can't be civilized and modern and all nicey-nice. He's got to figure out how to be more than that to reach Zoey and to protect her without getting both of them killed, and this olden-time religion might be a key to that."

"I guess that makes sense. I mean, when I think about Kalona, I don't exactly think of a modern guy."

Stevie Rae paused, acknowledging only to herself that she was truly thinking of Rephaim and not his father. "And he's definitely got some raw power."

"And definitely in the Otherworld without being dead."

"Which is where Stark needs to be."

"So, go talk to flowers about bulls and such," Aphrodite said.

"I'll go talk to flowers," Stevie Rae said.

"Call me when they tell you something."

"Yeah, okay. I'll do my best."

"Hey, be careful," Aphrodite said.

"See, you can be nice," Stevie Rae said.

"Before you go all strawberries and cream on me, answer this question: who'd you Imprint with after ours broke?"

Stevie Rae's body went ice-cold. "No one!"

"Which means someone totally inappropriate. Who is it, one of those red fledgling losers?"

"Aphrodite - I said no one ."

"Yeah, that's what I figured. See, one of the things I'm learning about because of this new Prophetess stuff, which is mostly a pain in the ass, by-the-by, is that if I listen without my ears, I know things."

"Here's what I know - you've lost your dang mind."

"So, again, be careful. I'm getting weird vibes from you, and they're telling me you might be in trouble."

"I think you've just made up a big ol' story to cover up that whole lot of crazy you got going on inside your head."

"And I think you're hiding something. So let's just agree to disagree."

"I'm goin' to talk to flowers about cows. Goodbye, Aphrodite."

"Bulls. Goodbye, bumpkin."

Stevie Rae opened the door to leave her dorm room, still frowning about Aphrodite's comments, and almost ran smack into Kramisha's hand, raised to knock on her door. They both jumped and then Kramisha shook her head. "Don't do weird shit like that. Makes me think you ain't normal no more."

"Kramisha, if I'd known you were out here, I wouldn't have jumped when I opened the door. And none of us are normal - at least not anymore."

"Speak for yourself. I'm still me. Meaning they's nothin' wrong with me. You, on the other hand, look like one hot messatude."

"I almost burned up on a roof two days ago. I think that gives me the right to look like crap."

"I don't mean you look bad." Kramisha cocked her head to the side. Today she was wearing her bright yellow bob wig, which she'd coordinated with sparkly fluorescent yellow eye shadow. "Actually, you lookin' good - all pink like white folks get when they real healthy. It kinda reminds me of cute little baby pigs with they pinkness."

"Kramisha, I swear you're makin' my head hurt. What are you talkin' about?"

"I'm just sayin' that you look good, but you ain't doing good. In there, and there." Kramisha pointed from Stevie Rae's heart to her head.

"I've got a lot on my mind," Stevie Rae said evasively.

"Yeah, I know that, what with Zoey totally jacked up and all, but you gotta keep your shit together just the same."

"I'm tryin'."

"Try harder. Zoey needs you. I know you ain't there with her, but I got this feelin' that you can help her.

So you gotta be using your good sense."

Kramisha was staring at her with an intensity that made Stevie Rae want to fidget. "Like I said, I'm tryin'."

"You up to somethin' crazy?"

"No!"

"You sure? 'Cause this is for you." Kramisha held up a piece of purple notebook paper that had something written on it in her distinctive mixture of cursive and printing. "And it feels like a whole bunch

of crazy to me."

Stevie Rae snatched the paper from her hand. "Dang it, why didn't you just say you were bringin' me one of your poems?"