Chosen (House of Night #3)(74)

"Gee, that's so damn nice of you two," Aphrodite said. She glanced up at the Twins with a half smile on her face, and I got my first good look at her.

My stomach dropped down somewhere around my ankles.

"It's gone!" I gasped.

"Oh shit! Zoey's right," Damien said, staring at Aphrodite.

"What?" Aphrodite said. "What's gone?"

"Ah-oh," Shaunee said.

"Yep, it is gone," Erin said as she handed Aphrodite some tissue.

"What in the hell are you guys babbling about now?" Aphrodite said.

"Here. Use this." Stevie Rae passed the mirror to her. "Look at your face." Aphrodite sighed, clearly irritated. "Okay, I know I look like complete shit. Hello! Stevie Rae just bit me. Here's a news flash: Not even I can look perfect all the time, especially when-" As soon as she focused on the mirror and got a look at the reflection of her face, Aphrodite's words ended like someone had pushed her stop talking button. With a trembling hand she reached up to touch the spot in the middle of her forehead where Nyx's Mark had been. "It's gone." Her voice was a hoarse whisper. "How can it be gone?"

"I've never, ever heard of anything like this happening. Not in any book-not anywhere," Damien said. "Once you're Marked you can't just get un-Marked."

"It's how Stevie Rae was healed." Aphrodite sounded dazed, and she kept touching the empty spot in the middle of her forehead. "Nyx took it from me and gave it to Stevie Rae." A horrible shudder passed through Aphrodite's body. "And now I'm nothing but a human again." She scrambled to her feet, dropping the mirror.

"I have to leave. I don't belong here anymore." She started backing woodenly toward the open trapdoor, eyes wide and glassy.

"Wait, Aphrodite," I said, starting after her. "Maybe you're not human again. Maybe this is something weird that will go away in a day or two, and your Mark will come back."

"No! My Mark is gone. I know it. Just-just leave me alone!" She ran through the door sobbing. The instant Aphrodite passed through the perimeter of the school wall the air rippled and there was a distinctive cracking noise like something big had been dropped and broken. Stevie Rae grabbed my arm. "You stay here. I'll go after her."

"But you-"

"No, I'm okay now." Stevie Rae smiled her sweet, full-of-life smile at me. "You fixed me, Z. Don't worry. I caused this to happen to Aphrodite. I'll find her and make sure she's okay. Then I'll get back to you." I heard noises in the distance, like something big was moving quickly our way.

"It's the warriors. They know the school's been breached." Damien said.

"Go!" I told Stevie Rae. "I'll call you." Then I added. "I wont text message you. Ever. So if you get a text message it will not be from me."

"Okey-dokey-smokey, I'll remember," Stevie Rae said and then grinned at the four of us. "See ya'll soon!" She ducked through the door, closing it after her. I noticed that the perimeter warning didn't so much as ripple when she passed and wondered briefly what the hell that meant.

"So what are we doing out here?" Damien asked.

"We're here because Erik dumped Zoey," Shaunee said.

"Yeah, she's upset," Erin said.

"Don't tell them about Aphrodite or Stevie Rae," I said.

My friends looked at me like I'd just said maybe we shouldn't tell our parents about that little beer-drinking episode.

"No shit?" Shaunee said sarcastically.

"We were just gonna spill our guts," Erin said.

"Yeah, because we can't be trusted to keep secrets," Damien said. Well, crap. They were definitely still mad at me.

"So who do we say broke the barrier?" Damien asked. I noticed he didn't even look at me, but addressed the question only to the Twins.

"Aphrodite, who else?" Erin said.

Before I could protest, Shaunee added, "Yeah, we won't say anything about the disappearing act her Mark played. We'll just say she came out here with us and got annoyed at all of Zoey's blubbering."

"And self-pity," Erin added.

"And lies. So she took off. As per typical for Aphrodite," Damien finished.

"She might get in trouble," I said.

"Yeah, well, consequence is a bitch," Shaunee said.

"A bitch who is clearly following some people pretty closely," Erin said, giving me a sharp look. Just then several warriors, led by Darius, burst into our clearing. With their weapons drawn they looked scary as hell and ready to kick some serious butt (potentially ours).

"Who broke the perimeter?" Darius practically barked the question.

"Aphrodite!" The four of us said together.

Darius made a quick gesture at two of the warriors. "Find her," he said. Then back to us, "The High Priestess has called an assembly of the school. You are needed in the auditorium. I will escort you there." Meekly, we followed Darius. I tried to catch Damien's eye, but he wouldn't look at me. Neither would the Twins. It was like I was walking with strangers. Worse, actually. Strangers might at least smile and say hi. There was definitely no smiling or hi-ing going on with my friends.