Hunted (House of Night #5)(8)

"Okay. Awkward."

"Seriously. Could have gone my whole life without seeing that."

I'd looked away from Stevie Rae and company to see the Twins standing just inside the blanketed door. Erin was holding several packets of what were obviously bags of blood. Shaunee was holding a bottle of some kind of red wine and a glass, as in the typical kitchen variety that Mom pours the iced tea into.

Duchess pushed past them and came wagging doggily into the room with Jack close behind him.

"Ohmigod, girl-on-girl action while the guy gets the benefits," Jack said.

"Interesting...to think some guys would really find that a turn-on." Damien had come into the room behind Jack and was holding a paper bag and peering at Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, and Darius like he was watching a science experiment.

Darius managed to break the kiss, pulling Aphrodite close to him and holding her tight against his chest. "Priestess, this will humiliate her," he told me in a low, urgent voice. I didn't bother to take time to wonder which her he was referring to, Aphrodite or Stevie Rae. Before he finished the sentence, I was already moving toward the Twins.

"I'll take that," I said, grabbing a bag o' blood from Erin. Totally perting their attention from the scene on the bed, I used my teeth to tear open the packet like it was a bag of skittles, being sure I got a nice amount of blood on my mouth. "Hold the glass for me," I told Shaunee. She did as I commanded, even though she was giving me an eew look. Paying her no attention, I poured most of the blood into the glass, making a point of licking my lips and catching the spattering of red that hung on them. Deliberately I upended the baggie and slurped out the remaining blood before I tossed the flattened pouch aside. Then I took the glass of blood from her. "Now the wine," I said. The bottle had already been opened, so all Shaunee had to do was pull out the cork. I held up the glass. I'd filled it about three-fourths full with blood, so it took no time to add the wine and fill the cup. "Thfor g of skittanks," I said briskly and turned, marching back to the bed.

With a business-like movement I'd taken Aphrodite's upper arm and pulled, disengaging her from Stevie Rae's surprisingly gentle hold. I discreetly stepped in front of her, blocking the view of my best friend's mostly naked body from the gawking masses, a.k.a., the Twins, Damien, and Jack.

Stevie Rae glared up at me, her eyes glowing and her lips curled back to expose sharp, blood- reddened teeth. Even though I was shocked by how monsterlike she looked, I kept my voice calm and even added a touch of annoyance to it. "Okay, that's enough. Try this now."

Stevie Rae snarled at me.

Weirdly enough, Aphrodite had made a sound that echoed Stevie Rae's snarl. WTF? I'd wanted to turn to Aphrodite to see what was going on with her, but I'd known it was best to stay focused on my best friend--who was growling at me.

"I said enough!" I'd snapped in a voice low enough that I hoped my words couldn't be overheard by everyone else. "Get it together, Stevie Rae. You've had enough from Aphrodite. Drink. This. Now." I distinctly separated the words, and then I shoved the blood and wine mixture into her hands.

A change came over her face and she blinked and looked unfocused. I guided the glass to her lips, and as soon as the scent of it hit her, she started gulping it down. She was drinking greedily, so I'd allowed myself a second to glance over at Aphrodite. Still in Darius's arms, she looked okay, though more than a little dazed, and she was staring wide-eyed at Stevie Rae.

I'd felt a prickle of unease skitter down my spine at the shocked expression on Aphrodite's face, which turned out to be an accurate premonition of weirdness to come. But then I turned my attention to my gawking friends. "Damien," I made my voice sharp. "Stevie Rae needs a shirt. Can you find her one?"

"The laundry basket. There're clean shirts in it," Stevie Rae said between gulps. She sounded and looked more like herself again. With a shaky hand she gestured to a pile of stuff. Damien nodded and hurried across the room.

"Let me see your wrist," Darius said to Aphrodite.

Without speaking she'd turned her back to the staring Twins and Jack and gave her arm to Darius, so I had been the only one who really saw what he did. The warrior lifted her wrist to his mouth. Without taking his eyes from hers, his tongue snaked out and ran over the ridge of bite marks that were still dripping scarlet. Her breath caught, and I saw that she was trembling, but the moment his tongue touched the wound the bleeding began to clot. I had been watching closely, so I didn't miss the way Darius's eyes had widened suddenly in surprise. "Well, shit," I heard Aphrodite say softly to him. "It's true, isn't it?"

"It is true," he answered her in a low voice meant for her alone.

"Shit!" Aphrodite repeated, looking upset.

Darius smiled, and I saw a definite glint of amusement in his eyes. Then he kissed her wrist gently and said, "No matter; it will not affect us."

"Promise?" C hI she whispered.

"I give you my word. You did well, my beauty. Your blood saved her life."

For a moment I saw Aphrodite's unguarded expression. She shook her head slightly and her smile was tinged with honest wonder and more than a little sarcasm. "And why the hell I have to keep saving Stevie Rae's country-bumpkin ass I do not know. All I can say is that I used to be really, really bad, so I have an unbelievable amount of shit I have to make up for." She cleared her throat and ran the back of her hand shakily across her forehead.