Revealed (House of Night #11)(16)

Aphrodite stood up, and was surprised to feel the room rock slowly around her. Grateful the Xanax was beginning to work, she leaned against Darius’s strong arm. “Well, I’d say that I don’t want to sound like a bitch, but that would be a lie. I don’t care what I sound like. You and the rest of the School Council need to know that Darius is going to be staying with me in my old dorm room.” Aphrodite spoke to Thanatos in a firm, no nonsense voice that reminded her a little uncomfortably of her mother. “I know that’s against the rules, but so is kidnapping someone’s grandma, killing a human for no reason, and causing a fledgling to reject the Change and die—and that’s only three of the long list of rules that have been broken by the bad guys recently. So, I’m breaking a rule for the good guys. I don’t want to sleep without my Warrior, and I can promise you that Z feels the same way.” Aphrodite shot a humorous look at Stevie Rae. “The bumpkin would be insisting that she sleeps with her Bird Boy, but he’s going to be a bird and, apparently, she’s still refusing to put him in a cage at night—right, Stevie Rae?”

“I’m not talkin’ to you when you call Rephaim Bird Boy.” She frowned at Aphrodite.

“Yep, just as I thought. Still no cage. Anyway, we’ve been fighting evil and saving the effing world for months now, and I need my Warrior. I’m not sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. The end.”

There was a long pause while Thanatos and Aphrodite locked gazes, and then Thanatos said, “I believe there is precedence for Warriors to share the sleeping quarters of their Priestesses, especially if they believe their Priestesses could be in danger.”

“Z is always in danger,” Stark said quickly.

“As is my Prophetess,” Darius added, sliding a protective arm around her.

Aphrodite smiled. “I guess that settles that.”

“Stevie Rae, I know you’ll be sleeping alone as soon as the sun rises,” Shaunee spoke softly. “And if you wouldn’t mind too much, I’d really appreciate it if you stayed with me in the dorm room I used to share with Erin. I—I don’t think I can stay there by myself.”

“Oh, heck yeah, I’ll stay with you!” Stevie Rae said, hugging Shaunee. “But I’m gonna need to leave the window open for Rephaim.”

“We can do that,” Shaunee said. “No problem.”

“Just be sure you tie the blackout drapes into place so that no sun can get in during the day,” Zoey reminded her. She glanced at her watch. “How long until sunrise?”

“Twenty-four minutes,” Stevie Rae and Rephaim said together.

“Okay, you guys go get settled. Stark, go on up to my old room and do like I told Stevie Rae—be sure the drapes are tied closed. I’ll check up on the rest of our group and be sure they’re all set, at least for today,” Zoey said.

Aphrodite watched her. Z sounded normal, but there was something about her—an edge to her voice—an unusually strained look to her face—dark shadows under her eyes. All that didn’t quite add up to everyday Zoey. Everyday Zoey got tired, and even grumpy once in a while, but she always snapped out of it, and did what needed to be done. Aphrodite realized that the more closely she studied Z, the more she saw a girl who was doing what needed to be done, but who was obviously not snapping out of it.

“Z, why don’t you let Thanatos take care of tucking the kids in tonight. You pulled our circle together and kicked Neferet out of here. Using that kind of power drains you—physically and mentally. We’re not screw-ups hiding out and licking our wounds by ourselves anymore. It’s a pain in the ass to be stuck here, but there are good points to being stranded at our House of Night. No more calling for cheap pizza to be delivered down the street. Bow Boy, you need to take your girl by the kitchen and grab her something real to eat and drink before the sun turns you into toast,” Aphrodite said.

“I don’t need you to tell me how to take care of Z,” Stark snapped at her.

“Nice. That’s how you’re going to respond to decent advice? That’s real mature,” Aphrodite said, shaking her head woozily.

“If Darius wasn’t holding on to you, you’d be on your ass,” Stark said.

“Would you two stop bickering!” Zoey shouted, and then took a deep breath and let it out slowly before she continued. “Aphrodite’s right. I’m super tired and I need to eat.”

“Rest and restore your energy,” Thanatos told Zoey. Then she glanced from Aphrodite to Stark. “And your High Priestess is correct. Your bickering helps no one except those who wish to sow dissention amongst us.”

“Sorry,” Stark muttered to Aphrodite. “I get touchy when Z gets tired.”

“Apology accepted. And I get messed up when one of my parents gets killed,” Aphrodite leaned even more heavily against Darius. “Would you please take me to bed, handsome?”

“Gladly,” Darius said. He bowed respectfully to Thanatos, Zoey, and Stevie Rae, and then he practically carried Aphrodite from the room.

They were walking under the old oaks that shaded the grounds around the girls’ dormitory building when pain knifed through Aphrodite’s temples, blinding her. Her body jerked spasmodically, causing her to cry out and fall from Darius’s arms, where she crumpled against the earth as the vision violated her.