Untamed (House of Night #4)(20)

"And she went where?" Damien asked.

"Do I look like a damn babysitter? How the hell am I supposed to know where your bumpkin friend went? All she said was she had to go because she had issues. Like that was a big shock." "You're gonna have issues with my fist in your face if you start talking shit about Stevie Rae," Shaunee said.

"I'll hold her skinny ass for you, Twin," Erin said.

"Do you two share a brain?" Aphrodite said.

"Oh. My. God! Enough!" I yelled. "I might die. Twice. Some weird ghostly thing messed with me today, and now I'm feeling scared crapless about it. I'm not sure what the hell's going on with Stevie Rae, and Neferet has called a Council Meeting probably to go over her plans for war--a war that is totally not the right thing to do. And you guys can't stop bickering! You're giving me a headache and pissing me off."

"You better listen to her. I counted two real cuss words and one almost cuss in that little speech. She's serious," Aphrodite said.

I saw the Twins actually have to stifle smiles. Jeesh. Why is my not liking to cuss such a big deal?

"Okay. We'll try to get along," Damien said.

"For Zoey," Jack said, giving me a sweet smile.

"For Zoey," the Twins said together.

My heart squeezed as I looked at each of my friends. They had my back. No matter what--they would still stand beside me.

"Thanks, guys," I said, blinking back tears.

"Group hug!" Jack said.

"Ah, hell no," Aphrodite said.

"That's one thing we can agree with Aphrodite on," Erin said.

"Yeah, time to go," Shaunee said.

"Ah oh, Damien, we gotta go, too. You told Stark we'd check to be sure he was settled in before the meeting," Jack said.

"Oh, that's right," Damien said. "Bye, Z. See ya soon."

He and Jack followed the Twins out of my room. Calling goodbye to me, they filed down the hall, then went on chattering about the hottiness of Stark, leaving me with Aphrodite.

"So, my friends aren't so bad, huh?" I said.

Aphrodite turned her cool blue gaze on me. "Your friends are dorks," she said.

I grinned and butted my shoulder into her. "Then that makes you a dork."

"That's what I'm afraid of," she said. "Speaking of me being in hell--come to my room. There's something you have to help me figure out before we go to the Council Meeting."

I shrugged. "Okay by me." Actually, I was feeling pretty good about myself. My friends were speaking to me again, and it seemed that everyone might actually have a chance of getting along. "Hey," I said as we walked down the hall to Aphrodite's room. "Did you notice that the Twins said something nice to you before they left?"

"The Twins are symbiotic, and I hope very soon someone takes them away to perform science experiments on them."

"That attitude is not helping," I said.

"Could we just focus on what's really important?"

"Like?"

"Me, of course, and what I need you to help me with." Aphrodite opened the door to her room, and we walked into what I liked to think of as her palace. I mean, jeesh, the place looked like she'd decorated it out of a Guide to Gossip Girl Design magazine--if there was such a thing. Which, sadly, there probably was. (Not that I don't adore Gossip Girl!)

"Aphrodite, has anyone ever told you that you might have a personality disorder?"

"Several overpaid shrinks. Like I care." Aphrodite walked across the room and opened the door to the hand-painted (probably antique and majorly expensive) armoire that sat in front of her hand-carved (for sure antique and majorly expensive) four-poster canopy bed. As she rummaged around in it, she said, "Oh, by the way, you have got to find a way for the Council to make it okay for you and, tragically, me and--as much as I hate to say it--your nerd herd, too, to be allowed off campus."

"Huh?"

Aphrodite sighed and turned to face me. "Would you please keep up with me? We have to be able to come and go so we can figure out what the f**k is going on with Stevie Rae and her nasty friends."

"I already told you that I'm not gonna let you talk bad about Stevie Rae. Nothing is going on with her."

"That's up for discussion, but since you refuse to sanely discuss it this particular time, I'm talking about the freaks she's hanging with. What if you're right and Neferet wants to use them against humans? Not that I particularly like humans, but I definitely don't like war. So I'm thinking you need to be checking into that."

"Me? Why me? And why do I have to figure out a way to get all of us in and out of the school?"

"Because you are the superhero fledgling. I'm just your more attractive sidekick. Oh, and the herd of nerd are your dorky minions."

"Great," I said.

"Hey, don't stress about it. You'll think of something. You always do."

I blinked in surprise at her. "Your confidence in me is shocking." And I wasn't kidding. I mean, she really looked like she thought I'd figure out this mess.

"It shouldn't be." She turned back to searching through the cluttered armoire. "I know better than just about anyone else how gifted you've been by Nyx. That you're powerful, blah, blah, whatever. So you'll figure it out. Finally! God, I wish they'd let us have housekeepers in here. I can never find anything when I'm forced to clean up after myself." Aphrodite emerged with a green candle in a pretty green crystal glass and a fancy lighter.