Revealed

CHAPTER TEN

Aphrodite

“Holy fucking shit. Thanatos, you have balls. Great big ones,” Aphrodite said.

Thanatos raised her brows. “I shall ignore the vulgarity and accept the compliment, Prophetess.”

“Just so you know, it’s a massive compliment,” Aphrodite said, bowing her head respectfully to Thanatos.

“You really stood up for us. Thanks, High Priestess,” Stevie Rae said.

Kalona and Zoey exchanged looks. “So we are left to deal with Neferet and the local authorities on our own,” he said.

“Again,” Zoey added. “It’s not like this is the first time the High Council has left us hanging like this.”

“They mean well,” Thanatos said, sounding somewhere between sad and cynical. “They think they’re doing what is best for the vampyre community as a whole, and that is what the Council was created eons ago to do.”

“They’re stuck in the Dark Ages!” Zoey blurted.

Aphrodite watched her closely. Yeah, the High Council had been assholes, but they still had Thanatos—the power of their circle—two Prophetesses (even though Shaylin was a pain in the ass), a Bull Boy, and an immortal on their side.

“I say good riddance. They’re a bunch of old women—no offense, Thanatos,” Aphrodite said. “Z, the only thing they could really do for us is to maybe get the TPD off our backs. We don’t need their permission to create our own place in the world. It’s our world, too, and we’ll make our own place.”

“Yep, that’s what I’m thinkin’, too,” Stevie Rae agreed.

Zoey crossed her arms over her chest. “So, we’re all stuck here together, doing nothing.”

“Until we catch Neferet, I’m afraid we are,” Thanatos said.

“Catch her? What good will that do?” Zoey said.

Aphrodite saw that she wasn’t the only person watching Zoey closely. Thanatos’s brows lifted and she cocked her head to the side. “Priestess, we have all agreed Neferet is responsible for the deaths that happened last night, have we not?”

“Neferet did it,” Z said.

“So Neferet must be found and turned over to the authorities. Until then, the truth is that the human authorities will find no proof that will place blame on any of us, as we are innocent.”

“Hang on. Does that mean you’re going to let our professors start being DNA tested?” Zoey asked.

“No. That means we are going to find Neferet and provide her matching DNA to the human authorities.”

“Neferet is a powerful immortal. She’s not going to let us catch her, let alone take her to the cops.”

“Zoey, you say that, yet you and your circle managed to defeat that powerful immortal and rescue your grandmother from her.”

“We beat her before. We’ll beat her again.” Stevie Rae sounded way more positive than Z.

“Actually, all we have to do is find Neferet. Get her to a public place and start nailing her with hard questions. She’s going to lose her temper and do something batshit crazy, especially if a detective asks her for a DNA sample,” Aphrodite said. “Yeah, it’s going to suck for us when she explodes into spiders or eats some locals or whatever, and humans start to understand that there’s more going on here than vampyre versus human, but that won’t suck nearly as much as being under house arrest and blamed for shit no one here did.”

“I believe it is time humans understand there are more forces at work than just those of human and vampyre.” Kalona surprised Aphrodite by agreeing with her. “Evil is always stronger when it is underestimated.”

“You’re going to let humans see you?” Zoey asked Kalona.

“I am going to bring Neferet to justice and protect this school. If that means I show myself to humans, then so be it.”

“I have a question.” Stevie Rae half raised her hand.

“Yes?” Thanatos said.

“How’re we gonna find Neferet?”

“That will be the easy part. We will remain here, stay on the path of our Goddess, and wait for Neferet to reveal herself,” Thanatos said.

“That’s crap!” Z sounded like she was ready to explode. “When Neferet kidnapped Grandma I was sitting in the tunnels in the kitchen. I was just waiting and whining to Nyx to help me save Grandma. And, guess what? The Goddess appeared to me and basically told me that a child sits around and cries. A High Priestess actually does something. So, now you’re telling me that our big decision is to sit around and wait?”

“No, what I’m telling you is that we are going to show wisdom and act with patience. We have one of our own to bury, and then we are going to resume classes, and our lives, and not allow our school to be overrun by angry locals or ourselves to drown in Neferet’s Darkness. I expect you and Stevie Rae to show your leadership skills and to help me, and the rest of the faculty, keep everyone calm and on task. And now, if you are done attempting to lecture me about a Goddess I have served faithfully for centuries, I have a funeral over which I need to preside.” Thanatos’s tone said she’d heard enough from everyone—especially Zoey—and she stood. With Kalona following in her shadow, she left the room.

Aphrodite stepped between Zoey and the door. “At the risk of sounding more like you than I’d like to sound, I’m going to tell you that you need to adjust your attitude.”

Z narrowed her eyes. “This situation doesn’t piss you off?”

“Of course it does, but snapping at the one grown High Priestess who is actually on our side is just stupid.”

“Z, you did sound kinda snappy.” Stevie Rae looked uncomfortable, but that didn’t stop her from speaking.

Zoey drew a deep breath and let it out slowly, fingering the Lifesaver-looking Seer Stone that dangled from a long silver chain around her neck. “It’s just so damn frustrating to have Neferet doing crap again, and have us just hanging out, waiting for her next move.”

“Okay, you said ‘damn’ and ‘crap’ in one sentence, so I’m starting to feel hopeful that perhaps the mental breakdown you’re obviously having might cause an update of your boring non-curse curse words,” Aphrodite said. “Other than that, I still say you need to check your attitude. This isn’t the same old, same old with Neferet. She’s been shunned by the High Council.”

“Yeah, even if they’re too chicken to go after her themselves, it’s a big step that they’ve shunned her,” Stevie Rae added.

“I’d call them something more descriptive than chicken, but the point is still made. And we have an entire school going against her. Neferet can’t hide forever—like we’ve all already said, if nothing else, she’s just too damn crazy to go unnoticed for very long.”

“No,” Z said. “That’s part of the problem—the entire school isn’t against her. Dallas and his friends have definitely been on her side, and are definitely not with us.”

“But, Z, Neferet killing Aphrodite’s dad changes everything.” Stevie Rae glanced at Aphrodite. “Sorry again.” Aphrodite shrugged and Stevie Rae rolled on. “What she did this time was real public. She ate the mayor. The cops are involved. Thanatos is going to make sure they get evidence that will prove what she did, and Dallas is not gonna want to get smacked with a murder charge, or even a helpin’ a murderer charge,” Stevie Rae said.

“Dallas and his disgusting friends would not do well in jail. They’re going to sit tight and shut up. Sure, they’re going to be a pain in the ass to be around, but that’s really no different than normal school,” Aphrodite said.

“Yeah, I guess you guys are right,” Z said. “Sorry about the Negative Nancy thing. I really just want to do something that will fix everything. You know, make everyone be nice and stop calling Darkness and whatnot.”

“That’s not being Negative Nancy. That’s being Deluded Debbie. People suck. They do stupid things and they’re not nice. The end,” Aphrodite told her. “As proof of my point, let’s go to Erin’s funeral. She didn’t act right, and I’m pretty damn sure her funeral is going to suck.”

Aphrodite was seriously sick of attending funerals. Not only was it bad when someone decent, like Dragon Lankford or poor little gay Jack, died, it was sad and sucked and couldn’t even be made better by wearing awesome clothes. Black. Boring. Depressing.

And to put a cherry on the shit sundae of an event, Zoey was definitely having anger control issues. She’d snapped at the High Council. She’d snapped at Thanatos. That was not Zoey-like behavior. And she’d failed to mention to his own daughter the little detail about the cops having DNA evidence on whoever killed her dad. Aphrodite glanced over at Z. She was walking beside Stevie Rae and nodding at something the bumpkin was babbling on and on about, but she didn’t have her usual I’m smiling at my BFF look on her face. Z was frowning. She looked tired. No, actually, she didn’t look tired. She looked annoyed. Or pissed. Yeah, Z definitely looked pissed.

Aphrodite didn’t know what the fuck to do.

Maybe Zoey needed to hear about her latest vision, the one that starred Out of Control Angry Z and ended with her in jail and a bunch of people being eaten.

But Aphrodite’s instinct was still telling her that this wasn’t a Zoey who could be reasoned with—or at least not right now she couldn’t be.

Maybe after the funeral was over. Maybe Z was just super tense because funerals were awful.

The three of them had gotten to the middle of campus—the all too familiar pyre/funeral area in the center of the giant oaks that ringed the school. Thanatos and Kalona were at the head of the pyre, standing by Dallas, who looked stone-faced, but was nodding at whatever Thanatos was saying to him. His friends made a little semi-circle of fashion disasters behind him.

Darius’s wave caught her attention. “There are our boys,” she said, and they changed direction to meet their Warriors, the rest of their circle, and Stevie Rae’s red fledglings who were making another semi-circle on the opposite side of the pyre.

Darius hugged her and Aphrodite let herself rest in his arms, wishing they were already alone.

“Thanatos and Kalona look grim. Did the meeting with the High Council not go well?” he whispered into her ear.

“Train wreck. I’ll explain later,” she whispered back, and then the professors were there, filling in the missing parts of the semi-circles to form one complete circle, making it appear as if the school were one, united, group. Which was, of course, totally not true.

Thanatos spoke first. Her voice was strong and clear—she was actually a pretty good speaker, but when she started a prayer that rhymed, Aphrodite’s attention wandered.

She watched Dallas. As far as she was concerned, he’d always been too short and his eyes had seemed beady—even before he’d lost his mind and gone red. Tonight he stared at the pyre and Erin’s shrouded body, wiping his eyes on the back of his sleeve every once in a while. Technically, he was crying, but mostly he looked mad. Aphrodite’s gaze went to the red fledglings behind Dallas. None of them were crying. Most were either looking at the pyre or at Thanatos. Well, a few were gawking at Kalona, but kids always gawked at Kalona.

Aphrodite’s eyes traveled around the circle, and she noticed that Nicole hadn’t joined Dallas’s group. She was standing next to Lenobia and Travis in the middle of a clump of professors. As if she had felt her gaze, Nicole looked at Aphrodite. It wasn’t a bitchy look, but it wasn’t friendly, either. Aphrodite thought if a look could speak it would say, WTF?

Aphrodite held her gaze a little longer, then let her eyes continue to move around the circle. Her gaze halted again when it came to Shaylin. She was standing next to dickhead Erik. The fact that Shaylin always seemed to end up next to Erik made her wonder about the girl’s judgment. Erik was undeniably hot. If he hadn’t been hot Aphrodite wouldn’t have been there, done him, but she’d also moved on. Of course she hadn’t seen Shaylin and Erik doing any face-sucking. He’d never even held her hand in public. Maybe it wasn’t Shaylin stalking Erik. Maybe Erik hung around her because she’d been the first fledgling he’d Tracked. That was a possibility.

Shaylin was supposed to be able to read people’s auras or colors or whatever she called them, and tell what a person was really like on the inside, so it was also a possibility that Erik was becoming less of an ass, and Shaylin could see that, though that possibility seemed unlikely.

Aphrodite flipped her hair back. Shaylin had read her colors. She’d pissed Aphrodite off, and been a bitch at first, but later she’d apologized. And the truth was that Shaylin had been right when she’d told Aphrodite: You do have a flickery yellow light inside your moonlight light … It’s part of your uniqueness—your warmth … it’s small and hidden, because you keep how warm and good you really are hidden most of the time. But that doesn’t change that it’s still there. Remembering, Aphrodite flipped her hair back again. As annoying as it was, her instinct was telling her that Shaylin was the real deal—that she did have True Sight and a Goddess-given ability to interpret it.

Aphrodite glanced at where Zoey was standing over by Stevie Rae and Rephaim, between Stark and Shaunee. Naturally, Shaunee and Stevie Rae were bawling their eyes out. Z wasn’t, though, and that seemed weird. Z usually snot cried at funerals, and as messed up as Erin had gotten before she’d died, she had been part of Z’s original circle.

When Aphrodite looked back at Shaylin, the girl wasn’t watching Thanatos anymore. She was watching Zoey and her expression said she didn’t like what she was seeing.

That’s when Aphrodite made her decision.

Then her attention was pulled back to the funeral as Dallas lifted the blazing torch while Thanatos raised her arms and her voice, commanding, “Dallas, it has been entrusted to you to light Erin’s pyre, and it is my decision that Shaunee use her Goddess-given gift to aid our fallen daughter’s body as it returns to ash and earth.” Thanatos gestured for Shaunee to join her beside the pyre.

Shaunee’s cheeks were washed with tears, but she didn’t hesitate. She walked to the pyre and as Dallas touched the torch to the dry logs, she called into the night, “Fire, come to me!” Her long, dark hair lifted on the heat thermals that surrounded her. “Set my Twin’s body free! So I ask, and so mote it be!” There was a great whooshing and the pyre exploded in fire. Everyone except Shaunee was forced to take several steps back from the blaze. Aphrodite shielded her eyes with her hands, unable to look away from Shaunee. She was still crying, but she was also smiling as her element did her bidding.

Aphrodite thought she looked like a fire goddess. Not that she’d ever tell Shaunee that, but still…

As Thanatos closed the circle and bid everyone to blessed be, Aphrodite whispered to Darius, “Gotta do something real quick. I’ll meet you back in our room.” She kissed him and then ducked through the crowd, trying to catch sight of Shaylin, and wishing the girl wasn’t so effing short.

Distracted, she almost ran into a damn tree. Good thing she didn’t because on the other side of it, Rephaim was holding Stevie Rae, who was still bawling her eyes out and totally soaking the front of his T-shirt.

“I know it’s hard, but Erin is with Nyx,” Rephaim was saying to Stevie Rae. He glanced up as Aphrodite stumbled around the big oak.

She put her finger to her lips and mimed a shhh motion, shaking her head. That’s all she needed—Stevie Rae expecting Aphrodite to be included in her blubberfest. Luckily, Rephaim didn’t pay any attention to her, and went right back to overcomforting Stevie Rae while Aphrodite tiptoed away.

She felt a shivery, not right feeling and froze. Her gaze found Dallas immediately. He couldn’t see Aphrodite, though. The tree was in his way, but Aphrodite didn’t think he would have noticed if she’d stomped around unattractively like a heifer. He was too busy staring at Rephaim and Stevie Rae. The hatred in his gaze was frightening. Silently, Aphrodite worked her way around the tree, moving closer to Dallas. He was saying something, muttering to himself. Aphrodite concentrated, watching his too-thin lips and listening with all of her focus.

“It ain’t right. Mine is dead and hers ain’t even human. It ain’t right…”

That was it. That was all Dallas was muttering. Aphrodite waited, watched, ready to warn Rephaim and yell for Darius if Dallas actually tried anything, but the kid just kept saying the same shit over and over, even as he walked away.

Aphrodite shook her head. Dallas was seriously not right. Z might be having a mental breakdown, but she had a point about not wanting to be stuck at the House of Night with him.

“Okay, see ya tomorrow, Erik!”

Hearing Shaylin’s voice, Aphrodite sighed in relief, and hurried to catch up to her as she waved bye to Erik and started meandering toward the girls’ dorm.

“Pssst!” Aphrodite called after her.

Shaylin glanced back, questioningly.

“There. Now.” Aphrodite pointed to the shadows outside the flickering gaslights that illuminated part of the sidewalk.

They got to the dark part of the pathway together. Shaylin crossed her arms over her chest. “You can’t boss me around.”

“And yet you just did what I told you to do.”

Without saying anything Shaylin spun around and started to walk away.

“Hang on! I was just kidding. Come back.” When Shaylin didn’t stop walking, Aphrodite sighed and added, “Please.”

Shaylin immediately came back to her. “Please was all you needed to say. Next time try it first.”

“Fine. Fine. Whatever.”

Aphrodite looked at Shaylin. Shaylin stared back at her. Aphrodite flipped her hair. Shaylin’s eyes widened. “Are you nervous?”

“I never get nervous.”

“You’re fidgeting with your hair.”

“I’m flipping my hair.”

“You need something from me.” Shaylin smiled.

“No. I don’t need anything from you. Aphrodite, Prophetess of Nyx, needs something from you.”

“If you start talking about yourself in the third person I’m going to get very creeped out.”

“Just shut it and listen: I had a vision, and it had to do with Zoey losing control of her temper, and bad stuff happening because of it.”

Shaylin’s smile disappeared. “Did you tell Z?”

“I don’t think I should. Or at least I don’t think I should right now.”

“Have you prayed about it and really listened for an answer from Nyx?”

“Yes, moron. Of course I have. The answer I got is why I’m standing here talking to you and not Zoey.”

“Don’t call me a moron,” Shaylin said.

“Then don’t sound like one. You already know something’s up with Z.”

Shaylin chewed her lip.

“Well?” Aphrodite pressed.

“I’m not comfortable talking about this with you.”

“Forget you’re talking to me. Pretend like we’re one Prophetess talking to another Prophetess about our High Priestess, because that’s actually what we are.” Aphrodite met her gaze. “This isn’t gossip. This isn’t mean. This is us doing our jobs.”

“Her colors are getting weirder and weirder,” Shaylin said quietly.

“Weirder? Like it’s been happening?”

“Yeah, I talked to her about it in the tunnels. I noticed her colors were getting murky, swirling together, and I told her that it seemed to me that she was confused about something.”

“And then what?”

“She said I was kinda right, and basically, that I shouldn’t blab her business around to everyone.”

“Yeah, I can understand why she’d say that,” Aphrodite said.

“And now I’ve blabbed and I feel crappy about it.”

“I’m not going to say anything to anyone—not even Zoey. Shaylin, are Zoey’s colors still murky?”

“Very, and they’re swirling, almost like the beginning of a whirlpool or the tip of a tornado.”

“What the hell does that mean?”

“Anger. Confusion. Frustration. Basically, not good stuff. Okay, here’s an example: Dallas’s colors are always swirling.”

“Shit! Are Zoey’s always swirling?”

“No, that just started, and it doesn’t keep going. She was swirly when she first came up to the circle tonight, but as Thanatos talked and prayed, she got more and more still and clear. By the time Shaunee lit the pyre she was back to her normal purple with silver flecks. Sorry, I know it’s super confusing,” Shaylin said, shaking her head.

“Actually, I think you’re doing a good job of describing it.” When Shaylin blinked at her in surprise Aphrodite added, “I told you she’s Aphrodite, Prophetess of Nyx, right now.”

“Third person—creepy.”

“Get used to it. Here’s what the Prophetess wants you to do—keep watching Zoey and tell me whenever she starts to swirl.”

“Like, right away?”

“Yes, moron. Right away.”

“You’re sounding a lot more like Aphrodite than the Prophetess right now,” Shaylin said.

“That’s because she and I have mind melded. Just do what we say and no one gets hurt,” Aphrodite said.

“You’re so damn strange,” Shaylin said.

“Normal is overrated. Do we have a deal?”

“Do you promise not to tell anyone except Zoey and Nyx what I tell you?”

Aphrodite hesitated, then nodded. “I promise. You have my oath on it. I wouldn’t gossip about Zoey.”

Shaylin studied her. “I believe you. Both of you.”