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“I suppose I have to. You look like crap. I’d hate to add insult to the fashion injury your short incarceration has already committed against you.”
I laughed and linked my arm with hers. “Is there anything you can’t simplify down to fashion?”
“No, and you are welcome.”
I laughed again and we headed to the stairway. I felt light and happy, and for a few moments I let Neferet slip from my mind. I focused my thoughts on a single, silent prayer to Nyx: Thank you, Goddess, for giving me such a good friend!
“Hey, don’t think that you can start hugging me and shit. I am not the hugging type. Let’s still consider this”—she waved her free hand in front of herself—“a no-touch zone. Darius, of course, has a zone waiver.”
“Got it,” I said, but I kept my arm linked with hers as we climbed the stairs in tandem. “I wouldn’t think of crossing the no-touch zone.”
“Good,” she said, but she didn’t pull her arm from mine until we were just outside the conference room. Then she paused and turned to face me. Serious again, she said, “I forgive you, Zoey.”
“Thank you.” I blinked fast, surprised by the sudden tears in my eyes.
“Well, shit,” she said and, after glancing around to be sure we were alone, opened up her arms and hugged me, whispering, “I love you, Z.”
I sniffed and hugged her back. “I love you, too.”
The sound of the stairwell door opening had her springing away from me. “Don’t cry,” she said sternly. “Snot will not help the fashion disaster you have going on.”
“’Kay.” I sniffed some more.
“Zo! I heard they unjailed you! Whoohoo!” Aurox yelled jubilantly, sounding weirdly and wonderfully like Heath. He jogged toward me, clearly intending on crossing my no-touch zone. I took a few skittering steps backward and then froze when he flinched and staggered to a halt. I didn’t know what the hell to do. I mean, we’d decided to be friends. Friends hugged. But then again, we’d decided to just be friends. Well, actually, I’d decided we’d just be friends and—
“Oh, for shit’s sake, throw the bull a bone. Without you he’s been bereft.” Aphrodite shook her head in disgust. “And I’m using alliteration. If I start rhyming, I’m going to hurl myself off a tall building. Suck face or whatever quickly, and then get your butt into the Council Chamber. Sadly, we don’t have time for boy drama.” She flipped her hair, opened the door, and twitched inside.
Aurox and I stared at each other.
“Suck face?” he asked.
My cheeks felt like they were on fire. “She means kiss.”
His brows lifted. “Would you like to kiss me?”
Thankfully, nothing he’d said after whoohoo sounded the least little bit like Heath. I cleared my throat. “I don’t think that would be a good idea, but thanks for asking.”
“Well, I am glad you’re back,” he said, smiling tentatively.
“Me, too.” I returned his smile. “And even though it’s confusing, I’m glad you’re back also.”
I’d meant it to be a compliment—and maybe even an inside joke (wouldn’t the whole situation be better if we could laugh about it??), but Aurox’s tentative smile instantly faded.
“You don’t mean me. You mean Heath. And Heath’s not me. Excuse me. Darius said he thought I should be in this meeting.” I moved aside and let him open the door. He didn’t hold it for me but let it swing shut in my face, leaving me standing in the hallway alone, feeling like poop.
Okay, I told myself, it would make my life easier if Aurox stayed pissed at me—or at least a
I combed my fingers through my really messy hair, squared my shoulders, and entered the School Council Chamber.
The room was big, but it always appeared to be small because of the giant round table that dominated it. I’m pretty sure the idea had been to mimic King Arthur (who had, of course, been the High Priestess, Mogan le Fay’s, consort), so that it had no real head, but what had ended up happening was that wherever the school’s current High Priestess sat, well, that automatically became the table’s head.
Speaking of the current High Priestess, I was surprised to see her enter the room from the rear door, just as I closed the front door behind me. Thanatos nodded to Aurox, who took a guard-like position standing beside that door. Then she glanced at me and gestured to the empty seat between Grandma and Aphrodite. Thanatos sat to Grandma’s left, beside Detective Marx. As I settled myself and tried not to fidget, Thanatos leaned forward and spoke around Grandma.
“It is officially good to have you home, Zoey,” said the High Priestess of Death.
“I can’t tell you how glad I am to be here—and to know I didn’t kill anyone,” I said.
“But you have learned a valuable lesson from the experience,” Grandma said.
“Yeah. Neferet has to be stopped no matter what,” Aphrodite said.
“Well, yeah, she does. But I think the lesson Grandma’s talking about is when in doubt, choose kindness,” I said.
“Don’t think that one is going to do us much good with Neferet,” Aphrodite muttered.
“You may be surprised, child,” Grandma said softly, smiling wisely at her.
The door opened then, and Stevie Rae burst in, followed by Stark, Damien, and Shaunee.
“Z! Ohmygoodness it’s so good to see you free!” Stevie Rae ran to me and enveloped me in a giant bear hug. “I knew you couldn’t have killed those guys.”
I gave her a quick hug back before disentangling myself. I met her gaze. “I have something to say about that, but I want to wait until everyone gets here.”
“Wait is over. Handsome is here,” Aphrodite said, smiling as Darius entered the room with Lenobia and Shaylin. Darius and Stark took their places on either side of the main door. Stark sent me a quick wink, and I was glad to see that he wasn’t as pale and his eyes had lost their bruised look. For him to be looking so much better, the sun must have set, and I figured Rephaim would probably be showing up any second, too.
Lenobia sat beside Detective Marx, nodding cordially to him. Shaylin chose a seat as far as she could away from me and wouldn’t meet my gaze. I stood up and cleared my throat.
“I know an emergency with Neferet is going on downtown, but I need to say something before we start dealing with that—and I’ll make it quick. As you guys know, I found out today that I didn’t kill those two men in the park. But even though I didn’t actually cause their deaths, I know that I could have. I was out of control. It had something to do with the Seer Stone, but it was also me. I was wrong. Aphrodite was doing exactly what Nyx would expect from one of her Prophetesses—she was letting Shaylin know that there was something going on with me, something bad.” I looked at Shaylin until she reluctantly met my gaze. “Shaylin, I’ve already apologized to Aphrodite, but I owe you a major apology, too. You were right to follow me. You were right to talk to Aphrodite about the changes you were seeing in my aura. I was very, very wrong to push you and lose my temper like that, and I’m not just asking if you’d accept my apology. I’m also giving you”—I paused and looked around the room at my friends—“and everyone else here my oath that I’m going to do whatever it takes to be sure it never happens again.”
“I forgive you,” Shaylin said with no hesitation, though her smile was hesitant, and she still seemed scared. “By the way, your colors are back to normal now.”
“Thank you,” I said. “And please let me, or anyone else here, know if you see my colors messing up again. I was wrong when I told you that you should keep that kind of stuff to yourself. It’s not an invasion of privacy. It’s using a gift given to you by Nyx.”
“Zoey, where is the Seer Stone right now?” Thanatos asked.