“Oh, no. You did not just talk about my Ropers…”
I let the two of them bicker as I followed them to the cafeteria. Actually, I hardly heard them. My mind was miles away on a rooft op in the middle of a dream.
The cafeteria was busy, but, bizarrely, too quiet as Aphrodite, Stevie Rae, and I joined the Twins, Jack, and Damien, who were already wolfing down bacon and eggs. As I expected, I was drawing a lot of kill you dead looks, especially from the booths filled with girls.
“Ignore them. They’re haters,” Aphrodite said.
“It’s so weird that Kalona’s still messin’ with their heads,” Stevie Rae said as we filled our plates and kept throwing glances over our shoulders at the mostly silent and sullen room.
“It’s their choice, too.” My mouth blurted before I could stop it.
“What do ya mean?” Stevie Rae asked.
I gulped some eggs and said, “I mean the kids,”—I paused and waved my fork at the rest of the room for emphasis—“the ones who are giving us the stank eye and being so insanely horrid, are choosing to be that way. Yeah, Kalona started it, but they’re choosing their own paths.”
Stevie Rae’s voice was soft with understanding, but no less insistent. “That could be true, Z, but you have to remember it’s happened because of Kalona—well, him along with Neferet.”
“What’s true is that Kalona is bad shit, and Zoey has to deal with him once and for all,” Aphrodite said.
My eggs suddenly looked less tasty.
We were all squished around the booth, eating and trying to pretend like people weren’t killing us with their eyes, when Stark joined us. He looked tired, and when his gaze met mine, I recognized the sadness in his eyes. I’d seen it mirrored in Kalona’s eyes as he spoke of Nyx. Stark believes he’s failed me.
I smiled at him, wanting to wipe the worry from his face. “Hi,” I said softly.
“Hi,” he said.
Then we realized our table, as well as the entire room, was watching and listening to us. Stark cleared his throat, pulled up a chair, lowered his voice, and said, “Darius and Lenobia are already at the airport. I’m driving you guys in the Hummer.” He glanced around, and I saw some of the tightness in his face relax. “So, I’m guessing you sent Heath home?”
“To get his passport,” Stevie Rae proclaimed.
That, of course, caused a mini-uproar at our table. I sighed and waited for the storm to subside. When everyone finally shut up, I said, “Yes, Heath’s coming with us. The end.”
Aphrodite raised one blond brow. “Well, I suppose it does make sense to bring the bloodmobile with you. Even Arrow Boy over there with the mean face has to agree with that.”
“I said ‘the end’ because I’m not going to talk about it. And don’t call Heath a bloodmobile.”
“It’s really not polite,” Stevie Rae said.
“Bite me,” Aphrodite said, clearly without thinking, because the Twins automatically started to giggle.
“Stevie Rae isn’t going with us,” I broke into the Twins’ hilarity. “So that means when we circle, Aphrodite will be representing spirit.”
That shut the Twins up. Everyone stared at Stevie Rae.
“They might not be able to be saved,” Damien said solemnly.
“I know, but I’m going to give it another try.”
“Hey, do me a favor, will ya?” Aphrodite said. “Would you please not get killed? Again. I’m sure that would be annoyingly uncomfortable for me.”
“I am not gettin’ killed,” Stevie Rae said.
“Promise you won’t go back there alone,” Jack said.
“That’s a promise you need to make,” Stark agreed.
I didn’t say anything. I was no longer so cocky about knowing the only right way to do things.
Fortunately, my silence wasn’t noticed because just then the red fledglings made their entrance, and the entire cafeteria went from gawking at us, to gawking and whispering at them.
“Better make sure they’re fine,” Stevie Rae said. She stood up and then smiled at us. “Y’all hurry and get stuff straight over there, so you can come back home over here.” She hugged me, whispering, “You’ll do the right thing.”
“You will, too,” I whispered back.
Then she moved away from me and I watched her take charge of the red fledglings (who waved at us as they got into line). Stevie Rae was so normal acting, talking to her kids like they hadn’t just stepped into the cafeteria for the first time since each of them had died, that her group instantly started to relax, ignoring the stares and whispers.
“She’s a good leader,” I said, thinking out loud.
“I hope that doesn’t get her into trouble,” Aphrodite said. I looked from Stevie Rae to her and she shrugged. “Some people—especially evil, undead-dead people—can’t be led.”
“She’ll do the right thing.” I repeated Stevie Rae’s words.
“Yeah, but will they?” Aphrodite said.
I didn’t have a comeback for that, so I picked at my eggs instead.
“Are you guys about ready?” Stark finally said.
“I am,” I said.
Everyone else nodded, and we grabbed our bags and headed to the door. Stark and I brought up the rear.
“Hey, Zoey.”
Erik’s voice stopped me. Stark stayed with me, his eyes sharp on my ex-boyfriend.
“Hi, Erik,” I said guardedly.
“Good luck,” he said.
“Thanks.” I was pleasantly surprised at his neutral expression and lack of Venus suckerfished to his side. “Are you staying at the school and teaching drama again?”
“Yeah, but just until they get a new professor. So if I’m not here when you get back, I just wanted you to know, that, um”—he looked from Stark to me, and then finished with—“that I said good luck.”
“Oh, okay. Well, thanks again.”
He nodded and walked quickly out of the cafeteria ahead of us, presumably going up to the professors’ dining room.
“Huh. That was kinda weird, but nice of him,” I said.
“He acts too much,” Stark said, holding the door open for me.
“Yeah, I get that, but I’m still glad he said something nice before we left. I hate the awkward ex-boyfriend stuff.”
“Yet another reason to be glad I’m not technically your boyfriend,” Stark said.
The rest of the group was several yards ahead of us, so we had an instant of privacy. I was just trying to figure out whether Stark was being borderline hateful in his “not your boyfriend” comment or not when he suddenly asked, “Was everything okay last night? You woke me up once.”
“Everything was fine.”
He hesitated and then said, “You didn’t bite Heath again.”
It wasn’t a question, but I answered anyway, though my voice sounded sharper than I’d intended. “No. I was feeling fine, so I didn’t need to.”
“I’ll understand if you do, though,” he said.
“Can we not talk about this right now?”
“Yeah, fine.” We walked on a few feet and were almost to the parking lot, so he slowed down, giving us another moment of privacy. “Are you mad at me?” he asked.
“Why would I be mad at you?”
He lifted his shoulders. “Well, first there’s Aphrodite’s visions. She sees you in trouble. Serious trouble. But she either sees me and I do nothing, or she doesn’t see me at all. And now Heath’s coming with us to Italy…” His words just trailed off, leaving him looking frustrated.
“Stark, Aphrodite’s visions can be changed. We’ve done it several times. Once for me personally. We’ll change the drowning one, too. Actually, you’ll probably change it. You won’t let anything bad happen to me.”
“Even though I have an issue with going outside in the sunlight?”
I suddenly understood one of the reasons that this threat to me was bothering him so badly—he felt like he might not be able to be there for me when I needed him. “You’ll figure out how to be sure I’m safe, even if you can’t be with me physically.”
“Do you really believe that?”
“With all my heart,” I said honestly. “There is no other vampyre I would ever want as my Warrior. I trust you. Always.”