In reverse order, Neferet thanked each element and sent them away as each candle was blown out, and as she did so I felt a little twinge of sadness, like I was saying good-bye to friends. Then she completed the ritual by saying, 'This rite is ended. Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!'
The crowd echoed: 'Merry meet and merry part and merry meet again!'
And that was it. My first ritual of the Goddess was over.
The circle broke up quickly—more quickly than I would have liked it to. I wanted to stand there and think about the amazing things I had felt, especially during the calling of the elements, but that was impossible. I was carried out of the temple on a tide of chatter. I was glad that everyone was so busy talking that no one noticed how quiet I was; I didn't think I could explain to them what had just happened to me. Hell! I couldn't even explain it to myself.
'Hey, you think they'll have Chinese food again tonight? I just loved it last full moon when they had that yummy moo goo stuff afterward,' Shaunee said. 'Not to mention, my fortune cookie said 'You will make a name for yourself,' which is way cool.'
'I'm so starved I don't care what they feed us as long as they feed us,' Erin said.
'Me too,' Stevie Rae said.
'For once we are in perfect agreement,' Damien said, linking arms with Stevie Rae and me. 'Let's eat.'
And suddenly, that reminded me. 'Uh, guys.' That nice tingly feeling the ritual had given me was gone. 'I can't go. I have to—'
'We're morons.' Stevie Rae thumped herself on the forehead hard enough to make a smacking sound. 'We totally forgot.'
'Ah, crap!' Shaunee said.
'The hags from hell,' Erin said.
'Want me to save you a plate of something?' Damien asked sweetly.
'No. Aphrodite said they're going to feed me.'
'Probably raw meat,' Shaunee said.
'Yeah, from some poor kid she caught in her nasty spider web,' Erin said.
'By that she means the one between her legs,' Shaunee explained.
'Stop, you're freaking Zoey out,' Stevie Rae said as she started nudging me toward the door. 'I'll show her where the rec hall is, then I'll meet you guys at our table.'
Outside I said, 'Okay, tell me that they're kidding about the raw meat.'
'They're kidding?' Stevie Rae said unconvincingly.
'Great. I don't even like my steak rare. What am I going to do if they really do try to feed me raw meat?' I refused to think about what kind of raw meat it might be.
'I think I have a Tums somewhere in my purse. Do you want it?' Stevie Rae asked.
'Yeah,' I said, already feeling nauseous.
CHAPTER 16
'That's it.' Stevie Rae had stopped, looking uncomfortable and apologetic in front of the steps that led to a round brick building situated on a little hill overlooking the eastern part of the wall surrounding the school. Huge oaks wrapped it in darkness within darkness, so I could barely make out flickers of either gas or candles lighting up the entrance. Not one speck of light was coming from the darkened windows that were long and arched and seemed to be made of stained glass.
'Okay, well, thanks for the Tums.' I tried to sound brave. 'And save a place for me. This really can't take that long. I should be able to get done here and join you guys for dinner.'
'Don't rush. Really. You might meet someone you like and want to hang out. Don't worry about it if you do. I won't be mad and I'll just tell Damien and the Twins that you're reconnoitering.'
'I'm not going to become one of them, Stevie Rae.'
'I believe you,' she said, but her eyes looked suspiciously big and round.
'So I'll see you soon.'
''Kay. See you soon,' she said, and started to follow the sidewalk back to the main building.
I didn't want to watch her walk away—she looked all forlorn and spanked puppy-like. Instead I climbed up the steps and told myself that this was going to be no big deal—nothing worse than the time my Barbie sister talked me into going to cheerleading camp with her (I don't know what the hell I'd been thinking). At least this fiasco wouldn't last a week. They'll probably cast another circle, which was actually very cool, do some unusual praying like Neferet did, and then break for dinner. That would be my cue to smile nicely and slip out. Easy-peasy.
The torches on either side of the thick wooden door were lit by gas and not the raw flame sconces used in Nyx's Temple. I reached my hand toward the heavy iron knocker, but, with a sound that was disturbingly like a sigh, it opened away from my touch.
'Merry meet, Zoey.'
Oh. My. God. It was Erik. He was wearing all black, and his dark, curly hair and his insanely blue eyes reminded me of Clark Kent—well, okay, without the dorky glasses and the nerdy slicked-back hair…so…I supposed that would mean he actually reminded me (again) of Superman—well, without the cape or tights or the big S…
Then the babble in my mind totally shut itself up when his oil-dampened finger slid over my forehead, tracing the five points of the pentagram.
'Blessed be,' he said.
'Blessed be,' I replied, and would be eternally grateful that my voice didn't croak or crack or squeak. Ah, man, he smelled good, but I couldn't place what he smelled like. It wasn't any of the tired, overused colognes guys apply by the gallon. He smelled like…he smelled like…the forest at night just after it's rained…something earthy and clean and…
'You can come on in,' he was saying.
'Oh, uh, thanks,' I said brilliantly. I stepped inside. And then I stopped. The interior was all one big room. The circular-shaped walls were draped in black velvet, totally blocking the windows and the silver moonlight. I could see that under the heavy curtains there were weird shapes, which started to freak me out until I realized that—hello— it's a rec room. They must have shoved the TVs and game stuff to the sides of the room and covered them so everything would look, well, creepier. Then my attention was captured by the circle itself. It was situated in the middle of the room and made up entirely of candles in tall red glass containers, like the prayer candles you can buy in the Mexican foods section of the grocery store that smell like roses and old ladies. There must have been more than a hundred of them and they lit up the kids who were standing in a loose circle behind them talking and laughing with a ghostly light that was tinted red. The kids were all wearing black and I noticed right away that none of them were wearing any embroidered rank insignias, but each had a thick silver chain that glittered around their necks from which an odd symbol dangled. It looked like two crescent moons positioned back to back against a full moon.
'There you are, Zoey!'
Aphrodite's voice slid across the room just ahead of her body. She was wearing a long black dress that flashed with onyx beading, reminding me weirdly of a dark version of Neferet's beautiful gown. She had on the same necklace as the others, but hers was bigger and outlined in red jewels that might have been garnets. Her blond hair was loose and draped around her like a gold veil. She was entirely too pretty.
'Erik, thanks for making Zoey welcome. I can take it from here.' She sounded normal, and she even rested her manicured fingertips on Erik's arm for a second in what the uninformed might think of as just a friendly gesture, but her face told a different story. It was set and cold, and her eyes seemed to blaze into his. Erik barely gave her a look, and he definitely moved his arm away from her touch. Then he gave me a quick smile and, without glancing at Aphrodite again, walked away.
Great. Exactly what I didn't need was to get in the middle of a nasty breakup. But I couldn't seem to help the fact that my eyes followed him across the room.
Stupid me. Again. Sigh.
Aphrodite cleared her throat, and I tried (unsuccessfully) not to look like I'd been caught doing something I
