Marked

'Will—will you stay with me?' Elliott gasped.

'Of course,' Dragon said. 'I won't let you be alone for even a moment.'

'Will you call my mom?' Elliott whispered.

'I will.'

Elliott closed his eyes for a second, and then, with shaking hands he held the vial to his lips and drank. Neferet nodded to the two men, and they picked him up and lay him on the stretcher as if he was a doll and not a dying kid. With Dragon by his side, they hurried from the room. Before Neferet followed them she turned to face the shocked classroom of third formers.

'I could tell you that Elliott will be fine—that he will recover, but that would be a lie.' Her voice was serene, but filled with commanding strength. 'The truth is his body has rejected the Change. In minutes he will die the permanent death and will not mature into a vampyre. I could tell you not to worry, that it won't happen to you. But this would be a lie, too. On average, one out of every ten of you will not make the Change. Some fledglings die early in their third former year, as is Elliott. Some of you will be stronger and last until your sixth former year, and then sicken and die suddenly. I tell you this not so that you will live in fear. I tell you for two reasons. First, I want you to know that as your High Priestess I will not lie to you, but will help ease your passing into the next world if that time comes. And second, I want you to live as you would be remembered if you would die tomorrow, because you might. Then if you do die your spirit can rest peacefully knowing that you leave behind an honorable memory. If you do not die, then you will have set the foundation for a long life rich with integrity.' She looked straight into my eyes as she finished, saying, 'I ask that Nyx's blessing comfort you today, and that you remember death is a natural part of life, even a vampyre life. For someday we all must return to the bosom of the Goddess.' She closed the door behind her with a sound that seemed to echo finality.

Penthesilea worked quickly and efficiently. Matter-of-factly she cleaned up the spatters of blood that stained Elliot's desk. When all evidence of the dying kid was gone, she returned to the front of the class and led us in a moment of silence for Elliott. Then she picked up the book and began reading where she'd left off. I tried to listen. I tried to block out the vision of Elliott bleeding out through his eyes and ears and nose and mouth. And I also tried not to think about the fact that the delicious smell I'd noticed had been, without a doubt, Elliott's lifeblood pouring from his dying body.

* * *

I know things are supposed to go on as usual after a fledgling dies, but apparently it was unusual for two kids to die so close together, and everyone was unnaturally quiet for the rest of the day. Lunch was silent and depressing, and I noticed that most of the food was picked at rather than eaten. The Twins didn't even bicker with Damien, which might have been a nice change if I hadn't known the awful reason behind it. When Stevie Rae made some lame excuse to leave lunch early and go back to the room before fifth hour started, I was more than happy to say I'd go with her.

We walked along the sidewalk in the thick dark of another cloudy night. Tonight the gaslights didn't feel cheerful and warm. Instead they seemed cold and not bright enough.

'No one liked Elliott, and somehow I think that makes it worse,' Stevie Rae said. 'It was weirdly easier with Elizabeth. At least we could feel honestly sorry she was gone.'

'I know what you mean. I feel upset, but I know I'm really upset that I saw what can happen to us and now I can't get it out of my mind, and not upset that the kid's dead.'

'At least it happens fast,' she said softly.

I shivered. 'I wonder if it hurts.'

'They give you something—that white stuff Elliott drank. It makes it stop hurting, but it lets you be conscious till the end. And Neferet always helps with the actual dying.'

'It's scary, isn't it?' I said.

'Yeah.'

We didn't say anything for a while. Then the moon peeped through the clouds, painting the leaves of the tree with an eerie silver watercolor, and reminding me suddenly of Aphrodite and her ritual.

'Any chance Aphrodite will cancel the Samhain ritual tonight?'

'No way. The Dark Daughters' rituals are never cancelled.'

'Well, hell,' I said. Then I glanced at Stevie Rae. 'He was their refrigerator.'

She gave me a startled look. 'Elliott?'

'Yeah, it was really gross, and he acted all drugged and weird. He must have been starting to reject the Change even then.' There was an uncomfortable silence, and then I added, 'I didn't want to say anything to you before, especially after you told me about…well…you know. Are you sure Aphrodite won't cancel tonight? I mean, what with Elizabeth and now Elliott.'

'It won't matter. And the Dark Daughters don't care about the kid they use as a refrigerator. They'll just get someone else.'

She hesitated. 'Zoey, I've been thinking. Maybe you shouldn't go tonight. I heard what Aphrodite said to you yesterday. She's going to make sure no one accepts you. She'll be really, really mean.'

'I'll be okay, Stevie Rae.'

'No, I have a bad feeling about it. You don't have a plan yet, do you?'

'Well, no. I'm still in the reconnoitering stage I said, trying to lighten up the conversation.

'Reconnoiter later. Today's been too awful. Everyone's upset. I think you should wait.'

'I can't just not show up, especially after what Aphrodite said to me yesterday. She'll think she told me and now she can intimidate me.'

Stevie Rae took a deep breath. 'Well, then I think you should take me with you.' I started to shake my head but she kept right on talking. 'You're a Dark Daughter now. Technically, you can invite people to the rituals. So invite me. I'll go and watch your back.'

I thought about drinking blood and liking it so much that it was obvious, even to Warlike and Terrible. And I tried, and failed, not to think about the scent of blood—Heath's and Erik's and even Elliott's. Stevie Rae would find out someday how blood affected me, but it wouldn't be tonight. Actually, if I could help it, it wouldn't be anytime soon. I didn't want to chance losing her or the Twins or Damien—and I was afraid I would. Yes, they knew I was 'special,' and they accepted me because that uniqueness meant High Priestess to them, and that was good. My bloodlust was not so good. Would they accept it as easily?

'No way, Stevie Rae.'

'But, Zoey, you shouldn't go into that hag pack alone.'

'I won't be alone. Erik will be there.'

'Yeah, but he used to be Aphrodite's boyfriend. Who knows how good he'll be at standing up to her if she gets real hateful with you.'

'Honey, I can stand up for myself.'

'I know, but—' She broke off and gave me a funny look. 'Z, are you vibrating?'

'Huh? Am I what?' And then I heard it, too, and started laughing. 'It's my cell phone. I stuck it in my purse after it charged up last night.' I pulled it out of my purse, glancing at the time on the face dial. 'It's past midnight, who the heck…' Flipping the phone open I was shocked to see that I had fifteen new text messages and five missed calls. 'Jeesh, someone's been calling and calling, and I didn't even notice.' I checked the text messages first, and felt my stomach start to clench as I read them.

Zo call me I stl luv u

Zo call me plz

Got 2 see u

U & Me

Will u call?

I wnt 2 talk 2 u Zo!

Call me bak

I didn't need to read any more of them. They were all basically the same. 'Ah, crap. They're all from Heath.'

'Your ex?'

I sighed. 'Yeah.'

'What does he want?'