Betrayed

'I'd stay, but it's past curfew and I can't be in the girls' dorm,' Erik said.

'That's okay. I understand.'

'I want to stay, too, but well, I'm not actually a girl,' Damien said. I knew he was trying to make me smile, so I made my lips move up. I imagined I looked like one of those scary, sad clowns who had a smile painted on his face along with a teardrop.

Erik hugged me, and so did Damien. Then they left.

'Do you need one of us to stay while you take a shower?' Shaunee asked.

'No, I'm fine.'

'Okay. Well ...' Shaunee looked like she was going to cry again.

'We'll be right back.' Erin took Shaunee's hand and they left the room, closing it with a soft, final click.

I moved carefully, like someone had switched me 'on,' but had set my speed at slow. I took off my dress, bra, and panties and put them in the plastic-lined wastepaper basket that sat in the corner of our—I mean my—room. I closed up the plastic bag and put it by the door. I knew one of the Twins would throw it away for me. I went into the bathroom and meant to get straight into the shower, but my reflection caught me, and I stopped, staring. I had turned into a familiar stranger again. I looked horrible. I was pale, but I had bruised-looking circles under my eyes. The tattoos on my face, back, and shoulders stood out in stark, sapphire con­trast to the white of my skin and the rust-colored smears of blood that covered my body. My eyes looked huge and unusually dark. I hadn't taken off my Dark Daughters necklace. The silver of the chain and the copper of the garnets caught the light and gleamed.

'Why?' I whispered. 'Why did you let Stevie Rae die?'

I didn't really expect an answer, and none came. So I got in the shower and stood there for a very long time, letting my tears mix with the water and the blood and wash down the drain.

CHAPTER 24

When I came out of the bathroom Shaunee and Erin were sitting on Stevie Rae's bed. They had a tray between them that held a bowl of soup, some crackers, and a can of brown pop, nondiet. They had been talking in low voices, but as soon as I entered the room they stopped.

I sighed and sat on my bed. 'If you guys start acting all abnor­mal around me I'm not going to be able to handle it.'

'Sorry,' they muttered together, looking sheepishly at each other. Then Shaunee handed me the tray. I looked at the food like I couldn't remember what to do with it.

'You need to eat so that you can take the stuff Neferet gave us to give you,' Erin said.

'Plus, it might make you feel better,' Shaunee said.

'I don't think I'll ever feel better.'

Erin's eyes filled with tears that spilled over and dripped down her cheeks. 'Don't say that, Zoey. If you never feel better that means none of us will, either.'

'You have to try, Zoey. Stevie Rae would be pissed if you didn't,' Shaunee said, sniffing through her tears.

'You're right. She would be.' I picked up the spoon and started sipping at the soup. It was chicken noodle, and it made a familiar, warm path down my throat, expanding into my body and chas­ing away some of the terrible chill I'd been feeling.

'And when she got pissed that accent of hers went out of con­trol,' Shaunee said.

That made Erin and me smile.

'Y'all be niiice,' Erin twanged, repeating the words Stevie Rae had said to the Twins a gazillion times.

We smiled at that, and the soup began to seem easier to swal­low. About halfway through the bowl, I had a sudden thought. 'They're not going to have a funeral or anything like that for her, are they?'

The Twins shook their heads. 'Nope,' Shaunee said. 'They never do,' Erin said.

'Well, Twin, I think some of the kids' parents do, but that'd be back in their hometown.'

'True, Twin,' Erin said. 'But I don't think anyone from here is going to travel to ...' she trailed off, thinking. 'What was the name of that little bumpkin town Stevie Rae was from?'

'Henrietta,' I said. 'Home of the Fighting Hens.'

'Fighting Hens?' the Twins said together.

I nodded. 'It drove Stevie Rae crazy. Even in her bumpkin­ness she wasn't okay with being a Fighting Hen.'

'Hens fight?' Shaunee asked.

Erin shrugged. 'How should I know, Twin?'

'I thought only cocks fought,' I said. We all looked at each other and said, 'Cocks!' and then burst out into laughter, which pretty soon was mixed with tears. 'Stevie Rae would have thought that was hilarious,' I said when I could catch my breath again.

'Is it really going to be okay, Zoey?' Shaunee asked.

'Is it?' Erin echoed.

'I think so,' I said.

'How?' Shaunee asked.

'I don't really know. I think all we can do is take one day at a time.'

Surprisingly, I'd finished all my soup. I did feel better—warmer, more normal. I was also unbelievably tired. The Twins must have noticed my eyelids getting heavy, because Erin took my tray. Shaunee handed me a little vial of milky liquid.

'Neferet said you should drink this, that it'll help you sleep without nightmares,' she said.

'Thanks.' I took it from her, but I didn't drink it. She and Erin just stood there looking at me. 'I'll take it in a minute. After I go to the bathroom. Just leave my pop in case it tastes nasty.'

That seemed to satisfy them. Before they left Shaunee said, 'Zoey, can we get you anything else?'

'No, thanks though.'

'You'll call us if you need anything, right?' Erin said. 'We promised Stevie Rae ...' Her voice broke and Shaunee finished for her, 'We promised her we'd take care of you, and we live up to our promises.'

'I'll call you,' I said.

''Kay,' they said. 'Night …'

'Night,' I called to the closing door.

As soon as they were gone I poured the creamy white liquid down the sink and threw away the vial.

Then I was alone. I glanced at my alarm clock, 6:00 A.M. It was amazing how much things could change in just a few hours. I tried not to, but flashes of Stevie Rae's death kept playing across my mind, like there was a horrible movie screen stuck inside my eyes. I jumped when my cell phone rang, and checked the caller ID. It was my grandma's number! Relief surged through me. I flipped the phone open and struggled not to burst into tears.

'I'm so glad you called, Grandma!'

'Little Bird, I woke from a dream about you. Is everything all right?' Her worried tone said she already knew it wasn't, which didn't surprise me. For my whole life my grandma and I had been linked.

'No. Nothing is right,' I whispered as I began to cry again. 'Grandma, Stevie Rae died tonight.'

'Oh, Zoey! I'm so terribly sorry!'

'She died in my arms, Grandma, just minutes after Nyx gifted her with an affinity for the element earth.'

'It must have been a great comfort for her that you were with her at the end.' I could hear that Grandma was crying now, too.

“We were all with her, all of my friends.'

'And Nyx must have been with her, too.'

'Yes,' my voice caught on a sob. 'I think the Goddess was, but I don't understand it, Grandma. It doesn't make any sense that Nyx would gift Stevie Rae, and then let her die.'

'Death never makes sense when it happens to the young. But I believe that your Goddess was close to Stevie Rae, even though her death happened too soon, and now she is resting peacefully with Nyx.'