Chosen

'Shouldn't you be telling me not to stress?' Erik asked playfully.

'No, sweet thang,' Erin said.

'If Z dumps you for Queen Damien we'll be here to help you deal with your grief,' Shaunee said. Then the Twins did a little impromptu bump and grind for Erik's benefit. Despite the guilt I was feeling, the two of them made me laugh, and I covered Erik's eyes.

Damien pointedly frowned at the Twins and then cleared his throat. 'You two are completely incorrigible.'

'Twin, I forget, what does incorrigible mean?' Shaunee said.

'I do believe it means that we're hotter and sexier than a whole herd of corriges,' Erin said, still bumping and grinding.

'You two are dolts, which means you have very little sense.' Damien said, but even he couldn't keep from laughing, especially when a giggling Jack joined in the bump and grind. 'Anyway,' he continued. 'I almost went to the library, but then Jack and I got all involved watching a Will and Grace rerun marathon and I totally lost track of time. Next time you want to do research, just let me know, though, and I'll be happy to help you out.'

'He's such a little bookworm,' Jack said, pushing his shoulder playfully.

Damien blushed. The Twins made gagging noises. Erik laughed. I wanted to puke my guts up.

'Oh, no problem. I was just looking up some, well, stuff,' I said.

'More stuff again?' Erik grinned down at me.

I hated that he looked so understanding and supportive. If he knew the stuff I'd been researching was making out with Loren Blake…Oh, God. No. He could never, ever find out.

And, yes, I realize how trifling and ho-ish it was that not long before this I'd been sucking Loren's face and feeling all hot and tingly about him, but now I was practically suffocating in a wave of guilt.

Clearly I need therapy.

'So did you bring the candles?' I asked the Twins, resolving once and for all to think about the Loren mess later.

'Of course,' Erin said.

'Please. It was easy-peasy,' Shaunee said. 'We even have them put in their correct places.' She pointed behind us to a nice flat area under the canopy of the huge oak. I could see the four candles representing the elements in their proper places, with the fifth candle, representing spirit, sitting in the middle of the circle.

'I brought the matches,' Jack said enthusiastically.

'Okay. Well. Let's do this,' I said. The five of us started moving to our candles. Damien surprised me by hanging back a little from the others and whispering, 'If you want Jack to leave, just let me know and I'll tell him to go.'

'No,' I said automatically, and then my mind caught up with my mouth and I added, 'No, Damien. It's okay for him to be here. He's part of us. He belongs.'

Damien gave me a grateful smile and motioned for Jack to bring me the matches. He scampered to me in the middle of the circle.

'I was going to get a lighter, but then I thought about it and it just didn't feel right.' He explained to me very seriously. 'I think it's better to use real wood. You know, real matches. A lighter is just too cold and modern for an ancient ritual. So I brought these.' He proudly presented a long cylindrical thing. When I just looked at it like a, well, dolt, he pulled off the top and handed the bottom part to me. 'See, long and totally chic fireplace matches. I got them from the den in our dorm. You know, by the fireplace.'

I took the matches from him. They were long and slender and a pretty violet color with red tips. 'They're perfect,' I said, glad I could make someone happy. 'Be sure you bring them tomorrow to the real ritual. I'll use them instead of the usual lighter.'

'Great!' he gushed and then, shooting a pleased grin at Damien, hurried out of the circle to sit comfortably under the tree, leaning back against the oak.

'Okay, are you guys ready?'

My three friends and one boyfriend (thankfully there was only one of my boyfriends present) chorused their yeses.

'Let's just go over the basics and not make this all complicated and involved. You guys will be out in the circle in your appropriate places with the rest of the Dark Daughters and Sons. Then Jack is going to key the music and I'll come in, just like I did last month.'

'Is Professor Blake going to recite a poem again?' Damien asked.

'Oh, baby, I do hope so,' Shaunee said.

'That vamp is so fiiiine he almost makes poetry interesting,' Erin said.

'No!' I snapped. Then when they all gave me weird looks (I assume they were all giving me weird looks—the Twins and Damien did, I avoided looking at Erik.) I continued in a less crazy voice, 'I mean, I don't think he's going to recite anything. I haven't talked to him about it, but whatever,' I said with utter and complete nonchalance, then I hurried on. 'So, I'll come in and move around the circle to the music, with or without poetry, until I get to my place in the center. I'll cast the circle, ask for Nyx's blessing for us specifically at the start of a new year, take the wine around, than close the circle and we'll all go eat.' I glanced at Damien, 'You took care of the food, right?'

'Yep, the chef is back from her winter vacation, and she and I decided on the menu yesterday. We're having chili about a zillion different ways. And,' he added in a voice that said he thought he was being totally naughty, 'we're also having imported beer.'

'Sounds good,' I smiled my appreciation at him. Yes, it sounds weird and vaguely illegal that minors were going to be drinking beer at what is basically a school-sanctioned event. The truth is that due to the physiological Change that was taking place inside all of our bodies, alcohol just didn't affect us anymore—or at least not enough to cause us to act like typical teenagers (in other words we won't get all wasted and use it as an excuse to have sex with each other).

'Hey, Z, weren't you going to announce at the ritual who you're Tapping for the Prefect Council this coming year?' Erik asked.

'You're right. I'd forgotten that I need to do that.' I sighed. 'So, yeah, before I close the circle I'll announce the two kids I'm Tapping.'

'Who are they?' Damien asked.

I, uh, haven't narrowed it down to two yet. I'll make my final decision on that tonight,' I lied. Actually, I hadn't come up with any names yet. I hadn't even wanted to think about it since one of those two kids would be taking Stevie Rae's place on the Council. Then I remembered that I was really supposed to let my current Council help me decide which new kids we were choosing. 'Uh, guys. I guess tomorrow before the ritual we can meet and go over the names.'

'Hey, Z, don't stress,' Erik said. 'Just choose two kids. We'll be fine with them.'

I felt a huge wash of relief. 'Are you sure?'

My friends called a chorus of 'okay' and 'sounds good to me' comments. Each of them clearly having the utmost confidence in me. Ugh.

'Okay, good. So, are we all cool with the order of the ritual?' I asked.

They nodded.

'All right. Let's practice the circle casting.' As always, it didn't matter what stress and nonsense was going on in my life. When it came to circle casting and calling forth the five elements with which I have a special bond, or affinity, the sense of excitement and pleasure my gift gives me (thankfully) overshadows everything else. As I approached Damien I felt my stress lift along with my spirit. I took out one long, slender match and struck it against the sandpapery bottom of the cylinder. It lit as I said, 'I call air to our circle. We breathe it in with out first breaths, so it is only right that it be the first element called. Come to us, air!' I touched the match to the yellow candle Damien held and it lit, and stayed lit, even in the wildly gusting wind that whirled around Damien and me like we were in the center of a tamed but playful mini-tornado.

Damien and I grinned at each other. 'I don't think I'll ever get over how amazing it is,' he said softly.

'Me, either,' I said, and blew out the wildly flickering match. Then I moved clockwise, or deosil, around the circle to Shaunee and her red candle. I could hear Shaunee humming something under her breath that I recognized,