Chosen

'Your stepdad's one of the People of Faith psychos, isn't he?'

'Totally. My grandma called him a turd monkey.'

That made her laugh. I mean really laugh. I watched her, amazed at how it transformed her face from cold and pretty to warm and beautiful.

'Yep. I hate my 'rentals,' I said.

'Who doesn't,' she said.

'Stevie Rae doesn't. Or at least she didn't before …' My voice trailed off and I had to fight the urge not to burst into embarrassing tears.

'So that part of the vision's already happened. Stevie Rae has been turned into a monster.'

'She's not a monster! She's just different than she used to be.'

Aphrodite lifted one perfect blond brow. 'I'd say that could be an improvement if I hadn't seen what she's changed into.'

'Just tell me what you saw.'

'I saw vampyres being killed. Horribly.' Aphrodite had to pause to swallow, like she was trying hard not to throw up.

'By Stevie Rae?' I squeaked.

'No. That was a different vision.'

'Okay, I'm confused.'

'Try having the damn visions, or at least these new visions I've been having. Confusion is what they're all about. And pain. And fear. They completely suck.'

'So Stevie Rae wasn't in the one where the vampyres died?'

She shook her head. 'No, but the two felt like they went together.' Aphrodite sighed. 'I saw Stevie Rae. She was horrible. Real dirty and thin and her eyes glowed a weird red. And you wouldn't believe what she was wearing. I mean, not that she was ever Miss Fashion Sense, but still.'

'Yeah, yeah, I get it. So you saw her undead.'

'That's what she is, isn't it. She's turned into some kind of horrible vampyre cliché, the monster humans have been calling us for centuries.'

'Not all humans. You know, you really need to get over your completely crappy attitude about humans. You used to be one,' I said.

'Whatever. I used to be in love with Sean William Scott, too. Talk about old news.' She flipped her hair back. 'Anyway, I saw Stevie Rae when she died. Again. This time for real. And I knew if the vision was allowed to come true that it would somehow mean all of the vamp deaths I saw would really happen. So we have to figure out a way to save Stevie Rae because Nyx is seriously not happy about a bunch of vamps being killed.'

'How did Stevie Rae die?'

'Neferet killed her. She pulled Stevie Rae out into the direct sunlight and she burned up.'

CHAPTER 10

'Crap. Then she really can't go out in the sunlight,' I said.

'You didn't already know that?' Aphrodite said.

'Stevie Rae hasn't been exactly easy to talk to since she, well, died.'

'But you have seen her and talked to her?'

I stopped walking and stood in front of Aphrodite so that she had to face me. 'Look, you can't tell anyone about Stevie Rae.'

'No kidding? I thought I'd put it in the school paper.'

'I'm serious, Aphrodite.'

'Don't treat me like I'm a moron. If anyone besides us knows about Stevie Rae, Neferet will know. She's bound to since she can practically read everyone's mind. Well, except us that is.'

'She can't read your mind, either?'

Aphrodite's smile was self-satisfied and more than a little hateful. 'She never has been able to. How do you think I got away with so much crap for so long?'

'Lovely.' I remembered distinctly what a terrible bitch Aphrodite had been as leader of the Dark Daughters. Actually, since the moment I'd met Aphrodite she'd been selfish and mean and downright hateful. Yes, her visions had helped me save my grandma and Heath, but she'd made it clear that she hadn't really cared about saving either of them, and had helped only because she got something out of it. I narrowed my eyes at her. 'Okay, you're going to have to explain why you're bothering to tell me all this stuff. What's in it for you?'

Aphrodite widened her eyes in mock innocence and put on a ridiculous Southern Belle accent, 'Why, what ever do you mean? I'm helping you because you and your friends have always been so sweet to me.'

'Cut the crap, Aphrodite.'

Her expression flattened and her voice returned to normal. 'Let's just say I have a lot to make up for.'

'To Stevie Rae?'

'To Nyx.' She looked away from me. 'You probably won't get this, being all-powerful with new gifts from Nyx and basically Miss Perfect, but once you've had your gifts for a while, you might find out that it's not always easy to do the right thing. Other things—people—get in the way. You'll make mistakes.' Aphrodite scoffed. 'Well, maybe you won't. But I did. I might not particularly give a shit about you or Stevie Rae or maybe anyone here at school, but I do care about Nyx.' Her voice faltered. 'I know what it's like to believe the goddess has turned from me and I don't ever want to feel like that again.'

I reached out and touched her arm. 'But Nyx didn't turn from you. Those were just lies Neferet told so that no one would believe your visions. You know Neferet's behind what Stevie Rae's turned into, don't you?'

'I've known since the vision, when I saw Heath dying.' She forced a little laugh. 'Good thing she can't read our minds. I don't know what she'd do to a fledgling who knows how awful she is.'

'She knows I know.'

'You've got to be kidding!'

'Well, she knows I'm on to her.' I hesitated, and then figured, what the hell. Weirdly enough, it was turning out that Aphrodite (a.k.a., the hag from hell) was the one person on this earth I could really talk to. 'Neferet tried to erase my memory of the night I saved Heath from those undead dead kids. It worked for a while, but I knew right away something was wrong. I used the power of the elements to heal my memory, and, well, I kinda let Neferet know that I remembered what had happened.'

'You kinda let her know?'

I fidgeted. 'Well, she threatened me. Said no one would believe me if I said anything about her. And, uh, it made me mad. So I told her that it didn't matter if no vamp or fledgling believed me, because Nyx does.'

Aphrodite smiled. 'I'll bet that pissed her off.'

'Yeah, I suppose it did.' Actually it made me a little sick to think about just how pissed Neferet probably was. 'But she left right after that for winter break. I haven't seen her since.'

'She'll be back soon.'

'I know.'

'Are you scared?' Aphrodite asked.

'Totally,' I said.

'I don't blame you there. Okay, here's what I know for sure from my visions. We have to get Stevie Rae some place safe and away from the rest of those things. And we have to do it now. Before Neferet comes back. There's some connection between the two of them. I don't understand it, but I know it's there, and I know it's wrong.' Aphrodite made a face like she'd just tasted something nasty. 'Actually the whole undead- dead monster thing is all wrong. Talk about disgusting creatures.'

'Stevie Rae's different than the rest of them.'

Aphrodite gave me a look that said she definitely didn't believe me.

'Think about it. Why would Nyx have given a fledgling such a powerful gift as an affinity for earth and then let