Chosen

her die. And then un-die.' I paused, struggling with how to make her understand. 'I think her connection to earth is the reason Stevie Rae has kept some of her humanity, and I really believe that if I—I mean we, if we can help her she'll find the rest of her humanity. Or maybe we'll find a way to heal her. To turn her back into a fledgling or maybe even a grown-up vamp. And maybe if Stevie Rae is fixed, that means there's a chance for the rest of them, too.'

'So do you have a clue how we're going to fix her?'

'Nope. Not one clue.' Then I grinned. 'But now I have a powerful fledgling with visions and an earth affinity helping me.'

'Great. That makes me feel so much better.'

I didn't want to admit it to Aphrodite, but the truth was that being able to talk to her about Stevie Rae and having her help figuring out what we were supposed to do did make me feel better. Much better.

'Anyway,' Aphrodite was saying, 'how are we going to find Stevie Rae?' She curled her lip. 'Do not tell me you expect me to crawl around nasty tunnels with you.'

'Actually, Stevie Rae said she'd meet me at the Philbrook gazebo tonight at about three o'clock.'

'Is she going to show?'

I chewed my lip. 'I bribed her with country clothes, so I think so.'

Aphrodite shook her head. 'So she dies, un-dies, and still has a shitty fashion sense.'

'Apparently.'

'Now that's really sad.'

'Yeah.' I sighed. I loved Stevie Rae, but even I had to admit she liked to dress like a hick.

'So, where are you taking her after you give her the clothes?'

I didn't think I should mention that I'd like to take her straight to a bathtub. 'I don't know. I haven't thought much past getting her clothes and, uh, blood.'

'Blood!'

'She has to have it. Human blood. Or she goes crazy.'

'Isn't she already pretty much crazy?'

'No! She's just dealing with issues.'

'Issues?'

'Lots of issues,' I said firmly.

'Okay. Whatever. You've gotta decide where you're going to take her. She can't stay with the rest of those things. That won't help her,' Aphrodite said.

'I was going to try to talk her into coming back here. I figured I could hide her pretty easily while most the vamps are gone.'

'You can't bring her back here.' Aphrodite had gone pale. 'This is where I saw her die. Again.'

'Crap! Then I don't know what the hell I'm going to do,' I admitted.

'I suppose you could take her to my old place,' Aphrodite said.

'Yeah, right. Your parents are so understanding and all. That sounds like a great idea, Aphrodite.'

She rolled her eyes. 'My parents are gone. They left early this morning for three weeks skiing in Breckenridge. Plus, she won't be staying inside the house. My parents live in one of those old oil mansions right down the street from the Philbrook. They have a garage apartment that used to be a servants' quarters back in the day. It's not used anymore except when my grandma comes to visit, and my mom just stuck her in one of those high-class, high-security, high-dollar nursing homes, so you don't need to worry about that. Still, everything in the apartment should work—you know, electricity and water and such.'

'You think she'd be okay there?'

Aphrodite shrugged. 'She'd be safer there than here.'

'All right. That's where she goes then.'

'Is she gonna be okay with that?'

'Yeah,' I lied. 'I'll tell her the fridge is filled with blood.' I sighed. 'Even though I don't know how the hell I'm going to get her a glass of blood, let alone a fridge full of it.'

'It's in the kitchen.'

'At your house?' Now I was totally confused.

'No, jeesh, stay with me. They have blood here. In a big stainless steel cooler in the kitchen. For the vamps. Fresh shipments come in all the time from human donors. All the upperclassmen know about it. We get to use it sometimes in rituals.'

'That'll work, especially since there's hardly anyone around right now. I should be able to get into the kitchen and grab some blood without being caught.' I frowned. 'Please tell me it's not just sitting in a Tupperware pitcher or something equally disturbing.' Okay, even though I really, really liked to drink blood, I was still completely grossed out at the idea of actually drinking blood. I know, I need therapy. Again.

'It's in pouches, like at the hospital. Nothing to stress about.'

By this time we'd made an automatic turn to the right and were meandering back toward the dorm.

'You have to go with me,' I said abruptly.

'To the kitchen?'

'No, I mean to Stevie Rae. You'll have to show us your house and how to get in the apartment and everything.'

'She's not going to want to see me,' Aphrodite said.

'I know, but she'll have to get over it. She knows your vision saved my grandma. When I tell her you've had a vision about her, she's just gonna have to believe it.' I was glad I sounded so sure. I definitely didn't feel sure. 'But it might be best if you hide and wait until I've talked to her for a while before she sees you.'

'Look, I'm trying to do the right thing here, but I'm not going to hide from a kid I used to use as a refrigerator.'

'Don't call her that!' I snapped. 'Did you ever think that a big part of your problem and why so many bad things have happened to you isn't Neferet and all the bullpoop she's up to, but it's the fact that you have such a bitchy, crappy, attitude?'

Aphrodite's brows went up and she cocked her head to the side, which made her look like a blond bird. 'Yeah, I've thought about that, but I'm not like you. I'm not all positive and Miss Goodie-Two-Shoes. Tell me something. You think people are basically good, don't you?'

Her question surprised me, but I shrugged and nodded. 'Yeah, I guess so.'

'Not me. I think most people, and I'm talking vamp or human, are shitty. They put on an act. They pretend to be all nicey-nice, but are really just one step away from showing their true asshole-ness.'

'That's a depressing way to go through life,' I said.

'You call it depressing. I call it realistic.'

'How do you ever trust anyone?'

Aphrodite looked away from me. 'I don't. It's easier that way. You'll find out.' She met my eyes again and I couldn't read the weird expression in them. 'Power changes people.'

'I'm not going to change.' I was going to say more, but then I thought about the fact that just a few months ago if someone had told me that I'd be making out with a grown-ass man while I had not one but two boyfriends I would have said no f-ing way. So didn't that mean I'd changed?

Aphrodite smiled like she could read my mind. 'I wasn't talking about you. I was talking about the people around you.'

'Oh,' I said. 'Aphrodite, not to be mean or anything, but I think I pick my friends better than you.'

'We'll see. Speaking of—Shouldn't you be heading to the movies to meet your friends right now?'

I sighed. 'Yeah, but no way can I go. I've got to get the blood for Stevie Rae, get her clothes together, and I also want to stop by Wal-Mart and grab one of those GoPhones. I figured it would be a good idea to give it to Stevie Rae so that she could call me.'

'Fine. Why don't you pick me up outside the trapdoor in the east wall at about two thirty? That gives us plenty of time to get to Philbrook before Stevie Rae.'

'Sounds good. I just need to run up to my room, grab some of Stevie Rae's clothes and my purse, then I'll be out of here.'

'Okay, I'll go into the dorm first.'