Chosen

to the stables—the section that's near the edge of the little pasture. There's a grove at the end of it and a tree there was split by lightning a couple years ago. It's leaning against the wall. The split makes it easy to climb. Jumping from the top of the wall isn't really that big a deal.'

'How do you get back on campus? Is there a tree on the other side, too?'

She gave me an evil smile. 'No, but someone just happened to conveniently leave a rope tied to the branch. Climbing back over the wall isn't hard, but it's hell on your manicure.'

'Okay. I got it. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get some more blood from the kitchen.' I was speaking to myself more to Aphrodite. 'I have just enough time to meet Heath, run by and see Stevie Rae, and get back here for the ritual.'

'You have less time than that. Neferet is having a Full Moon Ritual of her own and she wants everyone to be there,' Aphrodite said.

'Dang it! I thought Neferet wasn't performing a school-wide ritual this month because of winter break.'

'Winter break has been officially called off. All vamps and fledglings have been ordered to return to campus immediately. And dang it isn't actually a word.'

I ignored her commentary on my non-cuss cuss words. 'Break is called off because of what happened to Professor Nolan?'

Aphrodite nodded. 'It was really horrible, wasn't it?'

'Yeah.'

'Why didn't you puke?'

I shrugged uncomfortably. 'I think I was too freaked to puke.'

'I wish I had been,' Aphrodite said.

I glanced at my watch. It was almost eight. I was going to have to rush to get out of here and get back in time. 'I gotta go.' I was already feeling sick about having to figure out a way to sneak blood out of what was probably a busy kitchen.

'Here.' Aphrodite handed me the canvas bag she'd been carrying over her shoulder. 'Take this to Stevie Rae.'

The bag was full of pouches of blood. I blinked in surprise. 'How did you get these?'

'I couldn't sleep, and I figured the vamps would call in major backup after what happened to Professor Nolan, which means the kitchen was going to be busy again. So I thought I better make a quick trip to clean out the supply of blood before we couldn't get to it anymore. I kept it in the mini-fridge in my room.'

'You have a mini-fridge.' Dang. I'd really like to have a mini-fridge.

She gave me a very Aphrodite-like sneer while she looked down her nose at me. 'It's one of the privileges of being an upperclassman.'

'Well, thanks. It was really nice of you to get this for Stevie Rae.'

Her sneer deepened. 'Look, I wasn't being nice. I just didn't want Stevie Rae foaming at the mouth and eating my parents' help. As Mother says, dependable illegals are really hard to find.'

'You're all heart, Aphrodite.'

'Don't mention it.' She walked around me and cracked open the door, peeking out into the hall to be sure no one was out there. Then she looked back at me. 'And I mean it: Don't mention it.'

'I'll see you at the Dark Daughters ritual. Don't forget.'

'Sadly, I haven't forgotten. Even more sadly, I'll be there.'

Then she hurried out of my room and disappeared down the hall. 'Issues,' I muttered as I left my room and went the opposite way down the hall. 'The girl has such issues.'

CHAPTER 17

Erik was going to be so dang pissed at me. The Twins had been perched on their favorite chairs staring at a Spider-Man 3 DVD as I hurried out of the kitchen clutching my can of brown pop and the canvas bag full of blood.

'Holy shit, Z, are you okay?' Shaunee asked, looking kinda wide-eyed and freaked.

'We heard about you and the hag—' Erin paused and then reluctantly corrected herself, 'I mean you and Aphrodite finding Professor Nolan. It must have been totally awful.'

'Yeah, it was pretty bad.' I made myself smile reassuringly at them and not act like I was dying to bolt from the room.

'I can't believe it really happened,' Erin said.

'I know. It just doesn't seem real,' Shaunee said.

'It's real. She's dead,' I said solemnly.

'You're sure you're okay?' Shaunee asked.

'We're all really worried about you,' Erin added.

'I'm fine. Promise.' My gut twisted. Shaunee, Erin, Damien, and Erik were my best friends, and I hated lying to them, even if most of the lies I was telling were by omission. In the two months I'd been at the House of Night we had become a family, so they weren't faking. They were genuinely worried about me. And as I stood there trying to sift through what I could and couldn't say to them, a horrible premonition shivered over my skin. What if they found out about all the stuff I had been keeping from them and they turned away from me? What if they stopped being my family? Just thinking about that terrible possibility made me all fluttery and panicky inside. Before I could chicken out, confess everything, and fling myself at their feet while I begged them to understand and not be mad at me, I blurted, 'I have to go see Heath.'

'Heath?' Shaunee looked utterly confused.

'Her human ex-boyfriend, Twin. Remember?' Erin supplied.

'Oh yeah, the blond hottie who almost got eaten by the vamp ghosts two months ago, and then almost got killed by that nasty street-person-turned-serial-killer last month,' Shaunee said.

'You know, Z, you're hard on your ex-boyfriends,' Erin said.

'Yeah, sucks to be him,' I inserted, moving casually toward the door. 'I gotta go, guys.'

'They're not letting anyone leave campus,' Erin said.

'I know, but I, um, well…' I hesitated, and then I felt ridiculous for the hesitation. I couldn't tell the Twins about Stevie Rae or Loren, but I sure as hell could tell them something as typically teenage as sneaking out of school. 'I know a secret way off campus.'

'Well done, Z!' Shaunee said happily. 'We'll totally use your superior sneaking-out-of-school skills during finals this spring when we're supposed to be studying.'

'Please.' Erin rolled her eyes. 'As if we have to study. Especially when there are end-or-season shoe sales to pillage. Then she raised her very blond brows and added, 'Uh, Z. What do we tell boyfriend?'

'Boyfriend?'

'Your boyfriend, Erik I'm-So-Damn-Fiiiine Night.' Erin gave me a look that said she thought I'd lost my mind.

'Hello. Earth to Zoey. Are you sure you're okay?' Shaunee said.

'Yeah, yeah. I'm okay. Sorry. Why do you have to tell Erik anything?'

'Because he said for us to tell you to call him the instant you woke the hell up. He's majorly worried about you, too,' Shaunee said.

'No doubt if he doesn't hear from you pretty soon he'll be camped out here,' Erin said. 'Ooooh, Twin!' Her eyes widened and her lips curled into a sexy smile. 'Do you think boyfriend will bring along the two hotties?'

Shaunee tossed back her thick dark hair. 'It's a definite possibility, Twin. T. J. and Cole are friends of his and this is a very stressful time.'

'Right you are, Twin. And we all know that during stressful times friends should stick together.'

In perfect agreement the Twins turned to me. 'Go ahead and go do whatever with ex-boyfriend,' Erin said.