Chosen

said, struggling to sit up.

CHAPTER 27

'Holy shit!' Shaunee squeaked and stumbled back, clutching onto Erin's arm to keep from falling over.

'You were dead!' Erin said.

'I don't think I was,' Aphrodite said, rubbing her forehead with one hand and gingerly touching the bite mark on her neck with the other. 'Ouch! Dammit, I hurt all over.'

'I'm really really sorry, Aphrodite,' Stevie Rae said. 'I mean, I don't like you, but I sure wouldn't bite you. Or at least not now I wouldn't.'

'Yeah, yeah, whatever,' Aphrodite said. 'Don't worry about it. It was all part of Nyx's plan, as painful and inconvenient as that might be.' She winced again at the pain in her neck. 'God, does anyone have a Band-Aid?'

'I have some tissue in here somewhere. Hang on and I'll see if I can find it,' Erin said, digging through her purse again.

'Try to find a clean one for her, Twin. Aphrodite has enough stress to deal with without a nasty infection.'

'Gee, that's so damn nice of you two,' Aphrodite said. She glanced up at the Twins with a half smile on her face, and I got my first good look at her.

My stomach dropped down somewhere around my ankles.

'It's gone!' I gasped.

'Oh shit! Zoey's right,' Damien said, staring at Aphrodite.

'What?' Aphrodite said. 'What's gone?'

'Ah-oh,' Shaunee said.

'Yep, it is gone,' Erin said as she handed Aphrodite some tissue.

'What in the hell are you guys babbling about now?' Aphrodite said.

'Here. Use this.' Stevie Rae passed the mirror to her. 'Look at your face.'

Aphrodite sighed, clearly irritated. 'Okay, I know I look like complete shit. Hello! Stevie Rae just bit me. Here's a news flash: Not even I can look perfect all the time, especially when—' As soon as she focused on the mirror and got a look at the reflection of her face, Aphrodite's words ended like someone had pushed her stop talking button. With a trembling hand she reached up to touch the spot in the middle of her forehead where Nyx's Mark had been. 'It's gone.' Her voice was a hoarse whisper. 'How can it be gone?'

'I've never, ever heard of anything like this happening. Not in any book—not anywhere,' Damien said. 'Once you're Marked you can't just get un-Marked.'

'It's how Stevie Rae was healed.' Aphrodite sounded dazed, and she kept touching the empty spot in the middle of her forehead. 'Nyx took it from me and gave it to Stevie Rae.' A horrible shudder passed through Aphrodite's body. 'And now I'm nothing but a human again.' She scrambled to her feet, dropping the mirror. 'I have to leave. I don't belong here anymore.' She started backing woodenly toward the open trapdoor, eyes wide and glassy.

'Wait, Aphrodite,' I said, starting after her. 'Maybe you're not human again. Maybe this is something weird that will go away in a day or two, and your Mark will come back.'

'No! My Mark is gone. I know it. Just—just leave me alone!' She ran through the door sobbing.

The instant Aphrodite passed through the perimeter of the school wall the air rippled and there was a distinctive cracking noise like something big had been dropped and broken.

Stevie Rae grabbed my arm. 'You stay here. I'll go after her.'

'But you—'

'No, I'm okay now.' Stevie Rae smiled her sweet, full-of-life smile at me. 'You fixed me, Z. Don't worry. I caused this to happen to Aphrodite. I'll find her and make sure she's okay. Then I'll get back to you.'

I heard noises in the distance, like something big was moving quickly our way.

'It's the warriors. They know the school's been breached.' Damien said.

'Go!' I told Stevie Rae. 'I'll call you.' Then I added. 'I wont text message you. Ever. So if you get a text message it will not be from me.'

'Okey-dokey-smokey, I'll remember,' Stevie Rae said and then grinned at the four of us. 'See ya'll soon!' She ducked through the door, closing it after her. I noticed that the perimeter warning didn't so much as ripple when she passed and wondered briefly what the hell that meant.

'So what are we doing out here?' Damien asked.

'We're here because Erik dumped Zoey,' Shaunee said.

'Yeah, she's upset,' Erin said.

'Don't tell them about Aphrodite or Stevie Rae,' I said.

My friends looked at me like I'd just said maybe we shouldn't tell our parents about that little beer-drinking episode.

'No shit?' Shaunee said sarcastically.

'We were just gonna spill our guts,' Erin said.

'Yeah, because we can't be trusted to keep secrets,' Damien said.

Well, crap. They were definitely still mad at me.

'So who do we say broke the barrier?' Damien asked. I noticed he didn't even look at me, but addressed the question only to the Twins.

'Aphrodite, who else?' Erin said.

Before I could protest, Shaunee added, 'Yeah, we won't say anything about the disappearing act her Mark played. We'll just say she came out here with us and got annoyed at all of Zoey's blubbering.'

'And self-pity,' Erin added.

'And lies. So she took off. As per typical for Aphrodite,' Damien finished.

'She might get in trouble,' I said.

'Yeah, well, consequence is a bitch,' Shaunee said.

'A bitch who is clearly following some people pretty closely,' Erin said, giving me a sharp look.

Just then several warriors, led by Darius, burst into our clearing. With their weapons drawn they looked scary as hell and ready to kick some serious butt (potentially ours).

'Who broke the perimeter?' Darius practically barked the question.

'Aphrodite!' The four of us said together.

Darius made a quick gesture at two of the warriors. 'Find her,' he said. Then back to us, 'The High Priestess has called an assembly of the school. You are needed in the auditorium. I will escort you there.'

Meekly, we followed Darius. I tried to catch Damien's eye, but he wouldn't look at me. Neither would the Twins. It was like I was walking with strangers. Worse, actually. Strangers might at least smile and say hi. There was definitely no smiling or hi-ing going on with my friends.

We'd only gone just a couple of steps when the first of the pains hit me. It was like someone was driving an invisible knife into my stomach. I was sure I was going to be sick, and I doubled over, groaning.

'Zoey? What's wrong?' Damien said.

'I don't know. I—' I stopped being able to speak, and at the same time everything around me got ultrafocused. The pain in my stomach seemed to mushroom, and I knew the warriors were surrounding me, even as I reached out and grabbed hold of Damien's hand. Even though I knew he was still pissed, he hung on tight to me, and I could hear him telling me that everything was going to be okay.

Pain speared from my stomach to my heart. Was I dying? I wasn't coughing up blood. Could I be having a heart attack? It was like I had been thrust into someone else's nightmare where I was being tortured by invisible knives and unseen hands.

The searing pain that suddenly spiked through my neck was too much, and everything started to go black around the edges of my vision. I knew I was falling, but the pain was unbearable. There was nothing I could do … I was dying …

Strong hands caught and lifted me, and I was vaguely aware that Darius was carrying me.