Untamed

'No, but the Red Cross building is a public place, and it feels different to me. Oh, and I don't think you'd have to invite me in here, Z. I used to live here, remember?'

I smiled at her. 'I remember.'

'If you two start holding hands and singing 'Lean on Me,' I'm going to have to excuse myself so I don't start retching,' Aphrodite said.

'Can you not use some of your mind control on her and get her to stop once and for all?' I asked.

'Nope. I've already tried it. There's something about her brain that I can't get into.'

'It's my superior intelligence,' Aphrodite said.

'It's more like your superior annoyance,' I said. 'Go on, Stevie Rae.'

'Let's see, what else . . .' She thought for a couple of seconds, then said, 'I'm a lot stronger than I used to be.'

'Regular adult vamps are strong,' I said. Then I remembered she'd had to stop for blood. 'So, you still have to have blood?'

'Yep, but if I don't get it, I don't think I'd go all crazy like I did before. I wouldn't like doing without it, but I don't think I'd turn into a bloodsucking monster.'

'But she doesn't know for sure,' Aphrodite said.

'I hate it when she's right, but she's right,' Stevie Rae said. 'There's just so much I don't know about what kind of vampyre I've Changed into that it's more than a little scary.'

'Don't worry. We have plenty of time to figure all of this out.'

Stevie Rae smiled and shrugged. 'Well, y'all are gonna have to figure this out on your own 'cause I really do gotta go.' Surprising the crap out of me, she started toward the window.

'Hang on. We have lots more talking to do. And what with the big announcement that winter break is over, there are going to be fledglings and vamps everywhere again, not to mention there're the Sons of Erebus and the whole war-against-the-humans thing to deal with if I try to leave campus to see you, so I don't know when I'll be able to see you.' I was beginning to feel a little short of breath about the multiple issues we had going on.

'Don't worry, Z. I still got that phone you gave me. Just call, and I can sneak back in here anytime.'

'You mean anytime there's no sunlight,' Aphrodite said, helping me open the window for Stevie Rae.

'Yeah, that's what I mean.' Stevie Rae looked at Aphrodite. 'You know you can come with me if you don't want to stay here and pretend.'

I blinked at my BFF in surprise. It wasn't like she could stand Aphrodite, but here she was, offering her a place to stay, and using a nice tone of voice about it, too, which was exactly like the Stevie Rae I knew and loved —and I felt like crap that somewhere in the back of my mind I'd imagined her acting undead and inhuman again.

'Really, you can come with me,' Stevie Rae repeated, and when Aphrodite didn't say anything, she added something that seemed really odd to me. 'I know what it's like to pretend. You wouldn't have to do that in the tunnels.'

I expected Aphrodite to sneer at her and make a crack about the red fledglings and bad hygiene, but what she actually said surprised me even more than Stevie Rae's offer.

'I have to stay here and pretend I'm still a fledgling. I'm not going to leave Zoey alone, and I don't trust the gay boy and the Dorkamese Twins to do the buddy thing right now. But thanks, Stevie Rae.'

I smiled at Aphrodite. 'See, you can be nice when you try.'

'I'm not being nice. I'm being practical. A world filled with war isn't attractive. You know, what with all that sweaty running and fighting and killing each other. It's just not conducive to good hair or well-maintained nails.'

'Aphrodite,' I said wearily, 'being nice is not a bad thing.'

'So says the Queen of Notnormal Land,' Aphrodite quipped.

'Which means she's queen of you, Vision Girl,' Stevie Rae said. Then she gave me a quick hug. 'Bye, Z. I'll see you soon. Promise.'

I hugged her back, loving that she felt and smelled and sounded like her old self again. 'Okay, but I wish you didn't have to go.'

'It'll be fine. You'll see. This'll all work out.' Then she crawled out the window. I watched her start to climb down the sheer side of the dorm. She looked creepily buglike until her body rippled and practically disappeared. Actually, had I not known she was there, I would never have seen her at all.

'It's like she's one of those lizards that can change the color of their bodies to match their surroundings,' Aphrodite said.

'Chameleons,' I said. 'That's what they're called.'

'Are you sure? Gecko sounds more Stevie Rae–ish to me.'

I frowned at her. 'I'm sure. Stop being such a smart aleck and help me close the window.'

With the window closed and the drapes drawn again, I sighed and shook my head. More to myself than to her, I said, 'So what are we going to do?'

Aphrodite started to paw through the chic little Coach purse she wore like decoration over her shoulder. 'I don't know about you, but I'm going to use this ridiculous eyeliner pencil to draw my Mark back. Can you believe I found this shade at Target?' She shuddered. 'Like, which of the fashion-challenged would even wear it? Anyway, I'm going to fix this thing, then I'm going to go to the stupid meeting Neferet called.'

'I meant, What are we going to do about all this life-and-death stuff that's going on? '

'I don't fucking know! I don't want this.' She pointed at her fake Mark. 'I don't want any of this. I just want to be what I was before you showed up here and all hell broke loose. I want to be popular and powerful and dating the hottest guy in school. Now I'm none of those things, and I'm a human who has scary visions and I don't know what to do about any of it.'

I didn't say anything for a second, thinking about the fact that I had been the cause of Aphrodite's losing her popularity, her power, and her boyfriend. When I did finally speak, I surprised myself by saying exactly what was on my mind.

'You must hate me.'

She stared a long time at me. 'I did,' she said slowly. 'But now it's mostly myself I hate.'

'Don't,' I said.

'And why the hell shouldn't I hate myself? Everyone else hates me.' Her words sounded sharp and mean, but her eyes were filled with tears.

'Remember the hateful thing you said to me not too long ago when you thought I was perfect?'

A small smile tilted up her lips. 'You'll have to remind me. I've said lots of hateful things to you.'

'Well, this particular time you said something about the fact that power changes people and that it makes them mess up.'

'Oh, yeah. It's coming back to me now. I said power changes people, but I was talking about the people around you.'

'Well, you were right about them and me, and I understand that now. I also understand a lot of the stupid things you've done.' I smiled and added, 'Not all of the stupid things you've done, but a lot of them. Because now I've done my share of stupid things, and I kinda think I'm not done doing stupid things—as depressing as that is.'

'Depressing, but true,' she said. 'Oh, and by the way, while we're talking about power changing people, you need to remember that when you're dealing with Stevie Rae.'

'What do you mean?'

'Exactly what I said. She's changed.'

'You're gonna have to do better than that,' I said, getting a sick feeling in my stomach.

'Don't pretend like you didn't notice anything weird about her,' Aphrodite said.

'She's been through a lot,' I justified.

'My point exactly. She's been through a lot, and it's changed her.'

'You've never liked Stevie Rae, so I don't expect you to suddenly start getting along with her, but I'm not going to listen to you talk crap about her—especially after she just offered to let you come with her so that you don't have to stay here and pretend to be something you're not.' I was working myself up into getting really pissed,