Burned

know dead. I’ve been there, done that, and got the frickin’ T-shirt.” Stevie Rae turned her back on the room and, with her fledglings, got the heck outta there.

Chapter 8

Aphrodite

Aphrodite didn’t let Darius carry her from the Council Chamber like he wanted to. She couldn’t leave Zoey alone in the middle of the shit pot Neferet was stirring with no one but a totally messed-up Warrior and a semi-hysterical nerd herd standing between her and some serious crazy.

“Yes, I believe it is important to keep Erebus’s body under close watch while his spirit is absent. Perhaps this is only a temporary state he has fallen into as a response to Zoey’s attack on him,” Neferet was saying to the High Council.

“Zoey’s attack on him? Did you really just say that?” Stark, puffy-eyed and hollow-cheeked, looked like he was on the verge of exploding.

“Go to Stark and try to help him get a handle on his temper,” Aphrodite whispered to her Warrior. When he hesitated, she added, “I’m fine. I’m just going to sit here and listen and learn—kinda like I’m at one of my mom’s cocktail parties gone bad.”

Darius nodded. He moved quickly to Stark’s side and put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. Aphrodite thought it was a good sign that Stark didn’t shrug him off, but then again, the arrow kid looked like total crap. She wondered about what happened to a Warrior if his Priestess died, and then shivered with a terrible premonition of what could come.

“Zoey did attack Erebus. His spiritless body is undeniable proof of that,” Neferet said, smugness coloring her voice.

“Zoey was attempting to stop the immortal from killing her consort,” Darius said before Stark could shout his retort.

“Ah, and that is the issue, isn’t it?” Neferet smiled silkily at Darius, making Aphrodite want to claw out her eyes. “Why did my consort feel the need to cause harm to Zoey’s Heath? The only real knowledge we have about it is from Erebus himself before his spirit was wrenched from his body. His last words were ‘I was protecting my Goddess.’ So what transpired between Zoey and Heath and Erebus is much more complicated than it might appear to a young, distraught witness.”

“This wasn’t some fight for Nyx! Kalona killed Heath! Probably because he was jealous of how much Zoey loved him,” Stark said, looking like he wanted nothing more than to wrap his hands around Neferet’s white throat and squeeze.

“And how did you feel about Zoey’s love for Heath? A Warrior bond is an intimate one, is it not? You were there with them when the soul shattering happened. Where is your culpability, Warrior?” Neferet said.

Darius held Stark back from launching himself at Neferet, and Duantia spoke quickly into the rising tension. “Neferet, I think we can all agree that there are many unanswered questions about the tragedy that occurred on our island today. Stark, we also understand the passion and rage you feel at the loss of your Priestess. It is a hard blow for a Warrior to—”

Duantia’s wisdom was cut off by the sound of Aretha Franklin belting out the chorus from “Respect,” which was coming from the little Coach purse Aphrodite had slung over her shoulder.

“Oopsie, um, sorry ’bout that.” Aphrodite frantically unzipped her purse and dug for her iPhone. “Thought I had the ringer turned off. I don’t know who would be . . .” Her voice trailed off when she saw the caller ID was Stevie Rae. She almost pressed the IGNORE button, but a feeling hit her—strong and clear. She needed to talk to Stevie Rae. “Uh, sorry again, but I really have to take this.” Aphrodite hurried up the stairs and out of the Chamber, feeling way too exposed as everyone glared after her like she’d just slapped a baby or drowned a damn puppy. “Stevie Rae,” she whispered hastily, “I know you probably just found out about Z, and you’re freaked, but this really isn’t a good time.”

“Can you sense spirits and stuff from the Otherworld?” Stevie Rae asked without so much as a “Hey there, how ya doin’.”

Something about the tone of her voice brought Aphrodite up short and kept her from replying with her usual sarcasm. “Yeah, I’m starting to be able to. Apparently, I’ve been tuned in to the Otherworld since I started having visions—I just didn’t realize it until today.”

“Where’s Kalona’s body?”

Aphrodite ducked around the corner of the foyer. No one was around her, but she still kept her voice low. “Down there in front of the High Council in their Chamber.”

“Is Neferet there, too?”

“Of course.”

“Zoey?”

“She’s there, too. Well, her body is. Z herself has totally checked out. Stark’s absolutely freaked by what’s happened, plus Neferet is pissing him off so bad he can hardly think. Darius is saving his ass by not letting him tear her apart with his bare hands. The nerd herd is hysterical.”

“But you kept your sense.”

Stevie Rae didn’t say it like a question, but Aphrodite answered her anyway. “Someone had to.”

“Good. Okay, I think I have somethin’ figured out about Kalona. If I’m right, Neferet is up to her elbows in evil, so much so that she’s got his body trapped, and his spirit has to obey her to get it back.”

“Like that would surprise any of us?”

“I’ll bet it would surprise most of the High Council. Neferet has a way of gettin’ people on her side.”

Aphrodite snorted. “As far as I can tell, most of them are clueless about her.”

“That’s what I thought. So moving against her out in the open there is going to be even harder than moving against her when she was here.”

“That about sums it up. So, what’s the deal with Kalona?”

“You need to check out his body using your super Spidey Other-world senses.”

“You’re such a dork. There is no such thing as Spider-Man. He is a made-up comic-book-bullshit character,” Aphrodite said.

“They’re called graphic novels, not comic books—don’t be so dang judgmental. I do not have time to argue with you about the benefits of graphic novels on people’s imaginations,” Stevie Rae said.

“Oh, please, if its ass is feathered and waterproof, it’s a duck. Hello, pictures with little word balloons makes it a comic book. They’re dorky comic books for nerdy antisocial, nonbathing people. End of discussion.”

“Aphrodite! Focus! Just go back in the Chamber and check out Kalona’s body with your Otherworld-spirit-sensing stuff. Look for any kind of weirdness that no one else can see. Like, I dunno—”

“A disgusting, sticky spiderweb of darkness wrapped all around him like freaky chains?” Aphrodite offered.

“Don’t mess with me about this. It’s too important.” Stevie Rae’s voice had gone completely serious.

“I’m not messing with you. I’m telling you what I’ve already seen. His body is completely covered by dark threads of yucky stuff that, apparently, no one else but moi can see.”

“It’s Neferet!” Stevie Rae’s voice was tense with emotion. “She’s tapped into