“If she doesn’t have on any eye makeup, Hell has officially frozen over,” Shaunee said, which was interesting because that’s as close as she’d gotten to a Twin comment in days.
I glanced at Shaunee, who was sitting in the front seat of the bus, as far away from Erin’s place in the back as she could get. Shaunee was digging in her purse like she’d misplaced a tube of one of MAC’s seasonal lipsticks that you buy and fall in love with AND THEN THEY DISCONTINUE IT BECAUSE THEY REALLY HATE US AND WANT US TO BE CRAZY.
Anyway, I was sure Shaunee’s cheeks looked pink. So, was she embarrassed about the kinda accidental Twin comment she had made, or excited about it? I didn’t have much time to consider which it could be because Aphrodite climbed into the bus and sat heavily in the first seat behind the driver’s chair, which was directly in front of me.
“Coffee,” she croaked. “I told Darius we have to swing the short bus through Starbucks at Utica on the way. I’m going to die if I don’t get an uber-sweet caramel double espresso coffee drink and a giant slab of their blueberry coffee cake.”
“Them’s a lot of calories,” Kramisha told her.
“If you try to stop me I will kill you dead,” Aphrodite said.
“I think your hair looks good like that,” Shaunee told her.
“For shit’s sake, I don’t need the pity of half a brain-sharer. I do not feel that damn bad.”
Shaunee skewered her with a look. “I’m not half of anything and I’m not giving you any pity. I was just sayin’ I like your hair ’cause you usually don’t wear it like that, but if you’re too much of a bitch to accept a compliment then you can fuck yourself.”
The entire bus inhaled a giant breath. The silence was total and frightening. I wasn’t sure whether I should summon elements or run. Then Aphrodite pulled her sunglasses down her nose and looked over their rims at Shaunee. Her eyes were pink-tinged and bruised and just all-around horrendously unattractive, but they were shining with humor. “I think I like you using a brain of your own.”
“Yeah, well, I haven’t decided if I like you at all, but your hair still looks good.”
“Huh,” Aphrodite said.
“Huh,” Shaunee said.
We all breathed a long sigh of relief.
And that’s pretty much how the day proceeded. Stark was back to his old, charming, sexy, totally fabulous self. When I asked what the heck had gotten into him he said, “Z, I slept like a log and I feel like Superman today!” Seriously. Superman. And, apparently, he meant it ’cause he was zooming around everywhere, laughing and being a total guy.
He was the cutest thing I’d seen since that Trololo Cat YouTube video.
So, before school was cool. The ride to school was even okay. Well, Aphrodite was grumpy, but that was pretty much normal. Plus, she was actually talking to Shaunee, which was nice ’cause it was obvious Shaunee wasn’t sure who she was now that she wasn’t one half of the Twin team. And we did stop at Starbucks on the way. I know fledglings aren’t supposed to feel caffeine highs anymore, but it definitely seemed like we were all buzzing by the time we pulled into the House of Night.
Of course once we got to school everything else was, as Stevie Rae would’ve said, as under control as herding cats.
It all started with first hour. Okay, I hadn’t actually forgotten Thanatos was going to use me as an example for her how-do-we-deal-with-losing-parents class project or whatever. I’d just kinda misplaced the memory of it, which probably had to do with Stark being so dang adorable and me being so dang happy he was acting like himself again.
And maybe I hadn’t wanted to remember. Maybe I’d just wanted to not be momless and heartbroken for a little while.
Anyway, my selective amnesia didn’t last more than just about two-point-five seconds after I stepped into first hour and followed Stevie Rae and Rephaim up front. Aurox was there, just where he’d been yesterday. He met my gaze for an instant before he looked away. Then I remembered what was up—that class wasn’t just going to be me being entertained or me daydreaming. Class was gonna be, well, me. That totally made my stomach clench and suddenly I was nervous and anxious and wishing I’d gotten permission to go to the bathroom or the nurse or anywhere except class.
It was only later that I realized my seer stone, for the first time, hadn’t heated up at the sight of him because, of course, Thanatos started to talk, which totally distracted me by putting the cherry on top of my anxiety sundae.
“I read your questions and found a common theme in many of them,” she said. “Quite a few of you expressed a desire to discuss how to deal with the loss of your parents. The truth is if you complete the Change and become vampyres, you will inevitably lose not just your parents, but all of your mortal contemporaries because, as you already know, although vampyres are not immortal we are definitely longer lived than humans. So, to help us delve into this subject I have solicited the aid of the only one of your peers who has lost a parent, as well as a mate, to death—Zoey Redbird.”
I wanted to die.
Everyone was quiet and paying attention, even the jerky red fledgling back row that surrounded Dallas.
“First, let me begin with a word of encouragement,” Thanatos said. “As you know, my affinity is death. I often guide spirits in their crossing from this world to the Otherworld, so I can tell each of you with certainty that there is an Otherworld waiting for us. I have not traveled there, but Zoey has.” She smiled encouragement to me. “I believe you have seen both your mate and your mother joyously welcomed into Nyx’s realm.”
“Yes.” I realized my voice was way too soft, so I cleared my throat and tried again, louder. “Yes, I saw my mom welcomed by Nyx, and I actually spent time there with Heath.”
“And is it a beautiful place?”
I felt a little of the sickness leave my stomach as I remembered the good part. “Yeah, it’s awesome. Even when my soul was shattered and I was super messed up, I could feel the peace and happiness in the Goddess Grove.” I just couldn’t reach it for myself, I added silently.
Stevie Rae’s hand went up. “Yes, Stevie Rae.” Thanatos called on her.
“Is it okay if we ask questions?”
“Zoey?” Thanatos’s wise gaze turned to me.
“Yeah, sure, I guess.”
“Then go ahead and ask your question, Red High Priestess.” Thanatos’s gaze took in the entire class. “But let us remember the rules of civility that are always in effect in my classroom.”
There was a pause and then Stevie Rae asked me, “Uh, so, the Otherworld, it’s a big grove?”
I was surprised by her question and her obvious curiosity—then I realized she’d never asked me much of anything about the Otherworld. Really, outside of Sgiach, and mentioning it when I’d led the ritual for Jack, I really hadn’t talked about it hardly at all.
“Well, yeah, but I know there are a bunch of different parts of the Otherworld. Like when I first found Heath he was fishing off a dock that was on a really pretty lake.” Even though missing him made me sad, the memory made me smile. “Heath loved to fish. I mean, seriously loved it. So, that’s where I first found him, but when we needed to be safe we went to the Goddess Grove. That was in a different part of the Otherworld.”
Damien’s hand went up and Thanatos called on him.
“I know you didn’t see Jack up there, but are you saying that you believe there are places in the Otherworld that are specific to each of us?”
I thought about it for a second, and then nodded. “Yeah, I think that’s a good way of describing it. Jack is probably in the arts and crafts section.”
Damien smiled through his tears. “He wanted to be a fashion designer. He’s in the Project Runway section.”
“Oooh! Nice section,” I heard from somewhere behind me and a few kids laughed softly.