"But what if they thought something was going on that was more than a little broken rule or two, and they had an idea about a certain group of fledglings who might know something," I said.

"They'd focus their thoughts on that group of fledglings," Damien concluded for me. "You really can't tell us certain things!"

"Damn," Shaunee said.

"Sucks royally," Erin said.

"Took you guys long enough," Aphrodite said.

Damien ignored her. "This has something to do with Stevie Rae, doesn't it?"

I nodded.

"Hey, speaking of," Shaunee said.

"What happened to her?" Erin asked.

"Didn't shit happen to her," Aphrodite said. "She found me. I un-freaked when I finally got my Mark back, and then I came back here."

"And she went where?" Damien asked.

"Do I look like a damn babysitter? How the hell am I supposed to know where your bumpkin friend went? All she said was she had to go because she had issues. Like that was a big shock."

"You're gonna have issues with my fist in your face if you start talking shit about Stevie Rae," Shaunee said.

"I'll hold her skinny ass for you, Twin," Erin said.

"Do you two share a brain?" Aphrodite said.

"Oh. My. God! Enough!" I yelled. "I might die. Twice. Some weird ghostly thing messed with me today, and now I'm feeling scared crapless about it. I'm not sure what the hell's going on with Stevie Rae, and Neferet has called a Council Meeting probably to go over her plans for war—a war that is totally not the right thing to do. And you guys can't stop bickering! You're giving me a headache and pissing me off."

"You better listen to her. I counted two real cuss words and one almost cuss in that little speech. She's serious," Aphrodite said.

I saw the Twins actually have to stifle smiles. Jeesh. Why is my not liking to cuss such a big deal?

"Okay. We'll try to get along," Damien said.

"For Zoey," Jack said, giving me a sweet smile.

"For Zoey," the Twins said together.

My heart squeezed as I looked at each of my friends. They had my back. No matter what—they would still stand beside me.

"Thanks, guys," I said, blinking back tears.

"Group hug!" Jack said.

"Ah, hell no," Aphrodite said.

"That's one thing we can agree with Aphrodite on," Erin said.

"Yeah, time to go," Shaunee said.

"Ah oh, Damien, we gotta go, too. You told Stark we'd check to be sure he was settled in before the meeting," Jack said.

"Oh, that's right," Damien said. "Bye, Z. See ya soon."

He and Jack followed the Twins out of my room. Calling goodbye to me, they filed down the hall, then went on chattering about the hottiness of Stark, leaving me with Aphrodite.

"So, my friends aren't so bad, huh?" I said.

Aphrodite turned her cool blue gaze on me. "Your friends are dorks," she said.

I grinned and butted my shoulder into her. "Then that makes you a dork."

"That's what I'm afraid of," she said. "Speaking of me being in hell—come to my room. There's something you have to help me figure out before we go to the Council Meeting."

I shrugged. "Okay by me." Actually, I was feeling pretty good about myself. My friends were speaking to me again, and it seemed that everyone might actually have a chance of getting along. "Hey," I said as we walked down the hall to Aphrodite's room. "Did you notice that the Twins said something nice to you before they left?"

"The Twins are symbiotic, and I hope very soon someone takes them away to perform science experiments on them."

"That attitude is not helping," I said.

"Could we just focus on what's really important?"

"Like?"

"Me, of course, and what I need you to help me with." Aphrodite opened the door to her room, and we walked into what I liked to think of as her palace. I mean, jeesh, the place looked like she'd decorated it out of a Guide to Gossip Girl Design magazine—if there was such a thing. Which, sadly, there probably was. (Not that I don't adore Gossip Girl!)

"Aphrodite, has anyone ever told you that you might have a personality disorder?"

"Several overpaid shrinks. Like I care." Aphrodite walked across the room and opened the door to the hand-painted (probably antique and majorly expensive) armoire that sat in front of her hand-carved (for sure antique and majorly expensive) four-poster canopy bed. As she rummaged around in it, she said, "Oh, by the way, you have got to find a way for the Council to make it okay for you and, tragically, me and—as much as I hate to say it—your nerd herd, too, to be allowed off campus."

"Huh?"

Aphrodite sighed and turned to face me. "Would you please keep up with me? We have to be able to come and go so we can figure out what the fuck is going on with Stevie Rae and her nasty friends."

"I already told you that I'm not gonna let you talk bad about Stevie Rae. Nothing is going on with her."

"That's up for discussion, but since you refuse to sanely discuss it this particular time, I'm talking about the freaks she's hanging with. What if you're right and Neferet wants to use them against humans? Not that I particularly like humans, but I defi­nitely don't like war. So I'm thinking you need to be checking into that."

"Me? Why me? And why do I have to figure out a way to get all of us in and out of the school?"

"Because you are the superhero fledgling. I'm just your more attractive sidekick. Oh, and the herd of nerd are your dorky minions."

"Great," I said.

"Hey, don't stress about it. You'll think of something. You always do."

I blinked in surprise at her. "Your confidence in me is shocking." And I wasn't kidding. I mean, she really looked like she thought I'd figure out this mess.

"It shouldn't be." She turned back to searching through the cluttered armoire. "I know better than just about anyone else how gifted you've been by Nyx. That you're powerful, blah, blah, whatever. So you'll figure it out. Finally! God, I wish they'd let us have housekeepers in here. I can never find anything when I'm forced to clean up after myself." Aphrodite emerged with a green candle in a pretty green crystal glass and a fancy lighter.

"You need me to help you figure out something about a candle?"

"No, genius. Sometimes I really wonder about Nyx's choices." She handed me the little gold lighter. "I want you to help me figure out if I've lost my affinity for earth."

I looked from the green candle to Aphrodite. Her face was pale and her lips were compressed into a thin bloodless line. "You haven't tried to evoke earth since you lost your Mark?" I asked gently.

She shook her head and continued to look like her stomach hurt.

"Okay, well, you're right. I can help you figure this out. I should probably cast a circle."

"That's what I thought." Aphrodite drew in a deep shaky breath. "Let's get this over with." She walked over to the wall that was on the opposite side of the room as her bed. She stood there, holding up her candle. "This is north."

"All right." Resolutely, I went to stand in front of Aphrodite. Turning to the east, I closed my eyes and centered myself. "It fills our lungs and gives us life. I call air to my circle." Even without a yellow candle representing the element—and without Damien and his air affinity—I felt the instant response of the element as a soft breeze smoothed against my body.

I opened my eyes and turned to my right, moving deosil, or clockwise, around the circle to the south, where I stopped. "It heats us and keeps us safe and warm. I call fire to my circle." I smiled as the air around me warmed with the second element.

Moving again to my right, I stopped next in the west. "It washes us and quenches us. I call water to my circle." Right away I felt the cool of invisible waves against my legs. Smiling, I moved to stand in front of Aphrodite.