"Zoey, you woke me up and kept me up through most of the day yesterday. Then you made that call to Thanatos to get the whole 'return to school'
thing in motion, which was not exactly a calm, quiet conversation. I'd just got to sleep when you yelled whatever and woke me up again. Making love was great." He paused and for a second smiled and looked almost normal. Then he opened his mouth and ruined it by saying, "Afterward you did some serious tossing and turning before you passed out. I couldn't get back to sleep. So I'm tired. That's all." I blinked at him. Twice. And tried not to feel like he'd just slapped me in my face. Keeping my voice down because I didn't want to deal with all my friends knowing, I said, "Okay, putting aside the whole I-had-to-call-Thanatos-to-get-us-back-to-school thing, which is what I shoulda done 'cause I'm the High Priestess in charge, and the fact that you came on to me when all I meant to do was cuddle and sleep, my mom is dead, Stark. Nyx let me see her enter the Otherworld. As of right now I don't know how or why that happened. I'm trying like hell to act semi-normal. I haven't even talked to my grandma yet."
"That's right, you haven't. I told you that you should have called her right away-or at least called your mom. What if it was all just a dream?" I looked at Stark in utter disbelief, struggling to keep my voice and my emotions under control. "You are the one person in this world who should understand better than anyone else that I can tell the difference between really seeing the Otherworld and dreaming it."
"Yeah, I know, but-"
"But are you saying I should have gone through all of that and not disturbed your precious sleep? Well, except to have sex with you!" I clamped my mouth shut and tried to look normal when I saw Aphrodite turn around and glance back at me with a question mark on her face.
Stark blew out a long breath. "No, that's not what I mean. I'm sorry, Z." Then he took my hand in his. "Seriously. I'm sounding like a jerk."
"Yeah, you are," I said.
"Sorry, again," he said, and then he butted my shoulder with his. "Can we rewind this conversation?"
"Yeah," I said.
"Here goes-I'm tired and it's making me stupid. And about your mom, we don't know what really happened and I think it's freaking both of us out. But no matter what I love you, even if I'm a jerk. Okay? Better?"
"Okay. Yeah. Better," I said.
still letting him hold my hand I looked out of the window as we took the left on Fifteenth Street, passed Gumpy's Garden, which always made the air smell like pinon wood, and traveled down Cherry Street. By the time we were on Utica, and passing Twenty-first, I was completely distracted by worry about my mom and my grandma-and wondering if maybe Stark could be right to question what I thought had been my vision. I mean-I hadn't heard from Grandma. What if it had all been a bad dream ...
"It's always so pretty." Damien's voice drifted back from the front seat he'd automatically chosen as his own. "When you look at it from here, it's so hard to believe that such horrible, heartbreaking things could happen there." I heard the sob in his voice, squeezed Stark's hand once before letting it go, and then lurched up the aisle to sit beside Damien.
"Hey," I said, sliding my arm through his. "You have to remember that wonderful, heartmaking things happen there, too. Don't ever forget that's where you met Jack and fell in love with him."
Damien stared at me and I thought he looked sad but really, really wise.
"How are you doing without Heath?"
"I miss him," I said honestly. Then something made me add, "But I don't want to be like Dragon, eaten up by sadness."
"Me, either," Damien said softly. "Even though sometimes it's hard not to be."
"It hasn't been very long."
Clamping his lips tightly together, as if to keep himself from crying, he nodded his head.
"You'll get through this," I said. "And so will I. We will. Together," I said firmly.
Then we were going through the iron gate that had the crescent moon crest on the middle of it, and driving around to the side entrance of the school.
"School Council Meeting begins at seven thirty," said the Son of Erebus Warrior as the bus came to a halt. "Classes begin at eight o'clock sharp, just like they should."
"Thank you," I said to him like he'd actually been friendly (or at least respectful). Then I glanced at my phone: 7:20 P.M. Ten minutes until the meeting and forty before school started. I stood up and looked back at the group of obviously nervous kids.
"Okay," I said. "Just go to your old homerooms and wait there for what to do next. Stevie Rae, Stark and I are going to the Council Meeting and, as they'd say on the Isle of Skye, get Rephaim's and your permanent schedules sorted."
"How 'bout me? Ain't I comin' to the Meeting?" Kramisha asked. "It's usually borin', but I bet today it'll be better than usual."
"You're right," I said. "It's about time they started to automatically include you, along with Stevie Rae and me."
"Where do I go?" Rephaim asked from the back of the bus.
I was thinking, trying to figure out where the heck he should go when Damien stood up beside me. "You can come with me-at least for today. If that's okay with Zoey and Stevie Rae."
I smiled at Damien. I don't think I'd ever been so proud of him. Everyone would be worried about him and handling him like he could break down into hysteria at any second, so if he latched onto Rephaim, no way would anyone question him-they'd be too scared of upsetting Damien.