Untamed House of Night - By Kristin Cast Page 0,49

So he's asleep, I repeated stubbornly to myself.

That wouldn't have mattered before, my mind lectured me right back. Before he would have texted me back in about a second and begged me to meet him somewhere. Heath would never have slept through a text from me.

Maybe I should call him.

And hear him tell me he doesn't ever want to see me ever again? I chewed my lip and felt sick. No. No, I couldn't do that. Not after what had happened tonight. I couldn't bear to hear him say mean things to me. Reading them would be bad enough.

If he answered.

Cuddling with Nala, I tried to focus on her purr engine and let it drown out the silence of my cell phone.

Tomorrow, I told myself as I started to drift off to restless sleep. If I don't hear from Heath tomorrow, I'll call him.

Right before I fell completely asleep, I swear I heard the creepy sound of a raven right outside my window.
Chapter Fourteen
I hadn't needed to set my alarm to go off at five o'clock that evening (which is really my morning--remember, a fledgling's day and night are mixed up, as in our school starts at 8 P.M. and ends at 3 A.M.). I'd been lying there wide awake, petting Nala and trying not to think about Stark or Heath or Erik when my alarm beeped at me.

Groggily I stumbled around my room, pulling on a pair of jeans and a black sweater. I stared at myself in the mirror. Okay, just ugh. I had to get some sleep tonight-- the bags under my eyes had bags.

Nala had just arched her back and hissed at the door when someone pounded on it.

"Zoey! Would you hurry the hell up?"

I opened the door to see a disgruntled Aphrodite dressed in a very short (and very cute) black wool skirt, a deep purple pullover, and to-die-for black boots. She was tapping one of those boots in irritation.

"What?" I said.

"I know I've told you this before, but you are slow as a fat kid on crutches," she said.

"Aphrodite, you're mean. I know I've told you that before, too," I said, trying to blink the grogginess from my eyes and somehow think it from my mind. "And I'm not slow, I'm ready," I finally added.

"No, you're not. Your Mark isn't even covered."

"Ah, jeesh. I forgot about--" My eyes automatically went to her forehead, which was completely clear of a fledgling Mark.

"Yeah, one of the few advantages of pretending that I'm a fledgling is that I don't have to worry about covering up my Mark when I go off campus." Aphrodite's tone was flippant, but I could see the hurt in her eyes.

"Hey, remember what Nyx said. You're still special to her."

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Yeah, special. Whatever. Would you just hurry up? Darius is waiting, and you still have to tell Shekinah I'm going with you."

"And I need my bowl of cereal," I said as I slathered concealer on over the intricate tattoos of my Mark.

"No time for that," Aphrodite said while we hurried down the stairs. "We have to get to Street Cats before the stupid humans close up shop and scuttle away to their ridiculously middle class homes."

"You're a stupid human," I whispered.

"I'm a special human," she corrected me, and in an equally low voice, she continued. "When's Stevie Rae meeting us? She'll be cool if we're a little late, right?"

"Ah, crap!" I whispered. "I didn't get her last night." "I'm not surprised. Cell service in those tunnels sucks. I'll make excuses to Darius about why you're late. You call her again. This time let's hope you get her."

"I know, I know," I said.

"Hey, Z!" Shaunee called as Aphrodite and I passed by the kitchen.

"How are ya feelin' this morning? Better?" Erin asked.

"I am--thanks, guys," I said, smiling at them. The Twins were beyond resilient. It took more than another brush with death to freak them out for very long.

"Excellent. We got your box of Count Chocula right here," Erin said.

"Hey, Dorkamese Twins, you two want to take me up on some pedicures tonight? We can do some major nerd herd bonding over the wicked bunion I have on my right foot." Aphrodite lifted up her right stiletto boot and pretended like she was going to unzip it.

"We have your breakfast ready, too, Aphrodite," Erin said.

"Yeah, we fixed you up a nice bowl of Count Skankula," Shaunee said.

"You two are so not amusing. Zoey, I'll get Darius and we'll meet you in