Betrayed

don't mean just a little select clique of kids, like when Aphrodite was the leader. The Dark Daughters and Sons should be hard to get into and it should be select. But not because only the current leader's friends have a chance to get in. I want the Dark Daughters and Sons to be something everyone is proud of, and I think by allowing one of the old group on my Council I'll be sending the right message.”
    "Or you'll be letting a viper into our midst,” Damien said quietly.
    "Correct me if I'm wrong, Damien, but aren't snakes closely allied with Nyx?" I spoke quickly, following the intuitive feeling that was prompting me. "Haven't they gotten a bad reputation because historically they've been symbols of female power, and men wanted to take that power away from women and make it something disgusting and scary instead?”
    "No, you're right," he said reluctantly, "but that doesn't mean letting one of Aphrodite's gang into our Council is a good idea.”
    "See, that's the point. I don't want it to just be our Council. I want it to be something that becomes a tradition with the school. Something that lasts beyond us.”
    "So you mean if any of us don't make it through the Change, founding this new kind of Dark Daughters will be like we've lived on," Stevie Rae said, and I could see that she'd captured the interest of the rest of them.
    "That's exactly what I meant—even though I don't think I realized it until this second," I said in a rush.
    "Well, I like that part of it, even though I have no intention of drowning in my own bloody lungs,” Erin said.
    "Of course you won't, Twin: It's a much too unattractive way to die.”
    "I don't want to even think about not making it through the Change," Damien said, "but if—if something awful were to happen to me, I would want something about me to live on here at the school.”
    "Could we have plaques?" Stevie Rae asked, and I noticed she was suddenly looking unusually pale.
    "Plaques?" I had no clue what she was talking about.
    "Yeah. I think we should have a plaque or something that records the names of the ... the … what did you call them?"
    "Prefects," Damien said.
    "Yeah, Prefects. The plaque, or whatever, could have the names of each year's Prefect Council, and it'll be displayed for ever and ever.
    "Yeah,” said Shaunee, warming to the idea. "But not just a plaque. We need something cooler than just a plain old plaque."
    "Something that's unique—like us," Erin said.
    "Handprints," Damien said.
    "Huh?" I asked.
    "Our handprints are unique. What if we made cement casts of each of our handprints, then signed our names below them," Damien said.
    "Like the stars do in Hollywood!" Stevie Rae said.
    Okay, it seemed kinda cheesy, which meant I couldn't help but like it. The idea was like us—unique—cool—and bordering on tacky.
    "I think handprints are an excellent idea. And you know where the perfect place for them is?" They looked at me with bright, happy eyes, their worry about one of Aphrodite's friends joining us, as well as the pretty much constant fear of sudden death we all carried around with us, temporarily forgotten. "The courtyard is the perfect place.”
    The bell rang, calling us back to class. I asked Stevie Rae to tell our Spanish teacher, Proffe Garmy, that I had gone to see Neferet, so I'd be late. I really wanted to tell her about my ideas while they were still fresh in my mind. It wouldn't take long—I'd just give her a basic outline and see if she liked the direction I was heading. Maybe ... maybe I'd even ask her to come to the Full Moon Ritual Sunday, and be there when I announced the new selection process for membership to the Dark Daughters and Sons. I was thinking about how nervous I'd be if Neferet was there, watching me cast a circle and lead my own ritual, and was telling myself sternly that I'd have to get rid of my nerves ... that it was the best thing for the Dark Daughters if Neferet was there showing her support of my new ideas and—
    "But that's what I saw!" Aphrodite's voice, carrying from the cracked door of Neferet's classroom, jarred my thoughts and made me stop short. She sounded awful—totally upset and maybe even scared.
    "If your sight is no better than that, then perhaps it's time you quit sharing what you see with others." Neferet's voice was ice, terrifying, cold, and hard.
    "But, Neferet, you asked! All I did was tell you what I saw.”
    What was Aphrodite talking about? Ah, hell. Could she have run to Neferet about