House of Night 09 - Destined

well, you know—he came back from the Otherworld. So when he passes out I just let him alone.”
    “It’ll take a while, but he’ll be back to normal soon,” Stevie Rae said.
    “I hope so,” Zoey said and chewed at her lip.
    “Speaking of boyfriends, is yours a bird?” Aphrodite asked her.
    “Yes.” Stevie Rae gave her a narrowed-eye look. “And I don’t wanna talk about it.”
    “But we do need to know exactly why the Raven Mockers were at the school today,” Darius said, not unkindly, “And since Rephaim is unable to answer our questions we’re hoping you can.”
    “I thought this meeting was about the True Sight stuff,” Stevie Rae said, feeling immediately defensive of Rephaim.
    “It is, but it’s also a catch-up meeting,” Damien said. “I think we need one, don’t you?”
    There was just no way to argue with Damien, especially when he had that sweet, concerned look on his face. Stevie Rae met his eyes. “Yeah, I think we do. So, to start with, how are you holdin’ up?”
    Damien blinked several times, like he was surprised by the question, which made Stevie Rae feel like crap. Had everydangbody forgotten Damien had lost his boyfriend just days ago?
    “It was better being at school today. It felt like a step toward normal.” Damien spoke slowly and carefully, as if he had to think about each word. “But I missed Jack a lot. Actually, and I know this might sound crazy, but I kept expecting to see him around every corner in the hallway.”
    “That’s not crazy,” Zoey said. “I keep expecting to see Heath, too. It’s hard and just plain wrong when someone dies too soon.” Everyone watched the different expressions play across Z’s face, and then she added, “My mom, too. I know I’ve been at the House of Night since last year, and even before that she and I hadn’t been close for a while, but it’s hard to really get that she’s dead. So I understand what you mean about Jack.”
    “That makes it better, too,” Damien said. “The fact that you guys understand what it’s like to lose someone close to you.” He smiled at Stevie Rae. “So, my answer to your question is that I’m holding up as well as can be expected.”
    “Good. Next question, or actually back to the original question,” Aphrodite said. “What were the birdboys doing at the House of Night?”
    “Kalona sent ’em. They were supposed to tell Rephaim that his daddy will take him back as soon as he admits he made a mistake choosing me and the Goddess.” Stevie Rae shook her head. “Sometimes I think Kalona’s just plain dumb.”
    “What do you mean?” Z asked.
    “Heck, Rephaim hasn’t even been my official boyfriend for a month. You’d think his daddy’d at least give us a chance to have our first fight before he was all ‘oooh, you’ve made a mistake.’”
    “What exactly was Rephaim’s response?” Darius asked.
    “Well, what do you think it was? Jeeze Louise, he’s still here.” Stevie Rae felt her anger build. “He told them to tell Kalona that he hadn’t made a mistake and he wasn’t comin’ back. Period. The end.”
    “Yeah, but is it?” Aphrodite said.
    “Is it what?” she asked.
    “Is it the end? Isn’t Kalona going to keep hanging around, trying to get Rephaim to see the light or whatever?”
    “So what if he does? Rephaim isn’t on his team anymore. He hasn’t been for a long time.”
    “So you say.”
    “So he says!” Stevie Rae felt like she was going to explode. “So his dad says. So his brothers say. So even Nyx says! The dang Goddess herself showed up and forgave him. What the hell does Rephaim have to do to prove to you guys he’s changed?”
    “Hey, no one’s saying Rephaim has to prove anything,” Zoey said, sending Aphrodite a you’re not helping look. “But we do need to know if something is up with Kalona and the Raven Mockers.”
    “Z, nothin’s up with them. Well, except that it really hurt Rephaim that that dang bull kid killed one of ’em. Seriously, guys, his brothers weren’t doin’ anything except talkin’ to him. Dragon showed up, pissed of course, but we all get that because of Anastasia. Still, the Raven Mockers were just defendin’ themselves. Aurox is the one we should be askin’ questions about.”
    “Yeah, except that we don’t have Aurox answers here—and we should have Rephaim answers,” Aphrodite said.
    “I gave you his answers.” Even as weak and tired as she felt because it was past sunrise, Stevie Rae