Marked

it―excused from their full moon thingy this time?”
    "Well, you could, but then Neferet would tell the Dark Daughters and they'd think that you're scared of them.”
    I thought about the major crap that had already passed between Aphrodite and me in such a short time. "Uh, Stevie Rae, I might already be scared of them.”
    "Don't ever let them know." Stevie Rae looked down at her plate, trying to hide her embarrassment. "That's worse than standing up to them.”
    "Honey," Damien said, patting Stevie Rae's hand, "stop beating yourself up about that.”
    Stevie Rae gave Damien a sweet, thank-you smile. Then she said to me, "Just go. Be strong and go. They won't do anything too awful at the ritual. It's here on campus; they wouldn't dare.”
    "Yeah, they do all their bad bullshit away from here, where it's harder for the vamps to catch them," Shaunee said. "Around here they pretend to be all sickeningly sweet so no one knows what they're really like.”
    "No one except us," Erin said, sweeping out her hand so that she included not just our little group, but everyone else in the room, too.
    "I don't know, y'all, maybe Zoey will actually get along with some of them okay," Stevie Rae said without any touch of sarcasm or jealousy.
    I shook my head. "Nope. I won't get along with them. I don't like their kind―the kind of people who try to control others and make them look bad just to feel better about themselves. And I don't want to go to their Full Moon Ritual!" I said firmly, thinking about my stepfather and his buddies, and how ironic it was that they seemed to have so much in common with a group of teenagers who called themselves the daughters of a goddess.
    "I'd go with you if I could―any of us would―but unless you're one of the Dark Daughters you can only get in if you're invited," Stevie Rae said sadly.
    "That's okay. just deal with it." Suddenly I wasn't hungry anymore. I was just very, very tired, and I really wanted to change the subject. "So explain to me about the different symbols you wear here. You told me about ours―Nyx's spiral. Damien has a spiral, too, so that must mean he's a…I paused to remember what Stevie Rae had called freshmen, "a third former. But Erin and Shaunee have wings, and Aphrodite had something else.”
    "You mean besides that cob stuck straight up her skinny anus?" Erin muttered.
    "She means the three Fates," Damien interjected, beating Shaunee to whatever she was going to add. "The three Fates are children of Nyx. The sixth formers all wear the emblem of the Fates, with Atropos holding scissors to symbolize the end of school.”
    "And for some of us, the end of life," Erin added gloomily.
    That shut everyone up. When I couldn't stand the uncomfortable silence anymore I cleared my throat and said, "So what about Erin and Shaunee's wings?”
    "The wings of Eros, who is the child of Nyx's seed―”
    "The love god," Shaunee said, adding a seated gyration of her hips.
    Damien frowned at her and kept talking. "The golden wings of Eros are the fourth formers' symbol.”
    "'Cause we're the love class," Erin sang, raising her arms over her head and shimmying her hips.
    "Actually, it's because we're supposed to be reminded of Nyx's capacity to love, and the wings symbolize our continuous movement forward.”
    "What's the symbol for fifth formers?" I asked.
    "Nyx's golden chariot pulling a trail of stars," Damien said.
    "I think it's the prettiest of the four symbols," Stevie Rae said. "Those stars sparkle like crazy.”
    "The chariot shows that we continue on Nyx's journey. The stars represent the magic of the two years that have already passed."
    "Damien, you are a good little student," Erin said.
    "I told you we should have gotten him to help us study for the human mythology test," Shaunee said.
    "I thought I told you we needed his help, and―”
    "Anyway," Damien shouted over their bickering, "that's about all there is to the four symbols of the classes. Easy-peasy, really," he looked pointedly at the now silent Twins. "That is, if you pay attention in class instead of writing notes and staring at guys you think are cute.”
    "You're really prudey, Damien," Shaunee said.
    "Especially for a gay boy.” Erin added.
    "Erin, your hair's looking kinda frizzy today. Not to be mean or anything, but maybe you should think about switching products. You can't be too careful about those kinds of things. The next thing you know you'll be getting split ends.”
    Erin's blue eyes got huge and her