Marked

had seemed to sizzle through my body, and also how I had had to force myself to stay in the circle and not join Aphrodite in the casting.
    "Stevie Rae, when a circle's being cast, do you feel anything?" I asked abruptly.
    "What do you mean?”
    "Well, like when fire's called to the circle. Do you ever feel hot?”
    "Nah. I mean, I really like the circle stuff, and sometimes when Neferet is praying I feel a zap of energy traveling through the circle itself, but that's it.”
    "So you've never felt a breeze when wind's called, or smelled rain with water, or felt grass under your feet with earth?”
    "No way. Only a High Priestess with a major affinity for the elements would―" She broke off suddenly and her eyes got huge. "Are you saying that you felt that stuff? Any of that stuff?”
    I squirmed. "Maybe.”
    "Maybe!" she squeaked. "Zoey! Do you have any idea what this could mean?”
    I shook my head.
    "Just last week in Soc class we were studying about the most famous vamp High Priestesses in history. There hasn't been a priestess with an affinity for all four of the elements for hundreds of years.”
    "Five," I said miserably.
    "All five! You felt something with spirit, too!”
    "Yeah, I think so.”
    "Zoey! This is amazing. I don't think there's ever been a High Priestess who felt all five of the elements." She nodded at my Mark. "It's that. It means you're different, and you really are.”
    "Stevie Rae, can we just keep this between us for a while? I mean, not even tell Damien or the Twins? I just―I just want to try to figure this out on my own a little. I feel like everything's happening too fast.”
    "But Zoey, I―”
    "And I might be wrong," I interrupted quickly. "What if I was just excited and nervous because I'd never been in a ritual before? Do you know how embarrassed I'd be if I told people 'hey, I'm the only fledgling ever to have an affinity for all the elements' and it turned out to be nerves?”
    Stevie Rae chewed her cheek. "I dunno, I still think you should tell someone.”
    "Yeah, then Aphrodite and her herd could be right there to gloat if it turned out that I was imagining things.”
    Stevie Rae paled. "Oh, man. You're totally right. That would be really awful. I won't say anything till you're ready. Promise.”
    Her reaction reminded me. "Hey, what is it Aphrodite did to you?”
    Stevie Rae looked down at her lap, clasped her hands together, and hunched her shoulders as if she suddenly felt a chill. "She invited me to a ritual. I hadn't been here very long, only about a month or so, and I was kinda excited that the 'in' group wanted me.” She shook her head, still not looking at me. "It was stupid of me, but I didn't really know anyone very well yet, and I thought maybe they would be my friends. So I went. But they didn't want me to be one of them. They wanted me to be a―a―blood donor for their ritual. They even called me 'refrigerator: like I wasn't good for anything except holding blood for them. They made me cry and when I said no they laughed at me and kicked me out. That's how I met Damien, and then Erin and Shaunee. They were hanging out together and they saw me run out of the rec hall, so they followed me and told me not to worry about it. They've been my friends ever since." She finally looked up at me. "I'm sorry. I would have said something to you before, except I knew they wouldn't try that with you. You're too strong, and Aphrodite is too curious about your Mark. Plus, you're beautiful enough to be one of them.”
    "Hey, so are you!" I felt sick to my stomach thinking about Stevie Rae being slumped in the chair like Elliott…about drinking Stevie Rae's blood.
    "No, I'm just kinda cute. I'm not them.”
    "I'm not them, either!" I yelled, causing Nala to wake up and mutter restlessly at me.
    "I know you're not. That's not what I meant. I just meant that I knew they would want you in their group, so they wouldn't try to use you like that.”
    No, they managed to trick me and tried their best to freak me out. But why? Wait! I knew what they'd been up to. Erik said that the first time he drank blood he'd hated it, and had run out puking. I'd been here only two days. They'd wanted to do something that would disgust me so badly that I'd be scared away from them and their ritual forever.
    They didn't want me to be part of the Dark Daughters, but they also didn't want to tell Neferet they didn't want me. Instead, they wanted me to refuse to join them. For whatever twisted reason,