Revealed

has managed to pull herself together enough to reform her body, chances are she’s going to contact Dallas again as a way to get the inside scoop on what’s going on at the House of Night,” Zoey finished for Stark.
    “With Dallas blaming Erin’s death on us, he’ll be as happy as a vulture on a meat wagon to do anything he can to mess us up,” Stevie Rae said.
    Aphrodite grimaced at Stevie Rae’s bumpkin analogy, but she had to agree with her logic. “The worst thing that could be done to mess us up would be to figure out a way to prove one of the House of Night vampyres killed my dad.”
    “I believe your supposition is correct. Neferet killed your father. I also believe her manifestation may have caused Erin’s body so much trauma that it rejected the Change—so, quite literally, Neferet could be guilty of the taking of two precious lives tonight,” Thanatos said.
    “She’ll be wanting to shove that guilt onto someone else,” Aphrodite said.
    “Yep, she’ll be wanting to plant evidence to make it look like someone from here did it,” Z agreed with her. “Dallas would help her do that. There’s no doubt about it.”
    “That must be prevented,” Thanatos said.
    “How? This is a school, not a military fortress. It’s just not that tough to sneak in and out of here. We all know that—we’ve all done it. And we have to remember that Neferet knows her way around this school even better than we do,” Aphrodite said.
    “Then my task is really rather simple. I must devise a way to prevent Neferet from entering our campus,” Thanatos said.
    “Actually, you need to prevent more than just Neferet. I can see Dallas, or any of his disgusting friends, sneaking in and out and doing whatever batshit crazy thing Neferet has cooked up for them to do.
She
wouldn’t actually have to do anything; she likes to delegate. It makes her feel powerful,” Aphrodite said.
    “Good point,” Z agreed.
    “I will meditate on this, and until I have an answer I will be quite certain the school grounds are being patrolled diligently. Kalona and Aurox will not allow anyone to enter our campus during daylight hours.” Thanatos said. “In the meantime, it is almost dawn. You all need rest.”
    Aphrodite stood up, and was surprised to feel the room rock slowly around her. Grateful the Xanax was beginning to work, she leaned against Darius’s strong arm. “Well, I’d say that I don’t want to sound like a bitch, but that would be a lie. I don’t care what I sound like. You and the rest of the School Council need to know that Darius is going to be staying with me in my old dorm room.” Aphrodite spoke to Thanatos in a firm, no nonsense voice that reminded her a little uncomfortably of her mother. “I know that’s against the rules, but so is kidnapping someone’s grandma, killing a human for no reason, and causing a fledgling to reject the Change and die—and that’s only three of the long list of rules that have been broken by the bad guys recently. So, I’m breaking a rule for the good guys. I don’t want to sleep without my Warrior, and I can promise you that Z feels the same way.” Aphrodite shot a humorous look at Stevie Rae. “The bumpkin would be insisting that she sleeps with her Bird Boy, but he’s going to be a bird and, apparently, she’s still refusing to put him in a cage at night—right, Stevie Rae?”
    “I’m not talkin’ to you when you call Rephaim Bird Boy.” She frowned at Aphrodite.
    “Yep, just as I thought. Still no cage. Anyway, we’ve been fighting evil and saving the effing world for months now, and I need my Warrior. I’m not sorry if that makes you uncomfortable. The end.”
    There was a long pause while Thanatos and Aphrodite locked gazes, and then Thanatos said, “I believe there is precedence for Warriors to share the sleeping quarters of their Priestesses, especially if they believe their Priestesses could be in danger.”
    “Z is always in danger,” Stark said quickly.
    “As is my Prophetess,” Darius added, sliding a protective arm around her.
    Aphrodite smiled. “I guess that settles that.”
    “Stevie Rae, I know you’ll be sleeping alone as soon as the sun rises,” Shaunee spoke softly. “And if you wouldn’t mind too much, I’d really appreciate it if you stayed with me in the dorm room I used to share with Erin. I—I don’t think I can stay there by myself.”
    “Oh, heck yeah, I’ll stay with you!” Stevie Rae said, hugging Shaunee. “But