Revealed

Stevie Rae asked her.
    “It’s worth a try,” she said.
    “I’m right here. I don’t like to drink, and I don’t want a Xanax.”
    “I’ll grind one up if you sneak it into her brown pop,” Aphrodite said.
    “Deal,” Stevie Rae said.
    Then they both started laughing.
    I shook my head. “You two aren’t funny, and we’re late.” I walked away from them. They trailed after me, still giggling at my expense.
    I was surprised to see Kalona standing behind Thanatos, arms folded over his bare, muscular chest, looking like the statue of an avenging angel.
    Why doesn’t he ever wear a shirt?
flitted through my mind. Then Thanatos gestured at us to join her, saying, “Ah, good. Here is Zoey. I am glad to see she is accompanied by the young High Priestess Stevie Rae, as well as our Prophetess, Aphrodite.”
    Kalona stepped back so that the three of us could be seen by the computer camera, along with Thanatos. The large screen showed the High Council Chamber in the temple at San Clemente Island, just off the coast of Venice. Seven stone thrones, each ornately carved, were on a stage-like area. Six of the thrones were occupied. I knew the seventh belonged to Thanatos. I wasn’t sure how I felt about the fact that they hadn’t filled her spot on the High Council. I liked that Thanatos was here with us, yet still had enough power to maintain her seat on the High Council. I didn’t like that that might mean she could be yanked back there at any time.
    I realized no one was saying anything and everyone was staring at me. My face flamed with heat and I fisted my hand over my heart, bowing quickly. “Merry meet, High Priestesses. I’m sorry I’m late. I was, um—” I paused, totally losing whatever excuse I was going to babble.
    “She’s stressed out because we’re all stuck here,” Aphrodite finished for me. She performed a cursory bow. “Merry meet. It’s me, Aphrodite.”
    “We remember who you are, Prophetess.” Duantia spoke first. “It would be rather difficult for us to forget our first human Prophetess.” She was sitting in the most ornate of the thrones and, obviously, was leading the High Council. Then Duantia turned her dark eyes on me, and I could feel their power even with thousands of miles separating us. “Being late is sometimes inevitable. Stress is also inevitable. Learning to limit one and handle the other is part of being a High Priestess.” Before I could start to apologize again, she looked from me to Stevie Rae. “Merry meet, Stevie Rae. When events allow, the Council and I would like to extend an invitation to you and your unusual Consort, Rephaim, to visit San Clemente Island. We are intrigued by the two of you. It is true that the boy actually shifts his form from human to raven daily?”
    “Merry meet,” Stevie Rae said, bowing formally. Then she smiled a little shyly, but answered Duantia’s question with no hesitation or embarrassment. “Yes, ma’am, Rephaim’s just like a normal boy at night, but as soon as the sun rises he changes into a raven.”
    “He has no recollection of the hours when he is a beast?” another High Council member asked.
    “Not really, no. Or at least if he does he hasn’t told me. Rephaim doesn’t like to talk about it much.”
    “We will speak more of this when you and your Consort visit us,” Duantia said.
    “Better get one of those really big dog travel crates,” Aphrodite whispered to Stevie Rae.
    I elbowed her.
    “Now, back to the subject at hand,” Duantia continued. “Thanatos has summarized last night’s events. Aphrodite, the Council extends our condolences to you. A parent’s death is never easy.”
    “Thank you.”
    “Zoey, Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, you were present when the apparition manifested on your campus. Thanatos reports to us that you believe it was Neferet. Are the three of you in agreement on this?”
    “We are,” I said. “Aphrodite and I saw the spiders first. I knew it was Neferet then. She’s manifested as spiders before, here at the House of Night, and when she fell from the balcony it looked like her body disintegrated into a whole nest of spiders.”
    “It was obvious from the beginning the spiders weren’t normal,” Aphrodite added. “And it only got more obvious when Z started casting the circle.”
    “As I already said, I had felt a change in the school’s energy just before Zoey called me to report what was happening. My initial thought was that I was sensing the approach of death,