Revealed

that long time you knew her?” Nicole asked.
    Shaunee looked away from the red fledgling. “No. No, she wasn’t.”
    “I wasn’t perfect in my past, either, but I’m asking for a second chance.”
    I’d heard enough. My Prophetesses and my gut had convinced me. “That’s good enough for me,” I said loudly. “And it needs to be good enough for the rest of you, too. If we held the past against everyone, then Kalona wouldn’t be our High Priestess’s Warrior, and Stark wouldn’t be my Warrior. Hell, Stevie Rae wouldn’t even be my BFF.”
    “I would have been shunned and cast out of the House of Night along with Neferet,” Aurox said. I hadn’t noticed him before. He was standing behind us, just inside the basement entrance.
    I didn’t look at him, but I did nod in agreement. “And if Aurox hadn’t been given another chance my grandma would be dead. Shaunee, we need to be on the same page about this. Too much crap has happened for us to start mistrusting each other.”
    Shaunee looked at Nicole briefly, and then her gaze met mine. “Okay, you’re my High Priestess. I trust you.”
    “Thank you,” I said. I looked around the group. “Anyone have anything else to say?”
    “Is Stevie Rae gonna be okay?” Kramisha asked.
    “Completely,” I said.
    “Did Rephaim really save her when he was a bird?” Shaylin asked.
    I smiled at Shaunee. “Tell ’em the story, but be fast. Remember that Thanatos said she wants today to be a make-up day and everyone has to be in their first-hour class when the bell rings at eight.”
    There were a bunch of groans at that news, but they were cut off by Shaunee’s retelling of what had happened earlier. I took the opportunity to exit to Darius, who was standing at the upper entrance to the basement. Aphrodite, of course, came with me.
    As I passed Aurox I glanced quickly at him. The kid looked rough. His eyes were bloodshot and puffy and his perfect skin looked kinda chalky and damp. “Hangovers suck, huh?” I couldn’t stop myself from quipping, though I didn’t wait around to hear if he answered me. Aphrodite snickered all the way up the stairway.
    “Kalona and Stark are searching for Dallas?” Darius asked as we joined him.
    “Yeah,” I said. “Thanatos wants him brought back for judgment. She said she’s done with his red fledglings, too.”
    “It’s going to be real interesting to see what she does with all of them,” Aphrodite said. “Well,
if
they manage to find Dallas. He’s gotta seriously
not
want to be found.”
    “The immortal will find him, have no doubt of that,” Darius said.
    “Did anyone do a roll call and see if any of his friends took off with him?” I said.
    “I did a quick check after I made sure our fledglings were safe. Dallas is definitely gone, but I don’t believe anyone left with him,” Darius said.
    “I hope whatever Thanatos does makes him leave us alone for good,” Aphrodite said.
    I sighed. “I don’t know how you’d even begin to lock up a kid who can control electricity. It’s depressing to start thinking about how many ways he could escape.”
    “Thanatos is wise. She will pass a righteous judgment,” Darius said.
    “I’m worried that righteous and doable are two totally different things,” I said.
    “As your Warrior isn’t present to say this, I will stand in his stead and tell you not to worry so much,” Darius said.
    “She’s hardheaded. She’s not going to listen,” Aphrodite said, kissing his cheek. “But thanks for trying.”
    He smiled at her. “I am used to dealing with a hardheaded woman.”
    “Have you been cheating on me with a stubborn skank?” Aphrodite said, pretending to be pissed off. “Don’t make me claw some poor, less attractive girl’s eyes out.”
    Darius laughed and pulled her into his arms. I rolled my eyes. “I’m going to see if I can get lucky two days in a row and get psaghetti for breakfast. Bye, Darius. Aphrodite, I’ll see you in first hour.”
    I’d just decided to detour to my dorm room and actually attempt to brush my hair and fix my face before going to the cafeteria when his voice called my name. Truthfully, I didn’t want to stop. I wanted to pretend like I hadn’t heard him and scurry to my room and keep avoiding him for as long as possible. But I’d seen the kid run. It’s not like he couldn’t catch me. I drew a deep breath and stopped, waiting for him.
    “Zoey, may I speak to you for a moment?” Aurox asked as he caught up with