Untamed

as pale as Damien.
    "But we don't want you to die," Erin finished, looking equally upset.
    "I'd just die if you died," Jack said, sniffling. Then he reached for Damien's hand.
    "Well, then, you're gonna have to get over yourselves and be the buddy-buddy dork pack again," Aphrodite said.
    "Since when have you cared whether Zoey lives or dies?" Damien said.
    "Since I'm working for Nyx, and not myself. And Nyx gives a shit about Zoey; therefore, I give a shit about Zoey. And it's a good thing I do. You're supposed to be her best friends, and a secret or two and some stupid misunderstandings have made you freeze her out." Aphrodite looked and me and snorted, "Hell, Zoey, with friends like them, it's a good thing we're not enemies."
    Damien turned from Aphrodite, shaking his head and looking more hurt than angry. "What really confuses me about all of this is that it's perfectly clear you're telling her the things you won't tell us."
    "Oh, please, gay boy. Don't get your panties all in a big bunch over me taking your dorkish place beside Zoey. It's simple why she tells me stuff. Vamps can't read my mind."
    Damien blinked in surprise. Then, eyes widening in understanding, he looked at me. "They can't read your mind either, can they?"
    "No, they can't," I said.
    "Oh, shit!" Shaunee said. "You mean you think telling us things is like telling everyone?"
    "It can't be that easy for the vamps to read fledglings, Z," Erin said. "If it was, then a bunch of kids would be in trouble all the time."
    "Wait, they overlook things like fledglings sneaking off campus or PDA," Damien said slowly, as if he were putting two and two together as he spoke. "The vamps don't really care enough about a little broken rule here and there just as long as it's only typical teenage stuff, so they don't 'listen in' or whatever you want to call their psychic eavesdropping all the time."
    "But what if they thought something was going on that was more than a little broken rule or two, and they had an idea about a certain group of fledglings who might know something," I said.
    "They'd focus their thoughts on that group of fledglings," Damien concluded for me. "You really can't tell us certain things!"
    "Damn," Shaunee said.
    "Sucks royally," Erin said.
    "Took you guys long enough," Aphrodite said.
    Damien ignored her. "This has something to do with Stevie Rae, doesn't it?"
    I nodded.
    "Hey, speaking of," Shaunee said.
    "What happened to her?" Erin asked.
    "Didn't shit happen to her," Aphrodite said. "She found me. I un-freaked when I finally got my Mark back, and then I came back here."
    "And she went where?" Damien asked.
    "Do I look like a damn babysitter? How the hell am I supposed to know where your bumpkin friend went? All she said was she had to go because she had issues. Like that was a big shock."
    "You're gonna have issues with my fist in your face if you start talking shit about Stevie Rae," Shaunee said.
    "I'll hold her skinny ass for you, Twin," Erin said.
    "Do you two share a brain?" Aphrodite said.
    "Oh. My. God! Enough!" I yelled. "I might die. Twice. Some weird ghostly thing messed with me today, and now I'm feeling scared crapless about it. I'm not sure what the hell's going on with Stevie Rae, and Neferet has called a Council Meeting probably to go over her plans for war—a war that is totally not the right thing to do. And you guys can't stop bickering! You're giving me a headache and pissing me off."
    "You better listen to her. I counted two real cuss words and one almost cuss in that little speech. She's serious," Aphrodite said.
    I saw the Twins actually have to stifle smiles. Jeesh. Why is my not liking to cuss such a big deal?
    "Okay. We'll try to get along," Damien said.
    "For Zoey," Jack said, giving me a sweet smile.
    "For Zoey," the Twins said together.
    My heart squeezed as I looked at each of my friends. They had my back. No matter what—they would still stand beside me.
    "Thanks, guys," I said, blinking back tears.
    "Group hug!" Jack said.
    "Ah, hell no," Aphrodite said.
    "That's one thing we can agree with Aphrodite on," Erin said.
    "Yeah, time to go," Shaunee said.
    "Ah oh, Damien, we gotta go, too. You told Stark we'd check to be sure he was settled in before the meeting," Jack said.
    "Oh, that's right," Damien said. "Bye, Z. See ya soon."
    He and Jack followed the Twins out of my room. Calling goodbye to me, they filed down the hall, then went on chattering about the hottiness of Stark, leaving me with Aphrodite.
    "So,