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"Erik, thanks forZoey welcome I can take it from here" She sounded norertips on Erik’s arht think of as just a friendly gesture, but her face told a different story It was set and cold, and her eyes seeave her a look, and he definitely ave ain, walked away
Great Exactly what I didn’t need was to get in the middle of a nasty breakup But I couldn’t seem to help the fact that h
Aphrodite cleared her throat, and I tried (unsuccessfully) not to look like I’d been caught doing so Her slick, mean smile said there was absolutely no doubt that she’d noticed ain, I wondered if she knew it had been me in the hall the day before
Well, it wasn’t like I could ask her
"You need to hurry, but I brought so quickly as she irls’ restroousted look over her shoulder "It’s not like you can cohters’ ritual dressed like that" Once ere in the bathroo from one of the partitions and kinda pushed er and carry them back to the dor with her and, anyway, I felt like an outsider enough as it was Being dressed differently made me feel like I’d shown up at a party dressed like a duck, but no one had toldjeans
I quickly got out ofwith relief when it fit It was siy stuff that never wrinkles It had long sleeves and a round neckline that showedI’d wornsleeves, and the heht above my knee, were sewn little red sparkly beads It really was pretty I slipped , happily, that a nice pair of ballet flats can go with just about any outfit, and stepped out of the stall
"Well, at least it fits" I said But I noticed Aphrodite wasn’t looking at the dress She was looking at ed the crap out of et over it already! I didn’t say anything, though I uest Translation: I was totally outnu the ritual, of course, so I’h it"
Okay, I should’ve just kepton my last nerve "Look, Aphrodite, I don’t need to you hold my hand"
Her eyes narrowed and I braced irl scene Instead she smiled a totally non-nice s Not that I was calling her a bitch, but the analogy seemed scarily accurate
"Of course you don’t need your hand held You’ll just breeze right through this little ritual like you’ve breezed through everything else here I mean, after all, you are Neferet’s new favorite"
Wonderful On top of the Erik issue and the weirdness over my Mark issue, she was jealous that Neferet was my mentor
"Aphrodite, I don’t think I’m Neferet’s new favorite I’m just new" I tried to sound reasonable, and I even s to reason with her and nodded, wishing this whole ritual thing would hurry up and be over
"Fine Let’s go" She led nized the two girls alked up to as two of the "hags from hell" who had followed her around in the cafeteria Only instead of wearing pursed-face, I-just-ate-a- le warmly at me
No I wasn’t fooled But I made my face smile, too When in enemy territory it’s best to blend in and look inconspicuous and/or stupid
"Hi, I’m Enyo," said the taller of the two She was, of course, blonde, but her long, flowing locks were h in the candlelight it was hard to be sure which clich? was a more appropriate description And I still didn’t believe she was a natural blonde
"Hi," I said
"I’irl She was obviously eous combination of really pretty, coffee-with-lots-of-cream skin and excellent thick, curly hair, which probably had never had the nerve to nap up on her for an instant, no matter the humidity
The two of the more than a little claustrophobic, I moved into the space they’d created between them
"You three enjoy the ritual," Aphrodite said
"Oh, ill!" Enyo and Deino said together The three of them shared a look that made my skin crawl I turned ment won out over ood view of the inner area of the circle now, and again it was similar to the one in Nyx’s Temple, except this one had a chair pulled up beside the table and there was so Actually, the whoever was slu his or her head
Wellhmmm
Anyway, the table was draped with the same black velvet as the walls, and there was a Goddess statue on it, a bowl of fruit and bread, several goblets, and a pitcher And a knife I squinted to be sure I was seeing right Yep It was a knife--it had a bone handle and a long, wicked curving blade that looked entirely too sharp to be used for cutting fruit or bread safely A girl I thought I recognized fro several fat sticks of incense that sat in ornately carved incense holders on the table, and totally ignoring whoever was slumped in the chair Jeesh, was the kid asleep?
Ireen-tinged and curled, ghostlike, around the room I expected it to smell sweet, like the incense at Nyx’s Temple, but when a feathery wisp of smoke reached me and I breathed it in I was surprised by its bitterness It was kinda faure out what it reminded me ofcrap, as it? It was almost like bay leaf, with a clovey middle (I had to re ued, and my head felt a little woozy Weird Okay, the incense was odd It seee as it filled the rooes with each person ears it I breathed in again Yep Clove and bay, but there was so that y and bitterdark and htiness? Then I knew