"The Twins are symbiotic, and I hope very soon someone takes them away to perform science experiments on them."

"That attitude is not helping," I said.

"Could we just focus on what's really important?"

"Like?"

"Me, of course, and what I need you to help me with." Aphrodite opened the door to her room, and we walked into what I liked to think of as her palace. I mean, jeesh, the place looked like she'd decorated it out of a Guide to Gossip Girl Design magazine--if there was such a thing. Which, sadly, there probably was. (Not that I don't adore Gossip Girl!)

"Aphrodite, has anyone ever told you that you might have a personality disorder?"

"Several overpaid shrinks. Like I care." Aphrodite walked across the room and opened the door to the hand-painted (probably antique and majorly expensive) armoire that sat in front of her hand-carved (for sure antique and majorly expensive) four-poster canopy bed. As she rummaged around in it, she said, "Oh, by the way, you have got to find a way for the Council to make it okay for you and, tragically, me and--as much as I hate to say it--your nerd herd, too, to be allowed off campus."

"Huh?"

Aphrodite sighed and turned to face me. "Would you please keep up with me? We have to be able to come and go so we can figure out what the f**k is going on with Stevie Rae and her nasty friends."

"I already told you that I'm not gonna let you talk bad about Stevie Rae. Nothing is going on with her."

"That's up for discussion, but since you refuse to sanely discuss it this particular time, I'm talking about the freaks she's hanging with. What if you're right and Neferet wants to use them against humans? Not that I particularly like humans, but I definitely don't like war. So I'm thinking you need to be checking into that."

"Me? Why me? And why do I have to figure out a way to get all of us in and out of the school?"

"Because you are the superhero fledgling. I'm just your more attractive sidekick. Oh, and the herd of nerd are your dorky minions."

"Great," I said.

"Hey, don't stress about it. You'll think of something. You always do."

I blinked in surprise at her. "Your confidence in me is shocking." And I wasn't kidding. I mean, she really looked like she thought I'd figure out this mess.

"It shouldn't be." She turned back to searching through the cluttered armoire. "I know better than just about anyone else how gifted you've been by Nyx. That you're powerful, blah, blah, whatever. So you'll figure it out. Finally! God, I wish they'd let us have housekeepers in here. I can never find anything when I'm forced to clean up after myself." Aphrodite emerged with a green candle in a pretty green crystal glass and a fancy lighter.

"You need me to help you figure out something about a candle?"

"No, genius. Sometimes I really wonder about Nyx's choices." She handed me the little gold lighter. "I want you to help me figure out if I've lost my affinity for earth."

Chapter Eight

I looked from the green candle to Aphrodite. Her face was pale and her lips were compressed into a thin bloodless line. "You haven't tried to evoke earth since you lost your Mark?" I asked gently.

She shook her head and continued to look like her stomach hurt.

"Okay, well, you're right. I can help you figure this out. I should probably cast a circle."

"That's what I thought." Aphrodite drew in a deep shaky breath. "Let's get this over with." She walked over to the wall that was on the opposite side of the room as her bed. She stood there, holding up her candle. "This is north."

"All right." Resolutely, I went to stand in front of Aphrodite. Turning to the east, I closed my eyes and centered myself. "It fills our lungs and gives us life. I call air to my circle." Even without a yellow candle representing the element--and without Damien and his air affinity--I felt the instant response of the element as a soft breeze smoothed against my body.

I opened my eyes and turned to my right, moving deosil, or clockwise, around the circle to the south, where I stopped. "It heats us and keeps us safe and warm. I call fire to my circle." I smiled as the air around me warmed with the second element.

Moving again to my right, I stopped next in the west. "It washes us and quenches us. I call water to my circle." Right away I felt the cool of invisible waves against my legs. Smiling, I moved to stand in front of Aphrodite.

"Ready?" I asked her.