Hunted

slightly and her smile was tinged with honest wonder and more than a little sarcasm. “And why the hell I have to keep saving Stevie Rae’s country-bumpkin ass I do not know. All I can say is that I used to be really, really bad, so I have an unbelievable amount of shit I have to make up for.” She cleared her throat and ran the back of her hand shakily across her forehead.
    “Do you need something to drink?” I asked, wondering what the hell the two of them were talking about, but not wanting to ask just then because they obviously didn’t want the whole room to know.
    “Yes.” Stevie Rae surprised me by answering for her.
    “Here’s a shirt,” Damien said. He’d approached the bed, saw that Stevie Rae, who had gone from gulping to sipping from the glass, was partially naked, and averted his eyes.
    “Thanks.” I gave him a quick smile, took the shirt from him, and tossed it to Stevie Rae. Then I looked back at the Twins. The swallows of blood had begun to work in my body, and the exhaustion that had pressed down on me since I’d had to call all five of the elements and control them while we escaped from the House of Night finally had lessened enough for me to think again. “Okay, guys, bring the blood and wine over here. Do you have another glass for Aphrodite?”
    Before they could answer Aphrodite spoke up. “Uh, no blood for me. I have one word for that: disgusting. But I will take the booze.”
    “We didn’t bring another glass,” Erin said. “She’ll have to drink out of the bottle like a peasant.”
    “Sorry, kinda,” Shaunee said insincerely, handing Aphrodite the bottle. “So, as a human, can you explain to us what it’s like to get your blood sucked by a vamp?”
    “Yeah, inquiring minds want to know ’cause you looked like you were liking it, and we didn’t know you swung that way,” Erin said.
    “Did you brain-sharers not pay any attention in Vamp Soc class?” Aphrodite said before she tipped up the bottle and drank from it.
    “Well, I’ve read the physiology section of The Fledging Handbook .” Damien said. “Vampyre saliva has coagulants, anticoagulants, and endorphins that act on the pleasure zones of the brain, human and vamp. You know, Aphrodite is right. You two really should pay better attention in class. School’s supposed to be more than a social event.” He finished primly while Jack nodded enthusiastically.
    “You know, Twin, what with all the drama going on above—the release of an evil fallen angel and his goons—and the House of Night pretty much in panic mode, there might not be school for a while,” Shaunee said.
    “Excellent point, Twin,” Erin said. “Which means we won’t need Queen Damien and his tutorness for a while.”
    “So we could, I dunno, hold him down and pull out his hair? What do you think?” Shaunee said.
    “Sounds fun,” Erin said.
    “Great. I’m drinking cheap red wine out of a bottle. Miss Teen Country Vamp just bit me—again. And now I’m going to be witness to a nerd herd rumble.” Sounding much more like her bitchy self, Aphrodite sighed dramatically and plopped down on the end of the bed next to Darius. “Well, at least being human means I can probably get drunk. Maybe I can stay that way for the next ten years or so.”
    “I don’t have enough wine for that.” We all looked up as a red fledgling entered the room, followed by several others who clustered behind her in the shadows. “And that isn’t cheap red wine. I don’t do cheap anything.”
    Everyone else turned their attention to the red fledgling as she spoke, but I’d been watching Aphrodite gripe at the Twins (and was getting ready to step in and tell everyone to shut up), so I saw the brief flash of what looked like a mixture of embarrassment and discomfort cross Aphrodite’s face before she got a handle on her expression and said coolly, “Nerd herd, this is Venus. Dorkamese Twins and Damien, you should remember my ex-roommate who died about six months or so ago.”
    “Actually, it seems reports of my death were premature,” the pretty blonde said smoothly. Then something totally bizarre happened. Venus paused and sniffed the air. I mean she literally lifted her chin and took several short, sharp sniffs in Aphrodite’s general direction. The red fledglings that still clustered together behind her followed her lead, and I watched them sniff, too. Then Venus’s blue eyes widened and in a very amused voice she said, “Well . . . well . . .