“I hope this doesn’t mean I have to stay in the dorm, too,” Shaunee said as everyone began shuffling for the door.
“Goddess, how I hope that’s not what it means,” Damien said. “I’m loving the guest rooms at the tunnels. And that restaurant—delicious.”
“I only fixed up Z’s room,” Stark said, his arms still around me.
“Thank the Goddess,” I heard Shaylin whisper to Nicole. “I’m so done with twin beds.”
I hung back, keeping Stark with me until we were the only people left in the Council Chamber.
He waggled his brows at me. “Want to make out?”
“I’d usually say yes, but right now something else is on my mind. Here’s what’s bothering me.” I kept my voice low, even though we were definitely alone. “Kalona said Nyx didn’t think we should be worried, which is why he visited me without her knowing. But real soon after his stealthy dream visit, Aphrodite was given a vision—and her visions are always from Nyx. So, someone isn’t telling the truth.”
“Do you mean Kalona, Nyx, or Aphrodite is lying?” Stark asked.
“I’m afraid I do.”
8
Zoey
“It’s okay. Go ahead and teach your archery class. The school needs to stay as normal as possible for as long as possible. Hopefully the fledglings won’t even know anything weird is going on because the protection spell will work so well. That’s why I didn’t call Kramisha out of her poetry class.” I tiptoed and kissed Stark at the media center door, then gave him a little push down the hall. “Remember, normal. As far as the fledglings and most of the other professors know—everything is normal.”
“Got it. I’ll meet you back here as soon as my class lets out.”
“Text me first. It’ll be time for dinner and if we’re still working you can stop by the dining hall and give them an order to be delivered to the media center.”
“How ’bout we be really bad and order from Andolini’s?”
I grinned. “Stevie Rae will want to kiss you for that.”
“Well, she’ll be out of luck, because I prefer gorgeous brunettes.”
“Right answer!” I blew a kiss at him before heading into the deserted media center, which was an awesome mixture of cutting-edge modern technology and ancient, Dewey Decimal–filed books that are sooooo out of print that some of them just have the names of the vampyre authors who wrote and created the single and only copy of the book.
It was to those books—the ones that were off-limits to fledglings—that I headed.
Damien was there already and had several of the old tomes open around him. He didn’t notice me, which had way more to do with his ability to concentrate than my stealthiness, but it did give me an opportunity to study him.
His adult Mark still moved me with its beauty. It spread from the sapphire crescent moon in the center of his forehead to frame his eyes with wings. And they weren’t just any wings. They looked distinctively Egyptian. When the light caught the tattoo just right the center crescent seemed to be Isis turning her head in profile as she unfurled her mighty wings. It was a perfect Mark for the personification of air, and it was, quite simply, exquisite.
Damien was the first male to be accepted on a High Council. He was also the smartest person I knew. But at that moment I noticed how tired he looked. His tattoo almost, but didn’t quite, hide the bruised circles under his eyes. And he looked thin.
I cleared my throat and his gaze shot up to meet mine.
“Hey, you got here fast,” I said.
He shrugged. “I figured there was a lot of work to do, and my research skills have gotten pretty rusty this past year. Who knew administration could be so …” he hesitated, looking at me for help.
“Boring? Tedious? Time-consuming?” I offered.
“All of the above,” he said with a slight smile.
I joined him at the table after grabbing a notebook and a handful of number-two pencils.
“Is Adam enjoying his visit home?”
Damien didn’t meet my eyes. “Adam’s not here.”
“Huh? He stayed in New York? I figured he’d for sure come with you. Neither of you have been back to T-Town for almost a year.”
“Actually, he has been. A month or so ago, I think. I just didn’t come with him.” Damien drew a deep breath, then did meet my gaze. “We broke up three months ago.”
“What? Oh, Damien, I’m sorry.”
He moved a shoulder restlessly. “It’s okay. Really. We were just at different places in our lives.”
“OMG, he’s a commitment-phobe? He has no idea how lucky he was to be with you! Do you want me to call him? I have words for him. Seriously.”
“Um. No. Thank you. Really. But, it’s fine.”
“But you didn’t say anything! I would have come out to New York and fed you ice cream and watched old movies with you.”
He rested a hand over mine. “I know you would have, but we didn’t break up because Adam was a commitment-phobe. Adam was completely committed. It was me.”
“You broke up with Adam?”
“Well, according to Adam, I iced him out.” Damien lifted his shoulder again. “And I can’t disagree with him. He’s a great guy, but he’s not my great guy.” Then he seemed to deflate. “My great guy is dead.”
“Oh, honey!” I held his hand in both of mine. “I understand. I really do. When Heath was killed, it shattered me—literally. But I made it through.”
“Because you had Stark.”
“I’m not going to say having Stark didn’t help. It did. It still does. But the truth is that I pulled myself together because Heath wanted me to be happy again. That’s one thing you can always count on with someone who really loves you—they want you to find happiness, even when you can’t imagine it for yourself.”
“It feels like part of me is missing.” Damien hung his head. “I thought this terrible empty feeling would go away. Maybe not completely, but enough so that I could feel normal again. But it hasn’t. I tried to fill it up with Adam, and I’m sorry I did. I hurt a good man, and the hole is still inside me. How did you get over Heath?”
“I didn’t,” I said honestly. “It’s not about getting over Heath. I have that place inside me, too. The place only Heath can fill. I’ve learned that I can be happy and miss him—and one more thing—the hardest thing of all. I had to give myself permission to be happy without Heath.” I touched Damien’s chin, lifting his face so that he had to look into my eyes. “Give yourself permission to be happy without Jack.”