Page 34 of Lost

9

Zoey

“It’s only been a few days since Kevin left, but it feels like months. Please, Nyx, watch over him and don’t let him get into too much trouble.” I lit the purple candle and then placed it at the feet of the exquisite statue of Nyx that stood as the focal point of the courtyard between the school buildings and the Goddess’ temple. It flickered there, adding its happy little light to the other votive offerings, each representing a prayer that had been lifted to our Goddess. Then I stepped back to sit on the carved stone bench beside my BFF, Stevie Rae.

“Yes, Nyx, please keep an eye on Z’s brother in the Other World,” Stevie Rae said. “And I know what ya mean, Z. It’s this weather. Two days ago we were buried in snow, and today it was almost sixty degrees. That makes it seem like lots more time has passed. Hey, you know what’s even weirder than Oklahoma weather?”

“Nope, ’cause OK weather is the weirdest.”

“I know, right? But the even weirder thing is that I missed it. A lot. I mean, Chicago weather can be super cray too. But not Okie cray. I missed the ice and wind and how thunderstorms sweep in across the land like a stampede from above.”

“Uh-huh,” I replied automatically, my eyes trapped by the way the candlelight played across the marble skin of Nyx while my mind was far away… a world away, actually.

“You’d be surprised what all you miss when you’ve left your home.”

“Yep.” My gaze went from the statue up to the perfectly clear, starlit night.

“Like goathead thistles. You know, the kind that hurt as bad to pull ’em out of your skin as they did goin’ in.”

“Uh-huh.”

“Oh, and ticks. I missed thema bunch.”

“Yeah, I hear ya.”

“Um, Z. No, you don’t.”

“Right.”

“Zoey Redbird, stop gatherin’ wool in that head of yours!”

Stevie Rae shoved my shoulder with hers. Hard.

“Hey! What’s that for?”

“Z, seriously? What’d I just say?”

I chewed my cheek. “Um, something about wool? Which doesn’t make much sense. Are you okay? I was serious when I said you and Rephaim don’t have to go back to Chicago. You wouldn’t have had to stay there this past year if I’d known you were miserable.”

Stevie Rae turned to face me on the bench. “Zoey, you trust me, don’t you?”

“Of course I trust you.”

“Then please tell me what’s wrong.”

I sighed. “There’s nothing—”

Stevie Rae’s hand shot up, palm out like a stop sign. “Nope. Tell that to someone else. I know it’s a lie and after all we’ve been through, it’s just insultin’.”

“Hey, you know I’d never insult you on purpose,” I said, feeling like crap that I’d made my bestie feel like crap.

“Then tell me what’s wrong.”

I sighed. “I’m worried about Kevin. Well, Other Kevin. Not the Kevin over here. He and I are actually going to meet at Andolini’s for pizza before his winter break is over.”

“Is that it?”

“Well, yeah. Pretty much. I mean, we still don’t know what caused the roses to turn all black and disgusting before Aphrodite’s vision, but if it was Neferet I’d expect her to do more. Anything more. And the Warriors guarding the grotto say nothing’s so much as stirred there.”