would work if her whole body had been fried."
"Stevie Rae, honey, let me be clear that I'm not judging, but you didn't eat a street person or anything like that after you caught on fire, did you?"
Stevie Rae shook her head back and forth so hard, her curls whipped around crazily. "Nuh-uh. On the way to the tunnels, I took the tiniest little detour and borrowed some blood from the downtown Red Cross blood bank."
" Borrow means 'give back when you're done,'" Aphrodite said. "And unless you're going to be the first bulimic vampyre, I don't think you'll be giving back the blood." She gave Stevie Rae a smug look. "So, actually, you stole it. Which brings us to your BFF's other new ability. This one I witnessed. More than once, actually. And, yes, it was disturbing. She is freakishly good at controlling the minds of humans. Please note that the key part of what I just said is found in the root word, freak ."
"Are you done?" Stevie Rae asked her.
"Probably not, but you may proceed," Aphrodite said.
Stevie Rae frowned at her, then continued to explain to me. "Aphrodite's right. It's like I can reach into a human's mind and do things."
"Things?" I asked.
Stevie Rae shrugged. "Things like make them come to me, or forget they saw me. I'm not sure what else. I could sorta do it before I'd Changed, but nothing like what I can do now, and I'm really not comfortable with mind control. It just seems so, I dunno, mean."
Aphrodite snorted.
"Okay, what else? Do you still have to be invited into someone's house to enter?" And then I answered my own question. "Wait, that must have changed, because I didn't actually invite you in here, and here you are. Not that I wouldn't have invited you in. I definitely would have," I added quickly.
"I dunno about that one. I walked right into the Red Cross place."
"You mean you walked right in after you mind-controlled that little lab tech to unlock the door for you," Aphrodite said.
Stevie Rae blushed. "I didn't hurt her or anything, and she won't remember any of it."
"But she didn't invite you in?" I asked.
"No, but the Red Cross building is a public place, and it feels different to me. Oh, and I don't think you'd have to invite me in here, Z. I used to live here, remember?"
I smiled at her. "I remember."
"If you two start holding hands and singing 'Lean on Me,' I'm going to have to excuse myself so I don't start retching," Aphrodite said.
"Can you not use some of your mind control on her and get her to stop once and for all?" I asked.
"Nope. I've already tried it. There's something about her brain that I can't get into."
"It's my superior intelligence," Aphrodite said.
"It's more like your superior annoyance," I said. "Go on, Stevie Rae."
"Let's see, what else . . ." She thought for a couple of seconds, then said, "I'm a lot stronger than I used to be."
"Regular adult vamps are strong," I said. Then I remembered she'd had to stop for blood. "So, you still have to have blood?"
"Yep, but if I don't get it, I don't think I'd go all crazy like I did before. I wouldn't like doing without it, but I don't think I'd turn into a bloodsucking monster."
"But she doesn't know for sure," Aphrodite said.
"I hate it when she's right, but she's right," Stevie Rae said. "There's just so much I don't know about what kind of vampyre I've Changed into that it's more than a little scary."
"Don't worry. We have plenty of time to figure all of this out."
Stevie Rae smiled and shrugged. "Well, y'all are gonna have to figure this out on your own 'cause I really do gotta go." Surprising the crap out of me, she started toward the window.
"Hang on. We have lots more talking to do. And what with the big announcement that winter break is over, there are going to be fledglings and vamps everywhere again, not to mention there're the Sons of Erebus and the whole war-against-the-humans thing to deal with if I try to leave campus to see you, so I don't know when I'll be able to see you." I was beginning to feel a
"Stevie Rae, honey, let me be clear that I'm not judging, but you didn't eat a street person or anything like that after you caught on fire, did you?"
Stevie Rae shook her head back and forth so hard, her curls whipped around crazily. "Nuh-uh. On the way to the tunnels, I took the tiniest little detour and borrowed some blood from the downtown Red Cross blood bank."
" Borrow means 'give back when you're done,'" Aphrodite said. "And unless you're going to be the first bulimic vampyre, I don't think you'll be giving back the blood." She gave Stevie Rae a smug look. "So, actually, you stole it. Which brings us to your BFF's other new ability. This one I witnessed. More than once, actually. And, yes, it was disturbing. She is freakishly good at controlling the minds of humans. Please note that the key part of what I just said is found in the root word, freak ."
"Are you done?" Stevie Rae asked her.
"Probably not, but you may proceed," Aphrodite said.
Stevie Rae frowned at her, then continued to explain to me. "Aphrodite's right. It's like I can reach into a human's mind and do things."
"Things?" I asked.
Stevie Rae shrugged. "Things like make them come to me, or forget they saw me. I'm not sure what else. I could sorta do it before I'd Changed, but nothing like what I can do now, and I'm really not comfortable with mind control. It just seems so, I dunno, mean."
Aphrodite snorted.
"Okay, what else? Do you still have to be invited into someone's house to enter?" And then I answered my own question. "Wait, that must have changed, because I didn't actually invite you in here, and here you are. Not that I wouldn't have invited you in. I definitely would have," I added quickly.
"I dunno about that one. I walked right into the Red Cross place."
"You mean you walked right in after you mind-controlled that little lab tech to unlock the door for you," Aphrodite said.
Stevie Rae blushed. "I didn't hurt her or anything, and she won't remember any of it."
"But she didn't invite you in?" I asked.
"No, but the Red Cross building is a public place, and it feels different to me. Oh, and I don't think you'd have to invite me in here, Z. I used to live here, remember?"
I smiled at her. "I remember."
"If you two start holding hands and singing 'Lean on Me,' I'm going to have to excuse myself so I don't start retching," Aphrodite said.
"Can you not use some of your mind control on her and get her to stop once and for all?" I asked.
"Nope. I've already tried it. There's something about her brain that I can't get into."
"It's my superior intelligence," Aphrodite said.
"It's more like your superior annoyance," I said. "Go on, Stevie Rae."
"Let's see, what else . . ." She thought for a couple of seconds, then said, "I'm a lot stronger than I used to be."
"Regular adult vamps are strong," I said. Then I remembered she'd had to stop for blood. "So, you still have to have blood?"
"Yep, but if I don't get it, I don't think I'd go all crazy like I did before. I wouldn't like doing without it, but I don't think I'd turn into a bloodsucking monster."
"But she doesn't know for sure," Aphrodite said.
"I hate it when she's right, but she's right," Stevie Rae said. "There's just so much I don't know about what kind of vampyre I've Changed into that it's more than a little scary."
"Don't worry. We have plenty of time to figure all of this out."
Stevie Rae smiled and shrugged. "Well, y'all are gonna have to figure this out on your own 'cause I really do gotta go." Surprising the crap out of me, she started toward the window.
"Hang on. We have lots more talking to do. And what with the big announcement that winter break is over, there are going to be fledglings and vamps everywhere again, not to mention there're the Sons of Erebus and the whole war-against-the-humans thing to deal with if I try to leave campus to see you, so I don't know when I'll be able to see you." I was beginning to feel a
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