P. C. Cast & Kristin Cast by Untamed: A House of Night Novel

Author:Untamed: A House of Night Novel [Novel, Untamed: A House of Night]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Teenage girls, Fiction, Good and evil, Horror, Social Issues, Girls & Women, Teenage vampires, Juvenile Fiction, Fantasy & Magic, Occult fiction, Vampires, Horror stories; American, Fantasy fiction, Science Fiction; Fantasy; Magic, General, Fantasy, Children: Young Adult (Gr. 10-12), Adolescence, Interpersonal relations, Life Stages, Family & Relationships, Friendship, Science Fiction; Fantasy; & Magic, Pariahs, Teenagers
ISBN: 9780312379834
Publisher: Macmillan
Published: 2008-09-23T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN

Darius volunteered to stay in the car and babysit Maleficent while Aphrodite and I got something to eat, which I thought was above and beyond the call of duty.

"He's way too good for you," I told Aphrodite. For as late as it was, Charlie's was really busy, and sheeplike, we jostled around with the rest of the herd animals, finally getting in line behind an obese woman who had really bad teeth and a balding guy who smelled like feet.

"Of course he's too good for me," Aphrodite said.

I blinked in surprise at her and said, "Excuse me? I couldn't have heard you right."

Aphrodite snorted. "You think I don't know I'm awful to my boyfriends? Please—I'm selfish, not stupid. Darius will probably get sick of my crap within a couple months. I'll dump him right before he dumps me, but at least it'll be a fun ride till then."

"Did you ever think about being nice and not putting him through your usual crap?"

Aphrodite met my eyes. "Actually, I have been thinking about it and may consider changing things up with Darius." She paused and added. "She chose me."

"She who?"

"Maleficent."

"Well, yeah, she chose you. She's your cat. Just like Nala chose me and Darius's cat, whatever her name is . . . uh . . ."

"Nefertiti," Aphrodite said.

"Yeah, Nefertiti, she chose him. So what's the big deal? Happens all the time. Cats choose their fledglings, or sometimes their vamps. Most every vamp eventually gets one and—"

And I suddenly realized why the cat choosing her had made such an impact on Aphrodite.

"It makes me belong," she said quietly. "Somehow I'm still a part of the whole"—she paused, talking so low, I had to lean into her to hear her—"I'm still part of the whole vamp thing. It means I'm not totally an outsider."

"You couldn't be an outsider," I whispered back. "You're part of the Dark Daughters. You're part of the school. And most important, you're part of Nyx."

"But since this happened"—she brushed her hand across her forehead where she hadn't needed any makeup to cover the Mark that no longer was there—"since this happened, I haven't really felt like I was a part of anything. But Maleficent changed that."

"Huh," I said, more than a little taken back by Aphrodite's sincerity.

Then she shook herself, shrugged, and—looking much more like the Aphrodite we all knew and couldn't stand—said, "Whatever, though. My life still sucks. And after I eat this cheap, greasy crap with you, I'll probably break out."

"Hey, a little grease is good for your hair and nails. Kinda like vitamin E." I bumped her shoulder. "I'll even order for you."

"Could I have something diet?"

"Please. There's nothing diet about Charlie's."

"They have diet pop," she said.

I sneered down at her size 6 perfectness. "Not for you."

Since it really was fast food, it didn't take long to fill our order, and Aphrodite and I found a semi-clean table and started shoving greasy fried chicken and catsup-slathered fries into our faces. Now, don't get me wrong. Even

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