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"Well, you died a couple different ways, which is not something I've ever seen<br />
before."<br />
"A—a couple different ways?" It just kept getting worse and worse.<br />
"Maybe we should wait awhile and see if Aphrodite has another vision that'll<br />
make things clearer before we talk about this," Stevie Rae said, sitting next to me on the<br />
bed.<br />
I didn't look away from Aphrodite's eyes, and I saw there a reflection of what I<br />
already knew. "When I ignore visions, they come true. Always," Aphrodite said with<br />
finality.<br />
"I think some of it might already be happening," I said. My lips felt cold and stiff,<br />
and my stomach hurt.<br />
"You're not gonna die!" Stevie Rae cried, looking upset and totally like my best<br />
friend again.<br />
I slipped my arm through Stevie Rae's. "Go ahead, Aphrodite. Tell me."<br />
"It was a strong vision, filled with powerful images, but it was totally confusing.<br />
Maybe because I was feeling it and seeing it from your point of view." Aphrodite paused,<br />
swallowing hard. "I saw you die two ways. Once you drowned. The water was cold and<br />
dark. Oh, and it smelled bad."<br />
"Smelled bad? Like one of those nasty Oklahoma ponds?" I said, curious despite<br />
the horror of talking about my own death.<br />
Aphrodite shook her head. "No, I'm almost one hundred percent sure it wasn't in<br />
Oklahoma. There was too much water for that. It's hard to explain how I can be so sure,<br />
but it just felt too big and deep to be something like a lake." Aphrodite paused again,<br />
thinking. Then her eyes widened. "I remember another thing about the vision. There was<br />
something close by the water that looked like a real palace on an island all its own, which<br />
means tasteful old money, probably European, and not some tacky upper middle class<br />
version of oooh-I-have-money-let's-go-buy-an-RV."<br />
"You're seriously a snob, Aphrodite," Stevie Rae said.<br />
"Thank you," Aphrodite said.<br />
"Okay, so you saw me drown near a real palace on a real island maybe in Europe.<br />
Did you see anything else that might be in the least bit helpful?" I asked.<br />
"Well, besides the fact that you felt isolated—I mean really alone in both of the<br />
visions, I saw a guy's face. He was with you not long before you died. Someone I've<br />
never seen before. At least not till today."<br />
"What? Who?"<br />
"I saw that Stark kid."<br />
"He killed me?" I felt like I was going to throw up.<br />
"Who's Stark?" Stevie Rae asked, taking hold of my hand.<br />
"New kid who just transferred here today from the Chicago House of Night," I<br />
said. "He killed me?" I repeated the question to Aphrodite.<br />
"I don't think so. I didn't get a good look at him, and it was dark. But it seemed<br />
like, even in the last glimpse you had of him, that you felt safe with him." She raised her<br />
brow at me. "Looks like you'll get over that whole Erik/Heath/Loren mess."<br />
"I'm sorry 'bout all of that. Aphrodite told me what happened," Stevie Rae said.<br />
I opened my mouth to say thanks to Stevie Rae, and then I realized that she and<br />
Aphrodite didn't know the depth of the Erik/Heath/Loren mess. They'd been away from
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