Disclaimer: I don't own anyone! Kristin and P.C. Cast does! (:

Zoey

Living was harder than dying. Dying was peaceful but living was a constant battle. It was even harder when you were trying to live through a war; the war of good versus evil. For just a minute, I wished that I was dead. I wished that I was still in the Otherworld with Heath. I wished that my soul was still floating around in the blackness. The blackness of the Otherworld had put my soul in such a state of peace that I forgot about all of my worries. Every one of those worries came back to me now. Heath was dead, he was dead because of me. I was putting all of my friends lives in danger by bringing them to the Vampire High Council in Italy. Kalona could come back and kill all of us. Stevie Rae, my best friend in the whole world, was keeping more than just the red fledglings from me. I had a weird attraction to a fallen immortal. Each of these things made me cry even harder.

Mentally I thought 'Spirit be with me, ease my hurt and pain, comfort me.' As soon as I thought the words I felt my element flow through me again. It energized every cell in my body, soothing me. Eventually my sobs slowed and then stopped all together.

"Zoey?" Stark breathed. He threw his arms around me, pulling me closer to him. "I am so, so sorry Zoey."

"What did you do?" I asked between sobs.

"This is all my fault. I should have never left your side, then maybe I would have been here in time."

"No! It's not your fault. This is all my fault." I whispered

I saw Heath's crumpled body lying there, and I cried even harder. Seriously, I didn't think there were any more tears left in me to cry, but they seemed to be never ending. "Will you please get his body out of here?" I pleaded, looking at Darius.

"Yes, High Priestess." Darius said

"My Lady, I will accompany him." Stark said.

Darius walked over to Heath's body, gently picking him up he walked in the direction of the infirmary with Stark following close behind him.

"Everything is going to be alright u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya." Nyx said.

I shook my head "No, I can't do this! Goddess I have messed up so bad!"

"No, Z! I think your doing a great job!" Erin said, wiping the tears off of her face.

"Ditto, Twin." Shaunee said

"Yeah Z." Damien agreed "We wouldn't have made it this far without you." Jack nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah, Z. I hate to agree with the Nerd Herd, but we need you to save us." Aphrodite said. "You make a much better leader than me." She whispered, looking at the ground.

"Children," Nyx said "Zoey is not the only one that has been doing a great job. Your Circle is following my path, you are all Chosen by me."

Nyx smiled, which made her face glow, then she snapped. I watched in amazement as the Marks of Damien, Erin and Shaunee started to glow. When they finally stopped glowing they turned a beautiful shade of silver.

"Wow," I breathed "Your Mark."

"I bet it just started glowing, and then turned silver." Shaunee said

"Then it turned all silver right?" Erin said, finishing Shaunee's thought.

"Yours did too Z" Jack said.

Damien nodded "All of them."

"Show the world that you are Chosen by me and stay on my path. You can save this world from Kalona and Neferet."

"Except for me," Aphrodite mumbled "I'm just a human."

"No, daughter. You were never just a human. You haven't been a human since the day you were Marked. I needed you to be there for Stevie Rae, which you have done. You have done your part well, and for that I shall bless you with what your heart desires most." Those were the last words Nyx said before she our world.

Aphrodite let out a small cry, then her hand flew up to the middle of her forehead. She fell to her knees, inches from my head. Then she started laughing. "Today has been the best day! First Bumpkin breaks our Imprint and now I get Marked again!" She surprised me by taking my hand. "We are in this together Z."

Damien sat down on the other side of me "Yeah Zoey. You heard Nyx. We are here. We are her Circle. We are just like the silver thread that binds our casting circle together. We are all connected."

"Please, just please" Shaunee said sitting down beside Aphrodite

"That is one of the corniest things we have ever heard." Erin said sitting down by my feet

"But its true," I said. "I have all of you with me. I have Stark to protect me and I have Heath in my heart. We are going to make it through this." but even as I said the words, I didn't believe in them.

Darius was running down the sidewalk "Aphrodite what happened?" He asked. Once he got a look at Aphrodite's face he stopped running.

Stark was right behind Darius, "My Lady, we put Heath's body on one of the cots in the infirmary." Stark said. He froze, staring at my Mark. Then he looked around at the rest of my circle, his eyes growing wide as he took in our silver Marks. "What happened to your Marks, Zoey?"

"Our Goddess Marked us as her Chosen circle." I said simply.

Please read and review
-Tay