confusing,â Stevie Rae was saying.
The kid shrugged. âItâs a gross story my dad tells about him and my mom making me in Dallas. I never wanted the details.â
âUgh, parent sex,â Shaunee said.
âCompletely disgusting,â Erin agreed.
I could see a little laugh ripple through the group of red fledglings at the Twinsâ comments, making the tension that had been hanging between our two groups begin to really loosen up.
âNext is Anthony, who everyone calls Ant.â
Ant waved awkwardly at us and said hi. Well, it was obvious why everyone called him Ant. He was one of those little kids. You know, the ones that look, like, ten when theyâre really fourteen and supposed to have gone through puberty already. Then, as if to provide thebiggest contrast possible, Stevie Rae moved on to the next kid. âThis is Johnny B.â
Johnny B was tall and built. He reminded me of Heath with his athletic body and the easy confidence with which he held himself. âHey,â he said, flashing white teeth and obviously checking out the Twins, who raised their brows at him and checked him out right back.
âNext is Gerarty. Sheâs the best artist Iâve ever known. Sheâs started to decorate parts of the tunnels. Itâs gonna look majorly cool when she gets done.â Stevie Rae beamed at yet another blonde, only Gerarty wasnât all tall and Barbie-like. She was pretty, but her blond hair was more dishwater than platinum, and cut in a seventies shag. She nodded at us and looked uncomfortable.
âAnd last but not least is Kramisha.â
A black girl twitched out of the group. It was a testament to how distracted Iâd been with Venus and Aphrodite and Stevie Rae that I hadnât noticed her before then. She had on a form-fitting bright yellow shirt cut low to show the top of her black lace bra and a pair of high-waisted, skintight cropped jeans that were cinched up with a wide leather belt that matched her chunky gold shoes. Her hair was cut geometrically into a short poof on her head, and half of it was dyed bright orange.
âLetâs get it straight right now that Iâm not sharinâ my bed with no one,â Kramisha said, weaving her head around and looking bored and pissed off at the same time.
âKramisha, I told you about a zillion times, donât make an issue outta somethinâ that isnât one,â Stevie Rae said.
âI just want to be clear about myself,â Kramisha said.
âFine. Youâre clear.â Stevie Rae paused and looked up at me expectantly. âOkay, thatâs my group.â
âAnd these are the extent of the red fledglings?â Darius asked before I could launch into my introductions.
Stevie Rae chewed the inside of her cheek and didnât meet Dariusâs eyes. âYeah, these are all of my red fledglings.â
Ah oh, thatâs her Iâm-not-telling-the-whole-truth look
. I knew it,but when she met my eyes, hers so clearly begged me not to say anything that I decided to keep my mouth shut and get the whole story when we werenât the focus of everybodyâs attention.
But me putting off questioning Stevie Rae didnât put off the
feeling
that had come back, alarm bells ringing inside my head, loud and clear, at her evasion. There was definitely something going on with the red fledglings, and I didnât think that something was going to be good.
I cleared my throat. âWell, Iâm Zoey Redbird.â I tried to sound polite and normal in a situation that didnât feel either.
âIâve told yâall about Zoey. She has an affinity for all five elements, and itâs through her powers that I was able to Change and we were all given our humanity back,â Stevie Rae said. I noticed she was looking directly at Venus.
âWell, it wasnât just through me that happened. My friends had a lot to do with it, too.â I nodded at