Chapter 12
I really hate how relationships go in this series. Not how Zoey deals with the boys though, that I expect. Zoey’s young and inexperienced, two things which often go hand in hand. She’s at that age where she can have emotions and desires but doesn’t quite have the capacity to realize that so does everyone around her. Hell, that’s not easy to remember even when you’re an adult.
It’s that Zoey pisses and moans about others, like Erik, not considering her feelings and needs. Never once has Zoey stopped and thought that keeping Heath around might hurt Erik or that he might not be over what she did with Loren last week. Which is fine from a character perspective, Zoey can be dumb and shallow, because that’s room to grow. It’s the fact that the narration accepts this double standard and tells us it’s right. PCK retcons Erik into a clingy asshole and Aphro into a supportive friend and we’re just supposed to roll with it. For that, Zoey’s not just a bitch, she’s a raging cock.
You know what I love more than anything? Characters having dreams! Nothing like characters going places and doing things that are even less real that the fiction they inhabit. Zoey is standing on the roof of a castle that’s on an island. Also, everything is very beautiful. I’d like to know what kind of castle has a flat roof but I can’t criticize dream logic.
Naturally, Kalona is there. He asks if he can’t get peace from her even in his dreams. She’s says that he’s bugging her and he asks if she isn’t drawn to him. If Erik was asking that, she’d lie and say no. Instead, Zoey changes the subject. She admits she’s Aya but says she’s not that person now and she won’t choose to be with him. All while reminding us how her panties are soaked because he’s so hot. Kalona laughs at her defiance and then she notices her wings. It takes this to remind her that he’s an immortal.
The sight of them was like running into an invisible wall. I remembered again what he was—a dangerous fallen immortal who would like to steal my free will and, eventually, my soul.
As opposed to all the benign immortals who only want to help you. And really, Zoey, what the hell would Kalona do with your soul? He’d get more for your hair than your soul, you bint. He steps forward and grabs her and she tells him to let go. Kalona asks if that’s really what she wants so she tells him the “truth” about how she wants to sleep and be normal and worry about gas prices.
Which is the biggest lie of all. If you wanted to be normal, you wouldn’t squee like mad every time your mark got bigger and more special. Kalona is all ‘oh come on. Please? What if I said I’ll change for you?’ Zoey says he’s beautiful but she can’t trust him because evil is forever. He begs her to say yes and he’ll do whatever she wants.
Zoey says Neferet and Kalona asks what about her? Zoey says she’s still with Neferet and that she tried to kill her. Kalona says not to worry about her and Zoey says no and starts backing away. Kalona corners her and start grabbing at her breasts and teasing her nipples. Not that Zoey can narrate the word nipple, she says he rubs the “most sensitive spot there” because what Zoey is most afraid of is sex. She admits she wants to be with him but she’s chosen to follow Nyx. This causes her to wake up.
Chapter 13
Still with Zoey. The ratio so far is three chapters for Stevie and ten for Zoey. Again, I don’t see why we had to include the names at the beginning. I’m starting to wonder if that was just something the editor did while reading the draft so they could figure out which character this is about and PCK wanted it left in.
Anywho, Zoey wakes up screaming and calms herself down only to realize someone else is also screaming. It’s Aphro screaming that she needs light. Zoey grabs a nearby candle and a lighter which takes five tries to get lit. Wait, what? Why not just tell fire to do it for you, Zoey. You’ve never been one to waste your powers on frivolous shit.
With some illumination doing it’s thing, Zoey can see Aphro’s eyes are completely red. She correctly guesses that Aphro had another vision which wins her the vacation to Maui. Now do you want to risk it all and keep going or take your prize home now, Zoey? Zoey gets Aphro some water and a washcloth to drape over her eyes. Yeah, screw going to the doctor or anything just cover up so we don’t have to look at it.
Aphro says that it started with seven vampires sitting around in thrones. She was certain they were going to turn into “Justin Timberlake” and start strip dancing for her. Zoey says he is hot even if he’s getting old. Gotta remind the audience that they are modern teens, just like them. Also, if you don’t reference something in pop culture at least ten times a book then the kids won’t be able to identify.
Then Neferet shows up claiming to be Nyx and that Kalona is Erebus. Some of the elders stayed behind and others left. Aphro ended up following those that left and they were thinking “negative things” about Neferet and suddenly burning. Only it wasn’t just them burning, it was the whole world. Then she saw Kalona and Zoey doing the deed while knowing that it was them hooking up that caused the end of the world.
Aphro says she knows Zoey is Aya and needs to admit, to herself, that she wants Kalona. Zoey says she has but that won’t happen. Aphro says it might because Aya was made to love Kalona and that part might still be there buried in her. Then Aphro says she saw two endings. The first was the world burning and the other was Zoey stepping out of his arms and saying something which killed him. It was probably something like ‘now we’ll be together forever!’
Aphro then asks why Zoey was screaming and she guesses Kalona. Zoey says that he offered her the world, assuring her that it’s not going to happen, and that he said he’d burn everything. She aslso says that Kalona said he’d separate the wheat from the chaff and neither Zoey or Aphro know what chaff is or what that means.
Look, PCK. Even if Zoey was bottle fed drain cleaner and failed every school course she sat through, she should know what that means. For one, it’s a common enough saying. Two, it’s pretty clear by the way he was talking last chapter. He said something along the lines of the wheat he keeps nearby will grow and the chaff will burn. It doesn’t take an English major to figure out what the fuck he was saying.
Aphro decides that Zoey will have to go to him. Zoey protests and says she can’t and won’t. Aphro says that, judging by her vision, Zoey is the only one who can stop him. So she needs to sit down, figure out what she would say that would kill Kalona and then go to him. Then the chapter ends when someone’s fist bangs on the door. Because PCK thought the word knocking was just too good to use.
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