Chapter 26
Zoey pretends to be shocked that Heath is there. He pretends that she’s being cold to him and they share a laugh. Nothing like characters without any kind of chemistry having a faux moment. He says that he was trying to help burn the bodies but Stark said she needed him. She tries to brush it off but Heath says she looks bad.
As it hasn’t come up in the past few minutes, the conversation turns to Zoey and relationships. Heath whines that her relationship with Stark bugs him but he tries not to let it. He says it’s worse when she pushes him away. Zoey says she knows what he means and Heath says that he knows she wants to. Somehow the invitation to drink blood is about sex.
I expected him to explode and get all pissed, but instead he deflated. His shoulders sagged and he shook his head. “Why won’t you let me help you in the one real way I can?”
I drew a deep breath and told him the complete truth. “Because I can’t deal with the sex part of it right now.”
What sex part of it? Are you obligated to put out for someone who you feed off of? Or is this just PCK equating blood drinking with sex and not telling us again? Heath says he understands though he has no experience. Zoey is shocked to hear he’s still a virgin considering that her “skanky” friend Kala went after him.
What is it with PCK and people who like sex? Zoey finds Heath extra attractive since he’s still a virgin. Erik isn’t good enough for her because he’s had sex before Zoey. Let me guess, Stark has also never gotten laid because Zoey can’t have sullied penis touch her. Not after Loren’s tainted dick, anyway. Zoey’s shocked when Heath says there’s only one girl for him
Again, I didn’t know what to say. I’d always thought when I had sex for the first time it would be with Heath, but then I’d messed up majorly and lost my virginity to Loren Blake, which was literally the biggest mistake of my life. It still made me feel sick and more than a little guilty.
That’s the biggest mistake of your life? Are you sure, Zoey? I’d think shoving those to innocents into traffic would be among the top five above fucking Loren. How about not defeating Neferet when you had the chance? Letting kids at the school suffer under the yoke of vampire satan? None of that tops losing your virginity to Loren?
Heath tells her not to worry about Loren because of course he knows all of her worries. Zoey says that’s that, she’s not having sex even if the end of the world was happening. Which also means she’s not drinking from him, for some reason. Until they decide that she can drink from him without having sex.
So they do and Zoey really enjoys it. Heath talks to her and pats her on the head while she drinks. Then she stops and says thank you. Stark wanders in and Heath banters with him in an almost friendly way. Because they’re totally cool with sharing her. Zoey sort of feels bad about not being able to choose between one or he other but gets over it with the ease of murder.
Chapter 27
Zoey wanders into the common room of the dorm with Stark. She offers Stark a “brown pop” and tells us how weird the place is because it’s quiet. So why not use your fucking magic to fix the mind control, Zoey? Why did you waste all that energy to make a few kids feel a little better for a few seconds? Seems like it would have been a much better expenditure of energy rather than saving a couple of syrettes of morphine?
Zoey runs into Becca, the girl who Stark snacked on from before I believe. Becca blames Zoey for Kalona disappearing. Zoey thinks she’s just jealous and PCK tries to make her out as a total bitch. Which is stupid because she’s clearly still under mind control and it’s not her fault.
They have a pseudo cat fight which Stark brings to a stop by threatening her. They go upstairs and into Zoey’s room to meet with the slaves. On the way there, some brainwashed kids give Zoey a look. Again, I’m not sympathetic for Zoey, PCK.
Zoey and slaves begin to talk about what we already know. Most of the kids and some of the teachers are still under control. Also, Kalona’s not a demon and they should call him by his TrueName because that’s the only thing all hacks can agree with on magic. They start trying to figure out why some kids weren’t affected.
The author’s strike and give Zoey a bolt of inspiration. She says it’s all about choice. They made the right choice, whatever that means, and so they’re not affected by Kalona’s spell. Zoey then wonders if Kalona has any choice in the matter of good and evil.
So how does this work, PCK? Does that mean one wrong choice, a single mistake, and they’re vulnerable? That would mean Zoey should be as she’s made one, self proclaimed, mistake. You can’t just drop a throwaway line in there about choosing right and wrong and then move past it.
They decide that they need to get Zoey to Kalona so she can destroy him. Then they read that poem that Kramisha wrote down. The one that PCK blessedly skipped past earlier they now drop in. It’s basically a love letter from Kalona to Zoey and they all agreed on it. What an informative and interesting chapter…compared to the back of a shampoo bottle.
Vivisector's Writ 