Betrayed

"Hens fight?" Shaunee asked.

Erin shrugged. "How should I know, Twin?"

"I thought only cocks fought," I said. We all looked at each other and said, "Cocks!" and then burst out into laughter, which pretty soon was mixed with tears. "Stevie Rae would have thought that was hilarious," I said when I could catch my breath again.

"Is it really going to be okay, Zoey?" Shaunee asked.

"Is it?" Erin echoed.

"I think so," I said.

"How?" Shaunee asked.

"I don't really know. I think all we can do is take one day at a time."

Surprisingly, I'd finished all my soup. I did feel better—warmer, more normal. I was also unbelievably tired. The Twins must have noticed my eyelids getting heavy, because Erin took my tray. Shaunee handed me a little vial of milky liquid.

"Neferet said you should drink this, that it'll help you sleep without nightmares," she said.

"Thanks." I took it from her, but I didn't drink it. She and Erin just stood there looking at me. "I'll take it in a minute. After I go to the bathroom. Just leave my pop in case it tastes nasty."

That seemed to satisfy them. Before they left Shaunee said, "Zoey, can we get you anything else?"

"No, thanks though."

"You'll call us if you need anything, right?" Erin said. "We promised Stevie Rae ..." Her voice broke and Shaunee finished for her, "We promised her we'd take care of you, and we live up to our promises."

"I'll call you," I said.

"'Kay," they said. "Night …"

"Night," I called to the closing door.

As soon as they were gone I poured the creamy white liquid down the sink and threw away the vial.

Then I was alone. I glanced at my alarm clock, 6:00 A.M. It was amazing how much things could change in just a few hours. I tried not to, but flashes of Stevie Rae's death kept playing across my mind, like there was a horrible movie screen stuck inside my eyes. I jumped when my cell phone rang, and checked the caller ID. It was my grandma's number! Relief surged through me. I flipped the phone open and struggled not to burst into tears.

"I'm so glad you called, Grandma!"

"Little Bird, I woke from a dream about you. Is everything all right?" Her worried tone said she already knew it wasn't, which didn't surprise me. For my whole life my grandma and I had been linked.

"No. Nothing is right," I whispered as I began to cry again. "Grandma, Stevie Rae died tonight."

"Oh, Zoey! I'm so terribly sorry!"

"She died in my arms, Grandma, just minutes after Nyx gifted her with an affinity for the element earth."

"It must have been a great comfort for her that you were with her at the end." I could hear that Grandma was crying now, too.

“We were all with her, all of my friends."

"And Nyx must have been with her, too."

"Yes," my voice caught on a sob. "I think the Goddess was, but I don't understand it, Grandma. It doesn't make any sense that Nyx would gift Stevie Rae, and then let her die."

"Death never makes sense when it happens to the young. But I believe that your Goddess was close to Stevie Rae, even though her death happened too soon, and now she is resting peacefully with Nyx."

"I hope so."

"I wish I could come visit you, but with all this snow the roads out here are impossible. How about I fast and pray for Stevie Rae today?"

"Thank you, Grandma. I know she'd appreciate that."

"And, honey, you have to move past this."

"How, Grandma?"

"By honoring her memory by living a life she'd be proud of you for living. Live for her, too."

"It's hard, Grandma, especially when the vamps want us to just forget about the kids who die. They're treated like speed bumps, just something to pause a little about, and then go on."

"I don't mean to second-guess your High Priestess, or any of the other adult vampyres, but that seems shortsighted. Death is more difficult if it goes unacknowledged."

"That's what I think. Actually, that's what Stevie Rae thought, too." Then an idea came to me, along with a feeling that it was the right thing to do. "I can change that. With or without permission, I'm going to be sure Stevie Rae's death is honored. She's going to be more than a speed bump."

"Don't get in trouble, honey."

"Grandma, I am the most powerful fledgling in the history of vampyres. I think I should be willing to get in a little trouble for something I feel strongly about."

Grandma paused, then she said, "I think you might be right about that, Zoeybird."

"I love you, Grandma."

"I love you, too, u-we-tsi a-ge-hu-tsa." The Cherokee word for daughter made me feel loved and safe. "And now I want you to try to sleep. Know that I'll be praying for you, and asking the spirits of our grandmothers to watch over and comfort you."

"Thanks, Grandma. Bye."

"Good-bye, Zoeybird."

I closed the phone softly. I felt better now that I'd talked to Grandma. Before it had been like there was a huge, invisible weight pressing down on my chest. Now that it had shifted some it was easier for me to breathe. I started to lie down, and Nala popped in through the kitty door, leaped up on my bed, and instantly began me-uf-ow-ing at me. I petted her and told her how glad I was to see her, and then glanced over at Stevie Rae's empty bed. She always laughed at Nala's grumpiness, and said she sounded like an old woman, but she had loved the cat as much as me. Tears stung my eyes and I wondered if there was a limit to how much someone could cry. Just then my cell phone chimed that I had a new text message. I rubbed my eyes clear and flipped my phone back open.

R U OK? Somethings wrong.

It was Heath. Well, at least now there could be no doubt at all that he and I were linked through an Imprint. And what the hell I was going to do about that, I didn't know.

Bad day. My best friend died. I text messaged him back.

It was so long that I didn't think he was going to respond. Then finally my phone chimed again.

My friends have died 2.

I closed my eyes. How could I have forgotten that two of Heath's friends had just recently been killed?

I'm sorry. I typed back.

Me 2. Do u want me to come see u?

The instant, powerful yes! that burst through my body sur­prised me, but I suppose it shouldn't have. It would be wonderful to find oblivion in Heath's arms … in the scarlet seduction of Heath's blood ...

No, I typed hastily, my hands shaking. You have school.

Nuh uh SNOW DAY!

I smiled, and spent a sweet second or two wishing that I could return to the time when a snow day meant a mini-holiday of tramping through snow with my friends and then curling up to watch rented movies and eat delivery pizza. My phone chimed again, breaking into my past-life fantasy.

I'll make u feel btr fri

I sighed. I'd totally forgotten about promising Heath I'd meet him after the game Friday. I shouldn't meet him. I knew it. Actu­ally, I should go to Neferet and confess everything about Heath and have her help me fix it.

Neferet lies. Aphrodite's voice whispered through my mind. No. I couldn't go to Neferet, and for more reasons than just Aphrodite's warning. Something felt wrong about Neferet. I couldn't confide in her. My phone chimed.

Zo?

I sighed. I was so tired that it was getting hard to concentrate. I started to text back no and tell Heath that I just couldn't meet him, no matter how much I'd like to. I even hit the N and the O keys. Then I stopped, back-spaced over them, and resolutely typed: OK.

What the hell. It felt as if my life was unraveling like the hem of an old skirt. I didn't want to tell Heath no, and worrying about our Imprint was just one thing too many to worry about right now.

OK! Came his quick reply.

I sighed again, shut off my phone, and sat heavily on my bed, petting Nala, staring at nothing in particular, and wishing des­perately that I could turn the clock back a day ... or maybe even a year ... Eventually I noticed that, for whatever reason, the vamps who had cleared out Stevie Rae's stuff had forgotten the old, handmade quilt that she kept folded on the end of her bed. I put Nala on my pillow and got up, pulling the quilt from Stevie Rae's bed. Then Nala and I curled up under it.