"Damien's pretty bad, huh?"

"Yeah, I'm worried 'bout him, and the Twins, and the rest of the kids. Heck, Z, I'm even worried 'bout Dragon. It's like the whole world is drownin' in sadness."

I didn't know what to say. No, that's not true. I did know what I wanted to say: I wanted to shriek, If the whole world's drowning in sadness why do I want to come back to it? But I knew that was weak and wrong on many different levels. So instead I said, kinda lamely, "We'll make it through this. We really will."

"Yeah, we will!" she said firmly. "Okay, look, together you and me, we gotta be able to figure out a way to expose Neferet's evil to the High Council once and for all."

"I still can't believe they bought that load of bullpoopie she shoveled at them," I said.

"Me neither. I guess it basically came down to a High Priestess's word against a dead human kid. Heath lost."

"Neferet isn't a High Priestess anymore! Jeesh, it pisses me off! And now it's not just Heath, but Jack. She's going to pay for what she did, Stevie Rae. I'm gonna make sure she does."

"She's gotta be stopped." "Yeah, she does." I knew we were right--that we had to fight to get Neferet out of power, but just the thought overwhelmed me. Even I heard the exhaustion in my voice. I was tired all the way down to my soul, truly sick and tired of fighting against Neferet's evil. It seemed like for every one step forward I won I was somehow, eventually, no matter what, knocked two steps back.

"Hey, you're not in this alone."

"Thanks, Stevie Rae. I know I'm not. And anyway, this really isn't about me. It's really about doing what's right for Heath and Jack and Anastasia and whoever else Neferet and her evil horde decide to mow down next."

"Yeah, you can say that, but evil has taken a pretty dang big toll on you lately."

"That's true, but I'm still standing. A bunch of other folks aren't." I wiped my face with my sleeve again, wishing I had a Kleenex. "Speaking of evil and death and whatnot: have you seen Kalona? No way did Neferet really have him whipped and banished. He's gotta be all into everything with her. That means if she's in Tulsa, he's in Tulsa."

"Well, rumor has it she really did have him whipped," Stevie Rae said.

I snorted. "That figures. He's supposed to be her Consort, so she has him beaten. Wow. I kinda knew he liked pain, but even I'm surprised that he agreed to that."

"Well, uh, rumor has it he didn't exactly agree to it."

"Oh, please. Neferet is scary, but she can't order around an immortal."

"Looks like she can order around this one. She has some kinda hold over him because he failed in his, uh, dastardly mission to annihilate you."

I could hear the humor that Stevie Rae was trying to add to her voice and I attempted a little laugh for her benefit, but I think both of us knew the funny didn't begin to overcome the horrible. "Well, ya know, being bossed around by Neferet is something Kalona isn't gonna like, and it's about time he got a big old dose of not liking something," I said.

"I hear you. I think Kalona's probably here somewhere lurkin' around all in her nasty shadow, and by that I mean her crotch," said Stevie Rae.

"Eeeew!" That did make me laugh, and Stevie Rae's giggle joined mine. For a moment we were BFFs again, being cracked up by the proliferation of skank in our world. Sadly, too soon the less amusing parts of our world intruded and our laughter dried up way faster than it used to. I sighed and said, "So, during all this rumor listening and stuff you didn't actually happen to see Kalona, did you?"

"Nope, but I'm keepin' my eyes open."

"Good, 'cause catching that jerk with Neferet after she's told the High Council she's banished him for a hundred years would definitely be a step toward proving she's not what everyone thinks," I said. "Oh, while you're keeping your eyes open, remember to have them pointed up. Wherever Kalona is, those gross birdboys of his will eventually show, too. No way do I think they've all suddenly disappeared."

"Okay. Yeah. Got it."

"And didn't Stark tell me that there actually was a Raven Mocker spotted in Tulsa?" I paused, trying to remember what he had said.

"Yeah, there was one seen once, but not since then."

Stevie Rae's voice sounded weird, all tight like she was having trouble talking. Hell, who could blame her? I'd basically left her holding the ball there at my House of Night. Just thinking about what she'd gone through with Jack and Damien made me feel sick.