She thought he sounded nervous, almost apologetic, so she grinned at him. "Thanks, even though it's kinda stalkerlike of you to watch me sleep."

"I did not watch you sleep!"

He said it so quickly that it was obvious he was lying. She opened her mouth to tell him it was okay - that he didn't need to do it all the time, but that it was real nice of him to be sure she stayed safe, especially after the day she'd had - and her phone chose then to chirp its "You have voice mail" sound.

"It has been making noise. A lot of noise," Rephaim told her.

"Crap. I can't hear nothing when I'm 'sleep like that." She sighed and reluctantly picked up the iPhone from where she'd set it beside her. "I guess I'd better face the dang music." Stevie Rae opened the screen, saw the battery was almost dead, and sighed again. She tapped to the missed-call screen. "Ah, crap. Six missed calls. One from Lenobia and five from Aphrodite." Heart pounding, she clicked into Lenobia's first. Putting it on speaker she glanced at Rephaim. "You might as well hear what's goin' on.

They're probably gonna be talkin' 'bout you."

But Lenobia's voice didn't sound all "Holy crap you're with a Raven Mocker and I'm gonna have to come hunt you down!" She seemed totally normal. "Stevie Rae, call me when you awaken. Kramisha said she wasn't sure where you were, but that you're safe even though Dallas ran off. I'll come get you right away." She hesitated, lowered her voice, and added, "She also told me what happened with the other red fledglings. I've sent prayers to Nyx for their spirits. Blessed be, Stevie Rae."

She smiled up at Rephaim. "Aw, that was nice of her."

"Dallas hasn't reached her yet."

"No," she said, her smile going out. "Definitely not." She turned her attention back to the phone. "Four missed calls from Aphrodite, but she only left one message. Here's hoping it's not scary bad news." She clicked the play button. Aphrodite's voice sounded tinny and distant, but no less bitchy.

"Oh for shit's sake, answer your f**king phone! Or are you in your casket? Goddess! Time zones are annoying. Anyway, update: Z's still an eggplant, and Stark's still checked out and being sliced up. That's the good news. The bad news is my newest vision stars you, a hottie Indian kid, and the biggest baddie of all the Raven Mockers, Rephaim. We need to talk 'cause I have one of my feelings about this, which means Not Good. So hurry the hell up and call me. If I'm sleeping, I'll actually wake up and answer you."

"Big surprise that she hung up without saying bye," Stevie Rae said. Not wanting to stay in the same room with the words and the biggest baddie of all the Raven Mockers, Rephaim, hovering around, she shoved her phone in her pocket and started up the basement stairs. She didn't have to look behind her to make sure he was following. She knew he would.

The night was cool, but not cold, right on the edge of that freezing/slushy line. Stevie Rae felt sorry for the poor people in the houses surrounding the Gilcrease and was glad to see a bunch of the lights were

back on. But at the same time, it gave her an eerie "we're being watched" feeling, and she hesitated on the front porch of the mansion.

"No one is about. They're putting their focus on fixing the power to the people first. This will be one of the last places they come, especially at night."

Relieved, Stevie Rae nodded and left the porch, walking aimlessly toward the fountain that sat silent and cold in the middle of the yard.

"Your people are going to find out about me," Rephaim said.

"Some of them already have." Stevie Rae reached down and touched the top edge of the fountain, breaking off an icicle that was suspended there and letting it fall into the water in the basin below.

"What will you do?" Rephaim stood beside her. They both stared down at the dark fountain water as if they could discover the answer there.

Finally, Stevie Rae said, "I think the question is more like, what will you do?"

"What would you have me do?"

"Rephaim, you can't answer my question with a question."

He made a derisive noise. "You did mine."

"Rephaim, stop. Tell me what you want to do about, well, us ."

She stared at his changed eyes, wishing his features were easier to read. He took so long to answer that she thought he wasn't going to, and frustration gnawed at her. She had to get back to the House of Night. She had to do damage control there before Dallas messed everything up.