"I'm goin' to talk to flowers about cows. Goodbye, Aphrodite."

"Bulls. Goodbye, bumpkin."

Stevie Rae opened the door to leave her dorm room, still frowning about Aphrodite's comments, and almost ran smack into Kramisha's hand, raised to knock on her door. They both jumped and then Kramisha shook her head. "Don't do weird shit like that. Makes me think you ain't normal no more."

"Kramisha, if I'd known you were out here, I wouldn't have jumped when I opened the door. And none of us are normal - at least not anymore."

"Speak for yourself. I'm still me. Meaning they's nothin' wrong with me. You, on the other hand, look like one hot messatude."

"I almost burned up on a roof two days ago. I think that gives me the right to look like crap."

"I don't mean you look bad." Kramisha cocked her head to the side. Today she was wearing her bright yellow bob wig, which she'd coordinated with sparkly fluorescent yellow eye shadow. "Actually, you lookin' good - all pink like white folks get when they real healthy. It kinda reminds me of cute little baby pigs with they pinkness."

"Kramisha, I swear you're makin' my head hurt. What are you talkin' about?"

"I'm just sayin' that you look good, but you ain't doing good. In there, and there." Kramisha pointed from Stevie Rae's heart to her head.

"I've got a lot on my mind," Stevie Rae said evasively.

"Yeah, I know that, what with Zoey totally jacked up and all, but you gotta keep your shit together just the same."

"I'm tryin'."

"Try harder. Zoey needs you. I know you ain't there with her, but I got this feelin' that you can help her.

So you gotta be using your good sense."

Kramisha was staring at her with an intensity that made Stevie Rae want to fidget. "Like I said, I'm tryin'."

"You up to somethin' crazy?"

"No!"

"You sure? 'Cause this is for you." Kramisha held up a piece of purple notebook paper that had something written on it in her distinctive mixture of cursive and printing. "And it feels like a whole bunch

of crazy to me."

Stevie Rae snatched the paper from her hand. "Dang it, why didn't you just say you were bringin' me one of your poems?"

"I was gettin' 'round to it." Kramisha crossed her arms and leaned against the doorway, obviously waiting for Stevie Rae to read the poem.

"Isn't there somethin' you need to go do?"

"Nope. The rest of the kids is eatin'. Oh, 'cept for Dallas. He's working with Dragon on some sword stuff, even though school ain't starting again officially, and I do not see no need to rush things, so I do not get why he in such a hurry to go to class. Anyway, just read the poem, High Priestess. I ain't goin'

nowhere."

Stevie Rae stifled a sigh. Kramisha's poems tended to be confusing and abstract, but they were also often prophetic, and just thinking about one of them being obviously for her had Stevie Rae's stomach feeling like she'd eaten raw eggs. Reluctantly, her eyes went to the paper and she started to read: The Red One steps into the Light

girded loins for her part in

the apocalyptic fight.

Darkness hides in different forms

see beyond shape, color, lies

and the emotional storms.

Ally with him; pay with your heart

though trust cannot be given

unless the Darkness you part.

See with the soul and not your eyes

because to dance with beasts you

must penetrate their disguise.

Stevie Rae shook her head, glanced up at Kramisha, and then read the poem again, slowly, willing her heart to please stop beating so loud that it would betray the guilty terror the thing instantly made her feel.

'Cause Kramisha was right; it was obviously about her. Of course it was also obviously about her and Rephaim. Stevie Rae supposed she should be grateful the dang poem didn't say anything about wings and human eyes in a dang bird head. Shoot!

"See what I mean 'bout it bein' 'bout you?"

Stevie Rae shifted her gaze from the poem to Kramisha's intelligent eyes. "Well, hell, Kramisha. 'Course it's about me. The first line says that."

"Yeah, see, I was sure 'bout that, too, even though I never heard nobody call you that."

"It makes sense," Stevie Rae said quickly, trying to drown out the memory of Rephaim's voice calling her The Red One . "I'm the only girl red vamp, so it's gotta be talkin' about me."