"Hell!" I said.

"Cursing?" Aphrodite said.

"No. It's a place. I didn't send anyone there," I said.

"Grow up," she said.

"Screw you," I said, succinctly.

Aphrodite laughed, which totally took the Big Girl sting from my almost-curse. I sighed and as the bell chimed, got out of my desk and walked slowly but resolutely up to Thanatos.

From her seat behind her desk Thanatos glanced up, but her eyes didn't go to me. Instead she glanced around me and called, "Aurox, a moment please."

Aurox had been leaving class, but he stopped and turned. "You want me, Priestess?"

"I want to give you an answer to your question."

"Uh, I'll wait outside so you two can-"

"There is no need for you to leave." Thanatos cut me off. "My answer is the same for whomever is asking the question."

"I do not understand," Aurox said.

Actually, neither did I. His question was "What am I?" How could there be only one answer for that question?

"I believe you will understand when you hear me out. The question of what we are can only be answered by ourselves. We each decide what we are by the life choices we make. How we were made, who are parents are, where we are from, the color of our skin, who we choose to love, all those things do not define us. Our actions define us, and will keep defining us until even after death." I saw surprise in Aurox's expression. "The past does not matter?"

"The past matters a great deal, especially if we don't learn from it. But the future need not be dictated by the past."

"I decide what I am?" He spoke slowly, as if he was working through a riddle.

"Yes."

"Thank you, Priestess."

"You are welcome and you may be excused now."

He fisted his hand over his heart and bowed deeply to her before leaving the room.

I was looking after him, still thinking about the surprise I'd seen in Aurox when Thanatos spoke to me. "Zoey, I know this ritual and the spell casting will be difficult for you, but I believe it will also give you closure."

"Yeah, me, too." Feeling a little like a kid caught with her hand in the cookie jar, I spoke quickly, my eyes turning to Thanatos. "I mean, I don't want to do it. I don't want to see what happened to Mom, but I figure I keep replaying it in my imagination anyway. The truth will at least stop my imagination."

"It will do that," she said.

"So, this ritual-who all will be there?"

"Those I named already. I would imagine your Guardian will accompany you, as will Aphrodite's Darius. And I will be there. follow your instincts, Zoey. Is there anyone else you request?"

Aurox's presence seemed to linger in the room with us and I shook my head. "No, I don't want to request anyone else. My circle and our Warriors are all that I need, but there is someone I don't want there." She raised her eyebrows and I continued. "Dragon Lankford. He hates Rephaim, and he's pretty much acting as Stevie Rae's Warrior, so he should be with her." I made a quick decision, Thanatos should know, and added, "Plus, yesterday Aphrodite had a vision that showed Dragon totally involved with Rephaim being skewered by a sword. I'd rather that didn't happen during my mom's reveal ritual."

"Dragon Lankford has been tasked with protecting this school and its students. If he allows, or takes part in, Rephaim being injured a great injustice will have been committed and he must be brought to task quickly and-"

"Wait, stop." I interrupted her. "I don't want this spell to be some kind of setup for Dragon to get in trouble. I don't want any of that drama to touch what's happened to my mom. Her murder is drama enough. Can't you just help me be sure Dragon's not there? We'll deal with his issues later." Thanatos bowed her head slightly. "You have a valid point, and you are right to remind me. Your mother's death is not the appropriate venue to test Dragon or to ill uminate his failings. I shal see that he does not accompany us."

"Thanks," I said.

"Thank me when the ritual and spell casting is over. I've found quite often that the dead reveal things that should have been kept hidden from the living."

And on that ominous note I left death's classroom and made my way to the parking lot and to a future none of us would have been able to predict.

Neferet

When the bell chimed to end first hour Neferet moved nonchalantly to the doorway of her classroom. Under the guise of saying good-bye to what was left of the class after Thanatos had culled it for her own special first hour, Neferet positioned herself so that she could watch the High Council member's students as they departed.