As Stevie Rae and I left the room, she snagged my arm and slowed me down so that we were walking by ourselves. "Hey, you know that just

'cause the High Council and them are call in' me the High Priestess at the depot, it doesn't mean that I want to be the boss of you or anythin' like that."

I blinked in surprise at her. "Yeah, of course I know that. And anyway, you're a great High Priestess, and that means you won't be a bossy pain in the butt."

She didn't laugh like I thought she would. Instead she tugged on one of her curls, a definite sign she was stressing. "Okay, that's nice to say and all, but I've only been a High Priestess for, like, two seconds. I need to be sure you'll help me." I hooked her arm with mine and bumped shoulders with her. "You can always be sure of me. You know that."

"Even after Rephaim?"

"Even after Loren and Kalona and Stark?" I countered with.

She started to grin. "You always gotta one-up me, don't ya?"

"Sadly, I think I three-uped you," I said, which did make her laugh, but made me sigh.

We left the part of the House of Night that held the tower-like media center and took a left on the sidewalk that wound around to the field house and stables. It was a cold night, but it was super clear. The sky was filled with stars, which were really easy to see through the winter branches of the big oaks that dotted the campus grounds.

"So, he's cute, huh?"

I pretended clueless. "Who? Stark? Definitely."

She knocked her shoulder into mine. "I'm talkin' 'bout Rephaim."

"Oh, him. Yeah, I guess he's okay." I hesitated, and almost didn't ask, but then I decided to go ahead. I mean, we were BFFs. And BFFs could ask each other anything. "So, did you see him turn into a bird?"

I could feel the tension that entered her body, but she sounded almost normal when she said, "Yeah, I did."

"What was it like?"

"Awful."

"Did he, uh, stay around? Or did he fly right off?" I couldn't help it. I was totally, morbidly, car-wreck curious.

"Flew right off. But as soon as the sun set he came back. He says he'll always find his way back to me."

"Then he will," I said, hating to hear the worry in her voice.

"I love him, Z. He really is good. I promise."

I was opening my mouth to tell her I believed her when a shout interrupted me. For a second I didn't understand what the voice was saying, all I reacted to was the danger in it. Stevie Rae understood, though.

"Oh, no! It's Dragon! He's calling Warriors to him!"

She dropped my arm and began to run toward Dragon's voice. With a terrible sense of foreboding, I sprinted after her.

CHAPTER FIVE

Rephaim

"Why are you here?!" Rephaim shouted at the three Raven Mockers perched above him. He looked hastily around. If he'd had time he would have breathed a sigh of relief that this part of the campus remained empty; all the fledglings had found their way to second-hour classes. "You must go before anyone sees you," he said in a much quieter voice.

"Rephaim? How?"

Though there were three Raven Mockers in the tree, only one of them was actually speaking. Of course Rephaim recognized him instantly as Nisroc, one of the more human-like of his brothers.

"I chose the path of Nyx. The Goddess forgave and accepted me, and when she did she changed my form to completely human." Rephaim wasn't sure why he didn't add "at night." What he was sure of was that anything he told Nisroc would be reported directly back to his father.

"Forgivenessss? Why?"

Rephaim stared at his brother, almost overwhelmed by pity. He doesn't realize there is any other way than that which our father leads him, and he doesn't understand that what he does in Kalona's name is wrong.

"Nisroc, when we-" Rephaim paused. No, he thought, I can only speak for myself. "When I harmed others, when I killed and raped and took whatever I wished simply because I could-that was wrong."

Nisroc cocked his head back and forth. His other brothers, two of the nameless, bestial horde that did their father's bidding, hissed softly, disturbed but not high enough evolved to comprehend why.

Finally his brother said, "Father'sss command. Not wrong."

Rephaim shook his head. "Even Father can be wrong." He drew a deep breath and added, "And even you can choose a different path." The two nameless ones stopped hissing and stared at him in shock. Nisroc narrowed his scarlet colored, human eyes. "She did thisss. The female. As Father sssaid!"