She rounded the corner and smiled sleepily at Damien, Zoey, Aphrodite, and Darius. The four of them were sitting around a table loaded with books in the center of the kitchen.

"There's lots of pop in that fridge," Zoey said, waving at one of the two big side-by-side refrigerators.

"More than just brown?"

"There's brown and green and clear. Oh, and some Orange Crush because Kramisha said she thinks it's healthy," Z said.

"Which is bullshit," Aphrodite said before upending a bottle of Fuji water. "Choose water. Anything else will make you fat. Well, except for blood." She paused and her beautiful face squeezed into an ick look. "I don't know about the calorie count in it, and since I un-fledgling-ed I don't even want to think about it."

Stevie Rae pulled open the fridge and gawked at the loaded insides. "Where did all this stuff come from?" Zoey gave a little sigh. "Kramisha. She said instead of going to third hour she 'field-tripped'"-Z air quoted-"to Utica Square and just happened to run into some night shift guys stocking the shelves at Petty's grocery store." Stevie Rae peeked around the arm of the fridge at Z. "Uh-oh. She red vamp zapped them?"

"She definitely zapped them," Damien said. "Which is how all this food got delivered down here. She even talked them into bringing this table from one of their food sample setups."

"She didn't eat them, did she?" Stevie Rae asked, crossing her fingers behind her back.

"No, but she didn't pay them, either," Aphrodite said. "She just made them do her bidding and then leave and forget all of it. I think I'm taking her with me to New York City next time Yoana Baraschi has a trunk show."

"No," Zoey said. "Just no." Then she looked at Stevie Rae. "Are you really awake? Stark and all the red fledglings, including Miss Kramisha Make-Them-Do-My-Bidding are sound asleep."

Stevie Rae grabbed a Mountain Dew and joined them at the table, sitting heavily and yawning. "Yeah, barely. It's easier to stay awake during the day down here, but I gotta tell ya, I'm pretty dang tired. Stark's asleep already?"

"Yeah." Stevie Rae thought Z looked worried. "He's been having problems sleeping since, well, you know-he came back from the Otherworld.

So when he passes out I just let him alone."

"It'll take a while, but he'll be back to normal soon," Stevie Rae said.

"I hope so," Zoey said and chewed at her lip.

"Speaking of boyfriends, is yours a bird?" Aphrodite asked her.

"Yes." Stevie Rae gave her a narrowed-eye look. "And I don't wanna talk about it."

"But we do need to know exactly why the Raven Mockers were at the school today," Darius said, not unkindly, "And since Rephaim is unable to answer our questions we're hoping you can."

"I thought this meeting was about the True Sight stuff," Stevie Rae said, feeling immediately defensive of Rephaim.

"It is, but it's also a catch-up meeting," Damien said. "I think we need one, don't you?" There was just no way to argue with Damien, especially when he had that sweet, concerned look on his face. Stevie Rae met his eyes. "Yeah, I think we do. So, to start with, how are you holdin' up?"

Damien blinked several times, like he was surprised by the question, which made Stevie Rae feel like crap. Had everydangbody forgotten Damien had lost his boyfriend just days ago?

"It was better being at school today. It felt like a step toward normal." Damien spoke slowly and carefully, as if he had to think about each word.

"But I missed Jack a lot. Actually, and I know this might sound crazy, but I kept expecting to see him around every corner in the hallway."

"That's not crazy," Zoey said. "I keep expecting to see Heath, too. It's hard and just plain wrong when someone dies too soon." Everyone watched the different expressions play across Z's face, and then she added, "My mom, too. I know I've been at the House of Night since last year, and even before that she and I hadn't been close for a while, but it's hard to really get that she's dead. So I understand what you mean about Jack."

"That makes it better, too," Damien said. "The fact that you guys understand what it's like to lose someone close to you." He smiled at Stevie Rae. "So, my answer to your question is that I'm holding up as well as can be expected."

"Good. Next question, or actually back to the original question," Aphrodite said. "What were the birdboys doing at the House of Night?"