Everything seemed so awful and so confusing, like the entire night had been the last half of a terrible slasher horror movie: the ritual, rewatching images of my mother's murder, what had happened with Dragon and Rephaim and Kalona and Aurox ... Aurox? Heath? No, I can't go there! Not now. Now the stables were on fire. Seriously. At our school horses were neighing and clustering nervously by the east wall. Lenobia looked singed and soot-covered. Erik and Shaylin and a bunch of other fledglings were standing there, shell-shocked and soggy because, of course, it had started to pour buckets of rain. And Nicole, as in the Nicole who was a super mean red fledgling and Dallas's skanky, hateful girlfriend, was collapsed on a bench with a couple of human EMTs hovering around her like she was the gold-winged baby Jesus.

I wanted to punch a button, turn off the scary movie, and drift to sleep safely curled up next to Stark. Hell, I wanted to close my eyes and go back to a time when the worst stress I had was triple boyfriend stress, and that had been really, really bad.

I mentally shook myself, did my best to shut out the chaos that surrounded me inside and out, and focused on Lenobia.

"Yes, the stables caught fire," she was explaining to us. "We don't know who or what caused it. Have any of you seen Neferet?"

"We have not seen her in person, but we have seen her image in the recorded spirit of Zoey's grandmother's land." Thanatos lifted her chin, and in a strong, sure voice that carried through the rain pronounced, "Neferet has allied herself with the white bull. She sacrificed Zoey's mother to him. She will be a powerful enemy, but enemy she is to everyone who follows Light and the Goddess."

I could see that the announcement shook Lenobia, although I knew the Horse Mistress had been aware that Neferet had become our enemy months ago. Still, there was a big difference between thinking something, and knowing the worst you had imagined was true. Especially when that something was so horrible it was almost beyond comprehension. Then Lenobia cleared her throat and said, "The High Council has shunned her?"

"I have reported what I have witnessed this night," said Thanatos, acting High Priestess of our House of Night. "The High Council commands Neferet appear before them where they will mete out justice upon her for her betrayal of our Goddess and of our ways."

"She had to have known what you would find if your ritual was successful," Lenobia said.

"Yeah, which is why she sent that thing of hers after us-to kill Rephaim and mess up our circle and stop the reveal ritual," Stevie Rae said, sliding her hand within Rephaim's, who stood tall and strong by her side.

"Doesn't look like that worked," Erik Night said.

He was standing close to Shaylin. Now that I thought about it, it seemed Erik had been spending a lot of time standing close to Shaylin. Hmmm ...

"Well, it would've worked," Stevie Rae said, "but Dragon showed up and stopped Aurox for a while." She paused and looked back at Kalona. She actually sent him a warm, sweet, Stevie Rae smile before continuing, "Kalona is really who saved Rephaim. Kalona saved his son."

"Dragon! That's where he is-with you guys," Erik said, his eyes searching around behind us, obviously expecting to see Dragon.

I felt my gut clench and blinked hard so that I wouldn't start bawling. When no one said anything I drew in a deep breath and delivered the really crappy, sad news. "Dragon was with us. He fought to protect us. Well, us and Rephaim. But..." I trailed off, finding it hard to say the next words.

"But Aurox gored Dragon to death, breaking the spell that had sealed the circle and setting the rest of us free so we could get to Rephaim and protect him," Stark had no problem finishing for me.

"It was too late, though," Stevie Rae added. "Rephaim would have died, too, if Kalona hadn't shown up in time to save him."

"Dragon Lankford is dead?" Lenobia's face had gone still and white.

"He is. He died a Warrior, true to himself and to his Oath. He has been reunited with his Mate in the Otherworld," Thanatos said. "We all served witness to it."

Lenobia closed her eyes and bowed her head. I could see her lips were moving, as if she was murmuring a soft prayer. When she lifted her head her face was set in angry lines and her gray eyes looked like storm clouds. "Burning my stables was a distraction which allowed Neferet to escape."

"It seems likely," Thanatos said. Then the High Priestess paused as if listening carefully through the rain and firemen and horse noises. Her eyes narrowed and she said, "Death has been here-recently."