He looked up at the sky. The silver crescent had moved. Aurox checked the watch Stark had let him borrow. It was almost 10 P.M. Thanatos would be back for him at any moment. He needed to get himself together and make his way down to the front of the old depot building. He needed to find his confidence again and get ready to confront Neferet and Darkness.

Aurox climbed up the rusted metal ladder and then dropped from the tower to the roof of the depot. From there he hurried to the side stairs. He would be waiting as Thanatos had asked him. She was counting on him. Zoey was counting on him. They were all counting on him.

He would prove they had been right to trust him with Grandma Redbird's life.

"It was a dream. Nothing more," Aurox spoke to the empty night. His voice was reassuring, but his heart hurt as ghost-like doubt slipped within it.

Zoey

"There he is, waiting over there under the darkest part of the overhang, just like Thanatos told him to." I pointed to the Gotham City-looking entrance of the abandoned depot. Aurox was in the shadows, but his super blond hair, and moonstone-colored eyes didn't exactly keep him camouflaged. Stark pulled close to him and Thanatos opened the back door of one of the school's many SUVs, motioning for him to get in.

"This is not everyone," Aurox said after shutting the door and glancing around the interior.

"Uh, no, of course not," I said, thinking he sounded really nervous. "Thanatos pretended to split us up and send us on different errands so that Neferet wouldn't hear anything that would make her suspicious. Remember?"

"Oh, yes. Yes." He paused and then added, "Merry meet, Thanatos."

"Merry meet, Aurox. Do not be concerned. The rest of our group is joining us across the street from the Mayo."

"Are you okay? You're looking kinda pale." Shaylin spoke up from the backseat.

I craned my head around. "What kind of pale? Is his aura changing?"

"No, his aura's the same. I meant pale, pale. His face is really white," Shaylin said.

"I am fine," Aurox said firmly. "Just anxious to get this done."

"As are we," Thanatos said. "Calm yourself and save this tension for the battle."

Aurox nodded and went silent. I chewed on my lip, thinking about Grandma, and staring out the window. Thankfully, the Mayo wasn't far from the depot. Stark pulled off Fifth Street and parked in the rear of the Oneok Plaza. Another dark SUV was already there. Darius, Aphrodite, Shaunee, and Damien climbed out. Shaunee and Damien were holding their element candles. Aphrodite was holding on to Darius with one hand, and a super thick geometry textbook with her other.

"Geometry? Really? That was best choice for our pretend study session?" I realized I was doing some nervous babbling, but I seriously hated geometry.

"Pretend is the key word. We aren't really going to study. We're just pretending to study, retard."

"Yeah, okay, fine," I said. "I know we're not really studying. I'm just nervous as hell and worried about Grandma."

"Which is completely understandable." Damien hugged me. "That's why we're here. We're going to get her back." He looked at Aurox. "Are you ready?"

Aurox nodded. I didn't think he looked ready, but then again I probably didn't look ready, either, so I tried not to judge. Shaylin and I were pulling our element candles from our purses when Kalona, silent as the night itself, dropped from the sky.

"What news from the school?" Thanatos asked the winged immortal.

"Dallas and Erin have fragmented the red fledglings. They sow dissention, even within their own kind. They will have to be dealt with when this is over."

"Agreed," Thanatos said. "But the plan worked."

"It did. They are so busy lording the responsibility you have given them over the other students that they care nothing about what Zoey and you, or any of the rest of us, are doing," Kalona said.

"Erin's making a big mistake," Shaunee said quietly.

"I'm glad she's making it without you," Damien said.

"We're all glad of that," I agreed.

My Bug pulled up then, and Stevie Rae and Rephaim got out. "Sorry, y'all," she said, hurrying to us with her green candle. "Erin and Dallas were in a car behind me, so I had to pretend to start drivin' to Henrietta. Jeeze Louise, I was worried they were gonna follow me all the way, but then they turned off the highway and I realized they were just goin' to Garbee's lighting store." She paused and gave me a look. "You okay, Z? You're remindin' me of a deer in the headlights."