"That may be why she captured Zoey's grandmother," Darius said, sending me an apologetic look. "Perhaps she needs a greater sacrifice than a Warrior's cat to regain control of Aurox."

"No! I, no..." Aurox said brokenly, his shoulders sagged and he put his face in his hands.

All I could do was shake my head back and forth, back and forth. Stark took my hand and squeezed it. "We won't let that happen. We're going to get Grandma back."

"But how?" My words came out between sobs.

"I will go." Kalona was staring at me as he spoke. "I will not simply enter Neferet's home. If she is holding Sylvia Redbird prisoner, I will find her and rescue her. Darkness cannot cloak itself from me; we have too long known one another. Neferet thinks herself invulnerable because she has become an immortal, but she has only a child's experience compared to my vast centuries of power and knowledge. I cannot kill her, but I can steal an old woman from her."

"Well, maybe. If she lets you in the front door," Stark said. "Last time I checked, she doesn't like you much."

"Neferet loathes me, but that does not change the fact that she desires me."

"Really? That's not how it looks to everyone else. Neferet's moved on," Stark continued. "Her Consort's the white bull."

Kalona smiled sardonically at Stark. "You are young and know little of women."

I felt Stark bristle and quickly wiped my eyes and my nose and pulled myself together. "You're going to have to make her believe you're betraying us to her-that your oath to Thanatos is a fake."

"Neferet does not know I have sworn to Thanatos," he said.

"Uh, I think she might," Shaunee said.

I glanced at her in surprise.

"I'm not saying this to be mean, and I really don't want to go into details, so I'm asking you to just trust me-but it's pretty safe to say that whatever Erin knows about us, Dallas knows," Shaunee said.

"Holy crap!" Stevie Rae said.

"Dallas talks to Neferet," Rephaim said.

"Huh?" I'd practically forgotten Rephaim was there, and then I felt guilty as hell when he shrugged and explained, "I'm not used to talking a lot. I don't say much, so people ignore me and then I hear things."

"I don't ignore you," Stevie Rae said, tiptoeing to kiss his cheek.

He smiled at her. "No, never you. But Dallas does. He was near me when his phone rang between classes today. Twice. It was Neferet both times."

"And I'm about ninety-nine percent sure Erin would tell Dallas anything he wants to know about us," Shaunee said.

"Erin remained here at the House of Night when the rest of you returned to the depot yesterday," Thanatos said.

I met Shaylin's gaze. "Tell her."

The fledgling didn't hesitate. "Erin's colors are different than they used to be. I noticed it a couple of days ago."

"She's changing," Aphrodite said. "Shaylin and I both believe it. That's why we advised Zoey to let Erin stay when she told Zoey she wanted to."

"Then I agree with Shaunee. It is very possible that Neferet knows everything Erin knows," Thanatos said.

"Here's what I think," Aphrodite said. "I think we all need to keep our mouths shut about what's going on with Grandma Redbird and Aurox and our business in general. If you're not part of this group, then you don't know shit. Erin's just one kid, but what she knows could definitely mess us up."

"Prophetess, it sounds as if there is a lesson to be learned in what you're saying," Thanatos said, and the rest of us nodded.

I glanced at Kalona. Including him in our group felt really weird, but I couldn't tell if that meant we should or shouldn't trust him.

Weirdly echoing my thoughts, Thanatos asked Kalona, "Do you still believe she will trust you?"

"Neferet? Trust me? Never. But she does desire me, even if it is only my immortal power after which she lusts. And, as Aphrodite said, she measures everyone's depth of loyalty by her own," Kalona said.

"Neferet is only loyal to herself," Rephaim said.

"Exactly," Kalona said.

"Well, let's hope you're not that shallow," Stark added, sounding like he believed the opposite.

I just stood there, staring at Kalona, remembering what a lying, manipulative killer he had been, and thinking that's who's going to save my grandma?

I was blinking back freaked-out tears when Rephaim whispered my name. I looked over at him. He smiled and mouthed two small words: people change.