"Hey, weren't y'all roomies?" Stevie Rae asked Aphrodite.

Aphrodite ignored Stevie Rae and I had the urge to shake her and yell, Not talking to her or looking at her is not going to break your Imprint with her.

"Yes, they were," Erik said into the dead air, reminding me that because he and Aphrodite used to be together, he would know her roommate, maybe too well.

"Yeah, well, things change." Aphrodite found her voice.

"People change," I said, pulling my gaze from Erik.

Aphrodite met my eyes. Her lips curled up in a sad, sarcastic smile. "And that is too damn true," she said.

Chapter Five

"So we have p.b. and j., bologna, and processed American cheese slices." Jack said the "processed American cheese slices" part like he was reluctantly offering us worms and mud. "And my personal gourmet Top Chef concoction: mayonnaise, peanut butter, and lettuce on wheat bread."

"Okay, Jack. Nasty," Shaunee said.

"Have you lost your damn mind?" Erin said.

"Gay white boy is weird," Kramisha said, snagging one of the bologna and cheese sandwiches.

The Twins nodded and made "yep" noises as Kramisha joined them on a nearby egg crate.

Jack looked mortally offended. "I think they're good, and you guys should try things before you disrespect them."

"I'll try one of them," said Shannoncompton sweetly.

"Thanks." Jack grinned and handed her a sandwich wrapped in a paper towel.

There was the rustling of a lot of paper as all of us crowded into Stevie Rae's room, grabbed sandwiches, and passed bags of chips around. I was surprised to see the amount of food and chips and brown pop (yea for brown pop!). It made a weird, surreal mixture with the bottles of red wine and bags of blood that were being shared. I sat on the bed with Aphrodite and Darius and Stevie Rae, who was looking better and better. For a second, with the normal sounds of kids eating and talking, it was easy to imagine that we were just in a kind of ratty building at the House of Night and forget that we were in a tunnel under the city and that all of our lives were in the process of never being the same. For a second, we were nothing but a group of kids, some friends, some not, and we were just hanging out together. "Tell me what you know of the creature that rose from the earth and the bird beings that followed him." Darius's words made the whole just-hanging-out fa?ade crumple like a house of cards.? Jcrate.

"Sadly, we don't know as much about him as I wish we did, and what we do know comes from my grandma." I swallowed down the tightness in my throat that mentioning her caused. "Grandma's in a coma, so she can't help us right now."

"Oh, Z! I'm so sorry! What happened?" Stevie Rae cried, touching my arm.

"The official version is she was in a car accident. The truth is that the accident was caused by the Raven Mockers because she knew too much about them," I said.

"Raven Mockers--those are the beings that came out of the earth after the winged man appeared?" Darius said.

I nodded. "They're his children--what happened after he raped the women of my grandma's people more than a thousand years ago. When Kalona broke out of the ground their bodies were returned to them."

"And you know these things because they are creatures from Cherokee legend?" Darius said.

"Actually, we know these things because in the vision Aphrodite had a couple days ago she was shown what we figured out was a prophecy about Kalona returning. It was written in Grandma's handwriting, so we called her--told her about it. She recognized the references and came to the House of Night to help us." I paused, steadying my voice. "That's why the Raven Mockers attacked her."

"I really wish we had that prophecy," Damien said. "I'd like to take a look at it again now that Kalona has actually been set free."

"That's easy enough," Aphrodite said. She took a long drink from her bottle of wine, hiccupped a little, and then recited:

"Ancient one sleeping, waiting to arise

When earth's power bleeds sacred red

The mark strikes true; Queen Tsi Sgili will devise

He shall be washed from his entombing bed

Through the hand of the dead he is free

Terrible beauty, monstrous sight

Ruled again they shall be

Women shall kneel to his dark might

Kalona's song sounds sweet

As we slaughter with cold heat."

"Wow! Well done, you!" Jack said, clapping his hands.

Aphrodite inclined her head regally and said, "Thank you...Thank you...It was nothing. Really." And th<2 rben went back to her wine.