"Yeah, but Zo saved me, so I figured she'd make like a superhero again if things got bad, and we'd be okay," Heath said. Then his cute, goofy expression changed and he looked like someone had just taken away his birthday. "But I didn't think I'd be the cause of getting Zoey almost killed."

"And they say football players aren't brilliant. Wherever did they come up with that?" Aphrodite said sarcastically.

"All right, that's enough," I said. "Heath, you didn't almost get me killed. The stupid Raven Mocker almost got me killed. Do you think I would have gone willingly with it? Hell no!"

"But I--" he began.

I cut him off. "Heath, if you hadn't been there I would have eventually stuck my head aboveground. The gross birdman said they were looking for me, which means sooner or later they would have found me and I would have had to fight them. Period, the end. And, Aphrodite, just because you get visions doesn't mean you know everything. Sometimes stuff happens even you can't foresee. Get used to it and stop being so darn mean. Plus, this isn't just about Raven Mockers. Before it attacked, it looked like Neferet," I finished in a rush.

"What?" Damien said. "How could it have looked like Neferet?"

"I don't have a clue, but I promise when I looked up she was there. She smiled a terrible, creepy smile at me. I blinked, and then she was gone and there was a Raven Mocker in her place. That's all I know." I knew there was something else I needed to remember about what had happened, but my mind was feeling fuzzy with pain and I slumped down, totally exhausted.

"We have to get her back to the House of Night," Darius said.

"And take her right to Neferet? That doesn't sound smart," Heath said.

"Nevertheless, she has to go there."

I looked up at Darius. "Isn't there some other way?"

"Not if you want to live," he said.

"Then Zoey has to go back to school," Damien said.

"Oh, great! So the Raven Mockers and Neferet have her exactly where they want her!" Aphrodite yelled.

I looked at Aphrodite and saw beyond the hateful demeanor she wore like armor to the sincere worry she had for me. Basically, she was scared. I couldn't really blame her. I was scared, too--for myself, for my friends. Hell, I was scared for the whole darn world.

"They want me there, but they want me alive," I said solemnly. &ldq Cx't uo;That means before they do anything else, they'll make sure I'm healed."

"Are you remembering that the House of Night's healer is Neferet?" Damien said. "Of course I remember," I said irritably. "I'm just hoping Kalona wants me alive worse than she wants me dead."

"But what if she does something terrible to you after you're healed?" Aphrodite said.

"Then you guys will have to come get me out of there," I said.

"Uh, Zoey," Damien said. "You sound like you think you're going back there alone. You're not."

"Yeah, no way," Erin said.

"We're not letting you out of our sight," Shaunee said.

"Where you go, we go," Jack said.

"That's right. We're in this together," Stevie Rae said. "Remember the only thing that was the same about both of the death visions Aphrodite had of you was the fact that you were alone. So we're not lettin' you be alone."

Erik's voice sliced between us. "We can't all go back with her."

"Look, Erik," Aphrodite sneered. "We get that you're Mr. Jealous and that seeing your girlfriend sucking on another guy is probably not cool with you, but you're going to just have to learn to deal."

Erik completely ignored her. Instead, he met my eyes and I saw that he had, once again, reached into his acting bag of tricks and pulled out the character of a stranger. As I studied him, I saw absolutely no trace of the guy who wanted me so bad that his passion had gotten kinda scary. I couldn't even find any trace of the possessive Neanderthal who had wanted to kick Heath's butt and boss me around. He was able to cover all of those versions of himself and his emotions so effectively that I was beginning to wonder who the hell the real Erik was.

"Stevie Rae can't go back with you. If she goes, who will be here to control the red fledglings? Aphrodite can't go back with you. She's just a human, and as much as I'd like something to eat her, I imagine you and Nyx probably want to keep her around."

"Before he says shit else, you need to know that I'm going back with you, no matter what," Heath said.