You guys are all going to be okay, I told the hurt kids as my gang said their goodbyes and we started straggling toward the exit. Hey, thanks, Zoey, Drew called. You really are a good High Priestess--even if you're not really one yet, Ian yelled from his room. I wasn't sure his lopsided compliment required a thanks or not, and as I was standing in the entrance to the infirmary, looking back at the kids and thinking that, except for the fact that they'd just battled Raven Mockers and witnessed the murder of a professor, they all seemed so normal. Then it hit me. They seemed normal. Just the day before, almost everybody at the school, with the exception of my group, Lenobia, Dragon, and Anastasia, had fallen under the charismatic spell of Kalona and Neferet, and hadn't acted normal at all. I walked back into the infirmary hallway. I have a question for all of you guys.

It may sound weird, but I really need honest answers, even if that might be embarrassing. Drew grinned over my shoulder, where I was sure my BFF was standing, Ask me anything you want, Z. Any friend of Stevie Rae's is cool by me. Uh, thanks, Drew. I managed not to roll my eyes at him. This question is for all of you, though. Here's the thing: Did you guys think there was anything wrong with the Raven Mockers, or even Kalona and Neferet, before Professor Anastasia was attacked? Not surprisingly, Drew answered first. I didn't trust the winged guy, but I didn't know why. He shrugged. I dunno, maybe because he had wings. It's just too weird. I thought he was hot, but those man-bird sons of his were super-disgusting, said Hanna Honeyyeager. Yeah, the Raven Mockers were gross, but also Kalona was old, and I couldn't figure out how come so many fledgling girls had a thing for him, said Red.

I mean, George Clooney's hot and all, but he's too old, and I wouldn't want to, like, do him. So I didn't get why practically everyone else wanted to do Kalona. How about the rest of you? I asked the rest of them. Like you said before, Kalona exploded from the ground. That's just bizarre. Denio paused, looked at Aphrodite, and then continued. Plus, some of us have known for a while that Neferet wasn't everything she seemed to be. Yeah, you knew it, but you didn't do anything about it. Aphrodite's voice wasn't hateful or pissed. She was just making a statement, an awful but true statement. Denio lifted her chin. I did do something about it. She gestured at her bandaged arm. It was just too late. Nothing's felt right to me since Professor Nolan was killed, Ian said from his room. The stuff with Kalona and the Raven Mockers was more of that same feeling.

I saw what he was doing to my friends, T.J. called from the last room down the hall. They were like zombies and believed anything he said. When I tried to talk to them about anything, like asking how we could be sure he was really Erebus come to earth, they'd get pissed or laugh at me. I didn't like him from the very beginning. And those damn bird things were evil. I don't know why everyone couldn't see it. Neither do I, but that's something we're going to figure out, I said. Right now y'all don't worry about any of this. Kalona is gone, and so's Neferet and the Raven Mockers. Just get well. Okay? Okay! they yelled back at me, sounding way healthier than they had when we first saw them. On the other hand, channeling all five elements had me feeling like poo, and I was glad Stark grabbed my elbow and lent me his strength as we left the building.

Unbelievably, the ice and rain had stopped. The clouds that had blanketed the sky for days actually had breaks in them through which I glimpsed sections of a starry night. My gaze moved to the center of the school grounds. The fire that had completely consumed Anastasia's pyre was beginning to die, though Dragon was still on his knees in front of it; Lenobia stood beside him, one hand resting on his shoulder. The circle made of red fledglings, plus Erik, Heath, and Jack, stretched all the way around the smoldering funeral pyre. They stood quietly, bearing witness to their respect for Dragon and his beloved. I motioned for my group to follow me a little way into the shadows and huddle up. We gotta talk, but we don't need to do that with an audience. Stevie Rae, can you delegate getting rooms ready for your kids to someone? Sure, Kramisha is so organized she's almost OCD. Plus, she was a sixth-former when she died and un-died. She knows all sorts of stuff about this place. Good. Put her on it. I turned to Darius. The bodies of the Raven Mockers have to be gotten rid of--now. If we're lucky, this storm is finally clearing, which means humans are going to start to stir as soon as it's light. They can't find those creatures. I'll take care of it, Darius said. I'll get the red fledgling males to help me. What are you going to do with the bodies? Stevie Rae asked. Burn them, Shaunee answered, then she looked at me. If that's okay with you. It's perfect, I said. Just don't burn them anywhere around Anastasia's pyre. That would be too much for Dragon to handle. Burn them at the east wall. Right where their disgusting father exploded from the earth. Aphrodite's gaze went to Shaunee. The old oak that broke apart when Kalona escaped, can you make it burn? I can make anything burn, Shaunee said. Go with Darius and the guys then, and make sure every feather of those creatures is burned beyond anyone's recognition.