Heath's hug made me jump. Aw, that's sweet, Zo, he said, oblivious to the terrible deception going on inside my head. But you're not going to have to miss me. I have a good feeling about this phone call. I shook my head at him. No way is your mommy going to let you take off to Italy with me. Not with you, maybe. But with your school--that's another thing. Before I could say anything he punched his phone, and his end of the conversation began: Hey, Ma, it's me. Yep, I'm okay. Yep, I'm still with Zoey. Here he paused and then looked at me and said, Mom says to say hi. Tell her hi' for me. Then I whispered: Get to it! He nodded. Hey Ma, speaking of Zo, she and some of the House of Night kids are going to Italy. Venice actually, well more like that island that's by Venice. You know, San Cle- something. Where the vamp High Council meets and stuff. I want to know if I can go with them. I could hear his mom's voice rising and I had to suppress a smile. I'd known his mom would freak. Of course I hadn't known the card Heath had up his fibbing sleeve. Hang on, Mom. It's really no big deal. It's like that trip I wanted to take with the Spanish teacher last summer, but couldn't go 'cause of football practice starting. Remember? He nodded to whatever his mom was saying. Yeah, it's a school thing. We'll be gone eight days, just like the Spanish trip. Actually, I bet I can use my Spanish 'cause Italian is, like, a cousin. He paused again and then said, Okay, yeah, that's cool. She says I have to ask Dad, he whispered, covering the phone with his hand. Then I heard a deeper voice get on the line, and Heath said, Hey, Dad. Yeah, I'm good. He waited while his dad talked, and then continued, Yeah, that's basically the deal.

It's a school trip. I can do my homework online. Heath smiled in response to what his dad was saying. Really? They're calling off school for all of next week 'cause of power outages in the neighborhoods? He waggled his eyebrows at me. Wow, that makes this trip super-convenient. And, get this Dad, since we're flying on the House of Night's private jet, and staying at the vamp's island, it's not gonna cost me anything. I ground my teeth together. I could not believe he was working his parents so easily. Of course, it was true that even though Nancy and Steve Luck were nice people and pretty good parents, they were absolutely clueless about teenage stuff. Seriously. Heath had been drinking for years and they never noticed, not even when he came home smelling like puke and beer. Ugh. Great, Dad! Thanks a bunch! Heath's exuberance had me blinking and refocusing on him and not my mind babble. Yeah, I'll call you guys every day. He paused while his dad said something else. Oh, I almost forgot that. Okay, well, while Zo and the rest of the kids are getting ready, I'll run home and grab my passport and some clothes. Tell Mom we're only supposed to take one book bag of stuff each, though, so not to go all crazy on the packing. Okay, I'll see you in a few! Bye! Grinning like he was back in grade school and had just been given an extra carton of chocolate milk during snacktime, he hung up. That was slick, Stevie Rae said. I'd forgotten all about that Spanish trip, I said.

I hadn't. So it looks like I need to get home quick and grab my passport and stuff. I'll meet ya at the airport. Don't leave without me! He kissed me quickly, grabbed his coat, and rushed out of the room like he wanted to escape before I could tell him once and for all, no matter what his clueless parents said, he was so not going. You're really lettin' him go with y'all? Stevie Rae said. Yeah, I said apathetically. I guess I am. Well, I'm glad. Not to be mean or anything, but I think it's a good idea because of the whole blood thing. Blood thing? Z, he's your Imprinted human. His blood is super-good for you. You're going into a dangerous situation, with confronting Kalona and Neferet and the High Council, so you might need some super-good-for-you blood. Yeah, I guess you're right. Okay, Z. What the heck's up? I blinked at her. What do you mean? I mean you're acting like a zombie. So tell me about that weird' dream that woke you up. I thought you were asleep. That's what I wanted you to think in case you and Heath wanted to do some makin' out. With you in the room? That's just gross, I said. True, but still I was tryin' to be polite. Jeesh, I said. Gross. I seriously wouldn't do that. And I'm seriously not gonna let you change the subject. The dream--remember? Tell me. I sighed. Stevie Rae was my best friend, and I really should talk about it. It was about Kalona, I blurted. He got in your dream even though you were sleepin' with Heath? No. He didn't get in my dream, I said truthfully, though evasively. It was more like a vision than a dream. A vision of what? His past. Way back. Before he fell. Fell? From where? I drew a deep breath and told her the truth.