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"I'm sorry. I've--I've never met a nun before," I said, and blushed some more.

"That's not surprising. There really aren't many of us. I'm Sister Mary Angela, prioress of our little abbey and manager of Street Cats." She turned her smile on Aphrodite. "Did you recognize our order because you're Catholic, child?"

A little burst of laughter came out of Aphrodite. "I'm definitely not Catholic. I am the daughter of Charles LaFont, though."

Sister Mary Angela nodded in understanding. "Ah, our mayor. Then, of course, you're familiar with the charitable work our order does." Then her brows lifted as she realized what else it meant that Aphrodite was the only daughter of Tulsa's mayor. "You are a vampyre fledgling."

She didn't sound overly freaked, but I decided this was as good a time as any to let the nun know Satan was in the house. I took a deep breath and held out my hand for her to shake, saying in one big rush: "Yes, Aphrodite is a fledgling and I'm Zoey Redbird, vampyre fledgling and Leader of the Dark Daughters."

Then I waited for the explosion, which didn't happen.

Sister Mary Angela took her time before responding. Then she took my hand in her firm, warm grip. "Greetings, Zoey Redbird." She looked carefully from me to Aphrodite and then to Darius, who she raised one gray brow at and said, "You look rather mature for a fledgling."

He nodded his head in a small respectful bow. "You are observant, Priestess. I am an adult vampyre, a Son of Erebus."

Oh, great. He'd called her priestess. Again I waited for a freak-out that didn't come.

"Ah, I see. You're the fledglings' escort." She turned her attention back to me. "Which means you two must be important young women to warrant such attention."

"Well, like I said, I'm the Leader of the Dark Daughters and--"

"We're important," Aphrodite interrupted me again, "but that's not the only reason Darius is with us. Two vampyres have been murdered in the past couple days, and our High Priestess wouldn't let us leave campus without protection."

I gave Aphrodite a WTF look. It really wasn't like her to have diarrhea of the mouth. "Two vampyres have been killed? I had heard of only one murder."

"Our Poet Laureate was killed three days ago." I couldn't say his name.

Sister Mary Angela looked upset. "That is dreadful news. I will add him to our prayer list."

"You'd pray for a vampyre?" The question seemed to escape my mouth without warning me first, and I felt my cheeks get warm again.

"Of course I would, as would my sisters."

"I'm sorry. I don't mean to be rude, but don't you think that all vampyres are doomed to hell because we worship a goddess?" I asked.

"Child, what I believe is that your Nyx is just another incarnation of our Blessed Mother, Mary. I also believe devoutly in Matthew 7:1, which says 'Judge not, that ye be not judged.' "

"Too bad the People of Faith don't believe like you do," I said.

"Some do, child. Try not to paint them all with the same brush. Remember that the judge not goes both ways. Now, what can Street Cats do for the House of Night?"

My mind was still having trouble grasping the fact that this nun was so totally okay with vampyres, but I mentally shook myself and focused enough to say, "As the Leader of the Dark Daughters, I thought it would be a good idea if we got involved with a local charity."

Sister Mary Angela's warm smile was back. "And, naturally, you thought of cat rescue."

I returned her smile. "Yes! The truth is, I haven't been Marked very long, and I think it's weird that even though our school is smack in the middle of Tulsa, we're so isolated from the city. It just doesn't feel right to me." She was really easy to talk to, and I found myself opening up to her. "That's what brought me--" I caught Aphrodite's frown from my side vision and hastily added, "us--that's what brought us here. We thought it would be cool if we could volunteer to help with the cats, and also raised money for Street Cats. Like maybe we could sponsor a flea market and give you guys the money we make."

"We're always in need of money and experienced volunteers. Do you own a cat, Zoey?"

My grin widened. "Actually Nala owns me, and she'd tell you that if she were here."

"You do, indeed, have a cat," she said. "And what about you, Warrior?"

"Nefertiti, the most beautiful calico in the world, chose me as her own six short years ago," Darius said.