Their looks of growing confidence made me think that I might, someday, become a halfway decent High Priestess.

"So what's the Plan?" Damien asked.

"Well, you and Jack have to install the nanny cam in the morgue. Think you can do that without getting caught?" I said.

"I think we might be able to create a persion," Jack said slowly, looking from Duchess to Maleficent, who had spent the entire "meeting" growling ominously at the dog from the bathroom. "If we can count on Aphrodite's help."

"Fine. But if my cat eats that dog, I don't want to hear a word about it, even if S-t- a-r-k wakes up and gets testy about why his Lab's muzzle has been torn to shreds."

"Uh, try to make it just a persion, not a bloodbath," I said.

"Deal," Damien and Jack said together. "I'm going to go find Shekinah and tell her that my grandma is coming to visit, and that I need her to stay in a guest room," I said.

"And we're gonna stay the hell away from Neferet," Erin said.

"Ditto," Shaunee said. "And that should be ditto for all of us except Z and Aphrodite."

I was opening my mouth to agree with her when Aphrodite's loud, "No!" shocked all of us.

"What do you mean no? We have to stay away from Neferet. If she starts listening in to our minds, she'll know we all know about Stevie Rae and the other kids. And if she's really the Queen of the Tsi Sgili, she'll be warned that we know about her, the Raven Mockers, and even Kalona," Damien said, sounding totally exasperated.

"Wait a second. Tell me why you think they shouldn't avoid Neferet," I asked Aphrodite.

"Simple. If the nerd herd avoids her, Neferet is going to for sure start listening in to their thoughts. She'll listen long and hard and deep. But what if Damien and Jack and the Dorkamese Twins act like their normal, clueless selves? What if they don't avoid her, but if they even maybe seek her out and say hi to her, ask her questions about homework, and make up complaints about the food being too healthy?"

"We really wouldn't have to make that up," Jack said.

"Exactly, and while they're around Neferet, let's say Jack is thinking about nothing but how stressful it is to try to deal with a sad dog all the time. Damien's thinking about homework and how cute Jack's eyes are. And the twins are thinking about sneaking out for the end-of-season winter shoe sale at Saks, which is next week, by the way."

"No way! It starts already!" Shaunee said.

"I knew it. I knew it was going to be early this year. What with that stupid snowstorm we had, they have to increase sales, so it's thrown off the whole traditional sale schedule," Erin said.

"Tragic, Twin, just tragic," Shaunee said.

"See, if the geeks and freaks act as empty-headed as Neferet really, deep down, believes they are, she won't look farther," Aphrodite said.

"Do you really think Neferet believes we're empty-headed?" Damien said.

"Neferet consistently underestimates me. It makes sense that she underestimates you guys, too," I said.

"If that's true, we have a huge advantage," Damien said.

"Until she realizes her mistake," Aphrodite said.

"Well, let's hope that takes a while," I said. "Okay, I'm going to go find Shekinah. From here on out, I think we should all stick together as much as we can. I know Grandma said the Raven Mockers were just spirits, but I'm almost one hundred percent sure one of them attacked me yesterday--and it hurt. Plus, I have a generally creepy feeling about them. She also said they could harm old people who are close to death. Well, what if Kalona is getting stronger, and they're getting stronger, too? What if they can harm people not so old or not so close to death?"

"You're freaking me out," Jack said.

"Good," I said. "If you're scared, you'll be more careful."

"I don't want to be scared and sneaking around a morgue," Jack said. "Remember, he might be just sleeping," Damien said. He put his arm around Jack. "Let's take Duchess back to my room and figure out our whole persionary plan." He looked at Aphrodite. "You're coming with us, aren't you?"

She sighed. "You're going to use my cat."

It wasn't a question, but the two boys nodded and grinned.

"Well, then I'm coming with you. We'll leave Maleficent here until the deed is getting ready to be done."

"Definitely," Damien said.