“It is always wise to have a safe place to rest,” Darius added.

“So, like I said before, can you think of anything you could do to help us keep Dallas distracted and not nosing around while we get the basement cleared out and our kids moved down there?” I finished, deciding that all three of us were pretty crappy liars.

“There is the fledgling’s funeral,” Kalona said. “Though she used to be one of your group, everyone is aware that recently she changed her allegiance to Dallas. Would it not be a kind thing for you to ask that Dallas tend to the building and even, perhaps, the lighting of her pyre? That should keep him preoccupied, and he would, naturally, ask his group to assist him.”

“That’s actually an awesome idea,” I said. “It’ll definitely keep Dallas and his buddies busy, and it’s honestly a nice thing for us to step aside and let him publicly light her pyre and say good-bye. It’ll show that we believed he really cared about her.”

“If he’ll do it,” Stark said. “You heard him yesterday. He said he’d tell Erin good-bye in his own way, and that meant he didn’t want anything to do with us.”

“Which is the reason I should approach him instead of Zoey,” Kalona said. “I will tell him that Zoey has declined Thanatos’s invitation to conduct Erin’s funeral and so the job has been left to me.”

“That’ll piss him off,” Stark said.

“That is my intention,” Kalona said. “He can direct his anger at me as I supervise the building of the fledgling’s pyre.” The immortal’s lips turned up in a wicked smile. “I do like a good pyre. Such a shame humans ended that tradition. I can’t imagine even enjoying a modern human funeral. It’s sad, really.”

“Kalona, it’s a problem when what you say reminds me of Neferet,” I said.

Kalona’s smile widened, and I thought he looked like a little boy, as in the kind of little boy who would set fire to his family in the middle of the night and then say his sister’s Barbie made him do it.

“Z, don’t overthink it. Kalona will keep Dallas busy, and that’s all we’re worried about right now,” Stark said.

“Except for the reporters and the police and—”

“Stark is correct,” Darius interrupted me. “You overthink.”

Reluctantly, I stood. “All right. I’ll focus on the here and now. I’ll tell Thanatos what’s up as soon as the reporters are gone, and also clue in Stevie Rae. She can have the kids pack up their stuff and lay low until the basement’s ready for them. Then they can come in the back way and avoid the middle of the campus grounds where Dallas and his friends should be busy building the funeral pyre.”

“It will be done as you say, Priestess. Will you be moving to the basement as well?”

“No,” Stark answered for me, which was super annoying.

“I’m going to stay in my old room with Stark,” I continued, because I actually can speak for myself. “Stevie Rae and Rephaim will probably stay in the dorm, too.”

Kalona nodded thoughtfully. “My son needs a place from which he can come and go easily.”

“Yeah, and we decided it’s not a good idea for all of us to stay in one room together,” Stark said. “Especially when that one room is a basement with only one way in and out of it.”

“I agree,” Kalona said, standing. His hand resting on the desk drew my eye down and I noticed something weird about the wood. I kept looking and realized what I was seeing.

“Is that a handprint?”

“Is it?” Kalona replied to me. “I hadn’t noticed.”

My eyes met his and I realized I might not be the only bad liar in the room. 

Zoey

I’d been right about one thing—Thanatos had made sure Chera and her crew interviewed a few kids, got some shots of our cafeteria—and then she’d had Damien explain (on camera) his class schedule as the Fox News team was quickly and politely herded off campus. It’d all happened in less than thirty minutes and Thanatos said our segment would air on the evening news as well as the Internet. I’d told her that it had been genius to have Damien be our school spokesman, then I caught her up on our Plan.

“And Kalona said he doesn’t think Neferet knows anything about the basement, so we decided to have him keep Dallas and his group distracted while we get the place cleaned out and get our kids moved there. Hopefully, they’ll have a day or two of peace, and then we’ll get to go back to the depot,” I finished explaining to Thanatos. “Oh, and if we’re here for much more than that, someone needs to go get our cats and Duchess. They have auto feeders and water, but they’ll be lonely and their litter boxes will be disgusting.”

The dark-eyed High Priestess had mostly been silent while I’d done a lot of talking. I told her that the basement had been used for storing old weapons and media center stuff, and that Darius and Stark were moving all of it to one of Lenobia’s tack rooms. I hadn’t told her that the weapons were covered with jewels and super old, and worth, like, a gazillion dollars. And there really wasn’t any media center stuff down there at all. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust Thanatos, but I’d decided the fewer people knew about the fortune, the better. Stark and Darius had agreed. Actually, the more I thought about it, the more I believed that Dragon could have been keeping the weapon stash a secret for a very long time, and Dragon had been one of the most loyal Warriors I’d ever known. Clearly, there was a reason he’d kept that to himself, and I’d bet it wasn’t a selfish reason.

So I left the weapon/jewel/fortune detail out of my commentary.

“I am in absolute agreement with you regarding the cats—and Duchess. I will be sure they are transported here, if it comes to that. But how will Kalona distract Dallas?” Thanatos asked.

“He’s going to tell Dallas that I said I didn’t want to lead Erin’s funeral—that I didn’t even want to build the pyre. Then he’s going to say you left the job to him.”

Thanatos’s brow lifted. “In other words, Kalona is going to bait Dallas into building the pyre.”

“Yep, and hopefully leading Erin’s funeral, too. After everything that happened with her I decided that it really would be best for my circle, especially Shaunee, not to get involved.” I paused and added, “I hope all that’s okay with you.”

“When a fledgling rejects the Change and dies, it is always difficult for those left behind. In this case there were complex events surrounding this child’s death. I’m going to trust your instincts, Zoey. Erin was part of your circle—you have been acting as her High Priestess. It is your right to choose her funeral arrangements.”

“Thank you,” I said.

“I do believe it is wise that you allow Shaunee to invoke her element during the lighting of the pyre, though. It will help what must follow to be completed more quickly. It will also help Shaunee to bid her friend a final farewell.”

“Okay, yes. I’ll talk to Shaunee.”

“I believe you should talk with your Prophetess as well.”

“Aphrodite?” Thanatos’s request surprised me. “You mean about her dad?”

“Yes. Judge her mental health carefully.”

“Huh? I don’t think I’m qualified to judge Aphrodite’s mental health.” Not to mention that she might cut my heart out and eat it if I tried.

“You’re her High Priestess and, if my guess is correct, her closest friend. Being Prophetess to a goddess is never an easy gift to bear, and Aphrodite lost father and mother in one night—violently and publicly.”

“I already checked on her today. Darius said she was finally sleeping, so I didn’t wake her up.”

“Wake her. If she won’t admit to needing her High Priestess, she may admit to needing her friend,” Thanatos said.

“I’ll do my best.”

“I must also warn you to expect unrest at the school. I can feel Darkness building, and it feeds on anger and pain, fear and frustration, intensifying them, preying on their hosts, gaining power from them. Watch your circle and those who are most gifted by the Goddess carefully. Where there is great power, there also is Darkness drawn.”