Grandma smiled at Stevie Rae. “That is a generous offer, Elohine, but your depot is not the right place for me to mourn, either.” Grandma met my eyes and I knew what she was going to say before she spoke. “I must be on my land, at the farm. I must spend the next week eating and sleeping very little. I must focus on cleansing my home and my land of this horrible deed.”

“All by yourself, Grandma?” Stark was there beside me, a warm, strong presence. “Is that safe after what happened?”

“Tsi-ta-ga-a-sh-ya, do not let my looks deceive you.” She called Stark rooster, her pet name for him. “I am many things, and not one of them is a helpless old woman.”

“I’d never think you were helpless,” Stark amended. “But maybe it’s not a good idea for you to be alone.”

“Yeah, Grandma. Stark has a point,” I said.

“U-we-tsi-a-ge-ya, I must cleanse my home, my land, and myself as I mourn. I cannot do that unless I am at peace with the land, and I will not stay inside the house until it is thoroughly cleansed and the seven days have past. I will be camping in my backyard, in the meadow by the stream,” Grandma smiled at Stark, Stevie Rae, and the rest of my friends. “I do not believe you would fare so well exposed to the sunlight for that time.”

“Well, Grandma, I—” I began, but she stopped me.

“This I must do myself, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. I do have something to ask of you, though.”

“Anything,” I said.

“In seven days will you come to the farm with your friends? Will you cast a circle and perform a cleansing ritual of your own?”

“I will.” I nodded, and my gaze took in the friends who surrounded me.

“We will,” Stevie Rae said. Her words were echoed by the kids who stood beside and around me.

“Then that is how it shall be,” Grandma said firmly. “The Cherokee tradition of mourning and cleansing will be coupled with vampyre ritual. It is good that it is so, as my family has expanded to include so many vampyres and fledglings.” Her eyes shifted around my group. “I ask one more thing. That each of you think bright thoughts of me, and of Zoey’s mother, for the next seven days. It does not matter that Linda faltered in life. What matters is that she is remembered with love and kind thoughts.”

“We will,” and “Okay, Grandma,” sounded around me.

“I will go now, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. Sunrise is not far away, and I would greet the dawn on my land.” Keeping my hand in hers, Grandma and I walked to the door. As she passed my friends, each of them touched her and said “Good-bye, Grandma,” which had her smiling through her tears.

At the doorway, we had a little bubble of privacy and I hugged her again, saying, “I understand why you have to, but I really wish you wouldn’t go.”

“I know, but in seven days—”

The door was pulled open and Neferet was suddenly there, looking somber and deceptively beautiful. “Sylvia, I have heard of your loss. Please accept my sincere sorrow that it was your daughter who was killed.”

Grandma had tensed at the sound of Neferet’s voice and stepped out of my embrace. She drew a deep breath and met the vampyre’s gaze.

“I accept your sorrow, Neferet. I do feel the sincerity in it.”

“Is there anything the House of Night can do for you? Is there anything you need?”

“The elements have already strengthened me, and the Goddess has welcomed my daughter to the Otherworld.”

Neferet nodded. “Zoey and her friends are kind, and the Goddess is generous.”

“I don’t believe it was kindness or generosity that was behind the actions of Zoey and her friends or the Goddess. I believe it was love. Do you not think so, High Priestess?”

Neferet paused as if she was actually considering Grandma’s question, then she said, “What I think is that you could be right.”

“Yes, I could be. And there is one thing I need from the House of Night.”

“We would be honored to aid a Wise Woman in a time of need,” Neferet said.

“Thank you. I would ask that Zoey and her circle be allowed to come to my land in seven days to perform a cleansing ritual. That would complete my mourning and wash my home free of any lingering evil.”

I saw something pass within Neferet’s gaze—something that, for just a moment, might have been fear. But when she spoke her expression and her voice mirrored only polite concern. “Of course. I freely give permission for this ritual.”

“Thank you, Neferet,” Grandma said, and then she hugged me one more time and kissed me softly. “In seven days, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya. I will see you again then.”

I blinked fast, holding back my tears. I didn’t want Grandma’s last view of me to be about snot and bawling. “Seven days. I love you, Grandma. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I could no more forget that than I could forget to breathe. I love you, too, daughter.”

Then Grandma turned and walked away. I stood in the doorway, watching her straight, strong back until the night blanketed her from me.

“Come on, Z.” Stark slid his arm around my shoulders. “I think we’ve all had enough school for one day. Let’s go home.”

“Yeah, Z. Let’s go home,” Stevie Rae said.

I was nodding, getting ready to tell them okay when I felt a sudden warmth building in my chest. At first it confused me. I lifted my hand to rub the spot and touched the hard circle that had begun radiating heat.

And then Aurox stepped into view. He was with Dragon Lankford.

“Zoey, I heard the news about your mother. I am sorry,” Dragon said.

“Th-thank you,” I muttered. I didn’t look at Aurox. I remembered Lenobia’s words, that I needed to keep a poker face around him, but I felt too raw, too wounded to do anything except blurt at Stark, “I want to go home, but first I need a minute to myself.” Before he could even say okay, I moved out of his encircling arm and pushed past Dragon and Aurox.

“Zoey?” Stark called after me. “Where are you—”

“I’ll just be by the fountain that’s in the courtyard next to the parking lot,” I said over my shoulder to him. I could see he was frowning worriedly at me, but I couldn’t help it. I needed to Get Out Of There. “Come get me when the bus is loaded and ready to go. Okay?”

I didn’t wait for his reply. I put my head down and hurried along the sidewalk that ran beside the main school building. Almost jogging I turned right and went straight to the iron bench that was beneath one of the circle of trees that framed the fountain and the little garden-like area the fledglings called the professors’ courtyard because it sat next to the part of the school that housed them. I knew if someone was looking out of the large, ornate windows I’d be seen, but I also knew all of the professors should be finishing up sixth hour in their classrooms, which meant it was the one place on campus at this particular time that I could pretty much count on being alone.

So I sat there, in the shadow of a big elm, trying to control my thoughts. Aurox’s presence messed with my mind, and I didn’t know why. Right now, right at this second, I don’t even care. Mom is dead. Whatever Neferet and Evil have planned for me, they can just back the hell off. Everyone can just back the hell off. My thoughts felt mean and tough, but the tear that was sliding down my face told a different story.

Mom isn’t in the world anymore. She’s not at home waiting on the step-loser and puttering around the kitchen. I can’t call and have her get mad at me and then lecture me for being a crappy daughter. It was a weird feeling, being momless. I mean, she and I hadn’t been close for more than three years, but still it’d always been in the back of my mind that someday she’d come to her senses, leave that idiot she’d screwed up and married, and go back to being Mama.

“She had left him,” I said. “I need to remember that.” My voice hitched, but I cleared my throat and spoke out loud again to the night. “Mama, I’m sorry we didn’t get to say good-bye. I love you. I always have. I always will.” Then I put my face in my hands, gave in to the terrible storm of sadness that had been building inside me, and I began to sob.