Untamed House of Night - By Kristin Cast Page 0,103

how much Neferet disgusted me--how truly vile and twisted I knew she was. "That's how I know what she was doing driving that way. She told me what she was going to be doing today while I slept." I looked away from Neferet and spoke to Shekinah instead. "I need to go to her."

"Of course you do, child," Shekinah said. "Darius is waiting with a car."

"May I go with her?" Aphrodite asked.

"You already missed all of your classes yesterday, and I don't--"

"Please," I interrupted Neferet, appealing directly to Shekinah. "I don't want to be alone."

"Don't you agree that family is more important than academics?" Shekinah said to Neferet. Neferet hesitated just for a second. "Yes, of course I do. I was just concerned about Aphrodite falling behind."

"I'll take my homework with me to the hospital. I won't fall behind." Aphrodite gave Neferet a big reassuring smile that was as fake as Pamela Anderson's boobs.

"Then it is decided. Aphrodite will accompany Zoey to the hospital, and Darius will look after the both of them. Take your time there, Zoey. And be sure to let me know if there is anything the school can do for your grandmother," Shekinah said kindly.

"Thank you."

I didn't so much as glance at Neferet as the two of them left my room.

"Fucking bitch!" Aphrodite said, glaring at my closed door. "Like she's ever been concerned about me falling behind in anything! She just hates it that the two of us are friends."

Okay . . . okay. I have to think. I have to go to Grandma, but I have to think and make sure everything is taken care of here, first. I have to remember my promise to Grandma.

I wiped tears from my face with the back of my hand and rushed over to my dresser, pulling out jeans and a sweatshirt. "Neferet hates that we're friends because she can't get inside our heads. But she can get inside Damien, Jack, and the Twins' heads, and I can promise you she'll be sniffing around them today."

"We have to warn them," Aphrodite said.

I nodded. "Yes, we do. This nanny cam thing won't reach all the way to St. John's, will it?"

"Probably not. I think the range is only a few hundred yards."

"Then while I'm getting dressed, take it to the Twins' room. Tell them what's happened, and also tell them to warn Damien and Jack about Neferet." Then I took a deep breath and added, "Last night, there was a Raven Mocker clinging to my window."

"Oh my Goddess!"

"It was horrible." I shuddered. "Grandma blew crushed turquoise at it, and I had wind help her out, and that made it disappear, but I don't know how long it had been listening to us."

"That's what you started to say. The Raven Mocker knew your grandma was going to the Chalkboard."

"It caused her accident," I said.

"It or Neferet," she said.

"Or the two of them together." I went to my bedside table and grabbed the nanny cam monitor. "Get this to the Twins. Wait." I stopped her before she'd left the room. I went to Grandma's blue overnight bag and search through the zippered compartment that she'd left open. Sure enough, just inside it was a deer hide pouch. I opened it up to double-check and then, satisfied, I handed it to Aphrodite. "This is more turquoise dust. Have the Twins split it with Damien and Jack. Tell them it's powerful protection, but we don't have much of it."

She nodded. "Got it."

"Hurry. I'll be ready to go when you get back."

"Zoey, she's going to be okay. They said she's in intensive care, but she had her seat belt on and she's still alive." "She has to be," I told Aphrodite as my eyes filled with tears again. "I don't know what I'd do if she wasn't okay."

The short ride to St. John's Hospital was a silent one. It was, of course, an obnoxiously sunny day. So, even though we all had on sunglasses and the Lexus had heavily tinted windows, it was uncomfortable for us. (Well, us being Darius and me-- Aphrodite looked like she was having a hard time not hanging out the window and basking in the sun.) Darius dropped us off in the ER drive-through and said he'd park the car and meet us in intensive care.

Even though I hadn't spent much time inside a hospital, the smell seemed to be an innate memory, and one that wasn't positive. I really hated the antiseptic-covering-disease sense of it. Aphrodite and