"Love? What can you actually do with that?" Isabelle asked as she plopped down on her bed.

I shrugged. "No clue. Zoey gave me the whole 'look inside yourself' mentor crap- so I'm guessing she doesn't know what I can do either."

"Maybe Nyx will talk to you again. Or give you another hint. Professor Johnson- that's my mentor, the Red Vampyre High Priestess- she says that everything works out for a reason." Isabelle laughed suddenly. "At least, she says it if you can understand her twang."

"Maybe," I said, not entirely convinced. "Or maybe it was a fluke. Maybe Nyx thought I was someone else. And that's why she Marked me. That's why she gave me an affinity. She probably meant to Mark Cassadee or one of my other friends in Bellbrook."

"I don't think she did," Isabelle said. "Let's look at the facts. First, Nyx is a goddess. And goddesses don't make mistakes. And second, out of all your friends, who else has connections to the Tulsa House of Night? You've got a history here, Miri. And Nyx chose you because of it."

"But why choose me to wield the element of Love? I bet there are plenty of fledglings more worthy than I am."

"And there are probably more worthy people than me to be mind readers. And more worthy people than Dresden to…"

"Dresden has an affinity?" I interrupted.

"Yeah. She controls… well, she can control the bloodlust that us red fledglings and vamps feel. Make us almost… normal for a while. It's easier not to kill anybody when she's around." Isabelle smiled slightly, her fangs gleaming. "Of course, Professor Johnson thinks we need to learn to control it without Dress's help. So she rooms with a blue fledgling."

"Oh." I suddenly thought of that Justin boy. We wouldn't have to worry about our roomies killing us in the middle of the night, he had said. Was there a grain of truth to that? Had the red fledglings committed murder?

"I haven't" Isabelle said, responding to my thoughts. "But… yeah. It's happened. And it does give the vampire-with-an-I legends another grain of truth. If a blue fledgling gets bit and killed by a red fledgling- they become one."

"Mommy, why aren't we vampyres like Daddy and everybody else here?"

"Well, Miribird… you know Aunt Rae-Rae? She was under a spell once, and started to hurt Mommy. But instead of hurting Mommy, it just turned her into a human and made Aunt Rae-Rae grow up all big!"

"But my mom," I realized. "She got bit and killed by a red fledgling when she was my age. And she turned human."

Isabelle shot up. "Holy crap, wasn't your last name LaFont?"

"Yeah."

"Then your mom is Aphrodite LaFont?"

"Yeah."

"Dude, she's a legend! Aphrodite- she's supposed to be the savior of the red vamps or something! So that woman… ominyx, I met Aphrodite! So cool!"

It was weird to hear someone talking about my mother like she was some sort of celebrity. I mean, this wasn't anyone special. It was a thirty-three year old woman with blonde hair who switched from raising me with the help of an entire school to raising me single-handedly. It was my mother.

"See? You definitely have a heritage here. Nyx so chose you for a reason," Isabelle gushed.

I smiled. Maybe she was right.

Nyx didn't come visit my dreams that night- wait, day. In fact, I couldn't remember dreaming at all. I woke up at 6 pm on Saturday evening, Isabelle already showered and dressed. "Welcome to your first weekend as a vampyre fledgling," she said, smiling. "Weekend meaning everyone heads to Utica Square and pretends that they don't even know what vampyres are. Here!"

She had tossed something at me, and I caught it on the tips of my fingers. "Concealer?" I asked, glancing at the label.

She nodded. "Yep, it's a miracle worker if you want to cover your Mark.

The first thought that occurred to me is that maybe I could cover the golden heart with the concealer. Only Zoey, Dresden, Isabelle, and a few random fourth-formers had seen my weird Mark. Some of them were bound to tell people, but if people couldn't see it for themselves…

I rubbed a little on and turned to face Isabelle. "Ta da! No more heart!"

She giggled a little. "Are you sure you got it on in the right place, Miri?"

I looked in the mirror next to my bed. The heart was not only still there, bringing out the slight gold tones in my hair and skin, the hazel of my eyes, but it seemed to be glowing a little bit brighter. Staring at the Mark in the mirror this time, I rubbed some more concealer onto it. But again, it seemed to overpower the makeup, leaving the heart even more prominent than it was before.

"Maybe Nyx doesn't want you to hide your Mark," Isabelle suggested. She was obviously having no trouble getting rid of her red crescent outline.

"Yeah, my Mark isn't anything special," Isabelle said, answering my thoughts. "The fangs, however- it's a pain, remembering to smile with your mouth closed every time you want to catch some shopping or a movie. You blue fledglings have it so lucky."

"Not me," I commented miserably, "not if I can't get rid of this gold tattoo."

A knock on my door startled me, and I got up to get it. Pulling open the door, I saw a woman- blonde, pale-skinned, and with a full compliment of red Marks- beaming down at me. "Miribird, darlin'!" Her voice twanged on my childhood nickname. "My, you've shot up like a corn stalk in July!"

Isabelle waved behind me. "Hi, Professor Johnson. What are you doing up here so early?"

"I heard that our little Miribird had gotten Marked, and I wanted to come up and see if she remembered me!" The woman smiled perkily, her short curls bouncing.

I smiled in response. "Of course I remember you, Professor Johnson…"

"None of that 'Professor Johnson' bullpoopie from you, m'kay Miri? Just call me Aunt Rae-Rae like you used to. Or are you too old for all that? Maybe you could just say Aunt Stevie, or Stevie Rae or somethin'…"

"Aunt Rae-Rae is fine," I smiled.

"Well, what I'm tryin' to say is that I'm happy to see you after eleven years. And I heard you got quite an unusual gift?"

"Unfortunately," I muttered under my breath as Isabelle jumped into the conversation with, "Yeah, she's got an affinity for Love! And Stevie Rae- you've got to check out this girl's forehead! It's gorgeous!"

I expected that she had already heard of it, but when she glanced at the golden heart, I could hear her whisper "Oh my GOODNESS!"

I blushed, which probably had a horrible clash with the yellow and the blue that decorated my forehead- oh hell, yellow and blue? Great- first I get a stupid affinity, then nobody even knows what it can do, now I'm betraying the scarlet and grey that supposedly ran through my mother's veins.

"It's so pretty, Miribird darlin'!" Aunt Rae-Rae exclaimed.

"Yeah," I said, raising my eyebrow, "and it won't go away."

"Now, why would you want it to? That Mark is all about who you are, and it's a symbol that you're gonna go on and do some great things for Nyx. Maybe she just don't want it to be concealed." From the few things I remembered about my Aunt Rae-Rae, this moment of High Priestess wisdom was a bit out of character for the perky vampyre, despite the fact that she held the title.

Isabelle smiled. "That's exactly what I said, Stevie Rae."

Aunt Rae-Rae smiled. "Well, I just wanted to come up and say hello. Even on a weekend, I got quite a bit of things to do. I'll see y'all around, m'kay?" She waved at us as she walked up the hallway, then down the flight of stairs.

"We'd better be heading to breakfast too," Isabelle said. "They always have the best stuff on the weekends- french toast and mushroom omelets and even foreign stuff- did you know they eat grilled cheese for breakfast in Spain sometimes? I seriously can't start my weekends without a sandwich de jamon y queso."

"This school is certainly interesting," I commented, throwing on a jacket with the third-former symbol on it. Isabelle was behind me in an instant, pulling it off.

"You so don't want to wear that," she said. "Weekends are the only time we don't have to. Here."

She had shoved a flowy yellow-gold blouse into my hands, along with a pair of dark-wash jeans that looked a bit expensive. "Huh?" I asked.

Isabelle looked impatient. "It's a blouse from the spring collection I'm planning. But you're wearing it. It brings out your Mark too well to just leave on the mannequin for five months more."

I complied, changing quickly from my uniform black sweater and old sweatpants into the outfit she had picked out for me. A glance in the mirror showed a transformed Miri- a different girl. The Miri of four days ago would have been appalled at this girl, with a Mark that claimed to be more than any other fledgling, and an outfit that made her look strong, confident, and (although we all pretended not to care about it) popular.

Breakfast that evening (see, I was getting used to it!) was really good, with even more variety than the day before. It still wasn't the best meal I'd ever had, though, as everyone in the hall kept glancing at me- or, more specifically, the gold tattoo on my forehead. "This just sucks," I murmured to Dresden, who had sat beside me, and now had the job of flipping off all who were caught staring.

She sighed. "I'd hate to be in your position myself- but all I can say is you should be happy to have such a tangible omen of your fate."

"Tangible!" Isabelle exclaimed, rolling her eyes. "That thing isn't just tangible, Professor McBigwords- it's out there."

"This discussion is making me feel so much more confident," I muttered sarcastically, adjusting my bangs in hopes people would look away if there was nothing to see. They didn't.

A tap on my shoulder made me whirl around quickly. "Miss Bellbrook?" a somewhat familiar voice asked. I glanced up, only to see the blond boy from Vampyre Sociology- Jason? James? Wait… Justin!

"Yeah?" I responded.

He flashed a cute little grin. "I believe we have a date today at midnight?"

"Do we?" Was I just forgetful, or had that never been decided?

"Do you want to do it? We could go out for a movie, or I could show you around campus… I dunno. Just do something to get away from the dead girl killer."

Isabelle whipped around. "Oh look- it's Justin Man-chest-hair. What a pleasant surprise," she snarled. Justin smirked and did that cross thing over his heart. Isabelle glared. "You think you're so clever, don't you? How can you- I mean, you're like, the first fledgling in history to flunk Vamp Soc, and yet you just think you're Nyx's gift to vampyrekind. Miri doesn't want to date you, and we don't want her to. Stupidity is probably catching, and you know how the vamps want us healthy."

Justin gave her the once over. "Look who's talking- it's the girl who's already dead." He waved his hand dismissively. "Whatever. Mirabelle- if you want to hang out with people who are actually breathing, you know where to find me." And Justin pranced off, not even glancing behind.

I could feel my jaw dropping. "What the hell was that?"

Dresden dropped her voice. "That's Justin, but I'm guessing you already knew that part. He's kind of a… well, I guess you could call it a racist. Doesn't trust anyone who doesn't have a blue crescent moon on their forehead- not humans, nor red vamps. He got a detention once for ignoring Professor Johnson when she told him to get the candles for our Spells and Rituals class practice full moon ceremony when she was visiting that class one day. Anastasia went all kick butt on him, then gave him a detention. It wasn't pretty- but he so deserved it."

As I said- not a good breakfast. Not a good morning at all, especially when the rest of Isabelle's group went to Utica Square, and left me alone. And no matter how well I was settling in, it still wasn't home yet.

I had raised my hand to knock on the wooden door when a soft, sweet voice said, "Come in, darlin'!"

I walked into Aunt Rae-Rae's office to find her lying on… a chair shaped like a cowboy boot. Of all things.

Aunt Rae-Rae jumped up quickly and hugged me. "So what's goin' on, Miribird?"

I shuffled my feet. "Aunt Rae-Rae, this might get a little awkward… but I need to ask you something. Seriously."

"Of course, what?" the vampyre said, sitting again. "Are you havin' to deal with a bunch of rude people starin' at your Mark?"

"Well yeah, but that's not my problem." I sighed. "Actually, maybe I shouldn't."

She reached out and took my hands. "Miri, I promise that I won't laugh or tell or whatever it is you're worried about me doing. Zoey may be your mentor, but you are part of the family here in Tulsa. We may not be related, but we're family right here." She placed her hand over her heart. "And we should know that better than anyone else."

"We?" That was a weird way to phrase it.

Stevie Rae smiled a sad smile. "Y'know my story, right Miri?"

"Yeah, pretty much. First Red Vamp High Priestess, helping to save the world, getting a few cool new powers and all that jazz, right?"

"And my affinity in the circle was…"

"Earth, of course," I responded promptly. "And you handed it off to my mom when you… umm… hmmm…"

"Died, went a bit crazy, started to look like a countrified Dracula, as your momma would say?"

"Sure. And then, when my mom turned human, you got it back. But at the same time, it helped you from my mother, allowing you to keep a spark of humanity and…"

She held up her hand. "That's where the stories start to go all wonky-like. I kept my humanity because I could harness the powers of the sixth element… just like you, Miribird."

I could literally feel my jaw dropping. "You have got to be kidding me. Then why don't you have a crazy Mark."

She pointed to her forehead and laughed. "Now you believe me- back then, this Mark was crazy enough on it's own. I don't think I needed a gold heart to go along with it- and it looks so much better against dark hair than light anyways."

"But how come Zoey didn't know? How come Nyx said nobody would know?"

"I never told Zoey. It seemed like- well, sort of one-upping her. Like she had all these cool powers, but Nyx gifted me with the mysterious secret one. So I just… didn't say anything." Aunt Rae-Rae squirmed guiltily in her seat, like a little kid caught stealing from the cookie jar.

I suddenly remembered something my mother had told me about Aunt Rae-Rae. Mom had said that she kept a lot of secrets.

I shook that little tidbit of information right out of my head. "So… could you teach me or something?"

She furrowed her brow. "Well, on the one hand, I think maybe Nyx gave me the gift so you could have someone to help you out. I never did do much with it- Love was an elemental presence. I mean, I could tell it was there an' all, but I never really ended up usin' it. But I know that it is one of those things where you have to learn some of it all by your lonesome."

"Oh," I sighed. "So I'm right back where I started."

"Not quite," Aunt Rae-Rae said, looking like the High Priestess she was. "Now you know what your affinity is for, and somebody else who has it, too. You just need to figure out what it's for."

"Easier said than done. I don't even know what my power can do. And you said you didn't either, right?"

She shot me a huge grin. "Why, I never said anythin' of the sort, Miribird."

Aunt Rae-Rae's hand reached out to touch mine, and I could feel a wave of happiness and trust and… candy and sunlight and beauty and all the wonderful things in the world.

I had a sudden urge to hum that So This Is Love song from Cinderella, a musical pun. "Wow," I breathed. "That was pretty flippin' sweet. But what exactly does it do?"

Her wise High Priestess- esque smile was back. "I think that might be your thing to figure out, sweetie. I think that this affinity is for you, not me."

"Okay, okay, but couldn't you at least show me how to do what you just did?" I begged, eager for even a tidbit of information about this mysterious new affinity of mine.

Aunt Rae-Rae laughed. "Now don't go tellin' me you don't remember how to call to the elements? Just like callin' a mini-circle, with only one element, right?"

It came back to me- my first few magic lessons, when I had just turned four years old and all was fine with Mom and my dad.

"You can summon the elements in a circle, Miribird, or you can just call them separately. Okay?""So I just call for Love?"

"M'kay, Aunt Zoey!" I exclaimed, wriggling in my seat.

Aunt Zoey smiled at me and held up her hands like the statue of the pretty woman outside the building we were in. "Spirit! Come to me!" she called, and I felt a rush of adrenaline.

"Yep, it's as easy as apple pie," the red vampyre High Priestess twanged.

I raised my hands, mimicking my memory of Zoey. "Love! Come to me!" I said, and those feelings of joy and chocolate and warmth and all that was lovely came to me once again. But the feeling was somehow different. This was in my control, and I knew in that second it was in my control for a reason.

I could hear the whisper of Nyx, telling me to use it with wisdom.