Okay, so it turns out that I have some weird sickness called lymphadenitis. It means I have an infection in my throat that has caused the lymph nodes under my jaw to swell up and hurt really bad. Also, I've been very sleeping and tense the past couple of days, which are also symptoms. So, if I don't update one day, don't be mad at me. I'm probably feeling like crap, in which case I will definitely update the next day. I really hope you like this chapter. I had a lot of fun writing in Stevie Rae's point of view. She's one of my favorite characters from the HON series. Also, just a warning here, be ready to pee your pants at the end of this chapter. I don't know if you actually will, but I know that if I were reading this, I'd pee my pants… Okay, well maybe not, but I would do something similar, like…go back and read it again, this time taking a drink on purpose right before I read it and then spitting it out when I do. I'm rambling again, so I'll just let you get to it! Enjoy!

Stevie Rae

Stevie Rae darted forward from the car to run to Zoey. Stark and Darius had run ahead of her, Darius going after Neferet and Stark going to Zoey's side. Aphrodite was right on Stevie Rae's heels. She had known that something bad was going to happen tonight, she just didn't think it was going to be anything like this.

Yes, sometimes Stevie Rae got feelings like Zoey and Aphrodite did, but usually it was about her red fledglings. That was why she never said anything. Tonight was no different. Stevie Rae thought that she was just getting feelings from the bad red fledglings, mostly Dallas. It pained her to think that Dallas had gone from being this sweet boy who was always nice to her, to an evil minion controlled by Neferet.

But she couldn't think about that now. Right now the important thing was making sure that Zoey was okay.

She collapsed to her knees by Z's head, barely hearing the hiss of a laugh that came from Neferet. She didn't look up to see what was happening; she knew that Zoey needed her help and spending time watching the enemy wouldn't help. Later she would learn from Darius that Neferet had simply disappeared from the night and that he suspected she had cloaked herself in Darkness. She would also learn that Neferet had been with the white bull that night, even though no one had seen him until Darius ran around the corner.

"Ohmygoddess! Is she goin' to be okay?" Stevie Rae gasped, her hands going all around Zoey's body but never actually touching. There was blood pooling from somewhere on the back of her head, and she had a nasty cut on her cheek that looked like it might need stitches. Stevie Rae couldn't actually tell if she needed stitches or not because of all the blood that was coming up on it.

Stark worked his hands under her head and gently lifted it up. "She has to be." was all he said, checking out the back of Z's head.

Aphrodite was standing at Zoey's feet. She had been gasping for air - she didn't recover from running so fast like the rest of them had because she was a human again. Stevie Rae barely saw Aphrodite shake herself from her peripheral vision. "We have to get her out of here. Now. I feel…bad. Really bad."

"Of course ya feel bad. We all do. But you gotta pull yourself together." Stevie Rae told her.

Aphrodite barely managed to narrow her eyes at Stevie Rae before she said, "Duh, bumpkin. I mean that-" Suddenly Aphrodite stopped, clutching her eyes. A groan came out of her lips and before she could hit the ground, Darius caught her. Stevie Rae hadn't even noticed that he had come back around the corner.

"She's having a vision." Darius said, heaving - the thought that Darius grunted when he lifted Aphrodite up made Stevie Rae laugh internally. She could really be a fat cow sometimes! - Aphrodite up on his shoulder.

Just as he got her up, she groaned again and jumped off. "Whoa, that's never happened before." she said.

"What is that, my lady?" Darius replied.

Stark turned his attention to the two of them. "Guys, we have bigger problems at the moment." He pointed at an unconscious Zoey.

Aphrodite suddenly ran forward and grabbed Zoey's legs. "Hurry up! There's not much time!" she screamed at the rest of them.

Not needed to know what she was talking about, and going on the fact that Aphrodite had just had a vision that they didn't know about, everyone else grabbed a hold of Z and started walking her to the car. Once Zoey was inside, Aphrodite got in the driver's seat.

Darius got in the passenger's seat, but gave her a funny look. She sighed. "I can't explain everything right now. It's too close. We need to get back to the tunnels. Now."

Stark got in behind Darius - where he was sitting earlier - to hold Zoey's head in his lap. Stevie Rae sat in the same seat she was in earlier, too, this time holding Z's feet in her lap. She absentmindedly rubbed Zoey's calf muscle.

No one said anything as Aphrodite roared through the streets of Tulsa. She was going so fast that she drifted on a lot of the turns. It scared Stevie Rae about as much as it excited her, going so fast. Her momma had never, ever driven like this, and in the back of her mind she knew her momma wouldn't be happy that she was playing with her life like this.

But Stevie Rae knew that her life wasn't the one that was on the line here. It was Zoey's, and she would do anything to keep Zoey alive. She didn't know if she could keep all of her thoughts straight if Z died, but it wasn't only that that scared her. Zoey was her best friend, closer to her than anyone but Rephaim.

The thought jolted her. Stark gave her a weird look from the other side of the car, but she smiled to let him know that she was okay.

Goodness, she hadn't seen Rephaim in what seemed like forever. After being hurt, he'd spent most of his nights sleeping and most of his days in a cage doing the same exact thing. She'd watched birds sleep before, but never as much as Rephaim did.

It was actually pretty weird. Rephaim had been changing later and later. Stevie Rae didn't know if that was because he was in the process of being fully forgiven by Nyx, or if it was because he was hurt so bad and Nyx knew that putting him through the change hurt him even more. She hoped it was the former.

She would have to speak to Rephaim about what was going on. She only hoped that he was awake when she got in the tunnels. He'd gained consciousness a couple of times the night before, and even in day she would sometimes hear him croaking while she slept. She imagined that he had been complaining at her for putting him in a cage, but she knew that even if he didn't like it that it was the best thing for him.

It seemed like it took forever to get to the tunnels, but Stevie Rae knew that it had only taken them five minutes from the time on the clock of the radio. She didn't know if she should be relieved to finally get to the tunnels or dread that they would have to carry Z - yet again - down into them.

Everything happened very fast after that. Aphrodite parked the car as close as she could to the tunnels so that Zoey wouldn't be out in the open air for very long. As soon as it was still, Stark and Darius exploded out the doors and cowboyed up, as she would put it.

Stevie Rae hopped out so that Darius could take Zoey's feet, putting her hands under Z's back so that she wouldn't be dragging her middle along the ground. Aphrodite went ahead of them to open all the doors for them, all the while telling them to hurry, hurry, and hurry some more.

"Aphrodite, we're going as fast as we can!" Stark erupted, finally getting tired of her bickering.

"It's not fast enough!" she yelled right back at him. She had tears trailing down her face but they were a slight pink color. Stevie Rae guessed that that was because of the vision she'd had only minutes before.

They eventually made it into the tunnels, Darius going ahead of them into the tunnels so that Stark could pass Zoey down to him. From there, Aphrodite was quiet, even though Stevie Rae could hear her whimper every now and then.

They all got Zoey into her room and put her on her bed. The blood that smeared Zoey's pillow smelled really good to her, but she didn't want to drink it and her stomach told her that she wouldn't be able to keep it down even if she tried.

"Stevie Rae, would you help Aphrodite to her room and get her situated? Stark and I have some work we have to do." Darius asked her.

"No way am I going with bumpkin, here. I'll make it on my own." Aphrodite retorted. As if fate was trying to prove her wrong, she tripped but caught herself right before she went down.

Darius gave her a reproachful look, all the while grabbing things from drawers. "My lady, please. I worry about you and would worry less if you were accompanied by someone. Stevie Rae is as good as anyone."

"Thank you, Darius." Stevie Rae said, feeling smug. She turned to Aphrodite and said, "You really aught'ta get over the fact that you were once imprinted with me. C'mon, let's go. I'll get ya to your room, but I gotta check on Rephaim."

She looped one of her arms in Aphrodite's to keep her straight and marched down the tunnels with her. At first it was silent. Aphrodite didn't want to talk to her at all. But, after a couple of seconds, Aphrodite let out a deep breath.

"The vision I had was horrible." she whispered. Stevie Rae could hear her clearly, not only because she had really good hearing, but also because Aphrodite's words bounced off the walls of the tunnels.

"What happened?"

"It was like some of the other visions I've had. It was like there were two in one. On one side, I saw that if we didn't get the Zoey in the car, Darkness would come and suck all the blood out of her body." Stevie Rae gasped. "Yeah, it was bad. There was nothing any of us could do because every time we would try to get it away, it would cut our skin. Stark tried to shoot an arrow at it, but it just divided itself in two before it could get to them."

They made it to Aphrodite's room then. Stevie Rae automatically got a rag and two bottles of water from Aphrodite's mini fridge. She poured the first one over the rag and handed it to Aphrodite, who was grabbing a Xanax from her purse. She knew that warm water would've been better for her, but she didn't have time to walk all the way back to the depot to get it for her. She handed the second water bottle to Aphrodite to drink.

"Thanks." Aphrodite said, surprising the heck outta Stevie Rae.

Aphrodite chugged down half the bottle - having already dry swallowed her Xanax - and laid back on her pillows, putting the rag over her eyes.

"Go on." Stevie Rae told her.

Aphrodite barely nodded before continuing. "Zoey died in that part because we couldn't get it to stop drinking her blood. The second one was a lot like the first one, only this time we were getting out of the car at the depot. Darkness had followed us all the way there and latched on to Zoey the second we got her out of the car. That's why I was driving so fast. I didn't want to give it the chance to follow us."

Stevie Rae nodded, but realized that Aphrodite couldn't see it so she gave a little sound that let her know she was listening. "Uh, are you gonna be okay? 'Cause I gotta-"

Aphrodite cut her off. "I'll be alright. Go check on your birdboy." Stevie Rae rolled her eyes, knowing that if she said anything Aphrodite would just keep arguing with her. She stood up and went to the silk curtain that was the door to Aphrodite's room. Just before she stepped out, Aphrodite said, "Stevie Rae?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks, again. Really, I mean it."

Stevie Rae's heart squeezed for a second. She knew that there was a part deep down in Aphrodite that was really nice. There had to be for Zoey to be friends with her. "Don't mention it." Stevie Rae replied.

"Oh, believe me, I won't." And then she had to go ruin the moment. There was the Aphrodite she knew.

Shaking her head, Stevie Rae walked out of Aphrodite's room, making her way to her own. Silently she sent a prayer up to Nyx, asking her to let Rephaim be awake when she got there. She vaguely remembered that she had spilt water on the floor of Aphrodite's room, so she asked earth to open up and drink it for her. She could feel the earth underneath her ripple, taking the command with it. It must have shook when it opened because she hear Aphrodite give a little shriek.

"Thank you, earth, for getting rid of that mess and scaring the beejesus outta Aphrodite." she whispered with a smile on her face.

She thought, in the back of her mind, if she should go tell the guys that Aphrodite was okay, but she didn't think that her shriek would reach Zoey's room.

Once at her door, she took a deep breath, wondering if Nyx had been listening to her before. The other night, when Nyx had appeared before her very eyes, she'd whispered to Stevie Rae that Rephaim would be alright. It had made Stevie Rae burst into happy tears that she knew everyone had been wondering about. A couple of fledglings had asked her - including her "nerd herd", as Aphrodite put it - but she didn't want to share that private moment with them.

She was a little afraid of moving the Kenny Chesney beach towel she had picked up at Walmart that acted as her door, but when she heard a soft, "Come in, Stevie Rae," she barged into the room.

Rephaim was laying on their bed with no shirt on. He had bandages wrapped around his chest where a few of his ribs had broken from his impact with the earth a few days ago. Stevie Rae was so glad the he had suffered a few broken bones instead of being ripped apart by Aurox. She bounded over to him and sat on the edge of the bed softly, so as not to jostle him around.

He gave her a sweet smile, opened his arms, and said, "Come here."

"I-I'll hurt you." she whispered, not trusting her voice not to break.

He shook his head slowly. "I do not care. Come here. I have missed you."

Stevie Rae climbed into the bed and under the sheets until she was right next to Rephaim. Reluctantly, she put her head on his chest. He gave a little groan, and his breathing hitched, but only a second passed before he was breathing correctly again.

"I missed you, too. You have no idea how much." she told him, feeling the tears slide down her cheeks.

He pulled her face up to look at him. He wiped away a few of the tears while saying, "What has upset you so? I assure you I will be alright."

She gave him a small smile. "I know you will be. Nyx told me." To say that Rephaim looked shocked was an understatement. "There's a lot that you missed."

He slowly nodded. "It seems so. Tell me, what has happened in the days I rested, sweet?"

Stevie Rae loved it when he called her such sweet names. She stretched to give him a little kiss on the mouth, loving that his arms automatically wrapped around her when she did. When they pulled apart, he kept his arms around her, making her feel more safe and happy than she had been in days.

"Well…" she started, launching into the whole story. She started with Nyx's appearance - leaving out the fact that they had been celebrating while Rephaim was here with his daddy, getting better - and went through everything. She talked about Nyx's plan for Rephaim's daddy, how Kalona was now a good guy, and finally how Zoey was pregnant and all the events that had happened that night.

Rephaim stayed silent for a long time. Stevie Rae thought she'd somehow broken him with all the news, he was so silent. But, finally, he took a deep breath and looked into her eyes. "My father has been forgiven."

He didn't phrase it like a question, but she still said, "Uh-huh."

Suddenly, Rephaim kissed her hard on the mouth. Stevie Rae melted in his arms, loving the way he tasted and smelled. Being away from him for so long had pained her, especially because he had been hurt, and still was. But at that moment, in his arms, everything felt like it would get better. It still felt like they had a lot they had to get through, but she knew that it would be alright as long as Rephaim was by her side.

When he pulled away, he said, "Stevie Rae, do you know what this means?" When she shook her head, he continued, "That is why I have been changing later and later! The effects of the spell on me that make change every day are wearing off! Soon you will have me all night and all day."

Stevie Rae shot up, jostling the bed and making Rephaim wince. She muttered an apology that he automatically accepted right before she said, "That's…that's…" She didn't know how to put it. It was the most wonderful thing she had ever heard. She would get to stay with her Rephaim all the time! He wouldn't be a bird anymore, and have to go through that awful change that hurt him so bad.

Suddenly, Rephaim's lips were at her ear. "I know, love. I know. Let me show you how happy it makes me, too."

Stevie Rae's body heated up at his words, wanting very much to let him show her. "But…won't it hurt you?" she whispered, knowing that her words were very clipped. She didn't want to let him know that she really, really wanted him to show her, but she knew that her words had come out that way anyway.

"A little." he replied. "But not enough to stop me."

Stevie Rae was on her back out of nowhere. This wasn't how they usually did things. Usually, when they made love it was sweet and very careful. This time, he was letting her know just how much he wanted her. How much he needed her.

They stripped their clothes off faster than anyone had ever done so, it seemed. There was no taking it slow this time. Instead, it was over in a matter of minutes, but that didn't make it any less great. In fact, Stevie Rae was pretty sure it was the best they'd ever had.

Rephaim was more out of breath than she was when they flopped next to each other when it was done. She knew it was because he was hurt, but this time she didn't have to ask him if he was okay. She could feel through their bond that he was definitely more than okay.

A few minutes passed while they said nothing. They just held each other, loving the feel of the other's naked body pressed against them.

Finally, Rephaim opened his eyes. He looked into Stevie Rae's for a long time. She was about to ask him what he was thinking about when he said, "Zoey is going to have my brother or sister?"

Stevie Rae didn't think that that was what he was going to say, so she just nodded. He gave her a brisk nod just before they heard Aphrodite yell, "Stevie Rae! Get your bumpkin ass out here!"

Rephaim and Stevie Rae didn't need to say anything back - or to each other, for that matter - before they were up and getting their clothes back on. This time, Rephaim pulled a t-shirt out of their drawer that he had borrowed from Stark. They still hadn't had time to get him new clothes.

Aphrodite was standing outside when they walked out, hand in hand. She took one look at them, rolled her eyes, and said, "Zoey's all patched up and doing okay." A jolt of guilt passed through Stevie Rae. She felt bad that she had been in her room doing…things with Rephaim when she should've been worried about Z. Rephaim squeezed her hand, making her feel a little better. "She hasn't been awake, though. Stark says she keeps twitching, so he thinks she's going to wake up soon."

"They were able to patch her up good down here?" Stevie Rae asked.

Aphrodite nodded. "Seems like she wasn't hurt too bad. You know what they say about head wounds - they bleed a lot. That's what freaks people out about them."

"Then we must go to her." Rephaim said.

"You told him about…well, stuff?" Aphrodite asked Stevie Rae, bobbing her head in Rephaim's direction. Stevie Rae just nodded as she started to walk the direction of Zoey's room.

They were all silent after that until Rephaim said, "I will tell you both right now that this is not going to be…pleasant for Zoey. She will be in a lot of pain when the child is born. More so than normal women are."

Stevie Rae suddenly realized that she hadn't told Rephaim that the baby wasn't a Raven Mocker. She stopped and turned to look at him. "Rephaim, this time is different. I think 'cause your daddy became good and all, it made an impact on the baby. It's not a Raven Mocker."

Rephaim gasped and narrowed his eyes at her. "How do you know this?"

"Because, birdboy, they have these things called ultrasounds. They let you see the baby. It's normal. Now, can we get a move on? Zoey will be waking up any minute now and I want to be there for her." Aphrodite sneered.

Stevie Rae and Rephaim said at the same time, "Don't call him/me that!"

Aphrodite simply shrugged her shoulders and walked ahead of them. They - thankfully - made it to Z's room before she woke up. Stevie Rae gave Rephaim one more quick kiss when they heard Zoey mutter something about Nala.

Thinking that she wanted her cat, Stark picked Nala up - she had been sleeping, so she wasn't too happy with him - and put her next to Z. A few beats went by before her eyes flickered open.

She looked around for a couple of minutes, looking like a lost puppy. "Where am I?"

"You're in the tunnels." Stark said, grabbing her hand. "You're gonna be alright, Zoey."

Z looked at him like his hair had just caught fire and jerked her hand away from him. "Who are you? How did I get here?" she shrieked.

Stevie Rae took a step forward. "Z, you don't remember who he is?" she asked, pointing at Stark.

Zoey looked at Stevie Rae and then back at Stark. She shook her head violently. "No! I don't know who any of you are! Where's my mom? What happened?"

They all stood there looking at Zoey before Aphrodite said, "Ah, hell."