The High Priestess turned her back on Aphrodite and approached me. "Zoey Redbird, I knew you were special from the day Nyx let me foresee that you would be Marked." She smiled at me and put her finger under my chin, lifting my head so that she could get a better look at the new addition to my Mark. Then she brushed my hair aside so that the tattoos that had appeared on my neck and shoulders, and back could also be seen. I heard the Dark Daughters and Sons gasp as they, too, got their first look at my unusual Marks. "Extraordinary, truly extraordinary," she breathed, letting her hand fall back to her side as she continued. The picture blurred moving a few seconds ahead, "Go back to the school. I'll take care of what needs to be done here," Neferet told me. She hugged me quickly and whispered into my ear, "I'm so very proud of you, ZoeyBird." Then she gave me a little push in the direction of my friends. "Welcome the new leader of the Dark Daughters and Sons!" she said. Again the image changed…

"You must be Zoey's grandmamma," Mrs Johnson said when we had quit clinging to each other. "It's so good to meet you. You have a fine girl, here."

Grandma smiled warmly and started to reply, but John interrupted in his I'm-so-superior voice.

"Well, actually, that would be our fine girl you would be complimenting."

As if on the Stepford Wives cue, my mother finally managed to speak. "Yes, we're Zoey's parents. I'm Linda Heffer. This is my husband, john, and my mother, Sylvia Red-" Then in the middle of her oh-so-polite introductions, she bothered to actually look at me and her voice came to a breath gulping halt midword.

I made my face smile, but it felt hot and hard. Like it was poured plaster and had been sitting in the summer sun and would crack all to pieces if I wasn't careful.

"Hi, Mom."

"For the love of God what have you done to your Mark?" Mom said the word Mark like she said the word cancer or pedophile.

"She saved the life of a young man and tapped into a goddess given affinity for the elements. In return Nyx has touched her with several unusual Marks for a fledgling," Neferet said in her smooth musical voice as she walked into the middle of our little group, hand extended directly to my Step-Loser. "Mr. Heffer, I am Neferet, High Priestess of the House of Night, although it might be easier if you would just think of me as you would any ordinary high school's principals. Thank you for coming to parent visitation night."

I could tell that he took her hand automatically. I was sure he would have refused it if she hadn't caught him by surprise. She shook his hand quickly and then turned to my mom.

"Mrs. Heffer, it is a pleasure to meet Zoey's mother. We are so pleased that she has joined the House of Night."

"Well, uh, thank you!" My mom said clearly disarmed by Neferet's beauty and charm.

"Sylvia Redbird, it is always a pleasure to see you."

"Neferet it makes my heart glad to see you, too, and I thank you for honoring your oath to look after my granddaughter."

"It is an oath that is not a burden to fulfill. Zoey is a special girl." Now Neferet's smile included me in its warmth (Flash back scene taken from Marked and Betrayed by P.C. and Kristen Cast). Then the scene froze and Neferet turned to look right at me. "Come to me, Zoey. Come home and let me care for you once more…"

I awoke shaking but not as shocked and terrified as I had been after the dream I had had last night. This one was just memories, nothing more, just memories. I sighed as I heard a soft meow and looked up to see Skylar walking around my pillow. He stopped to look at me and Nuzzle my face then slowly turned in circle, lying down on my pillow next to Nala. I sighed again and looked at the clock. It was only 2:00 pm and I was still considerably exhausted. I closed my eyes once again drifting to sleep.

I was standing on an Island next to the water in an all white dress. The moon was completely full and its reflection shimmered on the water. Despite its beauty I instantly felt dread. Why did I keep coming here? I turned around and examined the palace before me. My only consolation was that there were no crosses lining the background.

"The beauty almost makes you forget the power here doesn't it?" Kalona asked stepping out from the shadows, "At least till you actually get here and feel it yourself." He smiled as he approached me. "Why don't you come to us my A-ya?" He asked tilting my face so that our eyes met. "Do not doom yourself by remaining our enemy."

I wished he would stop with this stuff, I wished they would both stop! It was all wearing me out. But I supposed that's what they wanted, to wear me down and make me weak. "You are a fool if you think Neferet will share you," I said my breathing hitching as he leaned down to kiss the wound on my neck.

"Neferet will learn to share," he chuckled nuzzling my flesh.

"That is totally disgusting," I said pushing him away.

He smiled at me, "It's something you will not mind in time." He bent down kissing my lips softly, "come to me A-ya," he said pressing our bodies together sending an intense pleasure cascading through me.

"You want me to come to the place where Nyx has foreshowed my death?" I murmured between kisses.

"Her visions can be changed," he whispered back.

"Only if I heed her warnings," I said pulling back a little bit.

His eyes twinkled as they locked with mine and I heard thousands of his children from all around the palace, "you are making a mistake A-ya," he said gently.

"Am I? I am safe where I'm at," I said confidently.

He smiled raising his eyebrows, "Are you? Don't think that we are not watching."

"Zoey! Zoey wake up!"

"Stark…" I mumbled sleepily as he continued to shake me. I opened my eyes sure that the dream was just changing again. He was standing above me with a somewhat worried expression on his face, his bow and arrow slung over his side.

"Are you all right?" He asked helping me sit up and then moving back to the window and opening the blinds just an inch or so.

"Stark! It's daylight! The sun…."

"Relax Zoey there is no sun out there," he said grimacing.

Something was wrong. I stood up and walked to his side. He was right, the sky had gone dark with rain and clouds. Then I heard it, the caw, caw that was sounding from the trees just outside the school grounds. "No!" I said shaking again, "No!"

"Zoey calm down, we don't know if it's anything. It could just be a normal raven."

"As far as I'm concerned there is no such thing as a normal raven!" I said through gritted teeth. I felt like I was going to lose my mind. I could still hear Kalona's words as they whispered through my mind 'don't think that we are not watching.' I turned on the spot and headed for the door. I didn't even care that it was only 4:00 pm. Stark was at my side in an instant taking my hand was we walked down the hall towards the stairs.

"It's gonna be ok, Zoey," he whispered softly trying to calm my panic and my anger.

This was getting absolutely ridiculous. Was it never going to end, or would there always be something lurking around the corner? (ok I know that that totally sounded like a bad old horror movie line, but I mean come on, it's starting to feel that way!) I made it down the stairs and stopped as almost every head in the student body turned to look at me. Apparently we weren't the only ones who had heard the cawing. Even some of the guys had made their way over to the girl's dormitory.

I looked around finding my circle as well as jack and Aphrodite and Darius and began making my way over pulling Stark along beside me.

"What's going on?" I asked the group in general.

"You didn't hear it?" Damien asked.

"No, I did, but what's with the whole student body doing down here?"

"Everyone is panicked," Jack said looking a bit panicked himself.

"You can't really blame them, can you?" Damien asked, "I mean they just found out two days ago that Kalona had put them in an evil trance. And, many of them have been reliving nightmares and uncovering memories. They know about the Raven Mockers, so they're probably down here for the same reason as us."

"Do we know it's Raven Mocker for sure?" Erin asked.

"What else could it be?" Aphrodite said sarcastically. "I mean did we really think they were going to leave us alone?"

"There is no reason to panic just yet," Darius said taking Aphrodite's hand and trying to sooth her. "We don't know what is in those trees. We haven't been able to make out a form of any kind and with the storm it just makes it harder to tell."

"Well I say we go find out!" Shaunee said rolling up her sleeves like she was going to battle.

"How are you going to do that, light all the trees on fire?" Aphrodite asked in a snotty voice.

"That's not a bad idea," Shaunee said glaring at her but completely serious.

"She was being facetious!" Damien said rolling his eyes.

"Face who?" Erin asked.

"What in the hell are you talking about?" Shaunee asked.

"It means she wasn't being serious," jack said.

"Thank you," Damien said smiling at jack and taking his hand.

"Well whether she was serious or not we have to do something," Shaunee said aggravated.

"I agree," Stark put in squeezing my hand.

"Yeah, well I'm not sure burning down the trees is it," I said letting out a long breath.

"So what do we do?" Erin asked again.

At that moment the large Oak doors to the girl's dormitory flew open and Natasha followed by the rest of the Council and a few of the professors such as Lenobia, Dragon and Anastasia breezed into the room.

The room fell silent at once as they took in Natasha's beautiful yet clearly upset face. I couldn't tell if it was anger or aggravation, but once again I knew I didn't want to be on the receiving end of whatever emotion she was feeling. Natasha took a deep breath calming herself before she spoke, "I know you all are worried, and given what you have been through I don't blame you," she said beginning to move through the room. "But, I ask you all to be brave. If we let the mere sounds of a raven to cause us to become unglued then we fall! I am asking you to keep calm and allow us to determine if there is any danger as well as to trust that we will protect you if the situation warrants it! This House of Night is strong and you will all stay strong! Now I want you all to go back to your dormitories, and get some sleep or relax. Your classes start in 4 hours and all of you are expected to be there," she said looking around the room. Her eyes came to rest on our group for a moment than she nodded and turned leaving the room. Mallika, and the rest of the Council as well as the professors stayed, however, and began moving through the crowd, comforting students and sending them back to their dorms.

"Whoa," Damien breathed. "Sometimes you forget what it's like when a High Priestess gets angry."

"She's not angry at the students," Darius spoke, "She is angry at Kalona and she knows that fear will keep the students in bonds and chains. She wants you all to be free from him and happy. That is the only reason she spoke so passionately."

We all nodded knowing that it was true. Natasha was right, if simple sounds could make us panic to the point where we all froze up afraid to move than we would fall.

"So what do we do?" Jack asked.

I sighed, "We do what she said and try to get a little rest and maybe some breakfast. But, I do wanna get down to see Stevie Rae and the rest of the red fledglings before class starts. So maybe in a few hours, like 7:00ish?"

They all nodded and we all dispersed Aphrodite, Darius and Stark all following me.

"You all right, Zoey?" Aphrodite asked. "You don't look so good? How much sleep did you get last night?"

I knew she was asking if I had had any more disturbing dreams, but subtly just in case I didn't want Stark or Darius to know. I looked at Stark and then back to her, "I didn't get much sleep. Stark woke me up in the middle of an interesting dream, though."

She caught on realizing that the dream was important as well as that Stark knew about it, "well you'll have to tell me about it later."

"Definitely," I said as we reached her room. "See you in a few hours."

"Get some sleep priestess," Darius said saluting me.

Stark and I walked the remainder of the way back to my room in silence. There were so many things I needed to discuss with him; I just didn't know where to start.

"Were the dreams of Kalona?" He asked finally breaking my silent thoughts.

"Yeah," I said as we opened the door to my room.

"I figured. You were shaking and moaning, and it just didn't seem like a normal nightmare to me. It was too much like he was here still. Then I heard the raven and I knew I had to wake you up."

"Thanks," I said going to sit on my bed. He came over and sat next to me and for a moment we just looked at each other. I had missed everything about him from his messy blonde brown hair to the confidence that radiated from him when he faced life. "Where did you go?" I finally asked breaking the silence.

"I've been here," he said smirking at me. "I just needed some time with Nyx to sort things out. Part of me felt after that school meeting as if I were of no good to anyone. Not after everything I'd done," he explained. "I tried to tell that to Mallika, I tried to leave though the thought of being away from you for any amount of time was killing me." His words ripped at me as the thought of losing him brought on a fresh wave of panic. He continued, "She told me that she could not show me my worth, that only Nyx could do that. She asked me if I was willing to spend a few days in isolation in Nyx's temple and I said yes."

"And?" I asked knowing there had to be more to the story than that.

"And, I know my place, Zoey. My place is with you, the priestess I have sworn to protect no matter how much I don't think I deserve the honor. Nyx has shown me that that was my first step in the right direction and it is on this path that I will find the destiny Nyx has laid out for me," he said lifting his hand and brushing my cheek. "I know Nyx has forgiven me and though I know that that isn't going to make the things I've done disappear I know I have to move forward," he finished giving me the smile I love so much. It was a smile that was amazingly confident even in spite of life's uncertainties and I realized being with Nyx had done him a lot of good. "So what all has been going on since I've been gone? Kalona has evidently made a reappearance back in your dreams," he stated. "When did that start again?"

"Tonight. Although I've had some strange dreams concerning Neferet the last two nights. Oh, and Aphrodite had a vision of Kalona and Neferet taking over the Council." I began to tell him everything that had happened in the last two days. It felt good to have him back; to be able to talk to him about everything. It gave me a feeling of security. I watched as his face became increasingly tight and concerned as I spoke.

"That doesn't sound good," he finally said.

"I know," I agreed.

"And now there's a Raven Mocker in the trees?" he questioned shaking his head.

"You think it's really a Raven Mocker?"

"After what you've told me about your dreams I can't imagine that it is anything innocent no matter how much we might want it to be."

I sighed. I knew he was right; it all just fit together too perfectly.

"So, how's Erik?" he asked giving me a cocky grin and changing the subject.

"We broke up," I said casually looking towards the window. I felt his fingers gently turn my face as I slowly met his eyes.

"I'm sorry," he said softly, "I wasn't trying to be a jerk or anything."

I frowned slightly. I really didn't want to keep talking about Erik. It just made everything harder.

"Well I'm here if you need to talk." Stark said seeming to understand even without me telling him and once again I felt the mysterious bond between us.

"I know and thanks," I said smiling just a little.

"No problem. You really do look tired you know. Maybe you should try to get a little more sleep," he said looking deep into my eyes and suddenly getting more sleep was the last thing on my mind.

His arms came up around me as he pulled me closer to him, our lips meeting in a fiery need to be near each other. He pulled back then, slightly, and I sighed as he pulled me back so that we were lying next to each other. I stared into his eyes a minute longer before knowing that I wanted him. If I hadn't been certain before I was now. Dumping Erik was the right thing to do there was just too many emotions here for me to stay with him. Stark kissed me again, this time more softly, his tongue running smoothly over my lips as his hand ran along the shape of my leg which was now wrapped around his thigh. My breathing was coming in short gasps as he moved to kiss my neck. I tilted my head back giving him more access. Everything felt…right. His lips stilled as he reached the scratch on my neck.

"What?" I was barely able to breathe.

"Is this from the dream?" He asked.

I nodded trying to get my thoughts together. My head was still spinning from our kissing and I was having a hard time focusing. I finally managed to look at his face and saw that he looked trouble. "What?!" I asked again starting to feel alarmed.

"Did you have anyone look at this?" He asked concern evident in his voice.

"Anyone like a healer?"

"Or one of the priestesses," he said coming to lay by my side again. "Zoey, this isn't just an ordinary cut, there's something…" he paused, "I'm not sure, but it doesn't feel right."

"Are you sure it's not just because you know how it happened?" I questioned trying to smile.

He frowned, "Zoey, I can barely get near it. There's some kind of dark energy coming from it."

I instantly sat up, my hand covering the area in question. It felt fine to me. Granted it should have healed completely by now, but dark energy?

"I really think you should have someone look at it. Just in case," he added seeing my mortified expression.

I looked at the clock, it was already after 6:00, "I will be seeing Natasha this morning. I'll mention it to her then," I said feeling reluctant.

"That's probably a good idea," he said helping me stand. "You probably should get yourself ready if you're going to meet everyone down in my dorms," he said winking. He kissed me gently on the lips, "I'll see you in a little bit."

I moaned as he walked out. What exactly did this all mean? The scratch had dark energy? WTF! More importantly what did this mean for me and Stark? Were we together? Why were there always so many things to figure out? I gathered my things and then ran to the bathroom. I climbed in the shower letting the hot water soak through to my bones for several long minutes before washing my hair. It felt good to just relax and try to forget all the craziness that surrounded me.

I climbed out drying myself thoroughly with a towel and pulling my hair back. I looked in the mirror examining the scratch. It hadn't healed but it wasn't any worse either. It was no more than a thin line now, slightly red in color. "What do you think?" I asked Nala as she jumped up on the bathroom counter. She sneezed at me and jumped into my arms. "Yeah I don't know either," I sighed. I quickly changed my clothes and grabbed a pair of shoes. "Come on Nala. We gotta go meet the gang."