You demanded that I update soon, so guess what? I am! Haha! I really hope you guys like it. Tell me what you think of this chapter =]

Everything was out in the open now. Well, at least it was for Stevie Rae, Darius, Stark, and Aphrodite. I don't have to include myself in that list for you to get that I was in on it, too, right? Actually, I was more in on it than anyone else was. Hell, it was happening to me!

No one had really said anything as Aphrodite and I explained everything. I knew that all three of them were in really bad shock at the moment. I was kind of in shock, too. Aphrodite had told us all something that even I didn't know.

"So, let me get this straight. Ya'll want me to dig in somebody's mind so that we can check and see if Z's baby is, well, normal?" Stevie Rae said.

I wanted to shake my head no, but I knew that this was a pretty smart plan. I knew what went on when a woman went to get her baby checked out. I so didn't want to do that.

"Yes. We're going to have to do it tomorrow because we have to get to the school in…" Aphrodite checked her phone. "Shit. Now. Let's go. We'll talk about this more later."

Reluctantly, everyone got up and started going toward the entrance to the depot basement. I wanted to go to Stark, but I was afraid that he would be angry with me. Even though I should've been angry about him tossing me aside like a rag doll when he should've been comforting me, I was just hurt. He had never, ever been like this before.

So, you could say I was surprised when he grabbed my hand and held me back for a moment.

"Zoey, can I talk to you for a minute?" he asked.

"No, she can't. We've gotta get going." Aphrodite yelled back.

Stark didn't look away from me as he replied, "Get lost, hag!"

Apparently, that surprised Aphrodite because she didn't say anything back. She just turned on her heel and kept marching into the depot.

Stark let go of my hand and took my face in his. "Zoey, I am so, so sorry."

That was all it took for me to start crying. Goddess, why was I so emotional these days?

"Please don't do that. Don't cry. I love you, Zoey. I never meant to hurt you. It's just that…this is a lot to take in. It's also a big surprise, considering the fact that Nyx promised us that nothing would happen to you." he explained.

I managed to get a grip on myself while he was talking. "I know. Believe me, I know everything you were feeling. I've felt all of it. I still can't believe that this is happening."

He gave me a small smile and took my hands again. "Look, I just want you to know that I am going to be here for you through everything. I know that this isn't going to be easy, what with you and Kalona being majorly attracted to each other with the spell mojo, but I don't care. I'll stay right here beside you every single day."

I breathed a sigh of relief. "You don't know how good it is to hear you say that."

He smiled as he bent down to give me the sweetest kiss I had ever had. It said all the things we didn't have time to say now. When we broke apart, he put one arm around me and kept it there while we walked out to the car Darius had gotten us.

It didn't take long to get to the House of Night because it was only a couple of miles down the road. We rode in silence, all of us thinking about how bad things had become. Well, at least, that was what I was thinking about. That, and the fact that my warrior would stay with me until the very end.

That thought suddenly made me think about that fact that I was going to die soon. I had, what, nine months to live? I hadn't told any of them that I was going to die, and I planned on keeping it that way.

Out of nowhere, Darius pulled the car over.

"What are ya doin'?" Stevie Rae asked. She was sitting to my left in the backseat. Stark was on my right, and Darius and Aphrodite were in the front.

Darius turned to look at us in the backseat. "I'm afraid that, even though Dragon Lankford deserves a memorial, we will not be able to attend."

"And just why is that?" Aphrodite asked.

I don't think that Stevie Rae or Aphrodite noticed what happened next. Stark gave Darius a very short nod, one that I almost didn't see. Darius immediately turned back to the wheel and started driving off past the House of Night.

"Hey!" Stevie Rae exclaimed. "Where are we goin'?"

Even though I was glad that I didn't have to go to Dragon's memorial - yes, I wanted to remember him and I would, but I had more pressing matters at hand - I chipped in with Stevie Rae. "Uh, the House of Night is back that way." I pointed backwards.

"We know." Stark told me. I was going to ask him why, if he knew we had passed it up, we were still going, but he kept talking. "We can't go there. Yet."

"Ugh, for the love of hell!" Aphrodite yelled. "Just tell us what the fuck is going on!"

Darius looked at her for a second before returning his eyes to the road. "It is only seven-thirty. The clinic should still be open. You need to understand that we need to handle all of this before we do anything else."

"Clinic?" I whispered. Stark must have heard the fear in my voice because he wrapped his arms around me and kissed my cheek.

"Everything is going to be okay. We just need to get some things figured out." he assured me.

Stevie Rae looked at all four of us, slowly. It seemed as if she was living in her own world until she said, "Look, Z, I'm afraid that I'm with Darius and Stark. Even though Kalona turned good and all, we don't know if the, uh, baby is a…"

I knew what she was going to say. I mean, it wasn't that hard to figure out. She just couldn't say it. Just like I couldn't say it.

"Raven Mocker?" Leave it to Aphrodite to say what we all couldn't.

I took a deep, shuddering breath. I'd known that I would have to figure it out one way or another, I just didn't think it would be this soon. Suddenly, an idea formed in my head.

"Hey, guys? Uh, if it's so early in the, um, pregnancy, then what makes you think that we'll even be able to see the baby?" I asked.

"We are not sure if it will work." Darius said immediately. "But it is something that we have to try."

There wasn't a lot said after that. Darius drove while Aphrodite sang to the radio almost too low for me to hear. Stark kept his arms wrapped around me, every now and then saying that it was all going to be okay. Stevie Rae didn't make a peep, or move, for that matter. It seemed like she was a robot.

Finally, we made it to a small building that said, "Tulsa Heath and Clinic". Great title, I thought. These people obviously had no creative ability whatsoever.

"Stevie Rae, you're on." Stark said.

I watched as Stevie Rae got out of the car and walked over to the door of the building. I couldn't really see what was going on; I was too busy thinking about how awful this was going to be. She stood there for a minute before the door opened. She turned to the car and motioned for us to come in.

"Zoey, would you be more comfortable if Aphrodite and I come in and wait in the waiting room, or if we stayed in the car?" Darius asked.

Before I could tell him that I would love it if they would stay in the car, Aphrodite said, "Humph. You can stay in the car if you want to. I am going in."

Great.

I assumed that since Aphrodite was going in, Darius would, too. I was right. As soon as she got out of the car, Darius was right behind her. I guess it only made sense since he was her warrior.

When we got in the office, almost all of the lights were out. I could tell by looking at them that they were the fluorescent kind that made everything look like it was under examination. "I made them turn off the lights so that it wouldn't hurt our eyes. They were just closing when I got to the door." Stevie Rae said.

"That's actually a really good thing." Stark muttered before guiding me behind the front desk.

A woman was sitting there going through files. She looked up, obviously thinking we were doctors. "I found the file on Jamie- Hey! You can't be back here. We're closed."

Stevie Rae walked in front of us and said, making eye contact, "Yes, but we're very special patients. If you'll just direct us to the doctor's room, we'll be out of here in a jiffy."

The woman had a blank stare on her face. It kind of creeped me out watching it happen. I mean, I'd known that Stevie Rae could do this type of thing, but I had never actually seen her do it. "The only doctor who is still here is Dr. Romano. Her office is down the hall, to your right. It has her name printed on it in big letters."

Stevie Rae smiled at the woman. "Thank you very much, ma'am. We weren't here, okay?" The woman nodded. "Okay, well, go back to your filin'." She left the g off of filing, in her sweet, Okie twang. "Keep filin' 'til the doctor comes out, 'kay?" When the woman nodded again, Stevie Rae turned around to us. "Well? Let's go!"

Both Stark and I nodded, walking down the hall and turning right like the woman had said. We found the doctor's office right away. I went to grab the knob, but Stark stopped me.

"We need to let Stevie Rae go first."

I nodded, shaking on the inside, and stepped back. I could feel a sweat begin to prick on my forehead. I thought that I was going to throw up.

Stevie Rae walked in and did basically the same thing to the doctor, only this time she explained that she had a friend that needed to be checked out. It was crazy how the doctor went from being freaked that we were there, to zombie-like under Stevie Rae's gaze, and then to the happy doctor that she probably was with normal patients.

"Why don't you come with me down the hall?" Dr. Romano asked me. I simply nodded and followed her down the hall.

Stevie Rae waved to me and Stark before going back the way we had come. Aphrodite and Darius had stayed in the waiting room area.

Stevie Rae had explained to the doctor that we needed to get this done quickly, so all she made me do was lift my shirt so that she could get to my stomach with the ultrasound machine. She squeezed some really cold gel onto my stomach and then put a weird, microphone-looking thing in the gel.

"So, what are we hoping for?" Dr. Romano asked.

Stark and I looked at each other. "Uh, we don't really know yet." I said.

She just nodded and kept looking at a screen that was right next to her. She moved the microphone-looking thing all around my stomach. As she did this, I was squeezing the hell out of Stark's hand. I knew it must have been hurting him, but he didn't show it.

After a minute, I was getting hopeful. Maybe my feeling that I was pregnant was wrong! Maybe Kalona was wrong, too! But did that mean that I was really just attracted to him?

"Ah ha!" the doctor said, with a smile on her face. "Here we are."

I'd been looking down at my stomach when she said it. I took a deep breath and looked up at the screen.

"Oh. My. Goddess." I whispered. My eyes were filling up with tears as I looked at the screen.

Stark took in a sharp breath. "Well. Now we know." He let go of my hand and leaned over me to kiss my forehead. "I'm going to go get Stevie Rae."

I nodded. The doctor gave me a towel to wipe the gel off my stomach before leaving the room. I wiped it off, but my stomach still felt weird from the residue it left. When I pulled my shirt down, it stuck just a little bit to my skin.

I got up and walked over to the sink so that I could wipe off some of the residue. As I was, Dr. Romano came back into the room.

"I almost forgot." she said, walking over to me. "Here is a picture of your baby. Also, I didn't know if you knew how far along you are." I took the picture she handed to me and was about to tell her that I already knew how far along I was, but she just kept talking. "You're about two and a half weeks along."

You would think that I would scream something about that not being right, or ask her to look at it again. Maybe it would've been perfectly alright if I fainted or hyperventilated. Instead, I froze. I didn't know what to do. Did I want to keep standing, or sit down? Should I go get Stark? All these thoughts went through my head super slow, as if even my brain was frozen.

I'd gotten pregnant yesterday! I was only supposed to be two days along. How was this even possible?

Stark flew into the room then, bow and arrow in hand. Once he'd surveyed the room, he said something to Dr. Romano that I didn't hear. They said a couple of sentences back and forth to each other, but I wasn't paying attention.

Stark's arm went around my waist. As we walked out the door, he started whispering things to me. They were sweet things that I only half paid attention to. I did notice that as we walked down the hall and into the waiting room, Stevie Rae went past us. I vaguely remembered that she needed to go back to the doctor to wipe her mind. Too bad she couldn't wipe my mind.

"Z?" Aphrodite shrieked when she caught sight of me. "What's going on? What's wrong?"

Darius walked quickly - with Aphrodite in hand - over to me. "Priestess, what could possibly be wrong? I thought we had already established that the baby is not a Raven Mocker. How could that be bad news?" he said.

Finally, some of the ice that had taken over my body thawed. "I, uh… Well, there's nothing wrong with the fact that the baby is a, well, normal baby. I'm actually really happy about that. It's just that…" I was having a hard time trying to find the right words.

"Zoey, sweetheart, I'll take it from here. You just come over here and sit down." Stark said. He tried to lead me over to the opposite side of the room, but I stopped him.

I took a deep breath. I couldn't act like this anymore. I had to get a grip on myself. Yes, this was going to be hard. Yes, it was going to be scary. No one had said that it wasn't going to be, and there was nothing I could do to change it. I would just have to deal with it. I was their High Priestess, and my duties weren't excused just because I had gotten knocked up by an immortal with a baby that would possibly end the world.

As I thought about that last part, I realized that Aphrodite's vision could be wrong. I mean, the baby was normal. It wasn't a scary half man, half raven beast that all of Kalona's other children were. Well, except for Rephaim.

Rephaim! Maybe I could get Kalona to stay in Nyx's kingdom and just have Rephaim raise his baby brother or sister after I…well, was gone. I thought about the fact that in some weird way this kind of made me closer to Rephaim.

Finally, I said, "No. I'll stay right here. Let me explain this to them. I'm alright now. I promise."

Stark smiled - obviously liking that I was back to myself - and put his hand in mine. "Well, yes, ma'am." I was so happy that Stark could still be cocky while all of this was going on.

"Okay, a little less yuck, and a little more explaining!" Aphrodite said, mimicking throwing up.

I shook my head. "You have really got to work on your patience." She flipped me off and I laughed. "Well, the good news is that the baby is, indeed, a normal baby. It looks perfectly fine. Here." I handed the picture of the baby over to Darius, who held it so that Aphrodite could see it. Stevie Rae must have been walking in behind Stark and I, because she ran beside us and behind Aphrodite so that she could see the picture.

"Wow." Stevie Rae said. "She's really pretty."

"She?" Stark squeaked. "How do you know it's a girl?"

Stevie Rae shook her head, causing her blonde curls to bounce. "Sorry. I don't. That's just the way I've been picturing her - I mean, it."

"Enough babble." Aphrodite sighed.

Darius looked from the picture, to me. "Even though I wouldn't have put it quite like that, I have to agree with my lady. What is the bad news, Zoey?"

I looked down. "The doctor says that the baby is two and a half weeks old."

Shocked gasps came from everyone but Stark and me, causing the woman behind the desk to peek up at us.

"Uh, let me go take care of that real quick. I think we should get goin'." Stevie Rae whispered.

We all nodded. "That sounds like a good idea." Darius agreed. So, we decided to wait until Stevie Rae got done to go back out to the car.

As we walked out to the car, we discussed where we should go: the House of Night or the tunnels. I was getting ready to say that we should go to the tunnels so I wouldn't have to face anyone right then when the wind picked up, causing the picture of my baby to go flying. It stopped at the corner of the clinic building.

"Hey, guys, you go ahead and get in the car. I'm gonna go get my picture really fast." I told everyone. Stark started to come with me, but I stopped him for the second time in five minutes. "It's okay. It's just the corner of the building. You can still see me from the car." I gave him a sweet smile.

He looked like he was going to protest, but his face relaxed into a small smile. "Yeah, you're right. Sorry. Be quick, okay?" I nodded and got on my tip toes to give him a kiss.

We turned our separate directions and made our way to either the car or the picture. I had my eyes on the picture as I walked, so I never would've seen what happened if it weren't for Aphrodite.

"Zoey, watch out!"

I looked up just in time to see Neferet's long, pointed fingernail coming straight at my face. I felt the sting of the cut and saw the stars her blow had left just before I passed out.