Okay, so this chapter is a little longer than most because I haven't been updating very often. I really think you are going to like this one! It's pretty…well, dramatic. At least at the end. Oh, and to houseofnightfan: a woman can have sex while pregnant. There are a lot of people who get scared about "poking" the baby - lol - but that can't happen. The only thing that the baby wouldn't like is if the man squished the woman's stomach while they were doing it.

Thanks for all the wonderful reviews! You guys are the best! And make sure to pay special attention to the question at the bottom because it is going to have a major impact on the end of the story. I need your help! Every single person who likes this story needs to review and give me an answer because it will affect the end of the story DRAMATICALLY! Okay, that's all for now. Enjoy!

Not much happened for the next two days. I didn't see Kalona in my dreams, the baby was growing normally - well, as normal as it could get, being a half-immortal half-mortal baby - and we were relatively safe. We hadn't seen Neferet since she smacked the bullpoopie out of me and we hadn't been to the House of Night in weeks. I hadn't seen much of my friends because they knew I needed rest, but I missed all of them so much! That was why I'd decided to go out to the kitchen to eat today, instead of having Stark bring me something.

"Zoey! You're out of bed!" Damien exclaimed when he saw me walk through the door.

I gave a little laugh as everyone turned to stare at me. It seemed like everyone was up and moving around, even though the sun had just gone down. Stevie Rae, Aphrodite, Darius, Stark, Damien, Shaunee, Erin, Kramisha, literally everyone was in the kitchen. "Yeah, I figured I needed to spend a little time on my feet. I remember my mom was always walking around when she was pregnant with my little brother, so I thought I could use some exercise."

Aphrodite rushed forward. "Don't you think you should do some of that exercising outside of the tunnels?" She grabbed both my arms and tried to turn me toward the door.

"Aphrodite, what is up with you? Didn't you tell me yourself that I shouldn't go above ground? That Darkness would get me if I did?" I asked, totally confused.

For a moment, Aphrodite looked confused, too. She actually looked around at everyone, her eyes pleading for someone to step in. When they didn't, she just shook her head. "Uh, yeah, you're right about that. And I also said that Darkness could be down here in the tunnels with us. So, don't you think you should stay in your room? You could walk around in circles."

I snorted, but couldn't help the laugh that came out afterwards. "Oh my Goddess! Aphrodite, what had gotten into you? Actually, what's up with all of you? I thought you would be happy to see me!"

Stevie Rae walked forward, her face going from stressed and panicked to calm and soft. "We are happy to see you, Z. We haven't seen you in what seems like forever!" She rushed forward and put her hand on my belly without asking me. "Wow! Your belly is huge! That is too freaky."

I rolled my eyes. "Way to make me feel normal, Stevie Rae." She was right, though. My stomach was considerably bigger than it had been the last time they saw me, two weeks ago. Darius predicted that I was about twenty weeks(in normal time) along now. In fact, Stark and Darius were supposed to grab breakfast and then take Stevie Rae with them to get an ultrasound technician to come down into the tunnels. Now was the perfect time for another ultrasound. We would find out if it was a boy or a girl for sure now!

She gave a little giggle. "Sorry."

"Ugh. Hate to interrupt, but Zoey needs to go back to her room. Like, now." Aphrodite said, giving Stevie Rae a look. I knew that look. I had given it to people plenty of times, and I knew exactly what it meant. They were keeping something secret from me.

I looked between the two of them suspiciously, every now and then taking Damien and the Twins into my vision. "Okay." I finally said, exasperated. "What is going on? What are you guys hiding from me?"

Aphrodite rolled her eyes. "Dammit. Should've known that Z would see right past us. No thanks to…any of you!" She looked at everyone in the room. I felt a sinking in my stomach, knowing that another tragedy was going to be thrust at me. Here we go again, I thought. "We might as well show her now, even if it's not finished."

"Show me what?" I asked. Now I was getting excited. My friends weren't hiding some deep, dark secret from me. Or, at least, that's not what it sounded like.

"You'll see. Come on." Stevie Rae told me with a big smile on her face. It seemed her happiness was contagious because pretty soon everyone was grinning. "Come on, everybody!"

Aphrodite took one of my arms and Stevie Rae the other. We walked down the tunnels, seeming like we were going to my room. I thought in the back of my mind that maybe they were tricking me. Maybe there was no surprise, or maybe there was, it was just bad and they didn't want me to know yet. So, they were going to stick me back in my room and pretend none of it happened? I was about to make a fuss when we marched straight past my room and to a new room next to it.

I hadn't been out of my room in what seemed like forever, so it's no surprise that I wouldn't know that a new room had popped up right beside mine. Suddenly, Stevie Rae clapped a hand over my eyes. "You can't look yet, Z. It's gotta be a surprise!"

I shrugged and let her shield my eyes, knowing that it wouldn't take long for us to get in the room. They instructed me to walk forward, letting go of my arms and staying behind me, but to keep my eyes shut. I did as they said, worrying that I was going to run into a wall at any moment, until they told me to stop and open my eyes.

I took a deep breath and then let my eyes open. It was beautiful! The room was almost the same size as mine, which was pretty big for being in the tunnels. They'd put pink wallpaper on the walls, fully expecting the baby to be a girl. There was a crib next to the wall nearest to my room, and all sorts of baby stuff everywhere else. There were toys, a diaper-changing table, and a smell-proof garbage can to take care of the dirty diapers.

I saw a rack of clothes in a little closet they'd made, all for the baby. There were at least three-hundred diapers stacked on the wall to the left, the opposite side than the crib. Everything was decorated in pink and purple. Now, I thought, I really hope the baby is a girl.

I gave a little gasp, looking all around the room as I did. I heard some giggles coming from behind me. I turned around to look at all my amazing friends, wondering what I had done to deserve them.

"Oh no!" Erin gasped.

"What's wrong?" Shaunee added.

I was confused for a moment until I realized that I was crying. I shook my head violently. "No, no. Nothing is wrong at all. I absolutely love it! I love you guys!"

The smiles that had disappeared at my tears returned, and they all ran forward for a group hug. Then everyone started talking at once, talking about this and that. How Damien had picked the shade of pink for the wallpaper, how Stevie Rae had decided the baby needed a boot-shaped-lamp to remind her of her Aunt Stevie Rae, how Aphrodite wouldn't buy anything but designer clothes for her… It was all just so amazing that I thought I was dreaming.

"You guys are so awesome!" I yelled. They all started laughing again, but automatically stopped when we all heard something. It was a loud bang, and right after it the tunnels shook. At this point, I was so used to things going wrong that I ordered my circle to come to me.

"No, Z." Stevie Rae said.

Damien walked up to stand beside her. "Yeah, Zoey, you can't go. You're holding precious cargo now."

I looked down and wrapped my arms around my now protruding tummy. "Yeah, you're right. But…I can't just let you guys go without me. Look, let me shield myself with night, so that no one will see me. That way there won't be any problems."

Everyone looked at each other. One by one, they all started shaking their heads.

"Zoey," Aphrodite started, "we know how bad you want to help with all the bad things going on out there, but the best thing you can do for everyone is just keep yourself and your baby safe. This baby could be the savior we need. Neferet might know that, and she might try to kill you - again - to keep the baby from being born."

As much as I wanted to go with them, I knew that she was right. I couldn't let Neferet get a hold of me or my baby again. I'd been careless before, and she had hurt me. Now, I needed to be super careful. I nodded and walked out of the nursery and into my room.

"We'll be back in a jiffy!" Stevie Rae exclaimed with a big smile before heading down the hallway with the others.

I can only hope… I thought.

[BREAK; DARIUS'S POV]

Darius marched his vampyre and fledgling group toward the entrance to the tunnels - the basement of the depot. Once he told them they had to move fast and with stealth, they all ran as fast as they could to the front, trying to keep up with him. But Darius knew that none of them would be able to get there before he could, not even Stark.

Darius was a Son of Erebus. That meant that he had had to train himself to be faster and stronger than anyone else here. Sure, Stark was a warrior as well, but Stark hadn't been through the same training Darius had. His Warrior's Oath had given Stark the ability to run faster than a normal vampyre, but it still wasn't enough.

As he came upon the entrance, he automatically knew that someone was in the depot basement; he could sense them. Darius pulled a knife out of his belt and slowly ascended ladder up to the basement. He knew that the others weren't too far away now, but he wanted to get out and scope the place before they had a chance.

As soon as his eyes were above the entrance, he automatically saw them.

Erik Night was in the depot with the fledgling he had marked, a girl whose name Darius couldn't remember at the moment. Erik must have heard the makeshift "door" they made for the entrance to the tunnel open because he looked straight at Darius.

"Ah, here we go. I haven't been down here a lot." Erik told the girl. Darius was struggling to remember her name.

Once they were a few feet in front of him, Erik stopped, still holding the girl's hand. "Merry meet, Darius."

"Merry meet, Erik…uh…" What was her name?

Erik gave a little smile and the girl blushed. "You remember Shaylin, right?"

Darius gave a little blush himself. "Of course. Merry meet, Shaylin."

Shaylin gave a little nod. Then, as if she thought she was doing something wrong, she gave an awkward salute and said, "Merry meet, Darius."

Darius smiled and then returned his attention back to Erik. "I'm sorry to be so forward, Erik, but I must ask why you are here."

Erik had been smiling while watching the exchange between Shaylin and Darius, but now it fell into a tight line. His eyes narrowed at Darius in suspicion. Shaylin only looked confused standing next to him. "What do you mean? Is there… Is there something going on? Is everyone okay?"

Darius gave him a brisk nod. "I assure you that everyone is well. We are in the middle of a…situation, of course. When are we not?" Darius gave a little chuckle for good measure, but he was afraid Erik had already seen right through him. Darius scolded himself in his head. He had been trained to keep things secret, but only when it came to a direct threat. If someone would have told him that one day he would have to protect a pregnant High Priestess and that he needed to train for it, he would've laughed in their face and gone to train elsewhere.

"What's going on, Darius? Honestly." Erik asked.

Darius let out a breath. It sounded like a sigh, even though he hadn't meant for it to. "We are just trying to determine what our next move should be and we are having some difficulty. Now, again, Erik, what are you doing here?"

Erik shook his head as if to say, "these people are nuts", but he didn't say anything about it. Instead, he said, "None of the red or blue fledglings who have been staying here have been to class in weeks. The House of Night has sent out multiple text messages and even tried to call, but no one has answered them. They sent me to come check on you."

This time it was Darius's turn to narrow his eyes at Erik. "And why did they send you instead of a Son of Erebus, or Thanatos?"

"Thanatos can't come off the grounds at the moment. She says she senses Death is awaiting her, but she doesn't know why. It's not her time yet. And all the Sons of Erebus warriors are needed to protect her and the school at the moment. I'm one of the only male vampyres at the House of Night now, so they figured I'd be able to handle it." Erik shrugged. "They want all of the fledglings back at school tomorrow."

Darius didn't know what to say. He knew that the fledglings were able to go back to school, all but one. Zoey. There was no way she could go to school in her condition. He had two choices: he could either just tell Erik that they would all be there tomorrow, and then come up with a plan to tell them when Zoey didn't show up for class, or he could tell Erik right now that Zoey couldn't come to school for…whatever reason. He decided with the former.

"They will be there. Please tell Thanatos that we are extremely sorry. I believe she will understand why we couldn't come back right away." Darius explained. Erik nodded and started to turn, taking Shaylin with him. As Darius watched them, he remembered something. "Oh, and Erik?" Erik turned to face him. "Will you ask Thanatos to pay us a visit tonight, if she can?"

There was a thumping on the bottom of Darius's boot, but he ignored it. It was probably Stark trying to tell him that that was a bad idea. Darius didn't think it was, though. Thanatos was used to the strange and unusual, so she would probably be able to help them in one way or another.

Erik gave Darius a brisk nod and then turned away. Darius wasn't sure, but he thought he saw Shaylin give Erik a kiss on the cheek just before they were out the door.

[BREAK; ZOEY'S POV]

I went back into my nursery when all my friends were gone, just looking at everything again. I still couldn't believe that they had done all this for me. I also noticed that they had put a new type of prenatal vitamins in my room. I was so thankful for that because I had been wanting to try a different kind; the kind I took now gave me indigestion every time I took it.

It didn't seem like they had been gone that long when I heard footsteps coming down the hallway. I turned around and started going for the door when I heard Stark shriek, "Zoey?"

"I'm in here!" I yelled, not wanting to freak him out. I made my way out the door as soon as he went out our bedroom door. He took one long stride to be right in front of me, and then wrapped his arms around me, kissing my forehead.

"Don't scare me like that." he whispered. "You have no idea how much I worry about you."

I laughed. No, he thought I had no idea how much he worried about me. I definitely knew how worried he was because he was always trying to keep me by his side. One day, he might learn that we can't always be attached at the hip. But that would probably be after I had the baby…

"I love you." I whispered up at him.

He looked down at me and gave me the biggest smile he could manage. "Oh, I love you, too, sweetheart." He gave me a short, sweet kiss then, grabbing one of my hands and leading me into the bedroom.

Once we were inside and on the bed, I pulled away from his lips and started to laugh. "Stark! We are not having sex right now. I'm just now getting to spend some time with my friends!"

Stark gave a sheepish smile and shrugged. "You mean you can resist this? Wow, you are a lot stronger than most girls…" I smacked him on the arm and laughed again, but he got serious. "Z, we have something we need to talk about."

I automatically got serious, too. What if this was what I had been sensing all day? Ever since I had woken up this evening, I'd felt that something was going to happen. It was one of those feelings that Aphrodite and I would both get sometimes. I'd been meaning to ask her if she felt anything, too, but I hadn't gotten the chance. "Okay…?"

Stark took a deep breath. "That was Erik and Shaylin. They said that the House of Night has been trying to get us all to come back to classes but they haven't been able to get a hold of us. Darius told them that we would be back tomorrow, but he didn't say anything about you."

I let out a shaky breath. As soon as he had said that the House of Night wanted us to come back, I started worrying about what they had told them about me. "Well, it looks like we're going to have to come up with a reason for why I can't go to class, huh?"

Stark shook his head. "No. Darius asked Erik to ask Thanatos to come by the tunnels before dawn. I didn't know what he was up to at the time, but he told me why he did it after they left. Thanatos has believed in us all along, right? So, it shouldn't be hard for her to help us with this situation. She might know what to do."

I nodded. "Yeah, I think Darius might be right. Maybe we should've gone to Thanatos a long time ago. Actually, now that I'm thinking about it, we haven't really had any contact with the outside world in weeks. Oh Goddess! Grandma! She must be going crazy with worry. I should call her."

I tried to get up, but Stark stopped me. "Not now, Z. You should probably rest."

I rolled my eyes at him. "No. I'm not tired at all. I got up a couple hours ago. I'm going to go call Grandma."

Stark sighed. "Fine. But I'm going to wait at the basement entrance for you, okay? Just to be safe."

I shrugged. If he wanted to wait there, it was fine with me. I just didn't want him eavesdropping on every conversation I had because he thinks I need protection 24/7. Sometimes having a warrior for a boyfriend is a really good thing, but at times like this, it could be pretty annoying.

I grabbed my cell phone from on top of a cabinet where it was charging and walked with Stark down the hallway. No one was really out while we were walking, which seemed kind of weird to me. Maybe they were all getting something to eat and I would see them when I went through the kitchen. But there weren't any fledglings or vampyres in the kitchen, either.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

Stark didn't look like he was too interested in where everyone was. "They're all probably out shopping or something. They've been doing a lot of that for the baby lately."

"And here's Zoey, stuck in the tunnels." I pouted. Stark gave a laugh and wrapped an arm around me.

It took me a little time to get up the ladder and into the basement because of my big belly. I felt like I was swaying, trying to get up it. I worried for a moment if it would cause me to get sick. Once I was in the basement, I turned and gave Stark - who was standing in front of the ladder in the tunnels - a thumbs-up. He gave me a smile in return and sat on one of the ladder's bars.

I opened my phone and looked at the signal. None. Great.

Moving all around, I couldn't get a single bar. I decided to sneak my way into the depot to get more signal, without telling Stark because he would just get all worried about nothing. The door to the basement creaked a little but Stark must have not noticed it because he didn't come out shouting for me.

Once I had two bars, I called my grandma. She answered on the second ring.

"Zoeybird! Oh, I was so worried about you! Why haven't you called?" Grandma shrieked.

"I'm so sorry, Grandma. I've been through a lot these past couple of weeks and just couldn't call you. But I am perfectly fine."

There was silence on the other end for a minute, and I was starting to wonder if I had lost her when she suddenly said, "Zoey, how is the child?"

I shouldn't have been surprised at Grandma's abruptness, but I was. I took a deep breath and said, "It's okay. She's okay. At least, we think it's a girl. That's what Rephaim said, anyway."

I could just see Grandma nod in my head. "I would trust Rephaim's instincts. He has the most experience with this kind of thing. How are you?"

"I'm actually really good. It turns out that this is a part of Nyx's plan. Aphrodite had a vision that my baby will help us fight Neferet." I explained.

Grandma gasped. "But, Zoeybird, won't that take years?"

I gave a little laugh. "No, Grandma. The baby grows nine times as fast as a normal baby does."

"How is the baby supposed to help, Zoey?" she asked.

"We're not quite sure at the moment. In fact, we don't know for sure at all. We're pretty much going on the fact that the baby is normal and not a Raven Mocker." I explained.

"Oh, Zoeybird, I am happy to hear that! How do you - " Grandma was cut off by a ringing of some sort. "Zoey, I am so sorry but I have to go. I'm trying to get custody of your brother and sister and that's the lawyer."

I gasped. "Really, Grandma? That's amazing! Okay, you go ahead and I'll call you again later, okay? I love you, Grandma."

I could literally hear the soft smile in her voice. "Oh, I love you, too, u-we-tsi-a-ge-ya."

A tear fell down my cheek as I hung up. I missed my grandma so much! I wiped it away and was turning to leave when I heard something toward the front of the depot. I automatically slid into a nearby classroom, hoping that there wasn't something horrible out there. I crossed my fingers and held my breath while I waited. I started to hear footsteps, and they sounded like they were coming right towards me.

No, I thought, there is no way that whoever it is knows exactly where I am. I was looking toward the doorway, but no one had come through yet. The footsteps stopped, and I thought I was in the clear, but they started up again. They were getting closer, closer, and even more close. I was praying that it was just Stark.

Suddenly, a bare foot appeared in the doorway, followed by another bare foot. I looked up and up and up…

…and straight into Kalona's eyes.

I didn't even have time to gasp before I was in his arms. He kissed me hard on the mouth.

I pushed away from him. "Kalona, what are you doing? How are you even here?"

He walked while he talked, keeping the smile on his face as he did so. "I came down to see you. I can't get in your dreams anymore because of that warrior of yours."

Before I could respond, he laid me down. I was wondering if he had gone crazy until I saw that I had - yet again - ran straight into the room Kalona and I had first made love in. The blanket was still here, as was the pillow, but they had a little film of dust on them this time.

Kalona started to take off his pants. "What are you doing?" I shrieked.

He got them all the way off and laid down next to me. "Shush, lover. You'll alert your warrior and he will come and interrupt us."

I shook my head. "No, Kalona. We can't do this. This isn't the way it is supposed to be!" While I was talking, Kalona was taking my pants off. It wasn't hard because I had on some maternity pants. I tried to fight him as I talked, but he was way stronger than I was. He got them off anyways.

He rolled on top of me, careful not to squish my belly, and kissed me yet again. Suddenly, time stopped. There was a brief flash of white and I felt as if I'd been electrocuted. Even though I shouldn't have known what was happening, I did. And all the while I was wondering why this kept happening to me. It was as if there was some force out there that was determined to make me miserable.

The bond between Kalona and I was restored.

I couldn't help the sudden yearning for him that went through my body. I knew it was wrong, but I just couldn't help it. There were tears flowing from my eyes and I couldn't speak. Even though I was so upset on the outside, on the inside I wanted nothing more than Kalona.

"Are you ready?" Kalona whispered to me.

Inside my head, a voice yelled, "NO! NO! STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT NOW!"

I nodded, unable to do what the voice was telling me to. Kalona hadn't taken my underwear off, and he really didn't need to. He just moved the part that was covering, well, you know what, to the side. Before I could even take another breath, Kalona was inside me.

When Kalona and I had made love in dreams it was fantastic. More than fantastic, really. Amazing, and wonderful, and stupendous, all in one. But this… This was something so much better than that. We'd never had sex outside of a dream after the time I'd trapped him, and, then, we didn't get the chance to finish what we started.

I couldn't help that I dug my fingernails into his back, wanting him more and more, even though I already had him. We were always careful of my stomach, although it was a little hard. Eventually, Kalona flipped us over so that I was on top. It didn't take long after that for us to finish because we had both wanted the other so much.

Kalona didn't give me time to catch my breath afterwards. He put his pants on, grabbed my pants, picked me up, and ran out the room. I couldn't ask him where we were going because I couldn't find my voice. In fact, I couldn't really move a muscle. This time, it seemed that there was a spell put on me specifically, to keep me from resisting Kalona.

Which is why I felt so bad when I saw Stark running after us towards the front door of the depot, screaming my name. I couldn't try to fight Kalona, or even tell Stark how sorry I was. I was just…frozen. I did, however, feel a tear slip out of my eye, and I saw Stark when he saw that tear. He stopped, shook his head, and then made…this face. A face that said he would come after me no matter what.

The last thing I saw before I passed out was Kalona's wings, slowly turning back to black from top to bottom.

Okay, I need help, like I said. Here is the question I want all of you to answer in a review, if you don't mind: What team are you? Are you team Zalona or team…uh, Stoey(LMAO! Does anyone know what the real relationship name for Zoey and Stark is?). Let me know because whichever team gets the most votes/reviews is how the story is going to end up. I am so conflicted as to who Zoey is going to be with because a lot of you want her to be with Kalona when the real books are obviously not going that direction. Lol. So let me know! =]