I walked out of the temple tear drops sliding down my face. My heart felt so light and elated and even though my body had been changing since the day I was Marked there really was no way to describe how different I felt now. I reached up using the back of my hand to wipe away the tears that were still spilling from my eyes. The whole experience of the changing ritual had been so emotional my spirit was still reeling from it. I felt like I could simply lay on the temple floor for weeks soaking in Nyx's presence, but I knew that wasn't possible. Though time had seemed to stand still for me for those brief minutes the world was going on and that included the evil that was lurking right outside our walls.

I sniffled lightly as I made my way across the school grounds. The sun was up, but the clouds kept the sun from irritating my skin too badly, though I had a feeling that even if the sun been out in full force I wouldn't have minded as much as I normally would. I was still too dazed from the whole experience. Hell, from the whole day! Truth be told I was completely exhausted. Neferet had offered to walk me back to my dorm, but I didn't want any company just yet. Especially knowing that this would probably be one of the last times I slept in my room. Neferet and Natasha had both decided that I should move into the temple apartments and I agreed. I was no longer just a student. Not that I ever had been just a normal student, but it was time to start moving forward, time to find my destiny.

I remembered when I first arrived at the House of Night how I had only wanted to a place to fit in. Finding my destiny or knowing that I even had one felt completely overwhelming. I smiled shaking my head, how things had changed. How I had changed, everything was different now and still changing. I definitely needed these few minutes alone just to come to terms with that fact. Besides I was pretty sure Neferet's main reason for wanting to walk me back to my dorm was to see the look on my face when I saw my new Marks! No one had allowed me to see them at the ceremony which was really annoying considering everyone kept gaping at me!

I reached the dorm rooms pushing open the large oak doors and quietly moving into the common room. No one was up, which wasn't surprising to me. The day had been endless! I heard a soft meow and tiptoed my way over to the box of kittens who were still curled, sleeping softly against Maleficent. It still blew my mind to see Maleficent doing anything motherly, though it probably shouldn't have surprised me at all. Maleficent was a lot like Aphrodite who was hard and bitchy on the outside, but I knew she had a soft side. More than that Aphrodite was fiercely loyal to those she cared about and extremely protective. I smile thinking about her reaction to Heath putting me in danger.

Heath. My mind whirled as new thoughts flooded through my mind. My imprint to him was broken again. I still couldn't believe it. I had felt it gently sever the moment the change was over and for that I was glad. I wasn't sure I would have been able to take hurting him again. I remembered his soulless eyes the night Aphrodite had ran into him on the way back from street cats. My imprint with him had been broken because of what I had done with Loren. I had never seen Heath in so much pain and it had been agonizing to me to know that I had caused it. This time there was no pain, just a small little prick in my heart as if someone had only made a small cut. I knew heath had felt the same thing and knew I would probably find a bazillion messages from him when I went upstairs. Still, a small cut was definitely better than having your heart ripped out and soul torn.

I picked up the little meower from the box of sleeping kittens. It was the same black kitten that had found me the first night at the shelter. She had separated herself from the rest of the pile of fur and was scratching at the box with her claws.

"What's the matter?" I asked tucking her against my chest. Her claws dug into my shirt as she snuggled against my palm. "Nala is going to be jealous, you know?" I told her smiling when she yawned sleepily. "She's probably upstairs waiting on me." The kitten shut her eyes seeming to ignore everything I was saying. Typical. "I guess it wouldn't hurt to bring you along," I whispered heading towards the stairs, "though don't blame me if you have an angry cat up there to deal with."

I walked up the long staircase, yawning myself as I went along. Everything was so quiet and peaceful and all I wanted to do was collapse on my bed and sleep. I pushed open my bedroom door welcoming the darkness of my room. Darkness that lasted only several seconds before an oil lamp flicked on causing me to jump slightly and the black kitten to meow once more.

"Where have you been?" Aphrodite's annoyed voice asked from my bed. "I know you were with Stark, but really how…" her voice faltered for a second, her mouth hanging open as she stared at my forehead. "What…?" she asked searching for words.

I noticed her eyes were red and bloodshot as she continued to look at me in complete confusion. "Did you have a vision?" I asked setting the kitten down on the spare bed in my room and then heading towards the bathroom. I wanted to get a look at this Mark myself. If everyone was going to be staring I at least wanted to know what they were staring at!

"Yeah," she started, "but don't change the subject!" She said putting her hands on her hips as she followed me to the bathroom. "Why are your Marks Purple?" She asked as I flipped on the bathroom light.

I stood there staring at my reflection my eyes round with wonder. I didn't think purple was the right word to describe the color. The color was deep and rich like black mixed with violet. I turned left and right gazing at my reflection in the mirror, it was almost hard to distinguish the black from the purple. It was like one of those cars whose color changed when you looked at it in different lights. I looked at my hands and noticed that the color was spreading, slowly turning the dark blue Marks to this deep Violet hue. I pulled up my shirt gazing at my stomach staring in awe as it too began to change before my eyes as if gazing at a mood ring that changed with body temperature. No wonder Neferet and the others had been so fascinated. My Marks had been slowly changing throughout the whole ceremony which was why I hadn't noticed anything different earlier when I had gazed at my hands. I had thought that perhaps something had just been added the crescent moon on my forehead. I hadn't expected this.

"Ok, seriously? What happened?" Aphrodite said looking extremely annoyed at still not having received any information.

I stood there silently for a minute more just looking at myself in the mirror. My skin was already paler and once again I felt as if I were looking at a stranger. I was beautiful, breathtakingly so. I shook myself not wanting to sound like Aphrodite, but still amazed at the difference. My hair seemed shinier and fell in graceful locks down my back and shoulders. My eyes seemed bigger though I was sure that they couldn't really be and they twinkled as they gazed back at me from the mirror.

I swallowed finally bringing my eyes around to meet Aphrodite's. "I went through the change," I said softly and then turned back looking at my new Marks once more. The color still astounded me and if I had thought I looked like an ancient priestess before, it was nothing compared to how I felt now.

"Well shit," Aphrodite said still gaping at me. "With Stark?" She asked looking confused and slightly amused, "Because that would have been some hell of timing."

I laughed, "No, right after. I went back to the temple to ask Neferet some questions and it just happened. Hurt like poopy too," I said remembering the intense pain that had raked through my body. I was glad I would never have to experience that again.

"You know this means you're an adult now and it's probably ok for you to start cursing," she said rolling her eyes. Her face changed then and she smiled. "So what's the ceremony like?" She asked raising an eyebrow.

"You know I can't tell you that," I said trailing a finger over the crescent moon that sat in the middle of my forehead.

"Zoey, it's not like I'm ever going to have to go through it," she said scowling. "Human, remember?"

I smiled mischievously at her hearing her growl in response and then walked back into the bedroom to see that the small black kitten had curled up with perturbed looking Nala. She complained softly at me from my pillow and I shook my head before turning back to Aphrodite. "So what was the vision about?" I asked her.

She looked like she might argue about the ceremony a little longer, but then answered my question. "I'm not sure because everything was still fuzzy, well the parts involving the demons were fuzzy, but I think I may have gotten a glimpse of whoever is behind this."

I sat on the bed aware that I had completely stilled as I waited for her to continue. I looked at her face again, this time more carefully and noticed that she really was a mess, well by Aphrodite standards anyway.

She sat on the bed opposite of me, "He was releasing them, the demons I mean by slaughtering the Elders," Aphrodtie said her eyes pulling together in confusion.

"What?" I asked feeling equally confused. "Aphrodite, start from the beginning. We know that if we pay attention to your visions we can stop them, which means we need to go over all the details. Anything you can remember."

I watched as she brought her hand up massaging her forehead with her fingers. "Our plan was working and he was really angry," she began. "He needed a way to stop us and the only thing that would stop us would be to give the demons more power. He never cared about either side and has a mutual hate for both the People of Faith and the Children of Nyx, though he is one himself."

"Wait, he's a vampyre?" I asked feeling more perplexed by the minute.

"Yes," Aphrodite said shutting her eyes in concentration. "He knew he wouldn't be able to get to us, not now that we were on to him and his use of the Elders. He decided to kill the Elders instead."

I nodded. "His hatred mixed with the power of the Elder's blood would be enough to turn the tabled on us."

"Vamp blood is the most powerful, but he knew he wouldn't be able to get his hands on enough of it in time."

I shook my head again trying to figure it all out. "I still don't understand. He hates both the Elders and us. So what is his purpose for releasing the demons?" I asked. "Revenge?" Did that even make since? Why go after both groups, or were we both just a means to an end?

"I don't know," Aphrodite said looking at me with concerned eyes. "I wasn't seeing it through his perspective."

I started for a second. "Then whose eyes were you seeing it through?"

Her face sobered and paled as she looked at me. "You step fathers," she said softly. "He was the first to die."

Ah hell.

Hey everyone! Once again I'm sorry for the long wait between chapters. It's just been a crazy last few weeks. I have a few things I want to mention.

First: I'm trying to get a poll up on my profile for who you would all prefer Zoey to have the stronger connection with. I know a lot of you have mentioned who you like more in your reviews but I would like to do an official vote and the winner will have the last scene in the last chapter with Zoey.

Second: I want to mention that Zoey's purple Marks were written in honor of hizeme-neko who has consistently reviewed and critiqued my chapters letting me know when something needed to be fixed or added. In other words she acted as my editor in a lot of ways. The Purple Marks were her idea so I want to give a special thanks to her and to all of you who have reviewed my last two stories and made suggestions! Please continue to do so, I love your feedback and it's always nice to hear the reader's view.

Lastly: The next chapter will probably take me another week to post. I'm going camping tomorrow and won't be returning home until Sunday night. I'll try to have another chapter up as soon as I can.

Thanks again to all my readers! I love your support! ;-)