Betrayed

pause. Her back got really straight and when she looked over her shoulder at me I could see that her eyes were narrowed in anger.

'What would you know about it?'

'About your parents? Not much except that they're controlling and your mom's a nightmare. About screwed- up parents in gen­eral? Plenty. I've been living with pain-in-the-ass parent issues since my mom remarried three years ago. It sucks, but it's not an excuse to be a bitch.'

'Try eighteen years of a lot more than just 'pain-in-the-ass parent issues' and maybe you'll start to get something about it. Until then, you don't know shit.' Then, like the old Aphrodite I knew and couldn't stand, she flipped her hair and stalked away, wiggling her narrow butt like I cared.

'Issues. The girl has major issues.' I sat down on the bench and began rummaging through my purse for my cell phone, glad I carried it around with me even though I'd been forced to keep it on silent, withouteven vibrate on. The reason could be summed up in one word—Heath. He was my human almost-ex-boyfriend, and since he and my definitely ex-best friend, Kayla, had tried to 'break me out' (that's actually what they'd said—morons) of the House of Night, Heath had been way over the top on his obsession level for me. Of course, that wasn't really his fault. I was the one who had tasted his blood and started the whole Imprint thing with him, but still. Anyway, even though his messages had dwindled down from like a zillion (meaning twenty or so) a day, to two or three, I still didn't feel like leaving my phone on and being bothered by him. And, sure enough, when I flipped it open there were two missed calls, both from Heath. No messages, though, so hopefully he's demonstrating the ability to learn.

Grandma sounded sleepy when she answered the phone, but as soon as she realized it was me she perked up.

'Oh, Zoeybird! It's so nice to wake up to your voice,' she said.

I smiled into the phone. 'I miss you, Grandma.'

'I miss you, too, sweetheart.'

'Grandma, the reason I called is kinda weird, but you're just going to have to trust me.'

'Of course I trust you,' she replied without hesitation. She's so different than my mom that sometimes I wonder how they could be related.

'Okay, later today you're planning on coming into Tulsa to do some shopping, right?'

There was a brief pause, and then she laughed. 'I guess it's going to be hard to keep birthday surprises from my vampyre grand­daughter.'

'I need you to promise me something, Grandma. Promise that you won't go anywhere today. Don't get in your car. Don't drive anywhere. Just stay home and relax.'

'What's this about, Zoey?'

I hesitated, not sure how to tell her. Then with her lifelong ability to understand me, she said softly, 'Remember, you can tell me anything, Zoeybird. I'll believe you.'

I hadn't realized that I'd been holding my breath until that in­stant. On my let out breath I said, 'The bridge on I-40 that goes over the Arkansas River by Webber's Falls is going to collapse. You were supposed to be on it, and you would have died.' I said the last part softly, almost whispering.

'Oh! Oh, my! I'd better sit down.'

'Grandma, are you okay?'

'I suppose I am now, but I wouldn't be if you hadn't warned me, which is why I'm feeling light-headed.' She must have picked up a magazine or something because I could hear her fanning herself. 'How did you find out about this? Are you having vi­sions?'

'No, not me. It's Aphrodite.'

'The girl who used to be leader of the Dark Daughters? I didn't think you two were friends.'

I snorted. 'We're not. Definitely not. But I found her having a vision and she told me what she saw.'

'And you trust this girl?'

'No way, but I do trust her power, and I saw her, Grandma. It was like she was there, with you. It was awful. She saw you crash, and those little kids die ...' I had to stop and breathe. The truth had suddenly caught up with me: my grandma could have died today.

'Wait, there were more people in the crash?'

'Yeah, when the bridge collapses a bunch of cars go into the river.'

'But what about the other people?'

'I'm going to take care of that, too. You just stay home.'

'Shouldn't I go to the bridge and try to stop them?'

'No! Stay away from there. I'll make sure no one gets hurt—I promise. But I have to know that you're safe,' I said.

'Okay, sweetheart. I believe you. You don't have to worry about me. I'll be safe and sound at home. You take care of what ever you need to do, and if you need me, call. Anytime.'

'Thanks, Grandma. I love you.'

'I love you, too, u-we-tsi a-ge-hu-tsa.'

After I hung up I spent a little while just sitting there, willing myself to stop shaking, but only a little while. A plan was already brewing in my head, and I didn't have time to freak out. I needed to get busy.

CHAPTER 10

'So why can't we tell Neferet about this mess? All she'd have to do is make a few calls, like she did last month when Aphrodite had a vision about that plane going down at the Denver airport,' Damien said, careful to keep his voice low. I'd hurried back to the dorm, huddled my group together, and given them the short ver­sion of Aphrodite's vision.

'She made me promise I wouldn't go to Neferet. The two of them are having some kind of weird fight.'

'It's about time Neferet started seeing her as the bitch she is,' Stevie Rae said.

'Hateful cow,' Shaunee said.

'Hag from hell,' Erin agreed.

'Yeah, well, what she is doesn't really matter. It's her visions and the people who are in danger of dying that matter,' I said.

'I heard that her visions aren't really believable anymore be­cause Nyx has withdrawn her favor from Aphrodite,' Damien said. 'Maybe that's why she made you promise not to go to Nef­eret, because this is all something she made up and she wants you to freak out and do something that will either embarrass you and make you look bad, or get you in trouble.'

'I'd think that too if I hadn't watched her having the vision. She wasn't faking it, I'm sure of that.'

'But is she telling you the whole truth?' Stevie Rae asked.

I thought about that for a second. Aphrodite had already ad­mitted to me that she could withhold parts of her visions from Neferet. What made me think she wasn't doing that with me, too? Then I remembered the whiteness of her face, the way she had gripped my hand, and the fear in her voice as she joined my grandma in her death. I shivered.

'She was telling me the truth,' I said. 'You guys will just have to trust that my intuition is right.' I looked at my four friends. None of them were happy about this, but I knew that each of them trusted me and that I could count on them. 'So, here's the deal, I've already called my grandma. She won't be on that bridge, but a bunch of other people will. We need to figure out a way to save those other people.'

'Aphrodite said that a bargelike boat hit the bridge causing it to collapse?' Damien asked.

I nodded.

'Well, you could pretend to be Neferet and do what she does, call whoever's in charge of the barge and tell them one of your students has had a vision of a tragedy. People listen to Neferet; they're scared not to. It's a well- known fact that her information has saved lots of human lives.'

'I already thought about that, but it won't work because Aphrodite didn't see the boat clearly. She wasn't even sure it was a barge. So I have no way of knowing how to even begin contacting anyone about stopping it. And I can't pretend to be Neferet. It feels way wrong. I mean, talk about asking to get in trouble. You can't tell me that