Betrayed

cringe. I noticed that my mom was staring with wide, glassy eyes at Neferet, her face pale as milk. John's face had gone the opposite color. His eyes were narrow and his cheeks were flushed a very unattractive red.

'Linda,' he said through his teeth. 'Let's go.' Then he looked at me with such disgust and hatred that I literally took a step back. I mean, I knew he didn't like me, but until that moment I hadn't realized how much. 'This place is what you deserve. Your mother and I won't be back. You're on your own now.' He spun around and started for the door. My mom hesitated, and for a second I thought she might actually say something nice—like she was sorry about him—or that she missed me—or that I shouldn't worry, she'd be back no matter what he said.

'Zoey, I can't believe what you've gotten yourself into now.' She shook her head and, as usual, followed John's lead and left the room.

'Oh, sweetheart, I'm so sorry.' Grandma was there, instantly hugging me and whispering reassurance. 'I'll be back, my little bird. I promise. And I'm so proud of you!' She held me by my shoulders and smiled through her tears. 'Our Cherokee ancestors are proud of you, too. I can feel it. You have been touched by the Goddess, and you have the loyalty of good friends,' she glanced up at Neferet and added, 'and wise teachers. Someday you might even learn to forgive your mother. Until then remember that you are the daughter of my heart, u-we-tsi a- ge-hu-tsa.' She kissed me.

'I must leave, too. I drove your little car here, and I will leave it for you, so I must ride back with them.' She handed me the keys to my vintage Bug. 'But remember always that I love you, Zoeybird.'

'I love you, too, Grandma,' I said, and kissed her back, hug­ging her hard and taking deep breaths of her scent like I could hold her in my lungs and exhale her slowly over the next month as I missed her.

'Bye, sweetheart. Call me when you get a chance.' She kissed me again and then left.

I watched her leave, and didn't realize I was crying until I felt the tears drip from my face onto my neck. I'd actually forgotten Neferet was still standing beside me, so I jumped a little in sur­prise when she handed me a tissue.

'I am sorry for that, Zoey,' she said quietly.

'I'm not.' I blew my nose and wiped my face before I looked at her. 'Thanks for standing up to him.'

'I did not mean to send your mother away, too.'

'You didn't. She chose to follow him. Just like she's been doing for over three years now.' I felt the hotness of tears threaten the back of my throat and spoke quickly, willing them away. 'She used to be different. It's stupid, I know, but I keep expecting her to turn back into what she was before. It never happens, though. It's like he's killed my mom and put a stranger in her body.'

Neferet put her arm around me. 'I like what your grandma said—that maybe someday you can find the ability to forgive your mother.'

I stared at the door the three of them had just disappeared through. 'That someday is far away.'

Neferet squeezed my shoulder sympathetically.

I looked up at her, so glad she was there with me, and I wished—for about the zillionth time—that she was my mom. Then I remembered what she had told me almost a month ago, that her mom had died when she was a little girl, and her dad had abused her, physically and mentally, until she had been saved by being Marked.

'Did you ever forgive your father?' I asked tentatively.

Neferet looked down at me and blinked several times, as if she were slowly coming back from a memory that had taken her far, far away. 'No. No I didn't ever forgive him, but when I think of him now it is as if I'm remembering someone else's life. The things he did to me he did to a human child, not a High Priestess and vampyre. And to a High Priestess and vampyre he, like most humans, is completely inconsequential.'

Her words sounded strong and sure, but as I looked into the depths of her beautiful green eyes I saw a flicker of something old and painful and definitely not forgotten, and wondered how honest she was being with herself …

CHAPTER 2

I was incredibly relieved when Neferet said there was no reason for me to stay in the reception hall. After the scene with my fam­ily I felt like everyone was staring at me. I was, after all, the girl with the freaky Marks and the nightmare family. I took the short­est way out of the reception hall—the sidewalk that led outside through the pretty little courtyard that the windows of the dining hall looked out onto.

It was a little after midnight, which was—yes—a totally weird time for a parent open house, but the school begins classes at 8:00 P.M., and finishes up at 3:00 A.M. On the surface it seemed to make more sense to have parent visitation begin at 8:00, or maybe even an hour or so before school started, but Neferet had explained to me that the point was that parents accept their child's Change, and understand that days and nights would for­ever be different for them. On my own I decided that another plus of making the time inconvenient is that it gave a lot of par­ents the excuse they needed not to come, without outright telling their kid, Hey—I don't want anything to do with you now that you're turning into a bloodsucking monster.

Too bad my parents hadn't taken that out.

I sighed and slowed down, taking my time following one of the winding paths through the courtyard. It was a cool, clear November night. The moon was almost full, and its bright silver light was a pretty contrast to the antique gaslights that illuminated the court­yard with their soft yellow glows. I could hear the fountain that sat in the middle of the garden, and I automatically changed direction so that I was heading toward it. Maybe the soothing tinkle of the water would help my stress level … and help me forget.

When I rounded the curve that led to the fountain I was walk­ing slowly, and daydreaming a little about my new almost-boyfriend, the totally delicious Erik. He was away from the school for the yearly Shakespeare monologue competition. Naturally, he'd finished first at our school, and had advanced easily to the Houses of Night international competition. It was Thursday, and he'd only been gone since Monday, but I missed him like crazy and couldn't wait till Sunday when he was supposed to get back. Erik was the hottest guy at our school. Hell, Erik Night might be the hottest guy at any school. He was tall, dark, and handsome—like an old-time movie star (without the latent homosexual ten­dencies). He was also incredibly talented. Someday soon he was going to join the rank of other vamp movie stars like Matthew McConaughey, James Franco, Jake Gyllenhaal, and Hugh Jack­man (who is totally gorgeous for an old guy). Plus, Erik was truly a nice guy—which only added to his hotness.

So I will admit to being preoccupied with visions of Erik as Tristan and me as Isolde (only our passionate love story would have a happy ending), and didn't notice that there were other people in the courtyard until a raised male voice shocked me with how mean and disgusted it sounded.

'You are one disappointment after another, Aphrodite!' I froze. Aphrodite?

'It was bad enough that your getting Marked meant that you couldn't go to Chatham Hall, especially after everything I did to be sure you were accepted,' said a woman in a brittle, cold voice.

'Mother, I know. I said I was sorry.'

Okay, I should leave. I should turn around and walk quickly and quietly out of the courtyard. Aphrodite was probably my least favorite person at school. Actually, Aphrodite was probably my least favorite person anywhere, but purposefully listening in on what was clearly an ugly scene with her parents was just wrong wrong wrong.

So I tiptoed a few feet off the path where I could hide more easily behind a big ornamental bush and have a decent view of what was going on. Aphrodite was sitting on the stone bench closest to the fountain. Her parents were standing in front of her. Well, her mom was standing. Her dad was pacing.

Man, her parents were really pretty people. Her dad was tall and handsome. The kind of guy who kept in shape, kept all of his hair, and had really good teeth. He was dressed in a dark suit that looked like it cost a zillion dollars. He also looked weirdly famil­iar, and I was sure I'd seen him on TV or something. Her mom was totally gorgeous. I mean, Aphrodite was blond and perfect-looking, and her mom was an older, richly dressed, well- groomed version of her. Her sweater was obviously cashmere, and her pearls were long and real. Every time she gestured with her hands the gihugic pear-shaped diamond on her ring finger flashed a light as cold and beautiful as her voice.

'Have you forgotten that your father is the mayor of Tulsa?' Aphrodite's mom snapped viciously.

'No, no, of course not, Mother.'