Betrayed

'That's okay. I don't mind.'

Detective Martin took my phone and started going through the text message files, copying onto a little pad the messages. 'Did you see Heath this morning?' Detective Marx asked. 'No. He asked if he could come see me, but I told him no.'

'This says that you were planning on seeing him Friday,' Detective Martin said.

I could feel Neferet's sharp eyes on me. I drew a deep breath. The only way I could do this would be to stick as close to the truth as I was able.

'Yeah, I was going to go out with him after the game Friday.'

'Zoey, you know it is strictly against school rules to continue to date humans from your old life.' I noticed, as if for the first time, the disgust that filled her voice when she said humans.

'I know. I'm sorry.' Again, I told the truth, only omitting a bloodsucking, Imprinting detail here and an I- don't-trust-you-anymore detail there. 'It's just that Heath and I had so much his­tory between us that it was really hard to totally stop talking to him, even though I knew I had to. I thought it would be easier if we met and I told him to his face, once and for all, why we couldn't see each other. I would have told you, but I wanted to handle it on my own.'

'So, you didn't see him this morning?' Detective Marx re­peated.

'No. After we were done text messaging I went to bed.'

'Can anyone substantiate that you were in your room sleeping at that time?' Detective Martin asked, handing me back my phone.

Neferet's voice was ice. 'Gentlemen, I already explained to you the terrible loss Zoey experienced just yesterday. Her roommate died. So, how she could have anyone substantiate her where­abouts at—'

'Um, excuse me, Neferet, but actually I wasn't sleeping alone. My friends Shaunee and Erin didn't want me to be by myself, so they came to my room and slept with me.' I left Damien out. No point getting the kid in trouble.

'Oh, that was very kind of them,' Neferet said gently, switch­ing in one breath from scary vampyre to concerned mother. I tried not to think of how not fooled I was by her.

'Do you have any idea where Heath might be?' I asked Detec­tive Marx (I still liked him better of the two).

'No. His truck was found not far from the school wall, but the snow is falling so fast that any tracks he might have made have been completely covered.'

'Well, I should think that instead of wasting your time ques­tioning my fledgling, the police would be spending time search­ing the gutters for the teenager,' Neferet said in an offhand tone that made me want to scream.

'Ma'am?' Marx said.

'It seems clear to me what happened. The boy was trying to see Zoey, again. It was only last month that he and that girlfriend of his climbed our wall saying they were going to break her out of the school.' Neferet waved her hand dismissively. 'He was drunk and high then, he was probably drunk and high this morning, too. The snow was too much for him and he's probably fallen into a gutter somewhere. Isn't that where drunks usually end up?'

'Ma'am, he's a teenager, not a drunk. And his parents and friends say he hasn't had a drink in a month.'

Neferet's soft laugh made it obvious how much she didn't be­lieve him. Surprising me, Marx ignored her and studied me care­fully. 'How about it, Zoey? You two dated for a couple of years, right? Can you think of where he might have gone?'

'Not out this way. If his truck was missing off Oak Grove Road in BA I could tell you where the keg party might be.' I didn't mean it as a joke, especially after Neferet's mean cracks about Heath, but the detective seemed to be trying not to smile, which suddenly made him appear kind, and even approachable. Before I could change my mind, I blurted, 'But I had a weird dream this morning that might not actually have been a dream but could have been some kind of vision about Heath.'

Into the stunned silence Neferet's voice sounded clipped and harsh. 'Zoey, you have never before manifested an affinity for prophecy or visions.'

'I know.' Purposefully I made myself sound unsure and even a little scared (the scared part wasn't exactly pretense). 'But it's just too weird that I dreamed that Heath was over by the east wall, and that he was grabbed there.'

'What grabbed him, Zoey?' Detective Marx's voice was ur­gent. He was definitely taking me seriously.

'I don't know.' Which definitely wasn't a lie. 'I do know they weren't fledglings or vampyres. In my dream four cloaked figures dragged him away.'

'Did you see where they went?'

'No, I woke up screaming for Heath.' I didn't have to fake the tears that filled my eyes. 'Maybe you should search everything around the school. Something's out there, and something's taking kids, but it's not us.'

'Of course it's not us.' Neferet came over to me and put her arm around me, patting my shoulder and making soft mom sounds. 'Gentlemen, I think Zoey's had more than enough up­setting for one day. Why don't I introduce you to Shaunee and Erin, who, I'm sure, will collaborate her alibi.'

Alibi. The word sounded chilling.

'If you remember anything else, or have any other odd dreams, please don't hesitate to contact me, anytime day or night,' Detec­tive Marx said.

This was the second time he'd given me his card—he certainly was persistent. I took his card from him and thanked him. Then as Neferet led him from the room Detective Marx hesitated and walked back to me.

'My twin sister was Marked and Changed fifteen years ago,' he said softly. 'She and I are still close, even though she was supposed to forget her human family. So when I say you can call me anytime, and tell me anything, you can believe me. You can also trust me.'

'Detective Marx?' Neferet stood in the doorway.

'Just thanking Zoey again, and telling her how sorry I am about her roommate,' he said smoothly as he strode from the room.

I stayed where I was, trying to collect my thoughts. Marx's sis­ter was a vampyre? Well, that really wasn't so bizarre. What was bizarre is that he still loved her. Maybe I could trust him.

The door clicked shut and I jerked in surprise. Neferet was standing with her back to it, watching me carefully.

'Did you Imprint with Heath?'

I had an instant of cold, white panic. She was going to be able to read me. I'd been fooling myself. There was no way I was any kind of a match for this High Priestess. Then I felt the brush of a gentle, impossible breeze … the warmth of an invisible fire ... the freshness of a spring rain … the green sweetness of a fertile meadow ... and the powerful infilling of elemental strength flowing into my spirit. With new confidence I met Neferet's eyes.

'But you said I didn't. You told me before that what happened between him and me on the wall wasn't enough to Imprint.' I made sure my voice sounded confused and upset.

Her shoulders relaxed almost imperceptibly. 'I don't think you Imprinted with him then. So, you're saying you haven't been with him since? You haven't fed from him again?'

'Again!' I let myself sound as shocked as I always felt at the disturbing, yet seductive thought of feeding on Heath. 'But I didn't really feed on him then, did I?'

'No, no, of course not,' Neferet reassured me. 'What you did was very minor, very minor indeed. It's just that your dream made me wonder if you'd been with your boyfriend again.'

'Ex-boyfriend,' I said almost automatically. 'No. But he's been texting and calling me a bunch lately, so I thought it would be best if I met him and tried to make him understand, once and for all, that we can't see each other anymore. I'm sorry. I should have told you, but I really did want to solve it myself. I mean, I got myself into the mess. I should be able to handle getting myself out of it.'

'Well, I do commend your sense of responsibility, but I don't think it was wise to make the detectives believe your dream might have been a vision.'

'It just seemed so real,' I said.

'I'm sure it did. Zoey, did you take the medicine I asked you to drink last night?'

'You mean that milky stuff? Yeah, Shaunee gave it to me.' And she had, but I'd poured the crap down the sink.

Neferet looked even more relaxed. 'Good. If you keep having disturbing dreams, come to me and I'll give you