Betrayed

I smiled my thanks, but before he'd turned to go back to the truck I was walking toward the oaks. I didn't need to be under them—to actually be in the school grounds, but being near them helped me center myself. When I was close enough to see how their branches entwined like old friends, I stopped and closed my eyes.

'Wind, I call you to me and this time I ask that you blow clean any dark taint that has touched my mind.' I felt a gust of cold, like I was being battered by my own personal hurricane, but it wasn't pressing against my body. It was filling my mind. I kept my eyes tightly closed and blocked out the throbbing ache that had re­turned to my temples. 'Fire, I call you to me and ask that you burn from my mind any darkness that has touched it.' Heat filled my head, only it wasn't like the hot spear that I'd felt earlier. Instead it was a nice warmth, like a heating pad on a pulled muscle. 'Water, I call you to me and ask that you wash from my mind the dark­ness that has touched it.' Coolness flooded through the warmth, soothing what had been overheated and bringing incredible relief. 'Earth, I call you to me and ask that your nurturing strength take from my mind the darkness that has touched it.' From the bot­toms of my feet, where I was connected firmly to the earth, it was as if a faucet had opened and I imagined putrid darkness running down and out of my body to be consumed by the strength and goodness of the earth. 'And, spirit, I ask that you heal what dark­ness has destroyed in my mind, and restore my memory!' Some­thing snapped within me and a white-hot familiar sensation shot down my back, dropping me heavily to my knees.

'Zoey! Zoey! My God, are you okay?'

Once again Detective Marx's strong hands were shaking my shoulders and he was helping me to my feet. This time my eyes opened easily and I smiled into his kind face.

'I'm more than okay. I remember everything.'

CHAPTER 32

'You're sure this is how it has to be?' Detective Marx asked for what seemed like the zillionth time.

'Yep.' I nodded wearily. 'It has to be like this.' I was so damn tired I thought I could fall asleep right there in the cop's ginormic monster truck. But I knew I couldn't. The night wasn't over yet. My job wasn't over yet.

The detective sighed, and I smiled at him.

'You're just gonna have to trust me,' I said, sounding a lot like he had earlier that day.

'I don't like it,' he said.

'I know, and I'm sorry. But I've told you everything I can.'

'That some homeless kook is responsible for Heath and the other two boys?' He shook his head. 'Feels wrong to me.'

'Are you sure you're not a little bit psychic?' I smiled tiredly at him.

'If I was, I'd be able to figure out what feels wrong.' He shook his head again. 'Explain this—what happened to your memory?'

I'd already thought about my answer for this one. 'It was the trauma of tonight. It made me block what happened. And then my affinity for the five elements helped me to overcome the block and remember.'

'That's why you had all that pain?'

I shrugged my shoulders. 'I guess so. It's gone now anyway.'

'Look, Zoey, I'm pretty sure that there's more going on here than what you're telling me. I want you to know that you really can trust me,' he said.

'I know that.' I believed him, but I also knew that there were some secrets I couldn't share. Not with this really nice detective. Not with anyone.

'You don't have to deal with whatever it is on your own. I can help you. You're just a kid—just a teenager.' He sounded totally exasperated.

I met his eyes steadily. 'No, I'm a fledgling who is leader of the Dark Daughters and a High Priestess in training. Believe me, that's a lot more than just a teenager. I've given you my oath, and you know from your sister that my oath binds me. I promise I've told you everything I can, and if any more kids disappear, I be­lieve I can find them for you.' What I didn't say was that I wasn't one hundred percent sure how I was going to do that, but the promise felt right, and so I knew Nyx would help me keep it. Not that that would be easy. But I couldn't betray Stevie Rae's pres­ence, which meant no one could know about the creatures, or at least not until Stevie Rae was safe.

Marx sighed again, and I could see that he was muttering to himself as he stomped around to help me down from his truck. But just before he opened the door to the main school building Marx (annoyingly) ruffled my hair and said, 'All right, we'll do this your way. Of course, it's not like I have a choice.'

He was right. He didn't have any choice.

I walked into the building before him and was instantly en­gulfed in the warmth of its familiar scents of incense and oil, and the soothing gaslights that flickered like eager, welcoming friends.

Speaking of ...

'Zoey!' I heard the Twins squeal together, and then I was being smushed in the middle of them as they hugged me and cried and yelled at me for worrying them and talked nonstop about being able to feel it when I tapped into their elements. Damien was not far behind them. Then I was in Erik's strong arms as he hugged me and whispered how scared he'd been for me and how glad he was I was okay. I allowed myself to rest in his arms and return his hug. Later, I'd figure out what to do about Heath and him. Right now I was too tired, and anyway, I needed to save my strength to deal with-

'Zoey, you gave us quite a scare.'

I stepped out of Erik's arms and turned to face Neferet.

'I'm sorry. I really didn't mean to upset everyone,' I said, and it was the truth. I hadn't wanted to worry or upset or scare anyone.

'Well, I suppose there's no harm done, darling. We're all just so glad you're safely home.' She smiled at me with that wonderful mom smile of hers that seemed so full of love and light and goodness, and even though I knew what that smile hid, I felt my heart squeeze and wished desperately that I was wrong, that Nef­eret was as wonderful as I used to believe.

Darkness does not always equate to evil, just as light does not always bring good.The Goddess's words echoed through my mind, giving me strength.

'Well, Zoey is definitely our hero,' Detective Marx said. 'If she hadn't been tuned into that boy, she could have never called us to that depot in time to save him.'

'Yes, well, that's a little problem she and I will have to discuss later.' She gave me a stern look, but her tone told everyone there that I wasn't really in much trouble.

If only they knew.

'Detective, did you catch the person who has been taking the boys?' Neferet continued.

'No, he escaped before we arrived, but there's plenty of evidence that someone has been living in the depot, actually it looked like he was using it as some kind of headquarters. I think it'll be easy to find proof that the other two boys were killed there by someone who was trying to make it look like vampyres had taken the teenagers. And now, even though Heath doesn't re­member much of anything because of the trauma, Zoey has given us a good description of the man to go by. It's just a matter of time before we catch him.'

Was I the only one who saw surprise flash through Neferet's eyes?

'That's wonderful!' Neferet said.

'Yeah.' I met the High Priestess's eyes. 'I've told Detective Marx a lot. My memory's really good.'

'I'm proud of you, Zoeybird!' Neferet came to me and put her arms around me, hugging me close. So close that only I heard her whisper into my ear, 'If you speak against me I will make sure no human or fledgling or vampyre will believe you.'

I didn't pull away from her. I didn't react in any way. But when she let me go, I made my final move—the one I'd planned since the white-hot familiar sensation had seared the skin on my back.

'Neferet, would you please look at my back?'

My friends had been chattering among themselves, clearly giddy with the relief they'd felt since I'd called them while Detec­tive Marx and I talked outside the school and asked them to meet me inside the main building, and to make sure Neferet was there, too. Now my weird request, which I'd been sure to ask loud and clear, shut