“Sword almost sliced him in two. Totally gross, although his head didn’t come off like yours did in that other vision.”

“Well, that’s nice for him,” I said, not sure if I was being serious or sarcastic. “Who did the cutting in half?”

“That’s where the confusion kicks in. I’m not sure who actually kills him. I am sure Dragon is there.”

“Dragon kills him? Ugh. That’s awful.”

“Well, like I said, I’m not sure of that. I can tell you that I remember the look on Dragon’s face just before the sword sliced me. He was totally shut down. He looked even worse than he’s been looking recently. It’s like there was no hope or light or happiness anywhere in his life, and he was crying—really bawling, like with snot and everything.”

“Then Rephaim gets killed by a sword,” I said.

“Yep,” she agreed. “I know. Should be a no-brainer. Seems like Dragon did it, but it just doesn’t feel one hundred percent to me, especially when you add in the bawling part and all the other confusion.”

“Other confusion?”

“Yeah, bizarre shit kept flashing all around. There was something white that looked dead. There was ice that was burning a circle. There were blood and boobs everywhere, and then I—meaning Rephaim—was dead. The end.”

I rubbed my temple where I felt a headache brewing.

“Boobs?” Stark perked up at that word.

“Yes, bowboy. Boobs. Like there was a naked woman hanging around. Literally. I didn’t see her face because Rephaim was predictably mesmerized by her boobs, but I do know she had something to do with the blood and the white dead thing.”

“Hey, wait,” I said. “Didn’t Kramisha’s last poem say something about fire and ice?”

“Hmm, I’d forgotten about that. Easy for me to do because, well, fuck poetry.”

“Don’t be so negative,” I said. “And it’s not just poetry. It’s prophetic poetry.”

“Which makes it worse,” she said.

“I remember. The poem also said something about Dragon’s tears,” Stark said.

“Maybe he weeps because he kills Rephaim, even after he was tasked to be his protector because he is Sword Master of our House of Night,” Darius said.

“But he’s not,” I said. “We have our own House of Night over here, so he’s not technically our Sword Master. Maybe that’s how he rationalizes being able to kill Rephaim.”

“All that sounds logical, but there’s still a piece missing. That’s what my gut says. I just can’t see that piece. Everything except Dragon kept fading in and out of my vision, mostly because Rephaim was super focused on Stevie Rae, who was super focused on the ritual she was performing.”

“Ritual? Was I there?”

“Yeah, the whole nerd herd was there. A circle was cast. You were leading things, but the ritual itself was earth centered, so Stevie Rae was playing the major part.” She sucked in a breath. “Holy shit, I just realized where we were—at your grandma’s lavender farm.”

“Ah, hell! The cleansing ritual I’m supposed to do in a couple days. Or maybe not. Thanatos was calling Grandma about us doing something early—something that might reveal what actually happened to Mom.” I paused, feeling overwhelmed by the thought of the dead white thing, the blood, and the boobs, all in the context of my mom’s murder. “Does this mean I wasn’t meant to find out and I shouldn’t do anything at all?”

Aphrodite shrugged. “Z, I know you’ll find this hard to believe because you’ve been Miss Front and Center in a bunch of my visions, but in this one you barely made an appearance. I just don’t think this is about you at all.”

“But it’s at Grandma’s farm.”

“Yeah, but it’s Rephaim getting carved up this time and not you,” she said.

“Wait, isn’t this good news?” Stark said, coming up to me and taking my hand.

Aphrodite snorted. “Sure, unless you’re Rephaim.”

Stark ignored her comment and continued, “You’ve seen Rephaim killed. You know where and you know who has to be there. So what if we’re sure those elements don’t all come together? That’ll stop the death, won’t it?”

“Maybe,” Aphrodite said.

“Hopefully,” I said.

“We need to be sure Dragon stays away from Rephaim,” Darius said. “Even if he didn’t actually kill him, you know for a certainty that he was present when Rephaim was killed.”

“That much I do know,” Aphrodite said.

“Then that’s it. We keep Dragon and Rephaim separate, even if that means Rephaim doesn’t come with the rest of us when we go to Grandma’s farm.”

“If I go, Rephaim goes.”

Stark, Darius, and I turned to see Stevie Rae and Rephaim ducking under the blanket and coming into the room. Aphrodite frowned, but kept the washcloth on her eyes.

“Her vision was about Rephaim.” Stevie Rae didn’t say it like a question, but I answered her anyway. “Yeah. He dies.”

“How? Who does it?” Stevie Rae’s voice was hard. She looked ready to take on the world.

“Not sure,” Aphrodite spoke up. “It was from birdboy’s point of view, which means the whole damn thing was confusing.”

“But we know it happens at Grandma’s farm and that Dragon is there,” I said. “Which is why we were saying Rephaim should stay here when we all go out there, if we all still go out there.”

“We will,” Stark said. “You can’t let this stop the ritual you were going to do for your mom.”

“It’s not for her,” I said miserably. “She’s dead. That won’t change.”

“That’s right,” he said. “It’s for you and your grandma, which is more important than doing something for a dead woman.” He glanced at Rephaim and Stevie Rae. “The ritual needs to happen, but Rephaim doesn’t need to be there and be in danger. It would be smartest if, like Z was saying, he stayed here.”

“So that someone, like Dragon, can sneak up on him when he’s all alone? I don’t think so,” Stevie Rae said.

“I do not understand,” Rephaim said.

I sighed. “Aphrodite gets visions of deaths. Sometimes they’re real clear and easy to keep from happening. Sometimes they’re confusing.”

“Because I’m inside the person who’s getting killed. That’s how it was with you. And, speaking of, flying seems scary. No matter what your birdbrain thinks.”

“It is not scary when you have wings,” Rephaim said, sounding matter-of-fact.

“Huh,” I said.

“No,” Stevie Rae spoke up. “Keep whatever you found inside his head to yourself. It’s not anyone’s business.”

“She was inside my head?” Rephaim was obviously confused squared.

“In a vision I was. It won’t happen again. I hope. And there was something else hanging around the vision besides Dragon. It was a bull, or at least the shadow of a bull.”

“Shadow of a bull?” My stomach felt sick. “Was that the dead white thing you saw?”

“No. That was definitely something else.”

“Did you see what color it was?”

“Zoey, shadows are only one color,” she said.

“Aurox,” Stark said.

“Did you see Aurox?” I asked quickly.

“Nope. Just the bull shadow. And for the record, I agree with you and Stark and Darius—birdboy should stay away from Dragon. If that means he stays here, then that’s what should happen. Now, may I please have a refill on my wine and some rest?”

“I don’t think it’s good for you to drink while you’re bleedin’ like that.” Stevie Rae said.

“Don’t question me. I’m a professional,” Aphrodite said.

“What does that even mean?” I asked.

“It means my beauty is done talking and needs to sleep,” Darius said.

“The pizza should be here soon,” Stevie Rae said. “I got you one.”

“If I’m still awake when it gets here I’ll eat it,” Aphrodite said. Then she took the washcloth off her eyes and blinked them slowly open. I was prepared. I’d seen this before. Rephaim, however, was not.

“By all the gods! You do weep blood,” he said.

She turned her red-tinged gaze to him. “Yeah. Even I know it’s terrible symbolism. Birdboy, you need to remember this. I got this damn vision because there was a message in it for you. Keep your ass safe. Stay away from pointy objects, and if that means you need to stay away from Dragon Lankford, then do it.”