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teeth.” She gave me a little eye roll. While Erin and Shaunee were busy getting Stevie Rae more bloody wine, she studied the little group of red fledglings. “Look, we already talked about this. You know y’all are gonna have to make nice with Zoey and the rest of the kids.” She glanced up at Darius and smiled, “Well, kids and vamps, that is.”
    “Hey, excuse me, guys. I need to get through.”
    I’d bristled automatically as Erik pushed through the crowd at the door. If someone (Venus) tried to bite him, someone (me) was gonna kick her ass. Period.
    Ignoring the tension in the room, Darius said, “What does the radio report is happening in the world above?”
    Erik shook his head. “I can’t get anything in. I even went up into the basement. Nothing but static. Couldn’t get my cell phone to work, either. I did hear a bunch of thunder and could see flashings of massive lightning. It’s still raining, even though it’s getting colder, which means it’ll probably turn to ice. Plus, the wind’s kicked up like crazy. I couldn’t tell if the weather was natural, or if Kalona and those bird thing were causing it. Either way, that’s probably what’s knocking the radio stations and cell towers off-line. I thought you’d want to know, so I came back down.” I saw his eyes move from Dairius to arrowless Stevie Rae and he smiled. “You look better.”
    “Aphrodite saved her by letting Stevie Rae drink her blood,” Shaunee said, and then giggled.
    “Yeah, and now the two of them have Imprinted,” Erin finished in a rush, and then joined Shaunee’s laughter.
    “Wow, you’re kidding. Right?” he said, sounding totally shocked.
    “No, they are not kidding,” Venus said smoothly.
    “Huh. Well. That’s interesting.” I watched Erik’s lips twitch as he stared at Aphrodite. She totally ignored him and kept drinking straight from the wine bottle she clutched in her hand. He stifled a big laugh with a cough, and then his eyes lit on Venus. He nodded, his normal easygoing, popular self. “Hi again, Venus.”
    “Erik,” she said, with a feral smile that made me want to squash her like a bug.
    “Aphrodite was right to start introductions,” Stevie Rae said, and before Aphrodite could, she hurried on, “And, no, I’m not saying that because we’re Imprinted.”
    “I really wish you would all quit talking about it,” Aphrodite muttered.
    Stevie Rae continued as if she hadn’t heard her. “I think being polite is a real good idea, and introductions are always polite. Y’all already know Venus,” she said, and then moved on quickly. “So I’ll start with Elliott.”
    A redheaded kid stepped forward. Okay, dying and un-dying hadn’t improved this kid any. He was still pudgy and pale with a frizzy ball of carrot-colored, uncombed hair sticking up in odd places on his head. “I’m Elliott,” he said.
    Everyone nodded at him. “Next is Montoya,” Stevie Rae said.
    A short, Hispanic guy who looked seriously thuggish with his sagging pants and his multiple piercings nodded his head, sending his thick dark hair waving around his face. “Hi,” he said with just a touch of an accent and a surprisingly cute, warm smile.
    “And that’s Shannon Compton.” Stevie Rae ran her first and last name together, so that it sounded like Shannoncompton.
    “Shannoncompton? Hey, didn’t you read the spotlight piece in The Vagina Monologues last year at the school performance?” Damien asked.
    Her pretty face brightened. “Yeah, that was me.”
    “I remember because I just love The Vagina Monologues . They’re so empowering,” Damien said. “And then right after the show you . . . um . . . ” His voice trailed off and he fidgeted.
    “I died?” Shannoncompton added helpfully.
    “Yeah, exactly,” Damien said.
    “Oh, gosh, that’s too bad,” Jack said.
    Aphrodite sighed. “She’s not dead anymore, morons.”
    “And this is Sophie.” Stevie Rae said quickly, frowning at Aphrodite, who was already