Betrayed

drink this, that it'll help you sleep without nightmares," she said.
    "Thanks." I took it from her, but I didn't drink it. She and Erin just stood there looking at me. "I'll take it in a minute. After I go to the bathroom. Just leave my pop in case it tastes nasty.”
    That seemed to satisfy them. Before they left Shaunee said, "Zoey, can we get you anything else?”
    "No, thanks though.”
    "You'll call us if you need anything, right?" Erin said. "We promised Stevie Rae ..." Her voice broke and Shaunee finished for her, "We promised her we'd take care of you, and we live up to our promises.”
    "I'll call you," I said.
    "'Kay," they said. "Night …”
    "Night," I called to the closing door.
    As soon as they were gone I poured the creamy white liquid down the sink and threw away the vial.
    Then I was alone. I glanced at my alarm clock, 6:00 A.M. It was amazing how much things could change in just a few hours. I tried not to, but flashes of Stevie Rae's death kept playing across my mind, like there was a horrible movie screen stuck inside my eyes. I jumped when my cell phone rang, and checked the caller ID. It was my grandma's number! Relief surged through me. I flipped the phone open and struggled not to burst into tears.
    "I'm so glad you called, Grandma!”
    "Little Bird, I woke from a dream about you. Is everything all right?" Her worried tone said she already knew it wasn't, which didn't surprise me. For my whole life my grandma and I had been linked.
    "No. Nothing is right,” I whispered as I began to cry again. "Grandma, Stevie Rae died tonight.”
    "Oh, Zoey! I'm so terribly sorry!”
    "She died in my arms, Grandma, just minutes after Nyx gifted her with an affinity for the element earth.”
    "It must have been a great comfort for her that you were with her at the end." I could hear that Grandma was crying now, too.
    “We were all with her, all of my friends.”
    "And Nyx must have been with her, too.”
    "Yes," my voice caught on a sob. "I think the Goddess was, but I don't understand it, Grandma. It doesn't make any sense that Nyx would gift Stevie Rae, and then let her die.”
    "Death never makes sense when it happens to the young. But I believe that your Goddess was close to Stevie Rae, even though her death happened too soon, and now she is resting peacefully with Nyx.”
    "I hope so.”
    "I wish I could come visit you, but with all this snow the roads out here are impossible. How about I fast and pray for Stevie Rae today?”
    "Thank you, Grandma. I know she'd appreciate that."
    "And, honey, you have to move past this.”
    "How, Grandma?”
    "By honoring her memory by living a life she'd be proud of you for living. Live for her, too.”
    "It's hard, Grandma, especially when the vamps want us to just forget about the kids who die. They're treated like speed bumps, just something to pause a little about, and then go on.”
    "I don't mean to second-guess your High Priestess, or any of the other adult vampyres, but that seems shortsighted. Death is more difficult if it goes unacknowledged.”
    "That's what I think. Actually, that's what Stevie Rae thought, too.” Then an idea came to me, along with a feeling that it was the right thing to do. "I can change that. With or without permission, I'm going to be sure Stevie Rae's death is honored. She's going to be more than a speed bump.”
    "Don't get in trouble, honey.”
    "Grandma, I am the most powerful fledgling in the history of vampyres. I think I should be willing to get in a little trouble for something I feel strongly about.”
    Grandma paused, then she said, "I think you might be right about that, Zoeybird.”
    "I love you, Grandma.”
    "I love you, too, u-we-tsi a-ge-hu-tsa." The Cherokee word for daughter made me feel loved and safe. "And now I want you to try to sleep. Know that I'll be praying for you, and asking the spirits of our grandmothers to watch over and comfort you.”
    "Thanks, Grandma. Bye.”
    "Good-bye, Zoeybird.”
    I closed the phone softly. I felt better now that I'd talked to Grandma. Before it had been like there was a huge, invisible weight pressing down on my chest. Now that it had shifted some it was easier for me to breathe. I started to lie down, and Nala popped in through the kitty door, leaped up on my bed, and instantly began me-uf-ow-ing at me. I petted her and told her how glad I was to see her, and then glanced over at Stevie Rae's empty bed. She always laughed at Nala's grumpiness, and said she sounded like an old